Excerpt from the book, "Hollow Hassle"
* Excerpt from the book, "Hollow Hassle" by Warren Smith published in 1976*
...Author Leland Lovelace told about such a discovery in 'LOST MINES AND BURIED TREASURES' (Naylor Co., 1965; also Ace Books, New York). Lovelace said two prospectors were searching for a gold strike in the desolate mountains of south-western Nevada. The two men were digging in the arid soil when a cave-in led them into a vast underground tunnel. Following the passageway, they went deep into the mountain and entered a large subterranean room.
The two astonished prospectors held their torches high and saw that the cave was furnished with chairs and tables. The furniture was very large, as if manufactured for a race of giants. Dishes cast from gold and silver were also found on the tables. Other artifacts made from precious metals were discovered in the cavern.
Lovelace did not inform his readers as to what the prospectors did with their discovery. We can assume they carried as much of the precious metal as possible from the scene, then melted down the objects for their gold and silver. This often occurs when a gold-seeker finds a rare archeological discovery. Rather than risk the treasure being taken over by the state or federal govern- ment, these men play a game of 'finder's keepers.'
In 1904, a prospector named J.C. Brown claimed to have made an intriguing discovery in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. Brown had been hired by the Lord Cowdray Mining Company of England to prospect for gold in these isolated areas. During his second trip into the Sierra Nevadas, Brown found a manmade tunnel carved into a solid rock wall. According to old reports, a landslide had destroyed a rock wall that hid the tunnel entrance.
Brown followed the enormous tunnel through the mountain and came to a large, manmade cavern. The room was lined with sheets of tempered copper. Strange circular shields hammered from gold were hung on the walls. Unusual artifacts and statues were located in niches in the cavern walls. Unusual drawings, strange art, indecipherable hieroglyphics AND THE SKELETONS OF WHAT WAS APPARENTLY A GIANT RACE WERE FOUND IN ROOMS LEADING OFF FROM THE LARGE CAVERN.
Unwilling to share his discovery with his English employers, Brown did not report the treasure cavern. Instead, he continued to work for various mining companies for the next thirty years until his retirement. Then, in 1934, he popped up in Stockton, California, with a map and an intriguing tale. Within a few days, eighty people were willing to assist the now-aging prospector in getting the precious artifacts out of the cave.
On June 19, 1934, Brown and his followers traveled into the Sierra Nevada mountains. They camped by a small stream, waiting until morning when Brown was to show the group an entrance into the cavern. However, during the night, the old prospector vanished. He has not been seen since that night.
Fearing that Brown had somehow duped the eighty people, detectives on the Stockton police department investigated. 'Brown didn't take a cent from anyone,' the detectives said after the check-out ...
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