Jesse James Treasure

Frank James spent several years before his death in Oklahoma looking for and recovering some of the the treasures he and Jesse left behind. He recovered at least two that I know of and maybe more. And he didn't turn them over to the KGC!

It's doubtful that the tree on the program is 100 years old, just my opinion and I'm not a "tree guy". The central Kansas area that they were looking in has an abundance of water year round which would accomodate the faster growth of a tree.

11/11/2009

TOPEKA | Kansas Lottery officials are excited with news that someone in Kansas has the winning Powerball ticket from Wednesday night's drawing. The jackpot was worth $96.6 million

I hope it was Ron Pastore, maybe now he can afford to finish digging up Jesse James treasure. 

  

The following letter has been prepared with the hope Ron Pastore will read it personally. Something tells me he has tapped into this thread and follows it with curious enthusiasm. If not that, then someone he knows surely does. Maybe he'll even respond to it, although doubtful. I mean absolutely no disrespect here, and fully realize I am going way out on a limb. But honesty is honesty, and if a person has nothing to hide, then by all means, come out and defend yourself.

Dear Mr. Pastore

Thank you so much for developing the world's first effective antibiotic that we all know today as penicilln. Oops! I'm sorry, that was another Pastore. I remember now, you're the guy who discovered Jesse James' lost treasure. My apologies! I get easily confused these days with so much false information going around. In any event, I personally would like to invite you to step forward and put an end to all of the controversy and accusations that have been slung in your direction lately regarding the legitimacy of your recent discoveries.  If anyone can cast a shinning light on the subject, you can. So please tell us ... Who do you think will go to the Super Bowl this year?  Now don't hold back, I'm certain you have an opinion on the subject! Will it be Denver and New York, or Minnesota and whoever?  Oh, and while you're thinking about it, also let us know if the coins you dug out of that hole were real or planted! It's a simple one word answer, I know you can do it! 

Again, I mean absolutely no disrespect. I just know if it was me I'd jump all over this thing like a fumbled football!

Respectfully,

SODABOTTLEBOB  

P.S.  I know, I know ... it was Louis Pasteur, not Pastore.  But hey, remember, I'm the guy who is so easily confused!


  

     Nice letter Bob but unfortunatly I don't think anyone would believe him just because he posts on here that it was all real and not a hoax. He is much better off just staying out of it and not commenting. Now if he would make available to the public all of the raw, unedited footage of the digs and close up photos of the coins, maybe. But I don't see that happening any time soon, lol. He has to wait until the sales from the $24.95 DVD's dies down.

HH Charlie

I think you are better off sending any open letter you have to the History Channel. If they don't know they were duped then they should.  Here's an e-mail address you can use for them if you care to.  thc.viewerrelations@aetv.com

P.S.

This is for all of the serious coin collectors among us!  Would you actually buy one of those coins at quadtriple (or more) of their true value simply based on the pretence they were supposedly connected to Jesse James?  ( And, come to think of it, the answer to this question by all of us should help seperate the believers from the non-believers).

Along with soda bottles, I  also collect comic books. And buying one of those coins would be like me buying a Superman no.1 for $1000,000.00, only to discover when I got it that it had Mickey Mouse on the cover, and the seller saying, "Gee, I'm sorry, I honestly thought that was Superman!  Oh well, no refunds allowed!"

And where are those coins now?  Probably in private hands!  But shouldn't they be in a museum if they were real?  I guess that will come next ...

                           "Pastore's Maybe Museum"

                        Admission only ... $12.50 (Maybe)

P.S.

And this is for all of the serious coin collectors among us!  Would you actually buy one of those coins at quadtriple their regular value under the pretence they were connected to Jesse James?

And where are those coins now?  Probably in private hands!  But shouldn't they be in a museum if they were real?  I guess that will come next ...

                           "Pastore's Private Museum"

                           Admission only ... $12.50

You already missed that boat. He had his own "museum" in Wichita, KS for a while but couldn't keep it running and then he tried an internet museum that he charged $2.00 for people to enter the website and see what he had. That failed also. I'm sure that won't keep him from trying again though.

Ok seriously.. Why do you think they had the Badges and guns? What does it mean to me as the viewer of the program?

golddredgergold:

  Braggadocio.  But I really liked Pastore's hat.  Hides a balding head nicely.
For real cache hunting you need a ball cap for the headphones.

lastleg

Ok seriously.. Why do you think they had the Badges and guns? What does it mean to me as the viewer of the program?

To me as a viewer, guns and badges suggest the possibility of fowl play and/or violence! The fowl play being the hoax that was played, and the violence being the violation to my integrity by expecting me to believe that a true-blue treasure hunter would chop away with a shovel in a hole in the ground that he suspected might contain some of the most valuable coins in American history! Every one of us knows that if we lucked upon something like that we would be down on our hands and knees with a toothbrush and dental pick! I don't even hunt coins and I do this with many of the bottles I find.  

It just makes no sense to me. At the end of the program when they are digging with the tractor there is a couple of guys sitting on the ridge above the dig site with a double barrel shotgun. In of course plain view of the camera. Now where we are from if you have permission to be on a property and are doing what you are supposed to be doing and in a big area like that with no one around the only reason we have a gun is for a snake or mountain lion or bears. And we don't carry them along they are just in the vehicles near by.  My question is do they really have permission to be there digging. What where they so afraid of?

If they where worried about other treasure hunters that is a joke. I the other treasure hunter will just wait till they leave and go in.

I thought I read that a neighbor had told them that he thought it would be ok with the landowner and they took that as permission and never saw the actual landowner.

Something just crossed my mind, which, I realize is about the size of a pea these days.  But doesn't it seem odd that not one word of this so called "discovery" ever appeared in any of the newspapers. (At least not the one I read every day).  Surely you would think if it had any legitimacy whatsoever that the Associated Press or one of the other major wire services would have picked up on it by now. Something as big as finding Jesse James' treasure would be world news!  But no! Nothing! Zip! Nada!  But then again, this really shouldn't surprise me all that much. The newspapers didn't report the re-discovery of Warewolves either that still lurk in many of our backyards.  Which leads me to believe we have about as much chance of seeing Jesse James' treasure as we do in seeing a Warewolf anytime soon!    

I thought I read that a neighbor had told them that he thought it would be ok with the landowner and they took that as permission and never saw the actual landowner.

That was the first time he was on the property about ten years ago. I would think with all of the activity the land owner would have known they were there this time.

The guns and badges are just Pastore's way of putting on a show, wanting to look more important than he is and get that extra showmanship for the con.

Something just crossed my mind, which, I realize is about the size of a pea these days.  But doesn't it seem odd that not one word of this so called "discovery" ever appeared in any of the newspapers. (At least not the one I read every day).  Surely you would think if it had any legitimacy whatsoever that the Associated Press or one of the other major wire services would have picked up on it by now. Something as big as finding Jesse James' treasure would be world news!  But no! Nothing! Zip! Nada!  But then again, this really shouldn't surprise me all that much. The newspapers didn't report the re-discovery of Warewolves either that still lurk in many of our backyards.  Which leads me to believe we have about as much chance of seeing Jesse James' treasure as we do in seeing a Warewolf anytime soon!    

This entertainment special simply rehashed the same old tired conspiracy theories that have been kicking around for years. Nothing new...no new theories...no new support for the existing conspiracy theories. Just another dose of What if....wouldn't it be great and scads of I think this is what happened

SWR you are just a ray of sunshine! Why so down on guys talking about it? Does it hurt anyone? Nope! Maybe something of interest might pop up? Yep maybe! Maybe it will trigger a few guys to get off the arse and go out to detect. If that happens then great.

I saved my best for last ...  

I'm 57 years old, and for as long as I can remember my father, who is currently 88 years old, has told my brothers and I about the time my grandfather went quail hunting with Frank James in Oklahoma around 1900. I've heard the story so many times, I generally just accepted it with a grain of salt, and never really challenged it's authenticity until now. So after seeing the History Channel special I started doing some research, which included having my father tell the story again. I also spoke with my aunt, who is 92 and living in a rest home. Even when I informed them that the James brothers were from, and mostly active in the Missouri, Kansas areas, they both stood their ground in support of their father's quail hunting story involving Oklahoma. It wasn't until I did some further research, (influenced by the program) that I discovered Frank James had in fact been in Oklahoma around the same time as my grandfather, who was born in 1880. But please don't ask me what a 20 year old kid who was born in Kentuck and on his way west on the train was doing quail hunting with a famous outlaw like Frank James. That part of the story has been lost to aged memory, and will never be known. And the only reason I even mention it here now, is to say that this particular History Channel program has allowed me to make the Oklahoma connection to my grandfather's story, and has made a true believer out of me regarding a part of my grandfather's life that I had previously grown to suspect was un-true, but now believe. Not that this makes me special, because I'm not. I imagine everyone has a Jesse and Frank James related story. I just thought I would share mine with you. Just as I'd like to share the following photo of my grandpa that was taken in 1897 when we was in the military during the Spanish American war. And, no ... I don't have a Teddy Roosevelt and San Juan Hill story! I wish I did!

Interestingly, Frank died on February 18, 1915 at the age of 72. In 1900, when my grandfather went quail hunting with him, Frank was 57 years old ... which is exactly the age I am now. The difference being, I'm a nobody, and Frank is ... well, you be the judge of that!

Thanks for tolerating my indulgence.

Bob  

Good story,bob,thanks for sharing.

I can't decide if these guys were just happy go lucky morons or hoaxsters.  Their use of the GPR was a joke; I especially loved how they seemed to know 2-3 phrases which made them seem to have a clue, like "parabolic reflections." The so-called certified GPR guy didn't impress me much.  This whole "oh we're stopped by the weather or the coming of hurricane season," etc., is a standard ploy used in lame treasure shows to build drama where none can be built naturally. Noone would have attempted to bury a large chest at that depth.  This is the kind of misconception that the general public swallows hook line and sinker but no digger who's spent an hour digging a Civil War shell at 3' plus would ever fall for.  In addition, such a burial would leave a noticable depression in the ground.  The guys in Central America who dig for the likes of Inca graves, the only clue they ever get is a distinct depression and a different feel by ground probe.

The issue of Jesse James being murdered in 1882 is as settled as the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.  His wife and children were in the next room and cradled his lifeless form.  So they were in on a coverup?  His mother euligized him movingly at his funeral.  His body was examined and found to have 2 healed chest wounds in the same spots Jesse was known to have, a portion of one finger missing as called for, and dental records matched.  Case closed.  So by definition if the allegedly found cache was for real, it was no earlier than 1894 and has nothing to do with Jesse James.

I thought the facial recognition was bogus.  The guy has a named company.  Well whoop dee do. Anybody with facial rec software and printed business cards can call themselves an expert, and this guy was operating out of his bloody living room, which did not impress me.
1) he picked a picture comparison which presented a large time difference.  They used his pic at like 16 versus his death picture, when using the last known living picture would have been a fairer test.
2) after supposedly dismissing the death picture, he then goes on to try to "prove" the other guy could have been Jesse. So Ok he has a resemblance.  Well DUHHH he darn well should, because he was fairly closely related to Jesse, and it may come as a shock to some people, but people who are cousins are often very similar in appearance.
3) so then he matches the eye distance, which is an issue of proper image sizing.  Then, the nose of the older gent is well below Jesse's nose, but he quickly says that "he was looking down."

This whole thing is an insulting slap in the face to the true direct descendants of Jesses James.  The book Background of a Bandit: the Ancestry of Jesse James by Joan Beamis is the accepted sourcebook for the detailed family history of the James.  If this guys thinks he is a direct descendant of Jesse, he doesn't need to rely on facial recognition. He can get in touch with the James Family DNA project and prove his relation with just a little spit:

http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/jamespressrelease.htm

I'll get back to reading the thread but in the first couple of posts about whether JJ is alive or dead and wanting documented proof - come on. He's definitely dead, else he's 150ish years old....

Okay back to reading. Had to get that out of my system!

Hey dude ... (Jokingly)   

Don't you know that DNA never dies !?

Sorry I think I was a bit too overbearing. 

                                           In My Humble Opinion!

                                          After reviewing the play ...

       1. Jesse James was "probably" killed by Bob Ford and there was no conspiracy!

       2. Ron Pastore is a con and the "stuff" he found was "probably" planted!


                  Signing off until "Part Two" airs on the History Channel.

                            Sincerely,  SODABOTTLEBOBBROWN

         P.S.  For "Hundreds" of images of Jesse James go to www.Bing.com

I can see a new conspiracy now. LOL 
Ford was in on the supposed killing of Jesse, as was the entire family. In order to alieve the pressures of the bounty, they faked his death and buried someone else in the grave. Thus allowing Jesse to go on till his real demise. Then the bodies were switched when Zerelda could no longer live alone, her son’s body was moved to the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri and placed next to his wife on July 29, 1902. Frank James was present at the re-burial of his brother.

Now the various things that can supposedly prove it's Jesse in the grave are there for the exhumation to say it was Jesse all along. 

Just a story of my own imagination. 

Where to start...

I finally got around to watching the program last night.  I know there are some KGC treasure enthusiasts on here and I won't knock them by any means, but I didn't find their KGC references too terribly convincing.  There wasn't any true evidence, just speculation.  From the get go, something also bothered me about the Pastore guy and his cohorts.  Their supposed skill sets really didnt impress me.  I love how it said the loud one was GPR certified.  I'm sure when they bought the GPR system, they took a course on it issued by the GPR manufacturer and afterwards gave them a certificate saying they are GPR certified.  From my experience as an archaeologist being around GPR (I am not GPR certified, haha), they really didn't display a true mastery of it in both their usage as well as interpretation.  Next comes the metal detectors.  I by no means claim to be an expert detectorist, but come on, they were reading off the Garrett like it was a machine that just spit out a 100% true answer for what was in the ground and what it was and how deep it was. 

I still am pretty skeptical about the gold bar and mason jar find.  It was just all too convenient.  I get on here a few times a week to read about finds and stories of TNET'ers who spend more time in the field than they do at home.  I don't recall many stories of mason jars with silver dollars and gold coins or gold bars being found very often, and these amateurs just stumble upon them after their interpretation of some symbols.  I really hate being a skeptic like this, but I just can't help it.  And seriously, if you have dug down 8-10 feet or whatever, how do you stop all of a sudden and claim you need more investors for heavier equipment and just hope to make it back before the winter.  If you feel it is necessary to carry shotguns and have pistols strapped to your sides, how would you just leave a half excavated area there?  I've got an idea, sell your gold bar and coins.  If they were real finds, that should have been an easy $10k, and if you cannot rent a bigger backhoe for a day or two for $10k, you've got problems. 

That was the issues I had with the program.  The only other comment I have is regarding the family of the JM James who claim he was Jesse James.  They said the negative DNA report was inconclusive because the evidence chain on the DNA.  That is only an argument you would make at a criminal trial.  What I couldnt understand was why didnt they just do a DNA test on the grandson or great grandson?  To me, that sealed the deal that they were of no relation to Jesse James.  That would have been the first thing to do.  If they did that though, it wouldnt have made for good tv when it came back negative.

In summary, I just don't buy it.  As I said before, I really hate being the skeptic like this, but if I can easily say it doesn't add up, it really doesn't.  I suggest that the History Channel hire actors to portray the treasure hunters next time.  They may be more believable then.

Well said Philvis 
I must say that upon reviewing the program, I have to agree with everything you said!

GG~

I found this video of James Randi explaining the

"compass trick." 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/siDy1o9-swk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/siDy1o9-swk</a>

Honestly, I admit I don't think he faked it.  I watched it yet again and believe it or not, I don't think he knows how to use a compass.  For it to continue to read due north, you must be walking due north.  I think the guy simply started walking 30 degrees off north, and the compass read this, as it should.  Then he had a "religious experience" moment. By the way, I've met many people who don't know how to use a compass.  You can't use a compass by holding the compass and walking a line that seems to point in a given direction; at least not very well.  You need to take a sighting on a faraway point of land, walk to that point, take another reading, etc.

On the Jesse James Foundation website, they have begun a chapter by chapter debunking of the whole thing. 

Do you have a link to the Jesse James Foundation site in regards to this legend?


Here you go. 

http://ericjames.org/wordpress/?author=1

Sorry I was confused about the "foundation."  There is no such thing apparently; that was a "pigment of my imagination." That is the blog from the site called "Stray Leaves: A James Family in American Since 1650."  That has the links for the first two chapters, and a blistering attack on the Ganis guy. The main Stray Leaves site is simply http://ericjames.org/

Some interesting items from the site:

Facts and Myths about Jesse James:

http://www.ericjames.org/Jesse_James_Myths_and_Facts.html

Frank James was asked in the early 1900s if they hung out in caves in Missouri.  His answer is pretty funny.

Judge James Ross on claimants to being Jesse James.   He is a great-grandson of Jesse from his son.

http://www.ericjames.org/JamesRossMemoriam/page2.html

By the way, I've met many people who don't know how to use a compass.

I have considerable experience panning, prospecting, and dredging for gold in 3 states, most of it in Virginia. I was field trip chairman for a rock club in Richmond called MESA which I must admit I took on to get the permission for all the spots we went.  I trained numerous people to pan for gold.

An experience I used to have all the time was this: A guy would go "oh man the pan is chock full of gold.  Problem is it just floats away!"  I am reminded of the feeling I had then, when I watch this guy, pretty much everything he does.

If my analysis of how to use a compass is bogus I'd like to know. 

hey, im new here but im intrigued with the jesse james treasure as well as beale treasure so if i may of assistance im from the northern Mo area about 30 min from the home of JJ...

man i knw ive been in that terrain, born n breed ks boy. we farmed from se ks 2 goodland, sures h ell dont look anythg like topeka, manhattan, junction city, saline cities, definitely south of i70

kgunn