Turn On The History Channel: The Jesse James Treasure

The guys searching for Jesse James treasure metal detected a mason jar full of silver dollars and a couple of gold coins. Very fun show to watch.

Would you rub gold coins if you just dug them up?  I am not too sure about that guy that found those coins...

dvr'd it for later

I knew I wasn't the only one here watching it.

Obviously these guys are not into detecting or they would take care of those coins. Must be staged for the show or the cache is worth a fortune no matter what the coins are like because they came from Jessie James.

SKD

 Did they say the coins were Jesse Jame's ? Thanks maybe I will catch it when on again. 

Hmm that bar 24 Inches down...

Thanks SWR !!!

Which they found in a tree buried 24 inches down.  Also they seem to have a lot of fire power with them... coyotes must be bad.

Look how clean and new his gloves look through out the whole show! 

And he needs more funding despite all that gold he just found...

I could dig that deep with a pick and a shovel in a day or two...

I usually can read a face pretty good...The guy had that devils twinkle in his eye and the group behavior or lack of behavior signified 'staged'.

Hummmm just make you wonder what they found. To me its fishy that they left the aka cache undug and never finished digging that they started or they did after the cameras left. Just my thought but hey good show
Now time to got back and find that cache that my brother house saids has around it. Later all and HH

I like the gold they are showing at Fort Knox much better 

I wanted to hit him with a shovel for rubbing the dirt off those coins. I could not believe that. Then they took a knife to that gold bar what an idiot.  

Yeah I think the coins and the bar were staged...

Was Geraldo Rivera involved in this?

Was Geraldo Rivera involved in this?

My thoughts exactly   
If there anything in that massive hole they dug at the end, the producers would have made damn sure they got to it, and we would all have heard about it long before the show aired. If those guys actually thought that gold bar was some kind of JJ artifact I don't think they would have taken a knife blade to it. But you gotta give them credit for making the show as exciting as possible I mean its TV after all.

Bet they didn't fill the hole they dug after they were done, either.... 

Its on the DVR waiting for me. At work till 5 am. 

I wanted to hit him with a shovel for rubbing the dirt off those coins. I could not believe that. Then they took a knife to that gold bar what an idiot.  

Welcome to T-Net PAULWYO
 They wove a great tale of mystery and lots of speculation. I agree with you all. Would love to have that GPR to hunt with though. : )

Yep pretty cool. They shore ug up that whole hill side. I dont get all the fire power either. Its not like they were in Tennessee 
 Be a fun hunt for sure. Be curious how many jars have ever been found off of treasure signs.
Thanks for the heads up on all this. 

Now you know why my screen name is SENTINEL and has been for many years...it always has been:)  That is, C.S. Sentinel.  And also why J.J. is my avatar!  He was waiting for us, waiting for a breed of men who died out or were removed for other reasons or who died.  Its a sad story that started strong but faded out slowly....

I like the gold they are showing at Fort Knox much better  

Ain't no gold in Fort Knox.

The "pros" would never leave a speck of it.

Jesse James is a rank amateur compared to the big financial thugs.

I agree about the way they treated the finds.  Rubbing them with fingers, knifing the bar, stuff of amateurs for sure.  Not to mention the way they dug with that shovel!  Talk about damaging finds of historical signifigance.  Seems that if you are digging these historical items, possibly and probably mason jars full of coins, that you would dig a large wide birth around it and almost treat it like an archeological dig and try to get the jar out in one piece or at least try not to break or scratch anything.  And the size of the excavation for the rectangular object down 18' at the end of the show and just stopping.  What is up with that?  They could have laid the foundation of a skyscraper in that thing, and just stopping?  They better have guards posted until they build up funds to continue.  Some baffling questions about this episode for sure.

None of those coins looked like they had been buried together....either that or they dug them up...cleaned them...then replanted them.   The History Channel is starting to act like CSI-Las Vegas where their detectors sound like Geiger counters. 

Why would History Channel allow its viewers to sit through two hours of this, without a solid conclusion   

    It reminded me of all of those shows about ghosts, UFOs, bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster etc...never any actual conclusive end.  It was a good program though and it raised some very interesting questions. They got me hooked, I will definitely watch the next episode.

HH Charlie

Some of you may be interested in this site.It is very in depth with JJ biographers and researcers and descendants.Lots of documentation to a lot of your questions.You may have to join the site,it's free.Go to the site and click on Jesse James discussion.Click on any topic on the left and when it comes up,also at the top of the left side will be 'All'.Click on that and you will get all the history topics discussed(50 at a time).

http://forums.prospero.com/delphicomz/myforums

The show was interesting but strickly for tv.For instance,the squirrly conspiracy theory about his death.There was other identifying items on the body,like the wounds he received in the war and almost died from.What a coincidence that would be to just 'happen' to find a standin body with the same wound marks.

The program was worth watching I believe JJ was not killed by one of his men. I believe that he staged his death. If they wanted to test the DNA of the man they thought was JJ all they had to do was find JJ descendants and compare DNA there are enough of them out there.
I saw a place like the ones on the program when I was in Guthrie OK and remember that JJ mark in sandstone. This was when I was 16 I am now 41 but I remember the symbol bc it is com perable to a symbol of a marine company.

Would a man do this in front of his wife and kids?And then abandon them and take off and populate half the earth?So many claim to be his descendant.

Question:

I'm a bottle hunter and have done very little metal detecting, and have only found one coin in the past 20 years, which was from an old Chinese railroad dump in Oregon. But from what I've seen here on TreasureNet and elsewhere, I have to ask you experts this:

Would the coins they pulled out of the ground (which appeared to be "live" on camera) be as clean and untarnished as they appeared?  Almost every photo of dug coins I've seen here on TN were either crusted over at first, or at least needed some serious cleaning.  I honestly believe the answer to this question is either a solid "yes" or a solid "no."  Those of you who have found dozens, and perhaps even hundreds of coins over the years, should be able to answer this;  Were those coins real or staged?

However, I will have to add that the photo comparison of Jesse James and the older J. W. James was pretty compelling, and can't help but make me wonder.

I think I'll go to History.com right now and ask them a few questions.  I'll let you know what, if anything, I find out,

Thanks a "Million"

SodaBob

Dang, I missed the tv showing of the treasure dig.  And I watch the History Channel a lot too.  I think  Jesse James was indeed killed by one of his gang.  The way I heard the story, the killer had been snitching and he thought Jesse James found out.  He thought Jesse had invited him over to kill him, so he acted out of fear. Monty

Note of interest:

The History Channel story about the Jesse James treasure will air again on ...

This Saturday - November 14th at 5:PM

(I'm not sure if this is Eastern time or Pacific time. Check your local listings.)

P.S.  There's also a DVD available for $24.95.  How convenient that the DVD is so immediately available.  Maybe they will net enough money from it so as to go back and find the most valuable treasure in American history!  

I stayed up and watched the second showing. The forensics were pretty bad. I would think that the DNA test should be conclusive from a body of that age even from the teeth. After all we are getting  and mapping wholly mamoth DNA. The guy doing the points of refrence with the eyes and merging the photographs looked like hocus pocus photo shop.
 I think he was killed out of greed and his good friends came and buried him. Strong men deserve strong legends and that he has.
 I posted this elesewhere but often wonder how many mason jars have been recovered due to treasure sign and the initials J.J ?
 Keep your powder dry !
TnMountains

OK...I guess I'm the ONLY guy with a case of the BIG HEAD.  The "expert" showed the comparisons between the two pics and he says....clearly the man on the right has a larger head.  If I take a pic of me from my teens to right now....I just found out...according to his logic....I'm not me!!!! 

I watched the show last night. Some of it was believable and other parts was a little sketchy!  The hole they dug for that square box at the end was big enough for a foundation of a house.  With the technology they were using i would think they wouldn't have had to dig near that big of hole.
Also, is the part about the sentinel true?  Did they have people like this looking after larger stashes?  Did they ever find much of the money that was stolen by Jesse James?  Did they stash money in mason jars?
I am new to all this but enjoy the history part and the exploring part.
Thanks,

Tau

While watching something bothered me.

We saw them MD in a canyon bottom and identify 7 targets that were no more than 12" deep, if I recall the dialog properly.  The leader then decided not to dig.  To pull the crew and the gear out of the canyon and to go on to someplace else, including a 400 lb. ground penetrating radar system.  Made no sense at all.

They went off to another suspect site and identified something with the GPR system. Then brought in large HD ground moving equipment.  And still hadn't taken a shovel to 7 targets that were only 12" deep.

Then they finally got back to the canyon bottom and dug one hole and found a canning jar lid.  The next thing you know they are two feet under a tree digging in the roots way back from the edge of the tree.  No mention of the other 6 targets nor any mention as to how they decided to dig under the tree. I got a pretty good metal detector and it won't turn the corner and look under the trunks of trees for me.  As soon as I saw them digging horizontally under that tree they lost me completely.  

Don't think they have any credibility at all.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,167457.0.html

I thought I remembered a post related to this subject.

Regarding the above link ... originated by hlzbz in July 8, 2008  (Thanks savant365)

What state are the hlzbz rock symbols in? (I promise, I won't tell anyone).

They look almost identical to the one's on TV, which ( I think) were in Kansas.

Is it possible the entire Midwest is covered with Jesse James rock symbols leading to buried treasure?  If so, I'm packing my bags right now! Does anybody in that area need a 57 year old roomate who doesn't eat much and who will sleep in the barn?

Signed ...

"Have Detector - Will Travel"

aka;  SODABOTTLEBOB

I watched this full of crap show.
First thing I saw that was a joke was that the mason jar that had the coins in it was crystal clear. I've dug hundreds of bottles in nearby Iowa and they all came out of the ground with a haze glaze to it, and it also had the sandy type of soil.
Where was the rest of the mason jar?
Silver coins in the ground for that long of time would not have any black in the grooves like the few that they showed. They would be shinny silver, like new, not stained with black in the grooves from of the oils of your hands. I'm not sure about the gold coins in that type of wet sandy soil. I've found two gold coins in Nevada that were slightly tarnished. Just my opinion. Old Abe

Well I think it was a real mish mash, some interesting stuff but it always seems they just don't quite get what they are looking for. It would be practically impossible to attribute either coins or gold bar to Jesse James unless he left a note in his handwriting claiming them. I got a bit put off about the adulation of Jesse James as well. He was a member of raiding bunch that killed many innocent people, he robbed and killed many others later in his carreer not a man to be idolized in any manner. Is his story interesting, yes of course but glamourization of such a man is a bit too much. I found the story of John Dillinger interesting but no one would claim he was a "Robin Hood" either. Jesse stole from the rich and powerful because the poor had no money.

Well I think it was a real mish mash, some interesting stuff but it always seems they just don't quite get what they are looking for. It would be practically impossible to attribute either coins or gold bar to Jesse James unless he left a note in his handwriting claiming them. I got a bit put off about the adulation of Jesse James as well. He was a member of raiding bunch that killed many innocent people, he robbed and killed many others later in his carreer not a man to be idolized in any manner. Is his story interesting, yes of course but glamourization of such a man is a bit too much. I found the story of John Dillinger interesting but no one would claim he was a "Robin Hood" either. Jesse stole from the rich and powerful because the poor had no money.

Spoken like a true 'yankee'.

Well I think it was a real mish mash, some interesting stuff but it always seems they just don't quite get what they are looking for. It would be practically impossible to attribute either coins or gold bar to Jesse James unless he left a note in his handwriting claiming them. I got a bit put off about the adulation of Jesse James as well. He was a member of raiding bunch that killed many innocent people, he robbed and killed many others later in his carreer not a man to be idolized in any manner. Is his story interesting, yes of course but glamourization of such a man is a bit too much. I found the story of John Dillinger interesting but no one would claim he was a "Robin Hood" either. Jesse stole from the rich and powerful because the poor had no money.

Spoken like a true "yankee"

Well I'm a "yankee"  OK, I was BORN in Rhodesia, but you wouldn't know it, and I don't think he is "overly adored".  There are always two sides to stories during a war and the truth is usually somewhere in between.
I think JJ was responding to the needs of HIS people, and HIS people weren't exactly fans of the administration of the time.  I seem to remember a group of individuals in the mid to late 1700s that were called "terrorists" and outlaws" by the British.
Ones man's "terrorist" is another man's freedom fighter, and history is written by the winners of wars.
Let's not turn this into a "North vs. South" argument, huh guys?

Agreed!And lets also not base as truth only what films and tv stories state.

Well I think it was a real mish mash, some interesting stuff but it always seems they just don't quite get what they are looking for. It would be practically impossible to attribute either coins or gold bar to Jesse James unless he left a note in his handwriting claiming them. I got a bit put off about the adulation of Jesse James as well. He was a member of raiding bunch that killed many innocent people, he robbed and killed many others later in his carreer not a man to be idolized in any manner. Is his story interesting, yes of course but glamourization of such a man is a bit too much. I found the story of John Dillinger interesting but no one would claim he was a "Robin Hood" either. Jesse stole from the rich and powerful because the poor had no money.

Spoken like a true 'yankee'.

Actually my mother's side of the family is from Missouri, my wife is from Tennessee so I have nothing against the South matter of fact for supper tonight we had pinto beans, cornbread (not that sweet stuff they try to pass off for cornbread) and "taters" fried a real down home meal and I made it myself. Hey Dillinger was from Indiana a midwesterner and I think he was a nothing but a thug too. Neither the North, South, East or West have a monopoly on good people or bad people. Neither Jesse nor Dillinger or Bonny and Clyde robbed banks because they were owned by rich people they did it for the same reason all the crooks do. When Willie Sutton the notorious safecracker and bank job artist was asked why he liked to rob banks he replied "Thats where the money is". You can call me a Yankee and that is ok I don't mind but really I am a Midwesterner, just as you dont mind being called a Southerner for that is where you reside but really are we not all Americans? Jesus said John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Why would History Channel allow its viewers to sit through two hours of this, without a solid conclusion   

They do it all the time.  Watch Monster Quest.  After the 1000th failed hunt to find Sasquatch, I think it's pretty diffinitive.  This is a little different I guess? 

Watched it with the wife.  She didn;t believe it and was asking about the guns and why the gold looked brand new.  I was laughing as they were rubbing the coins.   Good entertainment.

We don't need no stinking badges!

Watched it with the wife.  She didn;t believe it and was asking about the guns and why the gold looked brand new.  I was laughing as they were rubbing the coins.   Good entertainment.

The coins were clean enough there was not reason to rub, just blow the dirt off

OK...I guess I'm the ONLY guy with a case of the BIG HEAD.  The "expert" showed the comparisons between the two pics and he says....clearly the man on the right has a larger head.  If I take a pic of me from my teens to right now....I just found out...according to his logic....I'm not me!!!! 

You and I are on the same wavelength.  The facial recognition stuff was silly.  I was quite impressed with his living room setup. I posted similar this morning on the bigger thread on this, the one started by dirtscratcher.  The biggest joke was when he got the eyes to match comparing the young Jesse pic with the old man, the old man's nose is quite a bit larger, like WAY bigger, but he dismisses this quickly by saying the old guy was "looking down."

And the guy right before this had good points too.

Just got finished watching it on 11.14 and had to come back here to see more. Questions and comments galore but mostly the presentation was so fun and intriguing it got my attention.

My thoughts -

That one James family related to JM James - and the trinkets they found in the hidden closet was definitely enough to raise my brow.

I came away from it leaning in favor that he faked his death - the evidence they provided with the connection to Timberlake (ahh, long lost relative of Justin hmm? ) - to me was too suspicious to overlook. The US courts have convicted people to death on far less than that. I saw this movie with Brad Pitt awhile ago and came away from that thinking the story of how he died was kind of screwy, almost "too" anticlimactic given his history and I thought it was quite lame and almost unlikely that out of all the people with the expertise to hunt him down and take him out, that some little weasil dude managed to get him off guard, or that he'd be off guard when he apparently never seemed to be before...but when I'd seen that movie I wasn't much interested in JJ one way or the other. Only watched it because I was intrigued by Casey Affleck. (As an aside, I am ticked off at Pitt for making Burn After Reading - that was wrong on so many levels).

Anyway, the part that bugged me was the team in KC when they dig the last hole and found the broken lid and then later the gold bar and just seemed to blow it off. They found a gold bar buried in the tree root area and "well, that's all there is"  and chalked it up to a stagecoach robbery just did not wash with me. The stash was in a mason jar, the lid is off and broken...same as with the first one...so why didn't they keep digging? Obviously the contents weren't contained - that made no sense. The gold bar was worse - I mean nobody buries one bar in that spot, keep digging...

Or when they were digging the big hole at the end and just stopped because of the machines. They'd said this was 16ft down, then said there were only about 8 more feet to go to get where they were headed, and they just stop?

Seriously?

I was hollering at the tv - GRAB SOME SHOVELS AND GET TO DIGGING!! IT'S 8 FEET COME ON!

Now that being said, I realize the show production probably left out lots of footage they actually took, and it could be those guys did keep digging and found more later, but it just didn't wash with me they could go to all that trouble and then shrug off further investigation like that.

It definitely told me something about my interest levels, not so much regarding Jesse James and his treasures, but treasure hunting. When they pulled the coins out I got the chills, when they wanted to quit,  I was bouncing on the sofa to KEEP DIGGING WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU! I think I may have been bitten more fully with this one. I can see "obsession" lining up easily for me on this whole topic.

As for the KGC, I always thought that was fictional bs like Dan Brown's stuff, but apparently not...so that whetted my appetite to learn more.

Finally, I'm in Arizona still - Prescott Valley now, moved from CV - so somebody out there nearby, I am genuinely interested in a mentor sort...I don't have a lot to bring to the table though, other than enthusiasm.

And a van - it can haul stuff

PS

So reading through the posts, I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one whose BS meter was going off.

Question - many of you had issue with them rubbing the coins...why? Now's yer chance to teach a noob something. ;-)

Also, I'm sure this one qualifies for the dumb question award but right now it's not intuitive but if you bury a glass jar a foot down and it stays buried for a couple hundred years and someone digs it up later, why would it be broken? Or more to the point - how would it get broken? It just seems to me that the boundaries of earth around it would insulate it from that sort of thing. Or is it more likely they broke the jars through digging?  

And I still take  huge issue that there was just one little gold bar under that tree. Sorry, not buying that one.

Edit to add - given how this team got all shifty eyed after the finds, provided they were legit, do you suppose they wrapped it up as a brick wall obstacle not necessarily for cliffhanger funding but because they anticipated a bigger find and didn't want anyone knowing so they could dig it up and get away with the stash *without* letting the owners in on the deal? You know...the old "oops, nothing to see here, folks, move along" ploy and then they slip back in on the sly and clear it out?


Just curious. I can't get over how they just called it a day when they supposedly found something, and wouldn't even keep going.

                                            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
 

Jar can be broken from the action of frost/freezing of the ground(ground will move) and from improper digging.

Jar can be broken from the action of frost/freezing of the ground(ground will move) and from improper digging.

and from trying to pack the dirt around it so the ground looks undisturbed for the camera. 

It seemed pretty hokey to me. I wondered if the whole thing was staged after it was over. Also, they found STRONG returns in other locations using GPR, but just decided to let them lie so they could TRAVEL all the way BACK at a later date? A bit much for me to believe as real. Now, they could have found the silver and gold loot and re-enacted the scene, but as it was, it was phony. LBJ

Better than most TV just the same.

I also watch that good looking brunette gal on her treasure show. She's worth watching whatever she's hunting for! Last one was looking for geodes or some kind of semi-precious rocks.