When I was young my Father was involved in a search for treasure on the California coast. I have been after him to recall what actually took place and he obliged and following is the story, it will be in multiple parts. This took place in the 1960"s.
Howdy Ray This is page 1
I'll try to remember as best as I can. I didn't use real names because I can only remember Bob McCall's name . He worked with me at GE at Vandenburg, AFB. Bob and I decided to go metal detecting at a place Pirates Cove. We had heard stories about this place for some time . We were detecting along the beach not finding much as the beach was fairly secluded and not very active. As we were detecting we noticed two men working their way down toward the beach but we couldn't see the trail they were following. Then we noticed they weren't coming down to the beach but moving laterally , parallel to the brach. They were moving slow and we noticed they looked older. and they were carrying a door. We decided to go up to them and offer our help. Which we did and they excepted. We found out they were making their way toward an opening about 100 ft. in the direction they were moving. The opening was in the vertical cliff face about 30-40 ft above the beach. This opening had a small flat spot in front of it.
We got the door to this place and with no problem . We then got the story. the younger fella ( YF) fold us how he was watching birds come and go from a small opening in this cliff. He climbed up to the hole and made it bigger and discovered there was a partial tunnel with marks on the wall seemingly made with a toll. ( grappling hook?)
According to the YF there were originally 7 men involved in this treasure story. ( not conting Bob and I ) The two men are the only ones left . Not sure if the others died or just pulled out of the agreement. The YF said he decided to lease the land but he needed to install the door to keep kids out of the tunnel. The tunnel was appr. 3ft. wide 3-4 ft. high and about 6-8 ft long at this time. The YF had been digging in this tunnel and clearing out debris and dirt.
With the other partners gone, the YF asked Bob and I if we would like to get in on the treasure hunt. Of course we agreed.I cannot remember what the agreement said but we signed on.
The YF said he would like to open up the tunnel. Se we went to the hardware store and purchased dynamite & caps to loosen up the dire in the tunnel.( at that time one could go to the hardware store and purchase this over the counter) We built a trolley that held a 5 gallon can of dir t so we could shuttle the dirt out of the tunnel. We didn't realize the work involved in the future as the digging progressed using this system. We tunneled about 20-30ft. horizontally moving all the dirt with the trolley. ,,,,,,,End page one
Howdy Ray This is page 1
I'll try to remember as best as I can. I didn't use real names because I can only remember Bob McCall's name . He worked with me at GE at Vandenburg, AFB. Bob and I decided to go metal detecting at a place Pirates Cove. We had heard stories about this place for some time . We were detecting along the beach not finding much as the beach was fairly secluded and not very active. As we were detecting we noticed two men working their way down toward the beach but we couldn't see the trail they were following. Then we noticed they weren't coming down to the beach but moving laterally , parallel to the brach. They were moving slow and we noticed they looked older. and they were carrying a door. We decided to go up to them and offer our help. Which we did and they excepted. We found out they were making their way toward an opening about 100 ft. in the direction they were moving. The opening was in the vertical cliff face about 30-40 ft above the beach. This opening had a small flat spot in front of it.
We got the door to this place and with no problem . We then got the story. the younger fella ( YF) fold us how he was watching birds come and go from a small opening in this cliff. He climbed up to the hole and made it bigger and discovered there was a partial tunnel with marks on the wall seemingly made with a toll. ( grappling hook?)
According to the YF there were originally 7 men involved in this treasure story. ( not conting Bob and I ) The two men are the only ones left . Not sure if the others died or just pulled out of the agreement. The YF said he decided to lease the land but he needed to install the door to keep kids out of the tunnel. The tunnel was appr. 3ft. wide 3-4 ft. high and about 6-8 ft long at this time. The YF had been digging in this tunnel and clearing out debris and dirt.
With the other partners gone, the YF asked Bob and I if we would like to get in on the treasure hunt. Of course we agreed.I cannot remember what the agreement said but we signed on.
The YF said he would like to open up the tunnel. Se we went to the hardware store and purchased dynamite & caps to loosen up the dire in the tunnel.( at that time one could go to the hardware store and purchase this over the counter) We built a trolley that held a 5 gallon can of dir t so we could shuttle the dirt out of the tunnel. We didn't realize the work involved in the future as the digging progressed using this system. We tunneled about 20-30ft. horizontally moving all the dirt with the trolley. ,,,,,,,End page one
