Research leads

Since this is the obvious place to start cache hunting, where is the best place to start, and how do you winnow down the leads to the best ones to follow?

You have to love to read A LOT!

I find a lot of leads just talking to people. You'd be surprised at what you can learn by casually bringing up the subject of buried treasure. Some of these are first hand stories, which is best.

Libraries. Old microfilm can be hard to read, but you can find some good stuff in them, much of which will be first hand. You have to have patience and if you don't need glasses now, you will. You probably have a genealogy section in your library. This is where I found my first treasure lead. A lot of what you find will be lore and legend, but even those can sometimes be based on true happenings.

Which ones to believe. That's the most important thing. If I have a first hand lead and have nothing to make me think it might be bogus, I'm gonna consider it a good lead. If I have a legend, I need to do a lot of research to find facts either for or against the story. It might take years to find what you're looking for, so it takes starting with a story that has potential. Otherwise you won't stick with it. Even if you spend years researching a lead, just to find proof it's not true, you haven't waisted your time. You have gained valuable experience in cache research, which is probably the most important part. I look not so much for proof (You may never find absolute proof), but for evidence which suggests the story is either good or bad. If I end up with more evidence in favor of the story, I'll look for the treasure, but continue to research as well.

Yep, everything Kentucky Kache said and I'll add just a couple of finer points.  If you hear that some person supposed hid some money back when.  The first thing to do is verify that person was real and actually lived in the area.  Do that by old tax records in the county / parish where the story took place.  If the person was real, then look into how he would have had the valuables he supposedly hid.  Was he a horse trader (or thief); a cattle buyer (or rustler); a land speculator?  Find out if he had the MEANS to accumulate the valuables.  Check the probate records for any Wills that were processed for him.  Check old newspapers for stories about him and his "business";  especially his Obituary.  See if there were any stories written about how his widow "was left destitute or wealthy". 

As KK mentioned, the very best "cover" for a treasure hunter today is genealogy.  The folks working in the courthouses, newspapers, archives, etc., will fall all over themselves to help a genealogist do their research;  no matter if he/she is a professional or amateur.  But, you have to know the "language" of genealogy which can be learned very easily.  Check out some books on genealogy from your local library and read up on it.  There are many sites on the web where you can download blank forms and how-to info for free.  These forms will be of big help in your searches because most treasure hunting IS a form of genealogy.  Never, never,never, never mention the "t" word anyone in a courthouse, library, or archive.  That one word will, usually, kill the whole deal.      If one of THEM mentions an old treasure story, act dumb about it and say, "REALLY?  Tell me about it."  Act a little bit interested, but don't make a big deal about it because, that's not why you're there.     Remember, you are an amateur at researching your family and you think this person is in you family tree somewhere.

A famous pro treasure hunter wrote many times, the best books about bury treasures, do not have these words in their titles. Local history books are great for leads.

Connecticut  Sam

Many great comments.

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