Idaho Treasure Hunters

As requested, here is a photo of the miner’s pick. I found this pick about two weeks before the antique change purse with my White’s DFX machine using the Big Foot search coil. I still haven’t covered all of the area and will be going back once the snow melts in the mountains. The area we are searching is rugged with lots of vegetation and trees both standing and fallen over making it difficult to do a grid search. The photo of the terrain will give you an idea on what we are up against.

Those of you who are familiar with the Big Foot search coil are probably wondering how I am able to navigate through all the brush. I use the Big Foot for open areas and then go back with the standard issue search coil afterward. The antique change purse mentioned earlier was actually found with the standard coil.

I posted information about the antique change purse found last summer with my White’s DFX metal detector at several metal detecting forums and thought it such a great find I want to post it here as well. I apologize to all my subscribers who have already seen it. I want to share it with newcomers to this blog.

In the area that the purse was found we also found a bent bucket, a miner’s pick (without handle) several horseshoes, an old Levi’s button, and even a rusty mining pan. As soon as the snow melts in the mountains I will be making another trip to the location and will let you know what I find. If anyone would like to see a picture of the miner’s pick let me know and I will post it.

When I first moved to Meridian, Idaho in 1997 I was fascinated by all the treasure stories in and around the Boise, area. The story of David Levy really caught my attention. In case you haven’t heard the story I will share the key points with you.

David Levy was a gold prospector who owned taverns and brothels in Boise in the late 1800′s. He used to take frequent trips into Rocky Canyon outside of Boise with full saddle bags and come back with empty bags or no bags at all. When the townsfolk realized that he wasn’t putting any of his proceeds in the bank they figured he must be taking it into the canyon and burying it. Several times he was followed into the canyon but David always gave them the slip. He was murdered in 1902 and no money was recovered in or around his home.

Last summer I heard that the treasure had been located several years before; back in the 1980′s I believe, by a man who researched the story for quite some time while living in California. He was very proficient at dowsing and was able to locate the area of David Levy’s cache. He gathered up the cache by using a metal detector. Several thousand dollars in gold coins were quietly recovered. My source of this information saw several gold coins in his possession.

I went on my own search with my son the summer of 2008 and believe I found the location where the treasure was once buried. My son was the first to notice three large impressions in the ground that were about eight to ten feet apart from each other and rectangular in shape. I used my metal detector in the area and found a few old rusted saddle buckles convincing us this was most likely the place David Levy buried his cache. I took this information to my source who told me that what I described sounded much like the information the finder had given of the location.

Sadly I have taken this treasure story off my list of possibilities and moved on to the next one. I will let you know my progress once the snow melts in the mountains and the “beeping” can begin again.

Welcome to the Idaho Treasure Hunters blog. Everyone is welcome. Make sure you subscribe so that you can get notices when this blog is updated.

This first posting is for you get acquainted with the blog, what our plans are, and how we can help each other in the search for lost treasure, metal detecting tips and tricks on where to search, maybe plan an outing as a group, share input on the many treasure hunting stories that are widely circulated as well as some we would like to share that aren’t widely known. There are a few lost treasures that I know of that are no longer “lost” but have quietly been recovered. If you know of any recovered treasure stories that you would like to share we can discuss that as well.

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