The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-07-26
Trcnsurc Trove-- what Surveying
Party EOuust iIs Oregon.

Party Eouud iIs Oregon.
The Ddiiy Oregon,dn tells the following
story:
As Mr.. b, one Of our most prominent
SURVEYORS, connected with one of the rail.
road companies, was recently running Il line
near the old military road, between the
towns of Cornelius and Astoria, i'll this State,
he chanccd TO make one of his places for an
angle upon a pyramidal stone that offered a
suitable point Of sight for his thcodolitc III
The small rocky glen through which bis
course av. The stone itself, of the shape
described. was scarcely less prominent than
others that lay loosely scattered about the
place ONLY for It's peculiar Formations. which
made it the selected, object. 1t was covered
with lich,r. and with tile exception OF the
nrc, which lay toward Il brook that ran
near hy. was grown about with under
brush Icculilr to the forests of Oregon.
As the surveyor and his three assistants
were gathered about the rock, lndui@-
iuw in Il short rest, one of their number
leaned his back against il and raised one foot,
placing the sole of the boot, perhaps, few
inches from the ground, against the stone, to
r..L Il position of ease. Immediately rs he
did SO the moss gave way under the pres
sure. and his foot came to the ground, barring
the rock. Glancng downward to secure
another foothold his eye fell upon another
ul,ccr-looking inciSion in the smooth rock
that looked much like the mark OF chlsel.
,lc looked again. and became convinced that
the mark WITS too deeply cut and too regular
to have been the work of nature. Prompted
by the curiosity that holds to all-whcre little
* seen to see more if possiblc--hc called the
attention of others to his discovery, and
they, anxious for Il farther Investigation,
used "A small hand-aXc that WAS i'll the party
10 clear more of the moss away, ana 10
their utter ;stoni.hlncnt revealed the time
worn characters, "N, e. +. = p Non
,hIsxcd br th;: cabaIistc disclosure, they were
more than ever ut loss what to do. There
';rtorc them. evidently the work OF human
hands. but for what purpose, TO marx WHAT
event. that work hidden hy natures changes
until the foot of man accidentally gave IL
lirht, did not sl,Uw. The Roman characters
cmroyed undoubtedly stamped it rs the
work of Europeans. and aS such they be-
thought themselves Of II h"" to the mystery
Being sllrvcrc"a the idea that naturally silg'
| :yrrs:,,., itScit Was one connected with then
profession. and to their joy the solution
seemed plain enough. North U;ic chain,
east two pcrcln.." Delighted. they brought
thc;, Instruments into use. and measuring of
| the distance in the required direction, and
clearing away with immense Iator the fallen
timhrrand undcrrrowth ri The place i'll order
10 prosecute tl.,ir search, they succeeded III
| finding another stone similar i'll shape anu
! SiZr to the other. buried almost to HE apcA
| in the earth and dccaycd vegetation. After
! 4 long task of clearing the 'n"" rh the stone,
| they came TO the 'irtli% -" clearly and
! deeply cu,. Here seemed an end to their
| trouble. They had evidently read The III
S,'rption ON the first stone right, Is 1lndln9
| the second proved; hut now ts"'7' Stared
| them in the face u n'ln!:ial which. though
| plain in o,r' s,'t>r. yet WAS ~ mystical a'
! tlm siSciiS of tie. a>lrnloScr. The 1I%urt
- alone WIS there. What could it mean
| I'm fact. What might il not mean: sever
miles, wards. rods. icct--;nytllinss III Gc
| ,lmir they drtcrUlip"l to move the rock
which, with III. .iu ol huge levers they did
! rn:l,H- hul the hole rCWHrdin% then
! iDr their labor. At last the happy
thought occurred lo u,i" uf tlIem--Why not
~" feet: No sooner wiA it expressed
| tlln Il shovel waS brought into ~
ruIsition. and dowh they worked. The sll>
lru-c ll,t.v endured during the excavation o
! those few feet of alth can better DC Imagined
| iisu described. Hope. doubt, and lea
alternately marked The faces of the party Il
| in turn they toiIcd with tho shovel. Th
lin- of mrtalI;" substance suddenly brou@h
I'LL to &c pit. and there the person sliovelipl
exposed to their gaze II ru>tcd iron ring, al
| tachcd. a< the hurried efforts of the workc
soon disclosed, To Il dccayed wooden DO,
about foot square. On hitting the ring i
| gave way. and they did not raise their sup
| posed treasure from the earth Until it WI
completely looscd I,om Is bed ly the use @
| the shovel, THEY found they had SCHlIlcd
| hoy of woUd. dcclycd by time. but held to
| erlhrr ny several iron hoops, and as Wa
| shown by the dcraycd wood having
| been beaten OF in one or TIVE
| pwccs. lined with copper or other metal
| The weight satisfied them that the,
| had found treasure, but Of what value the,
were now to ascertain. Breaking the bo!
| open, there was brought to tight gold ant
| silver coin and Jewels, the bulk being silver
! and all Amounting to about $500. The sil
yer coin WAS mostly Spanish d.llarS, will
some few pieces of ancient South Amerlcai
coinage; the gold WAS in Spanish doubloons
and the jcweIry was of silver of no grca
value, with the exception Of one piece, whicl
contained diamond settings. Well pleased
with their adventure, the parties made al
equal division Of the property and came tt
the city Saturday to tell their story. Som'
money is on exhibition in the window:
of one Of our prominent brokers on From
street, and gentleman who frequent
First street, generally ut Green's billiard
room, has the diamond pin spoken of, which
by the way, is worthy Of further notice
The pin is in the shape of Il leaf, made o
silver, after the old Mexican style. much cor
rodcd, or rather blackencd, by time, and con
tans thrty-one diamonds, the largest worth
about $35 The diamonds are rosc-cut, an(
of the most exquisite beauty and brillancy
He gave $500 for the pin. Antiquarian
curiosity is rife concerning who put til,
treasure there, and when, as nothing to solve
either question was found in the box. May
not the old Spanish galleon, whose skeleton
is racked by the tides in the bay near Astoria
and whose ribs suggest the spectre of de
parted years, have had some knowledge o
who placed the iron box in Its bed i'll th'
wilderness Of Oregon!