THE 4 IN 1 TREASURE
My name is Terry Carter and this is my personal
account of a possible treasure site that I have
located, researched and explored off and on over the
last 15 years. I am only giving it up now because I
have to many other projects going. And, it would be a
long time getting back to this one. The only thing I
ask is, if you happen to find anything, just let me
know so I can see what it was I was spending my time
on. Also, if you have any other questions regarding
this site, just E-mail me and I will try to get back
to you as soon as possible.
ON WITH THE STORY
This beautiful and history-filled place was called
the "Rock" by the old timers. It's location is about
a days ride by horse or wagon from Ashley Valley,
which is now known as Vernal. The Indians were the
first people we know about to snake their way around
and through the rough forbidding canyons, making
their way to the high Uintas. The Indians coursed a
winding and arduous trail, but, it was the only way
possible that anyone could get through the tall red
canyons. This canyon went right by the "Rock" which,
after a long day's ride, was an excellent place to
camp. The cave-like structure at the base of the rock
protected travelers from the weather. In addition,
the sparkling clear
water of the cool mountain stream running next to the
Rock enabled travelers to catch fish for food, and to
water their horses. Even more importantly, the stream
provided plenty of good drinking water, allowing
travelers to replentish their water supply before
tackling the long steep mountain that lay just ahead
of them. This
Indian trail is well documented by the many ancient
Indian pictoglyphs which have been painted onto the
red rock of the sheer cliff walls.
TREASURE #1
THE SPANIARDS
After the Indians, the Spaniards, in their quest
for gold, happened onto the ancient trail heading
north towards the high mountain tops. They also
found the Rock to be an excellent camping spot. It is
obvious that this was a favored place of the
Spaniards, for they cached a valuable treasure there.
This is documented by the Spanish symbols and stone
face monuments, which are carved and painted in the
sand stone
rocks of the area. One such symbol is located about 7
feet down from the top of a cliff, which is located
along the main trail. Whoever inscribed this symbol
had to hang off of the edge of the cliff with a rope
in order to paint this symbol on the stone of the
vertical cliff wall. This was to be a message, so
that
other spanish expeditions could see that at the base
of a mountian, there was a mine or treasure to be
found. The spaniards, in keeping with the
surroundings, would either paint or carve thier
messages depending on what the ancient indian symbols
were. This way, the new symbols would blend in with
the ancient indian symbols that were already in that
area. There are several other rock carvings in the
area. To find
them, you need to get on top of the cliff. On your
way
there, you will come by an
old rocked up
shelter that
was made by stacking rocks around a small rock
overhang. Once you are on top of the cliff you can
see the stone
face that was carved so many years ago. This stone
face can't be seen today by travelers traveling down
the modern
highway. It could, however, be seen from quite a
distance from the
old
indian trail. Not far from this point is a rock with
rope burns burned deep into it. It appears that
someone hauled
somthing
heavy up this mountain. I used to think that it was
the treasure being hauled up the mountain that caused
these deep grooves in the rock, but now I think it
was caused by hauling a
cannon up to this spot. This would have been an
exellent advantage
point from on top of this cliff, being able to see
for miles in all directions. Dropping off the edge of
the cliff, onto a small ledge, you can find a faintly
carved arrow running along the ridge of a small
boulder, pointing to the eye of the stone face. Could
this somehow be telling us where the teasure is
burried?
Crawling on your hands and knees under an over hang,
you will come to some more symbols carved deep into
the cliff wall. I have'nt figured out their meaning
yet, but, someone went to a lot of trouble putting
them there, and, it's definately not an easy place to
get to. Be carefull climbing around on this ledge,
it's narrow and a long way to the bottom. I advise
using a rope for added safty measures. I found a few
old musket balls on this ledge with my metal
detector. I could be wrong but I think this place is
a storage vault for all the gold, silver, and copper
bars that they mined and smelted from higher up in
the Uinta mountians, where I have found evidences of
their
minning activities. I think their gold was brought to
this place from many different mines, and that, when
it was time to head back to Mexico, they would stop
off at this vault and load their mules with as much
bullion as they could carry and start their long
treck
back to Mexico. Is there any bullion left at this
vault? I don't know, but, with the Indians always
attacking and killing the spaniards and trying to
drive them out of their homelands, I'd say the
chances could
be pretty good.
TREASURE #2
THE PIONEERS AND OUTLAWS
When the pioneers started settling into Ashley
valley, they also followed the old Indian trail to
the mountains to cut timber for their cabins and
for firewood. They also found the "rock" to be an
excellent place to camp providing both food and fresh
water, both on their way up the mountain, and, also
on
their way back down. It soon became a well traveled
major wagon trail and it was not unusual to see as
many as a half dozen camps or more in the area at the
same time. After the settlers started using the
trail, miners , heading up to Bullionville and to the
Dryer mines, and travelers heading further on to
Manila and Fort Bridger, added even more camps at the
rock.
The trail, which had now become a major wagon trail,
was even used as a common route by the outlaws. In
particular, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and
their gang the Wild Bunch. There is no getting around
it, everybody that came up or down the mountain ended
up camping at the "Rock", because of its ideal
location, exactly a day's ride from Vernal, and,
because of the abundance of the much needed water and
food from Brush Creek, and, because of the excellent
shelter that the Rock provided. During this time
frame, it is a well known fact that, anyone travelng
would bury their valuables at night before retiring
to bed. This was done just in case some desperadoes
appeared at night to rob them. Every now and again
people were killed, run out, or would forget where
they stashed their valuables. Also, outlaws using
these trails would use large monuments such as the
"Rock" to mark the place where they buried their
stash of coins, bullion, or whatever they had
acquired. Sometimes, these outlaws were killed while
attempting another holdup, and, their stash remained
buried. Often, outlaws didn't trust anyone with the
whereabouts of their stash. So, it remains where they
put it. And, these valuables are
still in the area, burried for safe keeping, waiting
for someone to come along and find their hidding
place.
TREASURE #3
THE RUPLES
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ruple, who where amoung Ashley
Valley's (Vernal) first pioneers, homesteaded and
built their ranch near the Rock. The modern day
highway
now cuts right through where most of the ranch
existed, but, there is still the rock foundation of
one of
the buildings. It's covered by tall sage brush and is
hard to find, but, if you search around, you should
be able to find it. Just look near the river and
about 75 yards from the main highway. The possibility
of Mr. Ruple
secreting away a small fortune in the area is pretty
good. Most cattle ranchers always kept a wade of
money around for buying cattle, and also from the
sale of their cattle, and most pioneers use to stash
their money around
the house and yard, especially when they lived as far
away from a bank as the Ruple's did.
TREASURE #4
PARTY LAND
After cars started to be more prevalent in this area,
and the roads were fixed up to handle them, people
could make the mountain trip in the matter of a few
hours. Therefore, people no longer needed to camp at
the Rock. The new highway was built bypassing the
Rock and countless numbers of unsuspecting motorists
pass by the Rock everyday, not knowing the history
and the possible treasures that lay just outside of
their view, right alongside the road.
Eventually the local kids found this spot and turned
it into their partying playground. Countless beer keg
parties have been held at the Rock with roaring bon
fires. There is no doubt that un-numbered piecies of
jewelry as well as coins have been lost in the sand
by kids standing around drinking. And while in a
drunken stupor, they don't even realize or miss what
they have lost.
Treasure hunting with a metal detector at the Rock is
very difficult due to the hundreds of pull-tabs from
the countless numbers of beer keg parties. I did
detect in
one area and found a rolled piece of copper and an
old button. However, if you would like to take a
chance at trying your luck and skill, there may still
be various types of treasure to be found, coins that
have fallen from the pockets and purses of the party
goers some 20 to 40 years ago could be valuable rare
coins today.
The Rock and the area surrounding it are very
beautiful places. It is easy to sit on the bank of
Big Brush Creek, close your eyes, and imagine that
you are hearing the wagons coming up the valley, or
perhaps a pack train, laden with ore coming out of
the mountain. If you choose to camp there you will
find that the setting still allows you to believe
that you are part of one of these eras.
All of us who own guns enjoy shooting them. However,
the blatant destruction of these ancient writings and
other archeologcal objects as well as natural
objects, is senseless. If you happen to know of
anyone or see anyone doing this, please try to stop
them. Explain to them about the irreplaceable objects
they are destroying an the un-repairable damage they
are causing.
HOW TO GET THERE
You get to this site from Vernal by turning north at
the junction of highways 40 and 44/191, heading
towards Flaming Gorge, you proceed north and after 10
miles you will pass Red Fleet State Park, located on
the east side of the road, you are about half way
down a long hill, at the bottom of this hill and just
passed the SF Phosphate plant, turn right, directly
in front of you is a large cliff wall, at the base of
this wall, is the ancient indian writings, so faded
that you need to climb up to them to see them, higher
up on the cliff is the spanish markings. follow the
dirt road around to the rock over hang and river, on
the way their notice on your left the circle with the
dot in the center of it. this means, gold or treasure
near-by if its spanish, or something good near-by if
its Indian.
