I will first demonstrate how to find the coordinates of 1847, and 1751. We must complete this task before moving any further. 1847 is the general Route Locator Coordinate, and 1751 is used seemingly as the “Change of Direction Coordinate,” as well as a means to pinpoint the latitude line of the mine. 1847 minus 1751 equals 96. From the Priest map it is easy to see that the latitude line where the mine is located lies on the 33° line, but, which one? All of the latitude lines in the Superstitions are 33°. The number 96 will be the last two numbers in the actual latitude coordinate. Pretty tricky right? Also, when following the degree lines on the Cursum Perficio Map, 1847 and 1751 are prominent coordinates all over the globe, as the other “dates” we find carved in stone and that is why this works anywhere on the globe as well. It is a perfect system hidden in plain sight.
Using the coordinate 1847 in finding a trail to a Spanish mine is a very simple thing to do. All you need is Google Earth©, the coordinates and patience. One of the maps tells us that going just 18 “places” was dangerous. A “Place” is simply the distance from one 1847 coordinate to the next. When a Conquistador tells you something is dangerous, you can take it to the bank! To follow along the Spanish Trail of Slaughter using the 1847 and the 1751 coordinates, you will need Google Earth up and running and pictures of the Stone Maps at your side. We will start with the date on the base of the steps up the mountain, on which the Jesuit is standing. That indicates a place high up, as a starting place. This starting place is the Cursum Perficio Stone Compass, high upon the Superstition Mountain, known as the Compass Stone. It is the only starting place from which to find the mine. It is on top of the North end of the Superstition Mountain Range which can easily be seen from Apache Junction. It is above the Jesuit Priest Hat carved in stone for all the world to see, but they don’t really see it. Some say Jesuits didn’t have that style of hat, so it must be a witch. If you want it to be a witch, okay then, it’s a witch. It is called different names by many, the witch hat, the pope hat, a rock, and other things as well. Besides just being a hat, it also has a square notch cut in the stone, in which the Jesuit is looking past, to the mountains beyond. It is referred to by many treasure hunters, since Kenworthy named it, as the Mountain Door. Using the Cursum Perficio stone, which the witch hat points to, from the map and the stone, as it is translated on the Stone Map, the coordinate 1847 will make perfect sense for following the trail straight, well, almost straight, to the mine. There are hundreds of these “Mine Door Monuments” across America. They were required to be seen from great distances away, up to eight miles or so. There is an amazing one I found sixty miles away, sitting on the Rag Top Mountains which overlook the Silver Bell mine, near Red Rock, Arizona. There is one on Victorio Peak, where Doc Noss found a hidden cavern full of Spanish loot along with other treasure from another era as well. I believe the later artifacts were hidden there by Chief Victorio, as well as the Spaniards, much earlier. There are more Mountain Doors that I know of, but that is for another story.
If you are on Google Earth, let us move our cursor to Canyon Lake Marina. ( N 33° 32.113' W 111° 25.394’) I want to take a dip. A dip is what you would get if you tried to follow the original trail, but through the modern miracles of technology, we can do it by skimming over the water.
On Google Earth, over Canyon Lake Marina, you will see the covered boat docks. South of the covered docks, is the Apache Trail Road, and that leads you into La Barge Canyon Creek, which is quite full of water for a ways. Go to your Google Earth Tool Bar and click on Tools, then Ruler. Take the square curser to the last Parking lot for Canyon Lake, which is in La Barge Canyon Creek, and move it slowly around in the water until your latitude or longitude reading, at the bottom of the screen, the last four numbers, reads 1847, then click once, now pull it just a fraction of a hair away from that mark and click it again. This leaves you with a little yellow line so you can easily find it when you look away to the top of your screen to click the place mark and drag it to that line. Pin it and name it 1847 and click save. There, your first coordinate of 1847, as directed on the map! However, understand that this coordinate is from the longitude reading. It is roughly at: 33°31’41.82”N and 111°25’1847W. Sometimes it will be hidden in the latitude reading as well, so watch both as you move the cursor from here on out.
I showed you this one first so you can use the parking lot a a reference point. The next reading farther back in La Barge, is: 33°31’1847N and 111°24’56.92”W, from the latitude reading. It is of significance but I am pointing it out to show the Demarcation line of the missing map and the second trail map. There are 18 places above this 1847 coordinate. This is the top of the missing map. Adjust it as close to the 1847 coordinate as possible. Sometimes it is difficult to get the exact 1847 reading. Get as close as possible and do the same process of naming and saving it as 1847. Now you have two 1847 readings. Now, move northwest out of La Barge, and into the lake, past the first 1847 pin towards the dam, but not too far. At roughly 33°32’31.72N and 111°26’17.51W. This is the Change Direction Coordinate, 1751, as instructed from the Stone Cross. Save it as 1751. There is another one at Alder Creek Canyon, farther up the canyon that we will find later, and still another up Alder Creek Canyon. This proves that the Stone Crosses are a part of the Stone Maps, beyond a shadow of a doubt! Mr. Bilbrey, I hope you are reading. Your mining claims were located very near the 7 Nautical Mile east coordinate line of the triangulation which leads to the mine. You were also very close to the old Spanish mine that Jacob Waltz found also. You were exactly on the right track sir, but don’t despair, true geniuses are rarely recognized in their own time. They are often chased down and eaten by the laughing hyenas.
NOTO to all: Don’t be a Laughing Hyena!
To continue the 1847 pins, move through Horse Mesa and around to the right, to the middle of the small opening of the lake to the east, up stream side, and move up river, as the crow flies with your ruler on or about 37°, to about 1.09 miles, and find your next 1847. Then keep moving up the river/lake, staying in the water, and find the rest of the 1847 coordinates among the bends in the river. There, you are on part of the trail, using the coordinates of 1847 and 1751, that the Spaniards used to go to and from the mine. This is the portion of the trail they were first ambushed on, where the gold they were carrying was thrown, lost forever by the Apaches, until Jacob Waltz found some of it again. The Wood Brothers have found places high in the mountains in which the Spaniards built up their trails using the slaves that were along for the fun. I’m know they had a nice, navigable trail along the Salt River, at this point in the treasure trail. So now move up the river, finding the coordinates and the 1751 change direction coordinate that takes you north up Alder Creek, marking all of the 1847s, until you have 18 total. This will be a very important part of finding not only the trail to the mine, but the mine itself.
As I have said, the Stone Maps are the real deal. They are probably one of the most real things you will ever see from the Spanish/Jesuit era. We are very fortunate that the guys from the late 40’s on, didn’t have a clue as to them being real or fake, with complete certainty. We are lucky that they were ordered turned over to a Non Profit Organization. If the major players of the time had known, beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were authentic, or if they hadn’t been confiscated, we would not have seen them in public, ever again. I don’t believe the public was ready for these maps, however. They were so real, they seemed unreal. They were so different from anything anyone had ever seen, they were alien and barely believable.
To assist in finding the 1847 trail with the 1751 direction changes, I have compiled the following list of all the coordinates. #1 starts back in LaBarge Canyon and works up the river, culminating at the southern most eye catcher in Alder Canyon. The numbers in red are the 1751 Change Direction Coordinates from one of the stone cross staffs that Mr. Bibry found. As you can see, there are three “Change Direction” instructions on the trail to the mine which I have in highlighted red. There are 18 “Places, which are in black.
33°31’18.47”N-111°24’56.92”W=Demarcation of first and second trail maps.
33°31’43.64”N-111°25’18.47”W
33°32’18.47”N-111°25’40.93”W
33°32’29.02”N-111°26’17.51”W Change Direction
5) 33°32’33.07”N-111°26’1847”W
6) 33°33’18.47”N-111°25’28.73”W
7) 33°33’18.47N-111°24’36.88”W
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
9) 33°34’41.06”N-111°23’18.47”W
10) 33°34’32.16”N-111°22’18.47W
11) 33°34’35.67”N-111°21’18.47”W
12) 33°35’18.47”N-111°20’54.32”W
13) 33°35’35.66”N-111°20’18.47”W
14) 33°35’18.47”N-111°19’32.01”W
15) 33°35’17.51”N-111°19’23.49W Change Direction
16) 33°36’18.47”N-111°19’14.90”W
17) 33°37’52.86”N-111°18’47.00”W
18) 33°38’08.51”N-111°18’47.00”W
19) 33°38’17.51”N-111°18’49.39”W Change Direction
20) 33°38’17.92”N-111°18’47.00”W
21) 33°39’48.69”W-111°18’47.00”W
The Priest Map has the Jesuit Priest standing on the first step of four total steps. This is representative of a higher elevation, and the four steps are a representation of the highest mountain that is close by. The CVRVM PERFICIO Stone Map, which is a Compass Stone, is sitting up top of the Superstition Mountain, which marks the 28° line that will be used in our first coordinate. The Jesuits needed a high place from which to do their survey. They stood up high, shooting a coordinate up to the small, flat mesa above the mine, 14.63 Nautical Miles to the northeast, setting their cross staff on a huge bonfire burning there. Once they got that coordinate, it was a simple matter to work down the ridge to the mine, using the moon’s movements in degrees, minutes and seconds, getting the precise measurements in feet. After all, the CVRVM PERFICIO map does make reference to the moon or LUNA. And, they used the cross staff for Celestial Navigation at night. The small mesa to the west of the mine was also used for bonfires to alert the support teams down below. There is one spot atop this mesa where nothing has ever grown and still doesn’t today. At the base of these steps is the coordinate 1847 as we know. The cross-staff that the Priest holds is the key, and guides us to the different parts of the trail and isalso used, as is the 1751 coordinate, as a “change direction” symbol, on another map, as we will see shortlThe Priest’s two hands appear to be on the cross, but this is not entirely true in the world of symbols. The lower hand actually represents the teeth, or cuts of a key, showing us that the cross is actually the key. The cross is orientated in the four directions of the compass. The short arm of this cross is orientated up and down, which signifies north and south, with up being north. The long arm of the cross is orientated east and west, with east pointing away from the Priest. That is not the most important, nor the only secret of the cross/staff key. As with other Spanish maps, the key also hides within it the degrees in which one must follow to reach the exact spot thru triangulation. The cross staff on this map serves that same purpose. The long arm represents 28°, and the short arm represents half of that, 14°. Figuring this out is sometimes not the easiest thing to do, which depends on the nature of the representation at the location you may be working with. In the field, you may only have a date/coordinate chiseled on a rock with the number of “places to go,” chiseled close by. That is enough, with accurate reverse engineering, you can find the mine, although it can be a long, entailed process.
In the case of the Peralta Stone Maps, however, I easily found a picture of the Priest Stone Map on the internet and made three copies, bumping its size up one bump each time. When I used my measuring tools to determine the degrees, 28 and 14 degrees, two bumps up in size was the correct sizing on my printer. It was the 14° that gave it away from the 4 within the heart, and bringing down the one, to make 14 as the number of correct degrees. The cross staff had to be 28 by 14 degrees because that is what works and that is what worked correctly using my measuring tools in correlation with the instructions on the map.
For a free degree measuring tool, go to www.maptools.com. They have downloadable square and round Rose Compasses, as other map stores also have, I’m sure, that can easily be printed from your computer. Go to an office supply store and purchase a pack of premium translucent vellum paper and use that to print them on.
If you have read any of my story in this little volume so far, you will know that I already had a very close estimation as to the location of this mine. Without in-depth research from years of exploration, as The Wood Brothers have done, we may have missed the mark. You have to know almost as much as the Jesuit and Spanish Miners that came one-hundred years later and relocated the mine in the wilderness with no one there telling them exactly where to go. Research in the field is the key. Learning to think like a Jesuit will get you there.
Below, again, is the diagram on the Priest. The 1 (God) on the map has nothing to do and is lonely. He is up high but He wants to interact with the rest, so He comes down to do just that. The floating 1 comes down and is added to the 2, (Christ) which equals 3 (The Trinity), causing a chain reaction which pushes the 3 over, next to the other 3. The 3 is now next to the other 3, making it the 33° Latitude line somewhere to the north of the Priest Monument, just as shown on the Horse Map, and the trail map. To a Jesuit, this is the story of God, #1, coming to earth as The Christ, #2, and leaving the Holy Spirit, #3 to guide us. It is the Trinity that leads to the real Treasure, Christ, that Kenworthy spoke of.
The floating 1 also comes now down to the 4 and equals 14. Within the heart, (Love) which represents God’s Love. Without the 1 (God) in the heart, there is no love! The story of the Trinity reveals the coordinates to the Treasure, the Treasure is really Christ. It is an interchangeable story. Being devised in this fashion, it tells two stories.
In the heart, 14 + 8-N-P = 22 degrees along the 33 degree line, latitude. Notice how the small cross-staff points to the eye catcher monument on the Stone Map, telling us to shoot coordinates from the eye catchers located on the ground. The instructions on the map flow around in the direction of the hollow parenthesis, prompting us to add the 1 to the 4, making 14 degrees, then add the 8 degrees for 22 degrees total, by using the cross staff as a representation of the addition symbol. All numbers in the second half of this equation refer to a latitudinal direction, just as the cross staff points. As mentioned, the second half of the equation tells us to once again bring the floating 1 down, but this time into the heart of gold. The heart tells us that the 14° + 8=N=P, will take us to the mine, represented as the heart, or gold. Knowing that the key, the cross staff, is representative of 28 degrees on the long arm, and 14 degrees on the short arm, makes bringing the floating 1 down to the 4, a simple matter of logic.
Heart, in the Spanish Conquistador symbolism, is the symbol for gold. First however, we must add the 8° declination to get to that gold. Then, we can pull our navigational coordinate line to the exact location of the mine, once we have determined how far to go north, to the 33° grid line, and exactly which grid line is the correct one. The hollow parenthesis tells us the order in which the equation is worked. Just for fun, on your printer, make a copy of the Stone Priest Map, and connect the 1, 2, and 3 with a ruler. Draw a triangle from the eye catcher symbols, the double circles. Use a protractor with a swinging arm to measure the degrees. What did you come up with?
By decoding the maps, we also traced the Spanish Trail of Slaughter near where the eye catchers are placed, using the 1847 coordinate. We must now figure in the 1847 and the 1751 coordinates to follow the map correctly. We cannot find anything without them.
Since 1949, people have rightly assumed that the numbers around the cross/staff tell us the overall coordinates to the mine. There is a 1 above the cross with the next number, 2, below the cross. Horizontally, or latitudinally to the right, is the number 3. When we add the one to the two, we get 3, with the existing 3, we now have 33° and that is the first coordinate we are looking for. So how do we find it? Crank up your Google Earth, and first go to Four Peaks and place a pin on the Southern Most Peak, at or near 33°40’03.91N 111°19’11.49W. Name it FOUR PEAKS, then you can easily find your termination location. Now, go to the Apache Junction area, click on Grid, then click on Tools>Ruler. Go near the Jesuit Priest Rock Monument that is on the North end of the Superstition Mountain and start here: 33°26’52.13”N 111°27’45.28”W
This is going to take some serious eyeballing on your part. It looks like a big ten foot biscuit with a dimple in the middle. It is white, and round and completely out of character from the rocks around it. May I introduce to you, the Cursum Perficio Compass Stone. Long a mystery, long sought after, long passed by, long ignored by the ants hurrying about so far, yet so close, below. Do you see it? Pin it, name it C.P. and position the pin below, closest to you so it is not in the way but you can still easily find it. Until I got used to Google Earth©, I lost it every time and had to search it out!
So, this is from where we shoot our coordinates to the mine. Always start your 28° line from the center of the dimple.
Click on Tools>Ruler and with your square Ruler curser on the center of the dimple, pull a line north and east, at a 28° heading, until you go past your Four Peaks pin, and past the Grid line near it. Do not deviate from 28 degrees. Make these lines as accurate as you possibly can! Save it as “28 degree line.” You will have a red line that completes the first instruction on the map.
Back to the map and moving through the instructions, we see a curved apostrophe on the right, next to the 33° that is telling you to “follow around” ( Illustration #6.) to the other apostrophe, then resume on the next, reading left to right, as the smaller cross points to the subject, the eye catcher symbol. This means that we will now shoot a coordinate in the other direction, from the first, using the smaller coordinate of 14°+8°-N-P. On the ground, there is an eye catcher to the east, as represented by this line of code. Then the next “follow around” points to the second eye catcher, when used in conjunction with the first, forms the triangle that points to the mine.
We ran our first line at 28° longitude, to a random 33° latitude near Four Peaks, and now we are going to run the next line in a latitudinal direction, from the first line, the 28° line. The smaller cross in the box tells us we will change direction with this coordinate. To find this coordinate, we again bring the floating 1 down, directly in front of the 4 that is housed in the heart, and that gives us the 14 degrees, half of the 28 degrees of the large arm of the cross. The heart means Gold, so this one takes you to the mine area.
Shortly, we will move our cursor back to the area of your Four Peaks pin, where the first 28 degree red line terminates. Where that red line intersects the N33°39’48.96” Grid Line, you will click, making sure you are clicking on the Grid Line, and the red line together. We will be pulling a new line from this point in a moment, that denotes the 14° portion of the cross, and the numbers on the map also, but first, there is a very important instruction that needs to be covered.
The Jesuits used Nautical Miles. Derivation: a Nautical Mile is 1 minute of arc along a great circle, or 1/60th of a degree. There are 6076.12 ft. per nautical mile. 6076.12 X 60 = 364,567.2 feet per degree. This formula is used with our map when we multiply, 14° X 60 = 840 feet. We could simply click on the Grid line and the red line together and pull it due east along the N 33°39’48.96’ grid Line, 840 feet, however, that would be an incorrect measurement because we have failed to take one, amazingly important and obscure bit of information into account that is located on our map. The number and letters that are directly latitudinal to the right of the 14 that is housed in the heart, are 8-N-P. Or 8-North-Polaris. You see, this number tells us what the declination of the latitudinal line of the second coordinate is, as well as what the declination was when the maps were created. The amazing thing is that 8 degrees of declination only happened in the year 1767. Geomagnetic calculator software was developed in 1979, so whomever is being blamed for creating phony Stone Maps, couldn’t have known what the Isogonic drift was that far back in the past. The actual date of the 8 degree declination renders the two dates, 1847 and 1751 from the maps, as something other than dates that relate to the map’s creation. This information sets them as coordinates to be used in the navigation to the mine.
So, we have determined that 14 degrees X 60 equals 840, and with our 8 degrees of declination, 8 X 60 = 480. 840 + 480 = 1,320 feet. Click Feet on your Ruler, Click on the Grid Line (1847-1751= 96) and the red 28 degrees line where they intersect, pulling it along the N 33°39’48.96’ Grid Line 1,320 feet, then name it 1,320 line and click save. There is now one more very important bit of information we must utilize to know which 33° line to start from. Search out the 1751 change of direction coordinates above the 1,320 line, near the 28° line, and pin it naming it 1751. This tells you that you have gone too far, (Change Direction) and must return to the south, to the N 33°39’48.96’ Grid Line. Also, the eye catcher below sits on the 33°39’48.96’ Grid Line also. So tell me, how can you go wrong? How could you possibly get lost?
Back to Google Earth, move again to the CVRSVM PERFICIO compass on the northwest of Superstition Mountain. We will use the 7 from the 2=3-©-18=7 string. Click with your ruler on and set it on Nautical Miles, drag a new line due east exactly 7 nautical miles from exactly the same starting point, staying on the exact heading east from the compass stone.
N 33°27’ grid line for 7 Nautical Miles to the east. It is the 7 from the numbers on the second map that is important and a vital part of this coordinate in a few ways, as I will explain. Stay as parallel to the closest grid line as possible, and stop exactly on 7 Nautical Miles to the East. Once that is done save it and name it 7 NM east.
Next, start a new line where you terminated the 7 NM east line, pulling it due north, exactly as far from the termination point of the 7NM east line is from the W111°19’22.08” line, staying parallel as possible, right past the first 29 degree line so they intersect, crossing a little, then stop and save it as 7 NM north. Now you have a big, lopsided triangle with a small line intersecting the tip. Hey, do not blame me! It’s Pythagoras’s fault! Within that tip of the triangle, find your next change of direction coordinate of 1751 if you haven’t already. This will tell you that you have gone too far, and need to go back to the next latitudinal grid line of N33°39’48.96”. There are many things to consider here and we must move as the maps instruct us so we can understand the entire process. Next, I need to explain curious formula located on the #2, or lower trail map. I number the maps as follows: Priest Map #1, (Lost Map #0) Bottom Trail Map #2, Horse Map, (opposite side of Priest Map) #3, Top, or Heart Map, #4. Lower Trail Map, #2, has the Salt River intersecting it at about one-third to halfway from the bottom. Sorry to destroy anyone’s long held tradition, but that isn’t the Gila River, it is the Salt River. The reason I showed you the 1847 coordinates first, earlier in this chapter, was in hopes that you would already have them pinned all the way up the river, as well as up Alder Creek Canyon, to prepare for this portion of Treasure Hunting 101. Ready or not, you should have 18 pins going from the Canyon Lake Marina, with one back in La Barge Creek a little ways. They should follow into the Salt, turning east at the 1751 “change direction coordinate,” near the Mormon Crossing location. With all 1847 pins in place along the Salt River heading east, head up into the mouth of Alder Canyon (33°35’32.63”N 111°19’22.08”W) and then up Alder Creek below the mine area, (33°39’48.78”N 111°18’47.00”W) counting your pins along the way. You should have a total of 18. Once you pin the 18th pin, that is enough, for now. Don’t pin any further yet. Do you have 18 of them? 18, by the way, does that sound familiar, ring a bell? It should.
“ESTA BEREDA ES PELIGROZA YO BOY 18 LUGARES BUSCA EL MAPA BUSCA EL CORAZON”
He went 18 places, from near where today’s Canyon Lake Marina is located, then up the Salt River, and then north up Alder Canyon. A “place” is measured from one coordinate to the next.
This is where the map meets the ground. On the Trail Stone Map, the small cross-staff is facing a different direction. Combined with the two lines inside the “headboard,” telling us we will change direction in “Two Places.” Notice the bend in the river, and the 1847 pin located in exactly the same spot as the cross-staff, with the headboard on the Stone Map (Left). Count over one, then two, 1847 pins, and notice the 1751 change direction pin below, which happens to be sitting on the red, 7NM North navigation Line, seen on the Google Earth map. This takes us directly up to the mine area, via Alder Creek Canyon.
I believe the Spaniards would stop at the mouth of La Barge Creek to camp and regroup. As a matter of a fact, chunks of gold ore, that seemed very out of place, have been found there, but that is another story. They came up La Barge canyon from the south, as well as from the southwest, around the Superstition Mountain Range, and would meet at the confluence of La Barge and the Salt. This was their temporary camp and staging area, to prepare for the trek up to the mine. It is also the location which marks the end of the first (Lost) Trail Map and the beginning go the second Trail Map. The map says it was dangerous and they may have had some Indian trouble along the way at any given time. It was just as dangerous in their day, as it was in Jacob Waltz’s day. So with “places” in mind, on the next map, we have on the bottom left, a head board shaped box with two lines in it, and a small cross above it. I mentioned earlier that the cross/staff could also be used to signify a “change of direction marker.” This box with the cross staff above, tells us to change direction two places. The point I want to make is this: When you see the Key to the map in another location on a different part of the map, or maps, and it has changed directions from the first map, you should be wondering why.
So we have N33°39’48.96” grid line that is in line with the eye catcher, which is located on, or near, that grid line, down the mountain near the Alder Creek. So we not only have a 1751 coordinate to send us back to the 33°39’48.96’ Grid Line, we now see for certain that the correct Grid Line is marked with a monument and there really is no mistaking where we need to be. As if that is not enough to get us there, the next important number is 18. It is 18 places to the 33°39’48.96’ Grid Line, only feet from the monument. Okay, but where is the mine you are probably asking? Hold on to your horses, I say. First, we need to find our monuments marked by the 1847 coordinates down near Alder Creek that will lead us there.You should be in the area of the top of the triangle. If so, you are in the right position. Now you need to locate the three eye catchers. Don’t pull a line yet, just move down the N33°39’48.96” due east, down the ridge to near the creek bottom. If you don’t have the 1847 coordinate marked there already, find it near the creek and near that grid line and pin it. It is south of the gridline just a little, and just west of the creek, at the start of the ridge. Got it? Okay, the eye catcher is the big white rock back towards the creek almost in a straight line with the 1847 coordinate there. Bring the ground in as close as it is still comfortable for you to view. The eye catcher is split and has a pointer sitting on top of it, stuck in the split. Here are the locations of all three eye catchers. Pin them by finding the 1847 coordinates near each one. That will mean pinning two more 1847 coordinates up the creek.
Also, as you can see, all of the maps work together to bring you to one point. It is a complete system, and every point outlined here is just as important as any other in finding the mine. By understanding the overall system used, we see the mastery these people possessed in this highly developed skill, which was actually a highly developed art of subterfuge, mathematics, mining, and survival, among other disciplines.
The northern most eye catcher is at roughly: 33°39’47.424”N 111°18’45.17”W
It sits upon a very steep slope below a very steep cliff. The 1847 coordinate lies farther out in the creek. It is a typical “sun sign,” and it sits 45 degrees from the mine. Pull a new line from the 1847 pin out in Alder Creek, over the eye catcher, up and over the ridge to where the 7NM line and the 1,320 Latitude line meet. Save it as 45 degrees. The second, or middle eye catcher is the one that pinpoints the mine through the center of the triangle. It sits at: 33°39’51.90N 111°18’48.37W. Drag a new line from it to the 1320 line and the 7NM line. Name it Center, click and save.
The third eye catcher is the pointer I mentioned that shows us the trail up to the mine. If you look closely, you may see parts of the very old trail going up the ridge. It sits at:
33°39’56.20”N 111°19’05.08W.
Make sure you drag a new line from all three eye-catchers to the intersection of the 7NM line and the 1320 latitude line.
Name and save each one something like TRI 1, Center, and TRI 3. Now you can see the triangle that pinpoints the mine. This is the function and the reason for the triangle, in its purest form, it is the triangle spoken of on the heart stone.
The triangle below is the configuration of the triangle used to located the Lost Church Treasure of Santa Fe. The numbered points of direction are changed to represent the true direction to the mine, hence, the curios numbers/symbol on the lower Trail Map, 2 = 3 - © - 18 = 7. This refers to the point # 2, as now replacing the old point #3. #3 on the triangle is usually the point that identifies the mines true location, however, on our map, #2 now marks the mines true location
The string of numbers with the one eye catcher to the right of the arrow, 2=3-©-18=7, tells us that our triangle is different from the standard configuration of a triangle located in different geographical conditions. As a rule, the triangle’s three points are numbered 1, 2, and 3. #3 is the northern point, #2 is in a northerly direction, and #1 is always the most southerly point.
This illustration is the Triangle configuration for our particular map. Notice that the complete orientation has been changed to fit the general local that the Jesuits were working with. Locate the 1847 coordinate a little to the South of the mouth of Alder Creek. Then go back two places (two 1847s) down stream. At the second 1847 pin, compare the bend in the river with the bend on the map. It is exactly the same. Now you have found an exact spot on the map, that
On Google Earth, go to below the mouth of Alder Canyon, and find where the 1751 change of direction corresponds to the ground. When I first did this myself, I was stunned. I had finally, actually put the map to the ground!
The Trail Map and the Final Map, or Treasure Map, are used one atop the other. This gives us the overall view that lies north of the Salt River. The lower map shows the Salt River and the “change of direction” symbol that takes us up the Alder Creek. The Horse Map is information that pertains to them both and should be used to the middle but to the side of the two to help connect the them. At about 33°36’47.20” 111°20’09.62”, there are the ruins of an old hunters cabin that is near a very good spring. This is near the mouth of Long Canyon. Only the chimney and a plaque with a picture of the hunters remain today. There is also a large round corral that I believe the Spanish miners first built, to keep their many and varied animals corralled. These animals were used for food and for tallow to make candles which were used in the mine. The Spaniards payed friendly Indians to care for the animals that could not be driven up the rugged mountains, only to be preyed upon by bears, cougars and hungry Indians. On the lower map, north east of the large arrow that leads you into Alder Creek, is a large and a small drill hole. I believe that these holes mark the corral and the spring of that area.
There are 18 dots that mark the places up to the mine from the Salt River. One dot is south of the river, but the trail from the Priest Map through the desert below is not shown for it has zero details leading from the Priest Monument to the river. This would cover the Superstition Mountain area, where everyone is currently looking for the mine. Too bad so many people spent a lifetime, never knowing that one map is missing. A map in-between the Priest Map and the current lower #2 Trail Map would fit nicely. At the very least, the Priest map should show the trail to the Salt River. Too bad Mr. Tumilson has passed on or we could get him to carve us another one. Oh well, there is no one left to tell us, “Here is what happened.” That map would show the exact heading directly from the Alpha, instead of placing the many 1847 pins I have used along existing trails, which isn’t exact, but I feel I am close enough. I know how to get there and that is good enough. There are actual X’s along the Alder Creek Trail which tells us to stay to the left and that this is indeed the trail. There is an upside-down 4, the meaning I am unsure of. I have never found anything along the trail that it corresponds to. Further up and right of the 4 is an F. It probably means, as Kenworthy has noted, that this is the Final step, go no further. When the trail hops to the second, higher map, we see the change of direction leading up the mountain trail, until it “hooks” over through the canyon and then up to the mine. The highest portion of the trail is etched on the heart.
With the heart removed, we see the coordinate 1847. Within the bottom of the 8, we see that there is an eye catcher symbol. This is to advise you that the eye catchers below are all marked with the 1847 coordinates. If you think you have found an eye catcher monument, then there is only one way to find out for sure, shoot the coordinate. There is a 10 with an eye catcher monument to its right, almost acting as a degree symbol. This throws a lot of people off the true meaning. This tells us that there are ten monuments leading to the mine and you must not go any further. The top map has a dagger that is pointing due north. There is a smaller arrow intersecting the dagger that is pointing east. The dagger actually does represent north, with the smaller arrow pointing east. There has been many discussions about the dagger actually pointing another direction to throw hunters off. It’s not so. There are many squiggly lines surrounding the heart. The four sharp pointed lines that resemble steep mountain peaks with one peak on the outside of the heart, and three others on the heart, is Four Peaks. The flat hill next to them is the butte directly west and up on the same north and south ridge as Four Peaks. The long, sweeping arrow that curves into, and points to this flat hill, shows us from which direction the mine is, from above. As with the small arrow on the dagger, it points east from high above. If you were standing on that butte, looking down to the east, you would know that from your position you would need to follow the ridge to the left, (north) down to the mine. This is an important point since going down the ridge to the right (south) would be dangerously steep, rocky and rough. You would have to rope a mountain goat and ride it down. That is why it is important to observe and note even the slightest nuance on a Spanish map, then check it out in any way possible, not putting oneself in any danger of becoming ledge locked.
The Spanish map works in perfect order with the monuments on the ground. The two double circles near the smaller cross on the Priest map denotes the two eye-catchers on the ground that is the triangle used to bring you into the mine. One eye catcher is to the north of the 1847 coordinate just below a steep cliff. It is the one that sits at a perfect 45° angle from the mine. Years ago, I remember, as The Wood Brothers were packing across Black Bear Saddle, the first thing we saw off in the distance, was that eye catcher. We didn’t know its significance at the time, but it did catch our eye, and it was around noon. It was shining to high heaven! The other is at the mouth of the small wash that points up the ridge to the mine, a little further south down Alder Creek is an eye catcher and a pointer. Together, they will lead you to the mine. Actually, the middle eye-catcher points directly at the mine, but the actual trail is marked by the southern most eye catcher. I cannot emphasize this enough. Without the Monument on the ground, the mine may be very difficult to find. There are more, smaller monuments, up the old trail, but with the three eye catchers, you are there if you choose the right trail! There is very little left of that old trail today. The northern most and the center eye catchers help form the triangle that surrounds the mine, but they do not lead to trails, only steep dead ends. From these coordinates, you may have figured out the mine location or not, by now? We will get to that soon.
The EL COBOLLO DE SANTA FE Stone Map is showing us instructions a bit farther up the trail from the #2 Trail Map. There is a cross staff just above the L of EL COBOLLO, with an E to the right of it. This map tells us we cross the river, the Salt River! It tells us we have a heading of northeast, just as the Priest Map tells us, however, we have more information that takes us farther up the trail, using the number 5.
The cross staff points to a range of mountains that must be traversed, (Superstitions) to get to the Salt River. The two eye catcher symbols tell us again, just as on the Priest Map, that we will come to these trail markers and shoot our coordinates from them. That is why the cross staff is pointing directly to them. We then come to the Salt River, and upon crossing up and out of it, we see the number 5 (On the map) with 5 small drill holes to show us that this does, in fact, mean 5 different places. Logically speaking, each drill hole is in a place of its own, or in 5 different places. As we learned in a prior section, we placed 18, 1847 coordinates up the Salt River, starting at the location in La Barge Canyon. We then traveled to the mouth of Alder Creek Canyon to the 1751 “change of direction” coordinate, then heading north up that canyon, also placing the 1847 coordinates where ever they were found there. There are 5, 1847 coordinates up Alder Canyon, the last one is near the first eye-catcher which is the “Trail Monument”. What we really need to know from the Horse Map is that we must go 5 places after leaving the river, to get to the trail that leads us to the mine.
The Horse’s tail is a symbolic representation of the Salt River. Simply look at the tail and imagine the Salt River. Now you can see it for what it really is. The River winds around and turns using the “follow Around Comma” at the top of the tail, then, as represented by the Horse’s different body parts, we can follow the trail upward. From the Horse’s dock, (tail) move up and over its rump, which represents a trail between two steep canyon walls. (Alder) We travel past the loins along the back and up the withers. Up through the “brushy” mane, the trail gets steeper with heavy brush, until we come to the mine, which is represented by the additional eye catcher monument which may be used interchangeably as a mine symbol in this case, which sits at the highest point near the horses poll, or crest, nearest the ears. The distance from the eye catcher to the mine is 0.36th of a Nautical Mile. Notice the slash marks going up the Horse’s mane. There are four. Start at the first and count up to the eye catcher monument. It represents three places with a little left over. It represents 0.36 of a Nautical Mile. That is how far it is up to the mine, precisely. Check for yourself using Google Earth.
The two different 3’s, one located on the horse’s flank, as well as one lower on the ground, tells us we are on the 33° grid line, again, however, the lower 3 with the E near it tells us we are moving in an upward direction, to the West, as the horse is looking down river, to the west. The hollow comma, or parenthesis, in combination with the drill hole which represents a spring nearby, tells us we will turn or “follow around” at that place, also known as making a change in direction. The 3 that sits high on the Horse works in conjunction with the other three to show us the climb and the change of direction that is near the mine. The Horse’s eye has a pointer underneath it. It is telling us to look high, just in case you missed it and found yourself in a lonely canyon bottom somewhere, out of reach of the goal. It isn’t very hard in this area to try finding an easier path and suddenly find yourself too low. I have done much unnecessary climbing because I wasn’t giving my undivided attention to where I was actually going. I know Wood thinks I’m a Lolly Gagger but I love to look at every rock along the way, so slap me. The Horse’s muzzle tells us only one thing, keep sniffing around until you find it. Have you found it? I know some of you have and some of you haven’t. Good Luck!
Oh, did I mention that 1847 minus 1751 is 96? the last two numbers denoting the longitude line of the mine.