The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1903-11-27
THE TRES PIEDRAS lar
story Of the Long Lost and r..
Sought Treasure Told By
Old SearcheP.

story Of the Long Lost a,a E.r,
Sought Treasure Told By :,
Old Searcher.
Considerable excitement was =.
aroused in western Oklahoma, esp..,.s
in Beaver couny-the No Mans I..s
Of our misunderstanding the vo,,;.l
Of a party of men in that county !, !
search for lost treasure, says a cn,,s
report to the Galveston News. ~
homa was in the path of the piore,r~
went to California in 40, and ALI.
those who sought for Spanish trs,.s
In both old and New Mexico. ,nds
meath its surface, according to le,...
handed down through generation.
hidden immense treasure stores. nj,
Romans are becoming used to str,,,..
appearing with blueprints and man. -
shovels and picks. and delvins Ara,
in the belief that they are the FORM
ones In solving the hiding places
wealth.
Under-Sheriff McKew, of Beaver
ty, returned lately to Beaver Ctr q
county seat, from trip through 4
western part of the county, when Z
had been serving papers for the prs
term Of court. While crossing the -
between the Cimarron and Corn
rivers, McKew came upon an excay,fis
and, being curious to know the ar
drove toward 1t for the purpose q 3
vestigating. He came upon an !,
Irishman, Michael Ryan, and from -
secured the story Of the Tres Pis1
the cause of Ryan's excavations.
According to an old Spanish Aez11
legend, handed down for gener,ti
among the Mexicans, a vast quantib6
gold was buried by Spanish expediNn
which among the Mexicans Ia known.
the lost treasure of the Tres Piedras. n
trail of this expedition was marked N
huge stones resembling gigantic latl
| v. Chiseled on the under face Of q
rock at the point of this V would n
found the symbol "V," and the NJ
symbol marked the direction In VIZ
the next marks of the trail would r
found. These symbols were from int
ten miles apart, located In many plan
eastward from Santa Fe and Las Veal;
N. M.
Several years ago priests OF the CT
Ollie church employed guides and =
lowed the trail to within 80 miles Of c.
ton, IN. NJ, where it was lost and furtii
search was then abandoned. Ncha1
Ryan is now an old man. He has in
In the west all his life. and Is eAl|
played with Mexican children. learn
their language. which he speaks dumfE
All his life he has been familiar O
many Mexican legends. but, like ottGl
paid no particular attention to theK. e
probably would not now had 1t not -
for an incident few years ago W
caused him to take up the trail q T.
Tres Piedras.
While travelling overland from g
ern New Mexico, Ryan's horses sta1
from camp one night. and he vas e
PEELED to search for them on foot ~
searching several hours he ut e.
upon q stone to rest. and observs1 T.
the rocks in that vicinity formed -
distinct v. This fact aroused hise41
lity, and he began an investigates.
ing on the bottom Of the stone 4
point Of the " the symbol v a.
) chiseled thereon. As this was {
2 beyond that abandoned by the -
Ryan carefully marked the plaee. e
! few months afterward returned All
} up the lost trail. Several times a.
{ the next year or two he lost Tho e.
again. and after giving up for 81
q would return with fresh supplies p !
4 new his efforts.
; Finally, near Garrett, In Beaver e.
! ty, Ryan came upon mound -
old Santa Fe trail. where three
rocks made the symbol. On the -
J. side Of one Of these appeared The ~
indistinctly chiseled. and follows
2 direction indicated within Qunze4'
u 4 mile he came upon another Tn
q with the symbol pointing toward -!
y rection from which he camA
searched the land in that locally
q days, and finally came upon anOth9q
Dol. which, with the two former, fd3
z triangle with the points about Z
(: quarter Of q mile distant. TheVoo
; rock pointed toward the center o
+ triangle, and believing that this fnela
q the termination of his search RJn1
q menced digging in the center q 49,
U angle, where Under-Sherih
e found him. In the hole he has exav
+ Ryan claims to have unearthed
bricks, certainly the handiwork q
n He, IS well as others familiar va,
l. Tres Piedras legend. believes thai vla
e the triangle lies buried the lons-loka
q many times searched-for treasure
8, Dank-Notes Mt . Pre1ln
3. The recent notice authorizine -
Z sue Of notes to the value Of -
. recalls the fact, little know q
II present generation, that Bank
n land notes were at one time
70 1T q premium in the market
year 1925 coin was very sceT
Z. the bank applied for and o.