On property recently sold by Charles Colburn, two stone crosses (discovered in the 1880’s) are laid out on the ground using surface rocks. One of the crosses is partially encircled by surface rock. Colburn told the author, his grandfather left the ranch to take cattle to market in the late 1800’s. When he returned, "some of the local boys had been digging by the creek, looking for treasure." The crosses lay southwest of Cross Plains, Texas, on the older McDermitt ranch. East and West Caddo Peak can be seen from the site. Colburn also said that at one time there were three crosses, but the last time he (Colburn) had been to the area, he could not locate the third smaller cross. Bill Townsley and Michael Ingram could not find evidence of a third cross, when they visited the site in February of 2000. (Duane Hale; Michael Ingram; Charles Colburn; author’s personnel observations)

A large rock, shaped like a turtle’s head was discovered in the northwest part of Comanche County, Texas. Many figures and symbols have been cut onto the rock. The symbols include: a five point star, a snake and what looks like the number "8". There is a small triangle and an "x", a straight line (one and seven eights inches long) is carved under the "x". There is a small horseshoe cut into the rock (on one side of the star). One of the points on the star appears unfinished or perhaps, it has just weathered away. When discovered, the rock had broken off of a larger rock and the portion bearing the symbols was lying face down. The rock is now in Hadley Scott’s backyard, near DeLeon, Texas. The number of marked rocks that have been documented by Hadley Scott would completely fill two full size newspaper pages (if photos were not included). He is currently searching for a rock reported to be in Comanche, Eastland or Callahan County, dates have been inscribed on its surface (beginning in the 1500s or 1600s). (interviews with Hadley Scott; author’s personal observations)

There is a rock west of Menard with a five point star, letters of the alphabet and dates carved on it, letters of the alphabet and dates (including 1699, 1831 and Mar. 3, 1898). (author’s personal observations). [The B&W Star Rock photo is the same artifact as depicted in the color photo above]

In Comanche County, "AP" was found cut on a rock, nearby was a grave. This rock is now at the Comanche County Museum. Hadley Scott of DeLeon, Texas, has a replica of this rock. (Hadley Scott; Fain McDaniel, Comanche County Museum; authors personal observations)

Cut on another rock, native to Comanche County, is "TOMY NAHA DIED MAY 17 1741". The "N" is written, backward. This rock too, may be seen at the Comanche County Museum. (observations by the author)

On property now owned by Double "O" Smith, northeast of Goldthwaite, Texas, in Mills County, is a rock with a cross carved on it. The rock is standing on its end. Barry Storm (author of books about the Superstition Mountains and Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine in Arizona) and Jim Mitchell, of Ft. Worth, Texas, were digging half-a-mile from the cross rock in the 1950’s). Barry Storm’s real name was John Griffith Climenson. They were cleaning out tunnels 20 feet below the surface that had been previously broken into (in 1932) by T. B. Oglesby (from Stephens County, Texas) and a group of treasure hunters.

In 1900 a foreigner arrived in Mullin, Texas, with a master map. He was seeking the remains of a mission. Dr. James Dyer Kirkpatrick began excavating the area referred to as Dry Pond shortly after the foreigner departed. Kirkpatrick found copper spikes embedded into ancient trees, copper discs, a hand-hammered copper box, rosary and crucifix. Kirkpatrick’s search ended with his death in 1903. Willy Williams (who dug at the Dry Pond Site in the 1970’s) told Bill Townsley, David Auldridge and George W. Copeland, "Jim Mitchell, tells about an old man showing up at Goldthwaite searching for buried treasure about 1887.

The old man, who Mitchell calls, White Beard, is reported to have appeared for the last time in 1907. When White Beard left the area, it was with a wagon heavily loaded". Chuck Darnell and a group of men used dynamite NW of Goldthwaite trying to break into cave chambers. (John Smith/Hadley Scott) Jim Mitchell said, a cache of old buffalo robes was found in a cave northwest of Goldthwaite, Texas. John Smith (of Abilene, Texas) said there was a cave north of DeLeon, Texas, with stick deer and other markings carved on the wall. Stick deer are on a survey of the DryPond Site drafted by Dr. James Dyer Kirkpatrick (cir. 1901). See article in Enchanted Rock Magazine written by Bill Townsley and David Auldridge, Vol. 3, No. 12 February, 1997, "Spanish Treasure of Dry Pond". (Jim Mitchell; Willy Williams; Truett Auldridge; Hadley Scott; Hartal Langford Blackwell; Aubrey Cleckler; author’s personal observations)

Three stone heads were found in Mills County during the 1960s. Jack Morgan of Goldthwaite, Texas, found them near Brown Creek. All three were found within a one fourth mile radius. The University of Texas authenticated them as being old, probably over 200 years. But their origins were never established. The stone heads are on display in the Mills County Historical Museum at Goldthwaite. One must wonder if they are in anyway connected, to those discovered in Eastland County. (Mills County Historical Museum; author’s personal observations) Saturday, at about noon, November 2, 1929, on property owned by Judge W. R. Bishop, Cuban-born Indelicio Morgado and other workers were digging gravel from Cedar Creek near the Trinity River. A couple of miles from Trinidad, Texas, (Henderson County) at a depth of 16 feet they found a stone that was the image of a human skull.

The stone was not removed from the pit until the following Monday. A piece of the stone head was broken off, when it was dropped, while being hoisted onto a dump truck. Teo Morgado placed the head beside him, in the seat of the truck to prevent it from further damage. He carried it to the Texas Clay Products Company site in Malakoff, Texas. T.A. Bartlett, president of Texas Clay Products Company, gave the stone head to the Texas Memorial Museum and V.C. Doctorman, a mining engineer. A letter written by V.C. Doctorman to Dr. E. H. Sellards (then director of the museum at Austin, Texas) is dated November 9, 1929. It reads, "In a gravel pit about four and a half miles west of Malakoff, where some workmen were excavating, was found a roughly carved stone which upon further investigation proved to be shaped very much like a human skull. Diamond-shaped openings have been carved to represent the eyes and an attempt has been made to properly represent the ears, nose and mouth". E. H. Sellards traveled to Henderson County to examine the head on November 26, 1929.

A second stone head was found in September 1935 by Joe Gunnels about a thousand feet west of the location that the first stone head was discovered. In November 1939, a third carved stone was discovered in the gravel pit where the first head was found. It was found at a depth of 22 feet. The first stone head weighs 98 3/8 lbs., it is 14 inches wide and 16 inches long; the second weighs 63 1/4 lbs. and is about 15 inches long; the third stone head weighs 135 lbs. In 1974 the head found by Joe Gunnels was in the possession of Mrs. Lynn Sanders of Corsicana, Texas. (Texas Memorial Museum Accession File; People and Places in the Texas Past, by June Rayfield Welch)

There are numerous names and dates carved on San Saba Peak (between Goldthwaite, Texas, and the Colorado River). On the wall of a cave is a capital "F". (author’s personal observations)

Two flint rocks are embedded into the forks of oak trees. One near Calf Creek, Texas, one hundred or so yards from where Jim Bowie, Rezin Bowie and company had a well documented Indian fight. The battle occurred on Monday, November 21, 1831. The other rock is in a tree near Rochelle, Texas. There is a flint rock embedded in a tree in San Saba County. Bertha Harlow said, she thought they marked some type of trail. (B. Harlow)

A huge tree on the banks of the Colorado River, in San Saba County, has a deep cut in it. The mark on the tree prompted the Harkey family to dig a shaft 30 plus feet deep. A single arrowhead was discovered. (author’spersonal observations)

Some old guns were found in a cave in the Spring Gap Mountains. (Michael Ingram) There are stone buildings and ruins of unknown origin in Callahan County and in the Spring Gap Mountains. (Hadley Scott, Duane Hale) Until his death, Ben Riffe searched in the Spring Gap Mountains for a stone with a boot heel or tombstone design etched on its surface. In 1996 or 1997, a woman showed up in Cross Plains, Texas, asking if anyone knew the location of such a rock. (M. Faucett)

There is a lizard carved on a rock in Mineral Wells, Texas, Palo Pinto County. There are also three crosses carved on the same rock. The old Baker Hotel can be seen from the site where the rock is located. Bill Farmer said, "In the 1950s an old man was asking workmen in the garage at the Ford dealership where this rock was located." In 1951, Anthony Fenninger and a treasure-hunting crew were digging for buried treasure in Palo Pinto County. A Dallas newspaper article dated January 2, 1951, photographed Fenninger, several members of the search party and the excavations being performed. (Hadley Scott; Bill Farmer; author’s personal observations) Near Mineral Wells, Texas, in Palo Pinto County is a rock near the Brazos River that has a spiderweb design pecked onto its surface. (George Washington Copeland; Jack O’Gorman; author’s personal observations)

Near Nolan Creek, west of the city of Belton, Texas, in Bell County, are many religious symbols carved on a bluff in a narrow ravine. (author’s personal observations; G. Zimmerman; M. Moore) There are markings on the bedrock near Moffatt, Texas, near Farm Market road 2410. (M. Moore) [ Bell County Pictures / PAGE 1 / PAGE 2 / PAGE  3 ]

A rock with "U.S.A." and "$50,000" cut on it was found near Comanche, Texas. At one time the rock had been cemented into the walls of an old house. The house had been owned by two school teachers. Rocks had been collected from a nearby hillside by Mexican labors to be used in the construction of the home. The exact location on the hillside, that the rock was found remains a mystery. (author’s personal observation; Bill Farmer; George Copeland; Sandie Clark and Gaston Boykin.

There is a large arrow cut on a rock four or five miles south of DeLeon, Texas. (Hadley Scott)

In 1959, William Edward Townsley, Junior Chisholm and John Bosque were deer hunting on or near the old Frank Harris place near Valley Springs, Texas, in Llano County. Townsley and Bosque sat down to drink Hill & Hill Whiskey. One of the three men noticed that some rocks had been hand stacked over the entrance to a cave or mine. The men un stacked enough of the rocks to gain entrance. A few feet inside, they encountered a vertical shaft, deep enough that their flashlights would not shine to the bottom. The rocks that had hid the opening were replaced. No further exploration was completed. Old man Harris owned 2450 acres, on both sides of the road between Valley Springs and Pontotoc, Texas. (William Edward Townsley; Floy M. Brown; John Bosque)

Alan Ramsey showed Bill Townsley and George Copeland a rock, he calls the Money Stone. It is located in Palo Pinto County. Deeply cut over the entire surface of the rock are horizontal and vertical lines. In the 1950s, Ramsey assisted two Indian women from Oklahoma, in their search for the remains of a chief, said to be buried near Lone Camp, Texas. (George Copeland; Alan Ramsey, author’s personal observations)

A "rock map" provoked, Rex Grove Sr. and Ray Whitlock (both from Ft. Worth, Texas) to sink a shaft 70 feet deep near Aspermont, Texas, in the 1970s. They broke into a natural cave. Both men were lowered in a bucket into the cave. The Whitlock’s have a painting of the event that was copied from a photograph. Grove and Whitlock also hunted for the Spider Rock treasure on land owned or leased by Murray Underwood near Rule and Aspermont, Texas. (Rex Grove; Jim Mitchell)