Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1977)
Make your vacation pan oui By Dian Coleman Of The Print Money may hinder would-be participants of winter activities from skiing to sipping hot toddies, but in treasure hunting, money may well be the result of, instead of the means to, a good time. Toady Robertson of Liberal, Ore. has been a full-time treasure hunter for nearly a decade. When Robertson retired his cock-spur business, he bought a Blazer four-wheeler, a White 650 metal detector and began hitting in earnest some of the sites he has charted through treasure tales and a barrage of maps for many years. A pick and shovel and a sharp eye are all he recommends. These are relatively cheap and/or abun dant. Some sort of metal detector is handy as is prospector's sense of adventure and lust for treasure. (You may recall this prospector's sense from childhood when you panned mica from a local stream, or hoarded pieces of Indian pot tery.) He has learned that one of an Oregon treasure hunter's worst problems is Mother Nature. Her cantankerousness means fickle weather, wild animals and rough country overgrown with brush. Other hassles include human greed and its deadly dangers and, if you're a successful treasure Skating provides warm, dry winter fun hunter, the Internal Revenue Ser vice, which rather pestily insists on examining and sharing the wealth. Bad subject aside, though, trea sure hunting offers fresh air, exer cise, excitement, teamwork, brain work and possibly a big (or little) bonanza. This time of year, Robertson recommends hunting southeast Oregon, where cold weather has killed off much of the vegetable groundcover. Other than that area, he said "I wouldn't recommend hunting in Oregon this time of year. The weather can be treacherous, and even around here,for small objects, the detector can be set off by wet grass, which can ground it sudden ly." Stilt, if a person could find just one twenty-dollar gold piece worth $300, it would make the day and possibly a treasure hunter for life. Robertson grins and evades the question of just what he has found. One of his biggies that he will discuss some is what he believes to be the lost mine of Ed Schief- felin, famed prospector who dis covered the rich Tombstone, Ariz. silver mines. Robertson's claim lies on Bureau of Land Management Land in southwestern Oregon. Several dif ferent lost cabins are said to be in this area and to be the key to rich mines or hidden loot. Roller skating and ice skating could very well be a good way to pass some time away this Christ mas vacation, inexpensively. Rollerskating is something that kids and adults can all enjoy, once a person learns to roll. To roller skate, order the size of skate the same size as your shoe size. Be sure to lace the skate up tight enough to support the ankles but not enough to cut off circula tion. Wear knee socks or medium weight socks. Don't wear several pairs of socks because they are lible to slip and then rub thus causing blisters. Skating is simple once you get the hang of it. Just slide one foot in front of the other slowly, then as you get used to the feeling, build up speed and eventually be able to skate backwards and even dance. Ice skating is basically the same as roller skating except for the fact that skating is done on a thin steel blade rdther than four wheels. Skating is a physical activity and you will get warm, so don't wear heavy clothing. Don't wear pants that drag the ground because they may get hung up on the rollers or something else. If you wear overalls you must wear a sweater or something over it because of the buckles. Here are a list of rinks in the area to roll around in: --Imperial Skate (roller), 419 S. E. Madison. --Jantzen Beach Ice Center, 1800 Jantzen Beach Center. -Lloyd Center Pavilion, The Lloyd Center. -Oak Park Skating Rink (rol- er). Ft. of S.E. Spokane. -Silver Skate Ice Rink, 1210 N.E. 102nd. Page 18 Robertson has traversed much of Iron Mountain, near Manzanita, searching for the Port Orford Me teorite, a piece of rare material said to weigh nearly 22,000 lbs. and to be worth two million dollars. "I don't know just where it is," he said, "but I can sure tell you where it ain't." Robertson has had some close calls on the up-and-down faces of Iron Mountain, where the brush is nearly impenetrable, and the ter rain rough going. "One time I was fighting my way through the brush with my detector and I couldn't see my way very well. I fell into a big pit from a tree which had up turned, and like to broke my back. Broke my detector, too." He no longer treasure hunts such rough terrain alone. Robertson really goes for the big digs. He has recently made a trip to Texas, where he believes he has found the area of the Monterey Mint Robbery stash. He has made arrangements with the ranch owner to return and dig. Some of the popular treasure tales of Oregon lore Robertson scoffs at. One is the Blue Bucket Mine story, which has a young boy from a lost wagon train under the misguidance of Steve Meek (brother to the famous Joe Meek) carting a blue bucket full of nug gets when the train finally reached The Dalles. "That's just too far-fetched for me," said Toady. "For one thing, a cube of gold 14 inches weighs a ton. That would have been one hefty kid." "Besides that, any old-timer who survived should have been able to follow traces of wagon ruts back to the place the gold came from." Shipwrecks and incidents on the Oregon coast have produced real treasuresand long-lived stories of more treasure yet unfound. One such from the Indians of Neah kahnie: Long before they were born, a wax vessel was lost on the spit and another ship anchored near shore and some of the people brought a chest up on Necanny Mountain and carried sacks of money and put them into the chest. They killed a man and put him in also. Afterwards, they marked a stone, rolled in on the chest and went back to the ship and sailed away. The story was told to John Hobson of Astoria in 1848, and the "wax ship" referred to a wreck which did indeed leave chunks of Oriental beeswax on the coast, which were found and dated circa 1680, and assumed to be from a Spanish galleon. In 1931, the skeleton of an eight- foot black man was found at Three By Ann Breyne Of The Print The Eagle Creek, Clackamas and Sandy Rivers are the places to fish for winter steelhead in this area. Winter steelhead weigh between seven to 10 poundsand have bright orange, extremely firm meat. The steelhead are a special breed of rainbow trout that goes to the sea but is mostly a fresh water fish. According to 1976 Oregon Catch Statistics, 4,990 fish were caught in the Sandy, 3,972 in the Clack amas, and 1,274 in Eagle Creek. These figures cover December, Jan uary and February, which are considered the best fishing months for winter steelhead. "These places are just dyna mite to fish." said Pat Breyne, Portland Community College stu dent. "Eagle Creek is really a small area but look how many fish were caught." "The Columbia is not a major river for catching winter steelhead. Last year on the upper part of the river only 880 were caught," said Breyne, a Milwaukie resident. Breyne recommends the maga zine "Salmon, Trout, Steelheader" as a reference, as well as a course offered by PCC in winter fishing. Equipment needed includes an 8.5-foot medium action rod, $35; casting reel, $40 (can extend drift, Rox Beach, 50 miles soutM Neahkahnie. Robertson incfl he would like to search fori treasure connected with thS covery. According to local Indi gend, a ship blown into then of the Salmon River wreck! the crew disembarked, carra huge box or chest ashore. TT buried it, diverting a small stn and then rechanneling it. The® members then departed ¡nil mountains, leaving two ml stand guard. One of them wl tall black man. I Such are the stories which ft treasure hunters going. "I can go for hours and hours for days—by myself and nevW tired of it," said Robertson. | The source of excitemeift already within him, and 'al sets more abuzz than Robert® metal detector. One time, on the mJ trail, Robertson's detector■ wild. He thought he had it. I he actually had, though, were lai of a bomber which crashed I coast mountains during WWlfl What does he find-coin, rinj and rocks? Bottles, jewelry or ¡1 scribed stone? There is enoufl keep him at it with more than™ interest, but it is hidden beliif his grin and the glint in his eye j Winter steelhead -a good catch cast longer, and control fish bet ter) or spinning reel, $20; hip boots, $15 to 35; tackle, $30; and rain gear and warm clothes. Licenses run $9 with tags going for $2. The majority of fishing is done from the bank although a drift boat or jet sled can be used. Bank fishing involves standing in the river, casting and retrieving. "Larry's Sporting Goods in Ore gon City Shopping Center offeiy* $5 for the biggest steelhead of the day caught anywhere," Breyne said. "Also they'll set you up and give you pointers to get you started," Thursday, December 8, jH|