Proof of the Reynold's Gang Treasure Found??? Options

[Enigma1]

Hello Everyone,

I've been hunting, hiking, fishing, and camping in Geneva Gulch since my father first took me there nearly 30 years ago. In my own opinion, I'd say I know the area better than most.

I'd never heard of the Reynold's Gang treasure until about a year ago when I was researching the ghost town of Geneva. At first I didn't pay much attention, and just found the tale an interesting footnote to the area's history.

Then I remembered an unusual find I had made in August 2011-

While on a long, remote hike, I stumbled onto the bones of a very large animal, partially buried in years of sediment and moss near a swampy/bog like area at about 11,000 ft. elevation. The bones were extremely old, and badly deteriorated. I uncovered several, including a fragile jaw bone that was under several inches of moss and mud that still contained a few teeth. A short distance away I noticed a rusted object which turned out to be a very old rusted shovel/spade head.

Due to the length of the hike back to camp, and the size of the bones, I only kept the jaw, and snapped a few photos of the rest. I didn't think anything of the shovel/spade I had found, and left it were it lay after a quick look. I had no idea what kind of bones I had found, and didn't think the shovel was connected to them in any way at the time.

I was interested to find out what kind of bones they were, as I had never seen such a large animal in the area. They weren't elk or moose bones, and why would such a giant animal have been wandering around at or above timberline where there is so little forage?

I posted the pics on an archaeological forum, and within a few days I had my answer from a Professor at British University- The bones I had found were those of a horse, and the Professor noted the extent of the decay as unusual and stated that this indicated they were quite old- he estimated around 150 years old.

I've since begun to wonder if these bones and the shovel may have been tied to the Reynold's Gang?

The account of the shootout, and the buried treasure mentions a horse that became mired in a swampy area that had to be killed/abandoned on the spot, and it is said that the stolen loot was buried at the head of a gulch around 11,000 ft. The tale also mentions the loot was buried in an old prospect hole after they had "followed the mountain around to the right". Geographically, where I found the horse skeleton and shovel, there was a large hill and the lay of the land "followed it around to the right".

Also since learning of the Reynold's Gang, I've done some research on Civil War era shovels, and the shovel I found was similar.

I'll be returning this summer for an extended search of the area, and sorry, I won't be sharing the exact location with anyone!

Here are photos of the bones I think may be the mired horse of the Reynold's Gang-

Cheers!

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[Woody]

Hi Enigma1,

Sounds like an exciting treasure hunt, I hope you do well. Here is my 2 cents on detectors.

At the low-end there is the Garrett AT Gold, it sells for about $680. At the other end of the specturm is the Minelab GPX 5000, it will cost you about $5,800.
My suggestion..... Get a regular ol' cheepie form Wal-Mart. Here is why.

Unless that gold was buried close to the surface, no detector is going to be able to detect it. Even the high priced 5000 will not do much more than a foot. Oh sure, it can find specks all day long but it can't cut through several feet of rock covering. They do make Ground Penetrating Radar "GPR" systems but that will cost you 20K plus. So if I were you I would rethink the detector stragity. I would use a detector to help find clues like a horseshoe or an old cartridge. Something that might help set you on the right path. I would not go into it thinking that I would use the detector to find the actual loot and even if did I certianly would not be looking for just specks. Any detector on the market will sound off on a big nugget if it is close to the surface, a cheep $200 one from your local department store might suit you just fine.

I've had two detectors in the past and I just bought another one. I was all set to get the Garrett 1350 GTP but ended up buying the Garrett AT Pro. The Pro's selling point for me was that it can be submerged completly in water. It runs close to $600. The AT Gold operates on a higher frequency and is therefore better suited for fine gold. My detectors were mainly for coins.

Best of luck to you. I'm sure we'll all be looking for some fantastic updates. Even if you don't find what you are looing for it would be cool to hear how the hunt is going. Take care, Woody.