The Garrett slogan for this detector is, “Garrett AT Pro Brings Hunted-Out Sites Back to Life.” I think that is an interesting saying due to my experiences with the Garrett AT Pro and other Garrett metal detectors. Let’s start off with a common question that I get asked almost every day…
IS THE GARRETT AT PRO WATERPROOF?
Is the Garrett AT Pro a waterproof detector? Yes! The Garrett AT Pro is waterproof up to 10 feet deep! It is fully submersible in freshwater and saltwater.
IS THE GARRETT AT PRO A POWERFUL METAL DETECTOR?
Is the Garrett AT Pro a powerful metal detector that’s easy to use? Yes, it sure is! It’s a powerful detector that is great in any condition of hunting. It’s easy-to-use functions and modern-day technology makes this detector a favorite of many veteran detectorists.
Another nice thing about it is that the Garrett AT Pro comes with the MS-2 headphones, which are amazingly comfortable and has fantastic sound quality. This way, you can hear every beep even if you are in noisy places. These headphones have a $119.95 value that come included with your purchase of the Garrett AT Pro. The AT Pro is considered an “All-Terrain” metal detector that will give you the option to take it anywhere; including the beach, freshwater, black sand locations, or just about anywhere else you can think of. That’s why it’s considered an ALL-TERRAIN metal detector, it’s ready for anything!
The Garrett AT Pro works great in all types of situations but these specific hunting grounds are highly recommended by Garrett:
Ghost Town Hunting, Competition Events, Beach/Fresh Water Hunting.
WHAT ARE SOME OTHER FEATURES FOR THE GARRETT AT PRO?
The Garrett AT Pro also has the Pro Mode Audio feature that sets it apart from other detectors in its class. The Pro Mode Audio allows the detectorist to hear tone changes so the user can better judge the conductivity, size, shape, and depth of the target found it the ground before the detectorist even starts to dig. This gives the user the decision to either ignore the target or decide to dig it up.
The AT Pro also has the Iron Audio feature beep that also gives the user the power to decide to dig for iron or move on. This is nice because most discriminating metal detectors will pass up iron targets without alerting the user. The Garrett AT Pro will alert you with a different audio tone so you can decide if you want to dig for the target. Most detectorists will agree that not all iron targets are trash; many detectorists have found valuable iron artifacts that they’ve dug up and wanted to keep instead of discarding them. As you can see, the Garrett AT Pro literally puts the power of the decision in your hands.
Here’s some other features you may find helpful and worthy of a metal detector that fits your needs.
HIGH-RES IRON DISCRIM
40 levels of iron discrimination provide the fine resolution needed to separate a good target from iron trash
FAST TRACK GROUND BALANCE
The automatic feature that allows the user to quickly ground balance the detector in mineralized soil conditions.
DIGITAL TARGET ID
Numeric identification scale from 0 to 99. Identifies a target metal’s conductivity.
ELECTRONIC PINPOINTING
This non-motion All-Metal Mode function is used to precisely locate a detected target’s position.
GARRETT METAL DETECTOR HISTORY
Garrett Metal Detectors is a worldwide leader in the metal detecting industry. They work in research, development, manufacture, and training of both hobby and security metal detecting gear. Garrett is committed to quality and customer service. They strive to make their products affordable and accessible for their customers without sacrificing the excellence of their products.
GARRETT ELECTRONICS, INC. WARRANTY
Garrett Electronics, Inc. (“Garrett”) warrants that each piece of security equipment manufactured by Garrett is protected by the following limited parts and labor warranty for a period of 24 (twenty-four) months (the “Warranty”). During this 24-month period, Garrett will inspect and evaluate all equipment returned to its authorized repair station or factory to determine if the equipment meets Garrett’s performance specifications. Garrett will repair or replace at no charge to the owner all parts determined faulty. This Warranty does not cover batteries nor any and all failures caused by abuse, tampering, theft, failure due to weather, battery acid, or other contaminants and equipment repairs made by an unauthorized party.
TREASURES IN AMERICA’S IS HERE TO HELP
Our customer service department is ready and willing to help you with any questions you may have. We are deeply passionate about historical treasure hunting, historical research, metal detecting, and prospecting. We can outfit you with the right equipment for the job you have, or we can answer any questions and help you compare products to narrow down the right gear for your needs and budget. We have field experience and we have the equipment knowledge. Reach out to us by email, social media, or our live chat. We will get back to you and help you in the best way that we know-how.
It’s not just a metal detector, it’s a LIFESTYLE. Good Luck. Be Safe. Find Your Adventure.
The Minelab Gold Monster 1000 was created for everyone. It is not for an ‘advanced user’ only and it is not for ‘beginners,’ it’s for all the above. The Minelab Gold Monster 1000 used high-performance technology for seeking gold, but it was built with an automatic operation for easy use.
For many years, metal detectors were hard to learn and not so user friendly. Minelab kept that in mind when creating the Gold Monster, no advanced knowledge is needed. If you are a beginner metal detectorist, you can do the same thing as an experienced detectorist would do and read the owner’s manual and perhaps watch a few YouTube videos and start using this detector right away and be equally as successful.
The Fully Automatic Operation really makes things extremely easy for the user. It has automatic noise cancelation, auto ground balance, & automatic sensitivity as well. For a beginner, this is not only a time-saver with fewer steps to do, but it takes all the brainwork out of the equation and does the work for you! There’s no need to do anything more than power up the detector and start swinging it back and forth to find your treasure. Minelab has been developing detectors for a long time and with their brands being known for high-performance and top-notch technology, you can rest assured that you are in good hands with Minelab’s programming and factory settings.
The Gold Monster frequency is set for 45kHz and after many field trials and testing, Minelab decided that was the ‘sweet spot’ for successful gold hunting. The advanced signal processor that is built into the Gold Monster is of a different type than that of the traditional VLF gold detector. It boosts the sensitivity to gold seeking beyond normal gold detectors.
The waterproof search coil is also genuinely nice and handy for scouting rivers, springs, and shallow water situations. The coil is waterproof up to 3 feet, but the rest of the detector is not waterproof.
The Gold Monster is extremely helpful with its discrimination programming which is adaptive. Salty soils can really throw off many detectors today, but the Gold Monster was programmed to be ready to work for you and will adapt to your environment.
The Gold Monster 1000 also has a couple of extra coils you can purchase for future searching. I will show the detector and accessories below with links so you can learn more.
Overall, the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 has become a consumer’s favorite. The Gold Monster is in demand and even hard to find from time to time. Some detectorists have even had to be put on a waiting list for their purchase. I have spoken with Minelab about the Gold Monster’s availability was told that because of the high demand for these detectors, they have been producing and manufacturing more to meet these demands.
Many customers have told me that they are extremely happy with their Gold Monster and it has now been put high up on their list of a great detector. I strongly encourage anyone that has been debating on whether to invest in the Gold Monster to give it a try. They will be excited about their decision to purchase and will have no regrets.
The GOLD MONSTER 1000 features fully automatic operation and comes with a choice of coils, battery options, and shaft configurations. If you are looking for super sensitive gold performance at a great price, then this is the detector you have been waiting for!
Rechargeable 19 WH Lithium-Ion battery pack that can be charged using the Universal AC Charger plug pack car battery charger.
If you have any questions about the Gold Monster 1000, its accessories, or any other product, please reach out to our customer service department. Treasures in America is dedicated to helping our customers and sharing the adventure through our knowledge and passion. We are the fastest growing online metal detecting store in America, and we will show you why. To learn more about this product from the manufacture please visit their website.
It’s not just a metal detector, it’s a LIFESTYLE. Good Luck. Be Safe. Find Your Adventure.
Nokta has referred to themselves as the “Rising Star” of metal detecting companies and they have good reason to do so. Nokta was established in Turkey during 2001 and soon after, their metal detectors became known across the country. Their categories for detectors are a little different than what USA brands tend to offer. For example, they have manufactured many deep-seeking and imaging metal detectors. I’m not talking just 1 or 2 of these different detectors, but several.
It seems that they have opened the market for advanced detectors, including treasure|cache machines. Nokta is also known for their Pulsedive 2 in 1, Simplex+, and the Anfibio multi. It seems that they have found a niche category that’s working, and they are sticking with it. Finally, in just the last few years, Nokta started selling their products in North America and recruiting what they call the “Nomads” team.
WHO IS NOKTA | MARKO METAL DETECTORS?
Everyone has been hearing about Nokta | Makro since they started selling in the United States, but I think there are still some questions some have about their products and technology. I can tell you this, I own the Nokta Anfibio Multi and the Nokta Multi Kruzer and I am very impressed. Nokta has created multi-frequency metal detectors which means, one metal detector does the job of 3 traditional metal detectors, you can’t beat that.
Here is another bonus I’ve noticed about the Nokta detectors, they seem to do very well in high trashy areas. A personal example I can tell you about this is when the Treasures in America team traveled to a ghost town called Frisco. This ghost town and location is a somewhat forgotten place to explorers and when we entered the townsite, we saw artifacts and old iron trash everywhere. There was so much spread out all over the place that as you walked around, literally almost every step you took, you could pick up an artifact or something made of iron. I knew that most metal detectors would go crazy in an environment like this, but I wanted to test my new detectors.
Most of my other detectors were in fact overloaded and not working properly, but I must tell you that the Nokta Anfibio Multi was doing extremely well differentiating the iron trash. I was still able to detect without too much frustration and interference. Today, every time I go metal detecting, I take two detectors with me. One that I feel is best for the environment I’m going to be in and the Nokta Anfibio Multi. I have learned to always bring it along to simplify my efforts in high trashy places and I think that’s saying a lot because I own at least 20 different detectors from multiple brands and ranging in price.
WHAT IS THE PRICE RANGE OF NOKTA DETECTORS?
Nokta has done a great job creating metal detectors with many varieties and price ranges. You can buy a kid’s metal detector for around $120 dollars, or the Simplex+ for around $250, and they have many other great detectors that you can purchase for only $550 all the way up to $6,720.
As you can see, Nokta has a wide collection of detectors and they carry a variety of coils, pinpointers, and accessories as well. Below is a list of Nokta’s top-selling products so you can see for yourself what people are buying and what is popular.
BEST NOKTA METAL DETECTORS AND ACCESSORIES OF 2020
The Nokta Gold Kruzer has a high rating from customers and prospectors alike. Even though the Kruzer was designed to find exceedingly small gold nuggets, the Nokta Gold Kruzer is a great detector for gold relics as well. The Gold Kruzer doesn’t just locate gold in the ground; but like coin detectors, relics detectors, and all-purpose detectors, the Kruzer alone will find all of those objects too. You do not have to stop at the water with the Kruzer, because it is a fully submersible metal detector up to 16 feet (5 meters).
Nokta Invenio is the first and single revolutionary step taken towards turning a dream into reality in the metal detector industry! Invenio represents one of the most dramatic advances in metal detection technology since conventional metal detectors first appeared on the market in the 1930s. While many new features and advancements in technology have been introduced since, Invenio provides the first major step forward in meeting consumer expectations.
This metal detector combines multiple detectors in one and utilizes cutting edge technology, enabling a unique yet easy-to-use detector experience for new to experienced detectorists. The IMPACT boasts (12) search modes designed to hunt out different targets such as coins, relics, and deep treasure caches. It also operates extremely well in different terrains including (but not limited to) wet beach sand and parks, allowing you to search without any further adjustment if you wish.
The Nokta Jeohunter 3D Dual System is designed and manufactured using the latest technologies. This system is the World’s most advanced detector for locating precious metals and detecting hidden cavities. Jeohunter 3D Dual System is a deep penetrating detector. The system uses advanced discrimination to accurately classify metal targets in to four groups: Gold, Non-ferrous, Steel and Iron. In addition to accurately detecting and analyzing metal objects, Jeohunter 3D Dual System is also capable of detecting cavities underground like caves, cellars, tunnels, shelters, and graves in real-time.
Whether you are at a park, ancient field, or beach, searching for coins, relics, or jewelry, the Anfibio Series will deliver superior depth, speed, and performance. No need to get frustrated navigating through multiple screens – The Anfibio’s single menu design offers amazingly simple operation and saves valuable detecting time. Anfibio Multi (5/14/20 kHz) – Multi-Purpose.
The Multi Kruzer will bring hunted out sites back to life by offering the best performance and depth combined with its robust and waterproof design. Are you a beach hunter? We did not forget about you, either! The Multi Kruzer features a new advanced beach mode that provides a very stable performance on the wet salt beach and even underwater.
We are proud to offer our first entry-level detector, the SIMPLEX+, which makes quality metal detecting available and affordable for all users. SIMPLEX+ is a turn-on & go detector with auto ground balancing! It boasts preset search modes, including a beach mode, in a very easy-to-use, single menu design.
The Nokta Pulsedive 2-in-1 is a lightweight and easy to use a metal detector for underwater. At the beach or at a lake, you will be ready to do it all and find it all with the Nokat Pulsedive 2-in-1. The small and compact detector makes it easy to scuba or snorkel in the water and with the all-metal pinpointer feature, you could get lucky with finding treasures if you are in the right place. Dive like a pro and purchase the Nokta Pulsedive 2-in- today. Please reach out to Treasures in America if you have any questions or if you would like us to outfit you with the right gear for you at the right price.
It is very important to have a pinpointer when you are out in the field and that’s why the Nokta | Makro Pinpointer is a great choice for you if you are in the market. The Nokta | Makro Pinpointer is a very accurate small metal detector that helps you locate and narrow down the exact location of the target that your metal detector alerted you about. The Nokta Pinpointer will help you locate your target at ease.
If you have any questions about the Nokta detectors, its accessories, or any other product, please reach out to our customer service department. Treasures in America is dedicated to helping our customers and sharing the adventure through our knowledge and passion. We are the fastest growing online metal detecting store in America, and we will show you why. To learn more from the manufacturer please visit their website.
It’s not just a metal detector, it’s a LIFESTYLE. Good Luck. Be Safe. Find Your Adventure.
THE STORY OF BURIED SPANISH SILVER AND LOST SPANISH MINES
In 2009 there was a story that was brought to my attention; a story of riches and lost history that was practically right in my own backyard. This story happened to be right up my alley because it had to do with Spanish explorations, lost mines, slavery, and 400 Spanish silver bars hidden in the tall mountains of the St. George, Utah area. (I don’t know if you could say you’re a treasure hunter if words like that don’t catch your immediate attention and interest.) Needless to say, I was VERY interested and wanted to hear more.
A LOOK INTO THE BACKSTORY OF RICHES AND LOST HISTORY
I was told that a small group of Spaniards that had been following the Old Spanish Trail had ventured off into the Southwestern region of Utah and discovered a tribe of local Indians. The Spaniards decided to stick around in what is now the St. George area, and make camp. During their early stages of learning the landscape and becoming familiar with the area, they came across a few Paiute Indians. After a few days of talking and getting to know the Indians, the Spanish Conquistadors brought up the conversation of gold and silver minerals. They showed the Indians some shiny gold and then tried to convince them that they were explorers and were only there looking for minerals. The Paiutes finally gave in and pointed to the high mountains of the valley.
The Spaniards left their camp very quickly and disappeared without a trace. It is said that the Spanish Conquistadors were gone for some time, and there were only a couple reports from other Paiute Indians mentioning of a “strange-looking people” that had been spotted now and then riding horses and were scouting around the mountains. One day, after a few months of the first encounter with the Conquistador’s arrival, the Spanish returned to the Indians camp. But things were different; the Spanish were on a mission and it was not a friendly visit. This time, the Spanish were aggressive, angry, and irritated, and became forceful as they started rounding up some of the younger Indians and tying them up. The Paiute Indians were confused, scared, and wanted to stop the Spaniards, but they backed down as they saw some of their people being tied up and forced to leave their camp.
A few months went by and soon even more Spaniards started to arrive in Southern Utah and took more slaves with them to the mountains. The Spanish had hit a big vein of silver and started opening 2 extremely rich silver mines, (as is told by the local Indians.) The Spanish treated their new slaves very harshly and worked them to death in some cases. After many years, the Indians decided to fight back, and they began to organize a plan. The Spanish mining activity had become very spread out in the area and some locations were miles and miles from the other. Finally, one day, while the unsuspecting Spaniards were busy admiring their riches, the attacks from the Indians began…
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE INDIANS STORY
From what I understand, the fight only lasted a couple of days, but the Spanish were able to hide their silver bars in the wilderness before fleeing the area. At this point in the story, I had to ask, “How much silver was hidden? How many bars?” I was told that their ancestors believed there were close to 400 bars of pure Spanish Silver that were never found by the Indians after the attack. After inquiring about how they knew it had been buried, it was explained that the Spanish had used an off-trail passage of the “Spanish Trail,” and the Indian warriors had held the Spanish men in a certain spot of the wilderness for a couple of days. I was also told that the Spanish only got away because they fled with their horses very quickly; one minute they were there and then they were gone. The Spanish moved much too quickly for horses that could have been weighed down by heavy bars of silver so the best explanation for that is that it was buried.
It was explained to me that if I looked around the area of the modern-day Pinto settlement, I would start to find old history and structures that are withering away and have been lost with time, and that would let me know I was in the right area. The last part of the story that I was told was that the mines had been covered up by the Paiute and all the belonging of the Spanish Conquistadors had been tossed into the mines. Any other belongings of the Spaniards that they came across in the other surrounding mining activity areas were tossed into natural blowholes by the Indians. They wanted to erase the existence of the brutal Spanish men ever being in that area and wanted to make it exceedingly difficult for them if they ever returned.
THE SILVER BARS AND HIDDEN CACHE
The value of silver today has increased, and 400 bars would make a great treasure! Not to mention that the Spanish silver bars would be a buried treasure and would have Spanish markings on each silver bar that would be considered a ‘valuable collector’s item’ to the right people. Their value could be much more than just the value of silver itself; it could double the value because it would be deemed “recovered buried treasures”. I have estimated that if you sold the silver bars for the current silver value, 400 pure silver bars in today’s value would be around 1 million dollars and it could be even more depending on the weight of each silver bar.
TWO RICH SILVER MINES OF THE PINE VALLEY MOUNTAIN AREA
There is more to this treasure than just the silver bars. Yes, the silver bars would be a great find and plenty of money, but I also put a high value on artifacts, structures, lost mines, and the treasure symbols and clues that are usually found near a Spanish mining operation. The Indian story has told that they gathered the Spanish belongings and put them in the mines and dropped the rest in nearby nature blow holes… That would a great find as well! There could be Spanish swords, armor, tools, and one could only imagine other items that could be found. Those items, I would imagine would have a high value as well, but just finding the lost and concealed mines at all would be an exciting day for sure. It is for all these reasons and the simple fact that I love an adventure, why I chose to take on this story, and start researching it myself out in the field.
THE DISCOVERY IN 2010
My friend, Brandon and I spent almost 1 full year in the Pinto area looking for clues. We hiked in the snow, we hiked in extreme southern Utah heat, we hiked in downpouring rain, you name it, and we never gave up. We were determined to find something to keep our excitement up so we could have that one thing that would keep us enthusiastic about continuing our explorations. We finally had narrowed down a perimeter of almost 12 miles that we determined was important to further research and needed to explore further. It didn’t take us long; I’d guess about 4 weeks to find some old tree carvings and some rock monuments. One rock monument still puzzles me today, I have not come across anything like this at any other Spanish site that I’ve been to, and I have not figured out to this day what the purpose of placing it there was.
I’m sure that this rock monument was placed here by man, and it’s too heavy for one or even two men to have picked up to “set” it in the ground. Whoever did it, they did it for a reason, I just haven’t narrowed down what that reason is yet. I’ve always thought that it could be a burial site, or possibly it’s the site where the Spanish buried their silver bars. It could be a direction marker or even a path marker. One thing I will tell you is that this area needs more investigation, there just wasn’t anything more we could do with just the two of us. Reluctantly, we moved on and have only returned to the site one other time because we were told by another person (unrelated to the original story) to look south of the area because supposedly, 40 years ago, a rancher from the nearby area had found some strange stone formation that sounded like it could be a possible arrastra or smelter.
SPANISH TREE CARVING
This Ponderosa pine tree has been dated back close to 500 years old and it is the only one in the area for miles. That alone is interesting to me, not necessarily treasure hunting worthy by itself, but it makes sense that it would have been the perfect tree for the Spanish to use to carve treasures symbols on it to show a direction or distance. This was a common practice that was used so that other Spaniards could locate the treasure or mine area for years to come. They would navigate by using a map that had been drawn out and uses natural landmarks for clues to point the person in a specific direction. Often times, as you near the area of the destination, they would leave man-made clues to let the person know they were on the right path and getting closer. I performed a field test called the “finger test” in 2012 on this tree. The finger test is a way get a rough measurement and age on the symbols carved into a tree. My results came back that the carvings were around 300 years old, which does in fact, go along with the time frame of the Paiute Indian story.
After careful inspection of the symbols, I discovered knife marks on the trunk of the tree. The bark, once it is cut, can become deformed and overgrown, but the trunk will never change. To see the knife marks, one would have to cut away the bark to see what’s underneath, but then that would destroy the symbol and the way it looks today. Before something like that can be done, the tree would have to be documented very well, so the evidence would not be lost.
For years I have wondered what I would see if I cut away the bark, but there’s always the chance that the carver didn’t carve the symbols deep enough to fully mark the trunk. It’s been a hard decision to make so reluctantly, I’ve had to put a pin in it, and have not done anything yet. I am big on the preservation of important locations and areas of interest and am only willing to alter clues in a controlled environment.
The black marks on my hand in this pic are from the finger test. I used my hand as a measurement to see how deep the symbols are embedded into the tree from the bark. The three symbols below were measured with a measuring tape and a straight edge.
6 MILES AWAY AS A CROW FLIES
After these discoveries, Brandon and I scouted the surrounding area for months and only found 3 rock monuments and the tree carvings. We also found a natural blowhole near the symbol tree about a mile away. I was told by Stephen B. Shaffer, that an old rancher had told him in the 1980s that there was an old arrastra in the same area of the discoveries Brandon and I had found. Strangely, I had a dream one night that let on that Brandon and I were looking in the wrong area and that we needed to search deeper into the wilderness; we needed to be looking further East than where we were. I felt that my dream was telling me that the clues we had found must have been trail markers to point a direction and distance. In my dream, I saw an area that we had not explored before, so the next chance we got, Brandon and I hopped in the car and drove down a dirt road that was on the opposite side of the mountain range we had been exploring and researching.
We approached an area that stuck out to me and grabbed my attention. It was odd because I had never gone down this road before, but something felt right about it and although the road did not end and continued, I felt like we should stop and look around. I pulled over, we grabbed our gear and were just putting on our backpacks when I looked up and saw it! I saw an old structure hidden in the trees and barely visible from where we were standing. There was vegetation of the wilderness growing all around it. I looked at Brandon and said, “That’s old! I don’t know what it is, but it’s old!” He looked up to where I was pointing and got a huge smile on his face. It was about a football field away from where we were standing next to the car. We both looked at each other and we both had that same big grin, the one of excitement and accomplishment. It was already a victory and we didn’t even know what it was, but we knew it was something good.
We raced down the dry creek and as we got closer, I could see the age of the structure and vegetation growing around it was definitely old, nothing modern. It was a circled structure with a small opening at the bottom, facing the direction of what was once a stream. At the time, I wasn’t 100% certain it was what we thought it was, but we were pretty sure it was a smelter or kiln. Once we got home, I did some thinking, and I remembered that the kilns I’d found in the past, always had rounded ceilings, but this structure did not appear to have ever had a rounded ceiling. For the next few months, I made some calls and spent my time researching similar structures.
SINCE THE DISCOVERY
I have returned to the site many times to gain more knowledge, but on one trip, I went out to see what I could find out about whether the smelter was ever in operation. The Smelter, at first appeared to show little use by looking at the rock walls inside. But the soil on the floor revealed a lot of charcoal, like a fire pit, both inside and out of the smelter. Another observation I made was that some of the rocks for the structure were not common to find in the area. In fact, we still haven’t found any of these black and grey looking rocks in particular within the area today.
Just a few feet away from the area of the charcoal, in the dry riverbed, I found a rock that appeared to be out of place. It was in the riverbed by itself and stood out from the others, just a few feet away from the small opening at the bottom of the smelter. Once I rolled the rock over, I knew I had found what I was looking for… Proof of the smelter being used, but not only that, used to melt down minerals. The rock showed signs of slag on it, this is something you should find when the smelter has been used. For those who are unfamiliar with what “slag” is, it’s basically the stony waste matter that has separated from valuable metals during a smelting process. What would happen is they would pour out the worthless remainder of hot liquid during smelting and the separation of ore etc. and once it cools down, it gets hard and reveals strange colors and textures. I had the slag examined, and it was determined that silver was present in the slag. This was another great find and it coincides with the story of the Spanish and Indian slaves. At this point, I knew that this structure was a smelter, and there was a good possibility that it could be related to the Indian story of the Spanish.
Once you become familiar with treasure hunting and finding smelters, you will learn that smelters will usually be within 0-3 miles of the mine’s location. Because of this newfound information, the hunt was on! We had found what I ended up naming, “ground zero” and now we needed to start a radius search from the smelter. We visited the location site several times, almost every weekend for months looking for the mine entrance(s). During that time, we found more clues but one thing that I feel is worth mentioning is that we noticed, in a 3-football field-sized area surrounding the smelter, there were hundreds of old dead tree stumps that appeared to have been chopped by axes. Curiously, all the tree stumps looked incredibly old and brittle and nearly all of them were also close to the same width of each other. These “could be” a perfect size for mine props, or perhaps they were the trees they cut down to fuel the fire.
ANOTHER CLUE THAT POINTS TO ANOTHER IMPORTANT STRUCTURE
I fully believe this old tree stump is a follow marker. A directional indicator pointing the way to something that could be important and valuable. I have seen others like this one though not necessarily on a Jupiter Tree but a similar type of treasure clue, nevertheless. This was an incredibly old Jupiter tree that dates back hundreds of years. I followed the cut branch because it pointed to a canyon down the slope from the smelter. We hiked about a 1 ½ miles, following the running river into the canyon. To my surprise, it appeared that we may had been following right along an old trail. It was faint, but it felt and looked like an old trail that had been heavily traveled on at one time. Once Brandon, my brother Scott and I reached the mouth of an even deeper canyon, we followed it for about 2000 feet and found a rock structure that looked old. It had remarkably similar building methods as the smelter did in my opinion, and there was a faint old horse trail that continued into this narrow canyon. The rock structure looked like a possible retainer wall that was built to protect the trail from erosion.
After closely examining the structure, I still cannot figure out if it was a working platform and retainer wall, or something else… Still today I believe this trail was used and created by the Spanish and their Indian slaves, perhaps while traveling back and forth with the ore from the mine. This canyon and wall structure needs to be researched and I have not returned due to heavy vegetation and difficulty entering this narrow canyon. I will return to it again one day and I have learned and know so much more now than what I knew then. I completely believe this wall is a big clue and one that will eventually point us in the right direction of finding the lost silver mines.
FINDING A SILVER SOURCE
After finding the trail wall structure, I decided to conduct a prospecting test in the river that runs through it to see if minerals were present. Brandon and I searched around the area all day long and noticed a lot of minerals in the sandbanks of the river in many different places. We found a spot in the river that had a shiny riverbank and I used my shovel and a few tools to obtain a small sample from the topsoil. I had the sample assayed and the test results came back reporting extremely high in silver and titanium. In fact, the company I had sent the sample to, Spectro from Las Vegas, mentioned that if I only grabbed topsoil, then I needed to go back and this time dig about 6 feet in the ground and take a mineral sample from there. I have not done that yet.
He went on to explain that if we dig deeper, the test results should be much greater and if we get a higher assay test result, we should stake a claim and sell/lease the land to someone, and could make a profit. This has also has not been conducted yet. I mostly just wanted to see if high amounts of silver were present in the area. I feel that once again, I had found evidence that further backed up the Indian’s story.
At this point, I felt like we had found enough information and evidence to say that we were definitely in the right area and now all we needed to do was locate the two rich silver mines. I went out and bought the equipment and supplies that I felt were necessary to be successful. Believe it or not, at the time I did not own a metal detector that I felt was worthy of the task, so I got right on that and got me one. It completely paid off because since then, I have found artifacts in this area that are worth enough to justify my time and expenses. Unfortunately, I will not speak at this time of the artifacts I have found (for obvious reasons that many treasure hunters will understand) but I can tell you, they go along with the Indian story enough to convince me that the mine and the silver bars are still out there somewhere.
We did find a mine, but I don’t think this one had anything to do with the Spanish because it appeared to be more recent, like in the early 1900s. History shows that a vein of coal was discovered in 1903 and mining did startup in that area. This took place a few miles up the canyon from the smelter. In many of the areas of interest I’ve worked on in the past, I have learned that if a mine from the 1800s–1900s was started up, many of those were discovered only due to someone finding ancient mine prospects or working in the same area (Spanish or even more ancient than that) and from there, they would either reopen the old mine or start a new mine where they had found mineral veins.
FINDING THE SPANISH ARRASTRA IN 2012
The arrastra in this picture has been reconstructed many times throughout the years by the Forest Service and now it is on display with a false plaque stating it was built by the pioneers. The Mormons found coal and started a huge mine in the late 1800s. The forest Service plaque is suggesting that they built the arrastra to crush the mineral to make bricks for housing and buildings nearby. I strongly disagree with the Forest Service on this one and it’s not the first time I do not agree with their claims. For one thing, I have visited many mining camps and ghost towns in the Western states and I have not seen an Arrastra anywhere else like this one. I’ve spent many years researching and exploring, and I can tell you that this type of ore crusher is of a European style. Not saying that someone from Europe did not teach the Mormons how to construct an arrastra, but it is an old method that was not used much in North America around the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Just to be clear, this is not 100% fact, this is my own personal beliefs based on my own research and experience.
I hope you have enjoyed this story of treasure and lost history. I would like to help other people in their own adventures or even a continuation of mine. I try to educate those who are interested on what to learn and how to look for lost history. There are many ways stories like this can be approached, this is just one of them. From treasure symbols to lost caches, buried or hidden you can find them, and they ARE in North America. You just need to know what to look for and be in the right place by using historical research, documents, and looking past the history you have been taught.
The Treasures in America are still currently working on this historical site and if you have any information or would like to get involved, please contactus. To see you of our treasures sites, blogs, and videos you can follow us on social media and Youtube. If you are looking to be outfitted with the right gear for treasure hunting, please visit our online store where we can help you with a metal detector, accessories, and prospecting gear. There are many treasure hunting books and treasure hunting guides to help you get started.
Garrett Metal Detectors could possibly be the most known name in the metal detecting community. For many years, Garrett has seemed to dominate the detector world and I believe there’s a good reason why. I don’t think it is marketing or a fancy new website, I think it goes a lot deeper than that. When I first started metal detecting and treasure hunting back in the 1990s, I researched for the best metal detector I could afford for several months.
After I visited websites, blogs, and forums, and received and read over my brochures, I had narrowed it down and decided that Garrett or Whites metal detectors were my top two choices. At the time, Whites seemed to be my first choice, but Whites metal detectors also appeared to be more complex than Garrett. Because I was new at metal detecting, I was worried about buying a detector that I might not understand or use because it was possibly too advanced.
I ended up deciding to buy a Garrett Metal Detector and I can tell you still today, I am glad that I did. It was extremely easy to use, understand, and all my hesitation and worries were gone after the first few minutes of playing around with it. It was so easy to use, my first trip I found many different artifacts. Some of the items I found were 6” inches deep in the ground and happened to be almost 100 years old. Garrett certainly made my beginning treasure hunting experience amazingly simple.
Are the New Garrett Metal Detectors Easy to Use?
A common question many new detectorists find themselves asking is, “Are the new Garrett Metal Detectors easy to use?” The answer is Yes! Garrett metal detectors have changed over time, but they have kept the models similar in function and still easy to use. I can use a Garrett detector that was made in the early 2000s, and then use a new Garrett metal detector today, and I’m telling you there would not be a big difference in how they function. Garrett Metal Detectors have not changed much except for their technology and performance. They are now better and more reliable than ever but still easy to use for beginners all the way to advanced detectorists. In fact, many detectorists I know today prefer using Garrett detectors. They use them faithfully and have had great outcomes and discoveries.
Is Garrett Metal Detectors Creating New Products?
In May of 2020, Garrett announced that they were coming out with a new model for the Ace Series. The Garrett Ace Apex | Multi Frequency Metal Detector. Many people are extremely excited about this metal detector because once again, Garrett has created a new detector that has even better performance, is lightweight and easy to use at a very affordable price. How can you beat that? Many other metal detector brands are doing the same thing as well, creating easy to use, affordable metal detectors. I think Garrett has set the stage in that class. Here is an article I wrote about the Garrett Ace Apex. Click on this link to read more.
Why Should I Buy a Garrett Metal Detector Product?
Here are a few more things to think about as you are considering if you would like to purchase a Garrett product. On top of the reasons that I have already mentioned above, Garrett technology is also known for multipurpose detectors. Here’s a list of what types of metals and where Garrett does well in discoveries.
Garrett Technology works very well in these types of environments, but they are not limited to these locations and destinations.
Ghost Town Hunting
Competition Events
Beach Hunting
Fresh Water Hunting
As you can see, Garrett Metal Detectors and accessories will help you find treasures in almost every type of location and treasure hunting adventure. Here’s another factor they have going for them, warranty! Garrett has a 2-year warranty on their detectors and that is very comforting to know that you can buy one of their detectors and if something happens to it, it will be covered. Garrett metal detectors customer service staff are professional and ready to help you. I feel confident to say that you can’t go wrong with investing in a Garrett product. I use them and I will stand behind them as a great detector brand.
I think I’ve covered everything that I felt was most important to share with you on my opinion of Garrett and now I think we should get to the top-selling detectors and accessories. Garrett is made in America and they are proud to say so. If you need any help, we are here. The Treasures in America team would be more than happy to outfit you with the best product that meets your needs and is within your budget. Contact us today to see how we can help.
Top Garrett Metal Detectors 2020
Top Selling Garrett Metal Detectors and Accessories of 2020
GarrettAT MAX is our most versatile and advanced all-terrain VLF metal detector. With increased detection depth, built-in Z-Lynk Wireless Technology, and many other improvements, AT MAX helps treasure hunters push their limits to the MAX!
Retail $492.96 with Headphones or $424.96 with no headphones
The Garrett Ace Apex has designed a great new look to the Garret family but still included those easy-to-use screen functions. The Garrett Ace Apex | Multi-Flex metal detector uses 4 different frequencies so you can take your metal detecting hobby even further and enjoy every minute of it. Time has shown that the multi-frequency detectors have done very well out in the field.
The Garrett ACE 400 is a Garrett Metal Detectorthat includes advanced features like Iron Audio, Digital Target ID, and Frequency Adjust to help you dig more treasure and less trash.
The Garrett AT Gold is an All-Terrain Gold Finder metal detector that is a hot product and is known for the affordable price and its top-performance for finding gold. You can search for gold nuggets with the Garrett AT Gold in every environment, including freshwater too!
The Garrett ATX is the ultimate multi-frequency detector for all terrains and extreme conditions (highly mineralized ground, saltwater, etc.). It features advanced pulse induction technology, a durable design that meets military specifications, and a new DD coil design for extreme and uniform sensitivity from tiny gold pieces to larger gold nuggets.
Garrett Metal Detectors have been a favorite of many detectorists for years and the Garrett Ace 200 is perfect for anyone. Beginners have used the Garrett Ace 200 for entry-level purposes because the price fits almost everyone’s budget and because the Garrett Ace 200 is made to last and perform better than most metal detectors in its class.
The Garrett Pro-Pointer AT Z-Lynk is Garrett’s number 1 top-selling pinpointer. With the Lynk technology, you can connect your AT pinpointer to any Garrett metal detector that has the wireless Lynk option.
This must-have detector has been designed as a well-built pin-pointer called the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT! It’s true, you can try to metal detect without a pin-pointer, but you will save yourself a lot of time and frustration with the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT.
This waterproof coil easily locates coins, rings, and other treasures among the trash and in tight places that are too small for larger coils. Use this to find smaller, shallow targets in trashy or confined areas.
