Central Texas Treasure Club Meeting Tonight - Tuesday, November 3rd!

 Remember the regular monthly meeting of our Central Texas Treasure Club is tonight, Tuesday, November 3rd.

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

Story of Successful Treasure Hunter Frank Fish

 

Since our annual Central Texas Treasure Club's Members-Only Old School vs New Tech Competition is coming up on some Saturday in late November, I think now is a good time to share some information about treasure hunting back when the detectors those of us on the Old School Team will be using first appeared. I'm going to start out with this article about famous treasure hunter Frank Fish who died in 1963, 6 years before I got into the hobby at age 14. This was written by his friend Ben T. Traywick.

***

Frank Fish's Last Treasure Hunt

By Ben T. Traywick
World Renowned Author

In April 1963 death came to one of the most famous and successful of the treasure hunters, Frank Fish. To all appearances and evidence he died by his own hand. But did he? Frank was my close and personal friend; my family and I spent many hours in his Gold Rush Museum listening to him spin yarns of lost and buried treasures. To say the least, it is my honest opinion that Frank Fish was not the suicidal type. He loved his museum and its thousands of relics too well. In addition he was close on the track of a large treasure cache for which he had searched many years.
Like all treasure hunters, Frank was never prone to reveal locations or such. However, as I was a close friend, he did tell me a bit of what he was doing. He had found positive evidence that a large treasure had been hidden in the vicinity of Columbia, California.
In 1850, the U.S. government cast raw gold into $20 gold pieces for the miners. This was done in order to place more legally minted money into circulation. As this service was performed free of charge practically all the miners took advantage of it.
A cast was made totalling $600,000. Four men and a team of mules left Columbia with this huge load of gold pieces to distribute them to the miners. The men hailed several riders a short distance out of Columbia, then disappeared never to be seen again.
Frank possessed letters and papers of the period which indicated that the popular belief was that the men had succumbed to the lure of all that gold and had stolen it. Though he did not indicate why, Frank firmly believed that the men had been ambushed by parties unknown, the wagon, mules, and gold coins stolen and the bodies so well hidden that no trace of them ‘was ever found.
Because of my skeptical remarks Frank laid three $20 gold pieces on the table before me and said:
“I traced the route taken by the men with the load of gold and where I believed would be a good spot for an ambush I went over very carefully with a detector. At one such spot I found these!” With a smile he indicated the gold pieces. By persistent questioning he finally revealed there were several more areas he wished to search.
I again visited Frank Fish at his museum in Amador City, late in October 1962. One look at his face and I felt a quick surge of excitement coupled with the instant thought, “He’s found it!” Frank motioned me over to a corner and began to tell me of his latest quest for the Columbia treasure. He had not found that particular treasure but he HAD found something else! This is what he told in his slow drawling speech:
“Ben, you remember I told you I was searching all the likely ambush places? Well, while I was doing that I spotted some unusual rocks several yards away in the brush. Upon investigation I found them to be the remains of an old cabin. I went over the entire area very carefully. About 20 yards from the old chimney I came to a shallow gully. On impulse I went down into it with the detector. There was a very strong indication of metal. My first excited thought was of $600,000 in gold. Frantically I began to dig, casting nervous glances over my shoulder to assure myself that no one was watching.
I first unearthed a Spanish sword, then a knife and quite unexpectedly, the remains of a skeleton. The skull was well preserved and had a bullet hole in the back. Further digging revealed an old pistol (later found to be a .69 caliber of the type used to assassinate Lincoln).
Still deeper I uncovered an earthen jar, called an olla by the Mexicans. It was heavy beyond imagination. Clearing the neck of it, I poured part of the contents into my hand. A stream of small, gold nuggets ran out. (At current prices the nuggets were worth $870.)
Even yet there appeared to be metal in that unusual gully! I continued to dig and dis-covered a small bean pot which was every bit as heavy as the olla had been! My trembling hands poured out its contents and my happy ears heard the musical clink of coins. The pot was filled to the brim with dirty, blackened- silver dollars!”
As he told me of each object he had found, Frank reached beneath the counter and laid each one before me; the rusty metal objects and the grisly skull which did indeed have a bullet hole thru the back. (A bone specialist later examined the skull and wrote Frank a letter stating that the hole was a bullet hole and had been made by a bullet of approximately 70 calibers).
I agreed that Frank had found a nice bit of loot, but where or what was the con-nection to the $600,000?
Grinning to show he was still ahead of me, Frank laid two more $20 gold pieces, dated 1850, on the counter. “I found these in the ruins of the cabin. I believe the holdup artists were there after they held up the gold wagon. Possibly they lived there before the hold-up and perhaps a while afterwards in order not to arouse suspicion. I can see no tie-in between the skeleton and the loot buried there. It is likely that someone else killed the man and buried him in the gully years before; the gully probably held its grisly secret even while the outlaws lived at the cabin. I am still convinced that the $600,000 is buried somewhere nearby.”
Frank Fish must have had ample reason to believe his last statement, but no amount of persuasion on my part could pry it from him. Only a sly grin answered my many questions.
In January 1963, I was trans-ferred to Manitoba, Canada. Just before my departure I again visited Frank in Amador City. At that time he seemed in good health, high spirits, and full of enthusiasm over another impending trip to Columbia. He was planning a three day search in February.
I heard no more of Frank Fish until I learned of his death in April 1963. Shocked and unbelieving, I read he had taken his life. Frank Fish the treasure hunter I knew; a suicide! Impossible! It was utterly ridiculous to believe he would do such a thing. Further to substantiate my disbelief are the following: (1) He made no disposal of the 7,000 priceless items in his museum which he had spent his life collecting. (2) Apparently he made no pro-visions for his burial, as his body lies buried in the poorest section of the Jackson Cemetery, with only a small metal marker, supplied by the cemetery, as a means of identification. (3) Unasked he had promised me several items for my own museum; no provision was made for these. (One was the fantastic amount of literature and information he had collected on lost treasures and ghost towns). (4) During his extensive searching for the yellow riches at Columbia, Frank uncovered evidence of an English settlement not previously known to historians. English items he found placed the date of this settlement at about 1600. Future new discoveries may reveal a complete portion of our country’s history heretofore completely unknown unless all this knowledge died with Frank Fish.
I am certain he would not have overlooked any of these items had he been contemplating death by his own hand. As he solved the mysterious riddles of lost and buried treasures in life, Frank Fish left behind, in death many unanswered questions.
Did he find the $600,000 in gold coins?
Did this treasure cause his death?
What connection, if any, was there between the skeleton, buried with gold and silver in the gulley, and the Columbia gold?
Did that $600,000 in gold lie buried somewhere near Columbia as Fish believed? Does it lie there yet? I probably knew more about Frank Fish and his treasure hunting activities than anyone. Yet I don’t know the answers to the mystery. I only know that the Frank Fish I knew would not take his own life intentionally or in such a manner.
***

Frank Fish - Treasure Hunter 

 

CENTRAL TEXAS TREASURE CLUB PATCHES AVAILABLE NOW!

 

CENTRAL TEXAS TREASURE CLUB PATCHES AVAILABLE NOW!

Thanks to the generous donation of a box of beautiful CTTC patches by Member Guy Conces, to benefit the Club, we can now offer them for sale to CTTC Members, non-members, and patch collectors!

All proceeds from the sale of these patches will go to benefit our Central Texas Treasure Club. I will have them for sale at our regular monthly meeting on November 3rd.

Prices:

CTTC dues-paid Members - $5 each.

Non-Members - $7 each.

Orders by mail - $8 each, includes postage charge.

To order patches by mail, simply enclose payment for as many patches as you want, and be sure to include your name and mailing address. Mail your orders to:

Central Texas Treasure Club

2207 Avenue B

Brownwood, Texas 76801

 

 

Central Texas Treasure Club 2026 Gold Coin Raffle Winners!

 

Central Texas Treasure Club's Gold Coin Raffle Winners!

Congratulations! to all the Winners and a Big Thank You to everyone who donated to this fundraiser that helped our Club hold another very successful Hunt this year! A Special Thanks to our Club's Co-Huntmasters Joshua Furry & Caiden Tyler for doing another great job!

 

 

* Shannon Underwood, Early, Texas - Gold $5 U.S. 1910 Indian Gold Coin.

*Lawrence Rivenburg, Belton, Texas - New Nokta Makro Legend 2 Metal Detector Package.

*Talon Cress, Odessa, Texas - 1887 U.S. Morgan Silver Dollar.

 

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

 

Central Texas Treasure Club Picnic Hunt Prize Winners!

 

CTTC Picnic Hunt Prize Winners!

I seeded 4 prize tokens in the field early in the morning before anyone else arrived. The Grand Prize was for a beautiful 1982-S 90% Silver PROOF George Washington Commemorative Half Dollar with certificate of authenticity and the box from the U.S. Mint. The other 3 prize tokens were for Garrett prize pouches filled with goodies donated by our loyal Club Sponsor Garrett Metal Detectors.

1) Jason Blackburn (AT Pro Master) - George Washington Half Dollar.

2) Mike Alldredge - Garrett Prize Pouch

3) Susan Driskill - Garrett Prize Pouch

4) Xander (Our youngest active Club Member) - Garrett Prize Pouch.

Congratulations to all the Winners! 

 

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

Panther City Outdoors Video of our 2026 CTTC Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt in Brownwood!

Thank you to our friend Keith Ivey and his Panther City Outdoors YouTube Channel for producing this excellent video of last Saturday's CTTC Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt in Brownwood!

CTTC Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt 

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

  

CTTC Members & Families Annual Picnic & Hunt - Saturday, October 17th!

Our annual CTTC Open Hunt was a great success!  But that doesn't mean the fun is over for this month.  We will hold our Annual Central Texas Treasure Club Picnic & Hunt for dues-paid Club Members and their families this Saturday, October 17th, at Comanche Park in Comanche, Texas!  All Members and their families are encouraged to attend.  This event is always a lot of fun and a great way to get to know each other better.

We will start gathering at the park at 10:00 a.m.  Joshua will probably start cooking the hot dogs about 11:00 and when everyone has eaten their fill and has relaxed a bit, we'll enjoy our Picnic Hunt which will last 60 minutes.  I will bury one prize token before the Hunt.  The finder of it will win a beautiful 1982-S George Washington Commemorative Proof 90% Silver Half Dollar with box and Certificate of Authenticity from the U.S. Mint.  I'll also bury several tokens for some smaller prizes.

If you're not yet a CTTC dues-paid Member and would like to attend, you can contact me and I can sign you up.   Annual 1-Year (12 full months) dues are:  Individual - $20, Family - $25.

Let's Have a Good Time in Comanche, Texas!

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

325-646-1000 (no text) or centraltexastreasureclub@gmail.com  

                                                    2022 CTTC Picnic Hunt 

 

 

Final Update for our October 10th Open Hunt!

 

CTTC Final Update

Tomorrow (10/10) is the big Central Texas Treasure Clubs Friou Allen Memorial hunt in Brownwood Tx, so I felt I better update everyone on entry numbers, token prizes and last minute details.

2501 Memorial Park Drive, Brownwood Tx

$40 entry fee if you haven’t signed up yet

(Registration starts at 8:30) Cash or check

We have 95 pre registered

There are 103 token prizes so far

We’ll be giving away 6 detectors

Subterrix will also have a table

🪎 The treasure chest is back and better than ever. Find the key, win the treasure!!

Bring cash as we will be having $1 and $5 raffles. (See photos)

$1 Raffle

Garrett Shovel, Silver Round, Minelab ProFind 35 Pinpointer

Also included is and Xterra Elite with headphones, extra coil and a ProFind 40 Pinpointer. (Note: This was Friou Allen’s detector that he used for about 45 minutes at last years hunt. That was the only time it was ever used and is in excellent condition. His wife donated it to the club he helped start)

$5 Raffle

1910 $5 Gold Indian

1887 Morgan Silver Dollar

Nokta Legend 2 Metal Detector

The Blanket High School Cheerleaders will also be having a bake sale to give us something to munch on.

Bring a chair as seating is limited.

Construction is ongoing at the location so caution is recommended.

Make sure detectors are charged and ready to go as we will start at 10:00 sharp.

- Joshua Furry, Co-Huntmaster, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

 

MONTHLY CTTC MEETING TONIGHT! SPECIAL PROGRAM BY ROBERT LEE RIGDON!

 

Central Texas Treasure Club's Regular Monthly Meeting Tonight! Tuesday, October 6th at 6:30 p.m. at the old Early Chamber of Commerce Bldg. at 104 E. Industrial Blvd. in Early, Texas.

This will be our last meeting before our BIG Central Texas Treasure Club Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt this Saturday, the 10th! We'll be setting a time and place for our annual CTTC Picnic which will be held on a Saturday later this month. Our Co-Huntmasters Joshua Furry and Caiden Tyler will be accepting CTTC Gold Coin Raffle tickets and proceeds so if you have any to turn in, please do so. If you're not able to attend our Hunt or you just want to get your tickets early, you can do that too. Our Secretary/Treasurer Jen Evetts will be taking Membership Renewals and Membership Applications for new Members. Anyone who want to become a 2026 CTTC Hunt Sponsor can also turn in their Sponsorship Donations. We still have a lot of valuable big silver and other prizes that need Sponsors so we can make them available as token prizes Saturday!

 

We'll have a SPECIAL PROGRAM immediately following tonight's meeting. We'll show and hour-long video and photos that our friend and longtime metal detectorist Robert Lee Rigdon prepared especially for our Club! It's excellent! Thank you, Robert!

As always, visitors are welcome and invited to attend our meetings and programs.

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

2026 Central Texas Treasure Club Open Hunt Sponsors Needed!

 We already have lots of valuable metal detecting & treasure hunting prizes that will be given away to token-finders next Saturday at next Saturday's Central Texas Treasure Club Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt, BUT we have A LOT MORE BIG SILVER and OTHER PRIZES IN STOCK AWAITING HUNT SPONSORS! We only have a few days left for you or your business to help out. The way our Club is able to offer great Open Hunts, when many other hunt hosts have stopped having them, is by having plenty of helpful individual and business Hunt Sponsors. That's the reason we're able to give away so many valuable prizes with such an affordable Entry Fee - $40 now thru Hunt Day. Un-sponsored prizes that we've purchased that don't get Sponsors to cover their price will not have tokens buried for them. They'll be retained by the Club and will be used for other Central Texas Treasure Club Members-Only Events after this year's Hunt. 

 Here are a few of the many valuable prizes that still need Hunt Sponsors' Donations to make them available for our Entrants to compete for on Saturday, October 10th. If you or your business wants to Sponsor one or more of these or the other prizes in stock, call me at: 325-646-1000 (no text) or email us at: centraltexastreasureclub@gmail.com 

 

One Ounce "Don't Tread on Me" .999 Fine Silver Round. $75 Sponsorship Donation.

One Ounce Buffalo-Indian Liberty .999 Fine Silver Bar. $75 Sponsorship Donation.

One Ounce Unity & Liberty .999 Fine Silver Bar. $75 Sponsorship Donation.

 

Thank You!

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

 

Thank You to Karen Allen for her Generous Sponsorship Donation!

 Please join me in showing our appreciation to our late Club Co-Founder's wife Karen Allen for her generous Hunt Sponsorship Donation!  Karen played a very important role in getting our Central Texas Treasure Club off to a great start when Friou and I founded it in August, 1981.  She pitched in and did all the secretarial work we needed to get our Club started.  On a side note, she was also instrumental in me passing Mrs. Tabor's Brownwood High School Typing class!  

Karen's sponsorship donation will fund 3 additional big silver token prizes that will be up for grabs at our October 10th CTTC Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt in Brownwood. 

They are:

- TWO PROOF 1890-1990 U.S. Eisenhower Centennial Commemoration 90% Silver Dollars.  Most of the soldiers that were trained at Brownwood's World War II Camp Bowie served under General Eisenhower in Europe during the War.  Our Open Hunt will be on part of that historic old Army Camp.

- One Brilliant Uncirculated 1941-P 90% Silver Walking Liberty Half Dollar

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

IMPORTANT CTTC FRIOU ALLEN MEMORIAL OPEN HUNT ANNOUNCEMENT!

 

The deadline for Early Bird Entries for our October 10th CTTC Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt in Brownwood ended last Saturday, September 26th so all Entries turned in now and at the Hunt will cost $40. Don't worry if you haven't yet entered because our Central Texas Treasure Club Hunt this year is still the least expensive to enter of any Open Hunts in the State of Texas and possibly even in the nation. Thanks to our Entrants, we will have seeded coins worth more than any of our Open Hunts in the past and thanks to our business and individual 2026 CTTC Hunt Sponsors, the average value of our many token prizes will be at least double that of previous Hunts!

We have many valuable un-sponsored token prizes on hand that will only be given away once we have Sponsors to cover their cost. Time is running out so if you or a business you know of wants to help us provide even more prizes for our Entrants to compete for, let me know and I'll make arrangements to receive their donations. Every Sponsor will receive public credit on our Club's Facebook page and on our website, where we regularly have thousands of viewers. I'll list a few of the un-sponsored prizes that are available and the amount of donation required to sponsor each prize below. Sponsors will receive full value of every donation in sponsored token prizes so they can give as much as they want and we'll match the amount of their donations to an equal value of prizes to be given away. 

 

Thank you for supporting our Club and our Hunt!

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

325-646-1000 (no text) or centraltexastreasureclub@gmail.com to become a CTTC 2026 Hunt Sponsor.

Two Minelab Pro-Find 35 Pinpointers. These are some of the best pinpointers on the market. I've used one myself for over 3 years. You can Sponsor one for a $75 Donation or both for a $150 Donation.
One 16th Edition Official Overstreet Indian Arrowheads Identification and Price Guide. This is always one of our most popular token prizes. A Sponsorship Donation of $65 will allow us to give it away to the lucky finder.
Two 1890-1990 PROOF 90% Silver Commemorative U.S. Eisenhower 1-0unce Dollar. Donation of $60 will sponsor one of these beautiful coins or a $120 Donation will sponsor both.
One Pamp 1-ounce .999 Fine Silver Buffalo Round. A $70 Sponsorship Donation will sponsor this.
One 1941-P Brilliant Uncirculated 90% Silver Walking Liberty Half Dollar for a $50 Sponsorship Donation.
 




















 

BRETT & MARY GARRETT - 2026 CTTC BRONZE HUNT SPONSORS!

 

We appreciate the Bronze Central Texas Treasure Club Hunt Sponsorship donation from Brett & Mary Garrett which allows us to bury a token redeemable for this beautiful Texas Commemorative .999 Fine Silver one-ounce Round. The Central Texas Treasure Club Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt Entrant who finds the corresponding token will redeem it for this valuable prize on October 10th!

Thanks to Member Susan Driskill for obtaining this Sponsor for us! We still have a lot of great, unsponsored token prizes remaining that we'd like to be able to make available for our October 10th Hunters. See the previous post for some of them.

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

 

CTTC Member Susan Driskill & 4D Driskill Farms - 2026 Bronze CTTC Hunt Sponsor!

 Join me in thanking Central Texas Treasure Club Member Susan Driskill & 4D Driskill Farms of Stephenville, Texas for answering the call and becoming a 2026 CTTC Hunt Sponsor with a Bronze Donation that covers the cost of a beautiful one-ounce .999 Fine Silver U.S.A. 250th Anniversary Round that will now be one of the token prizes Hunt Entrants will compete for at our October 10th Central Texas Treasure Club Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt in Brownwood. 

 We still have several valuable prizes that are awaiting Sponsors so if you or your business wish to sponsor one of more of them, please contact me at 325-646-1000 (no text).

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

Central Texas Treasure Club 2026 Hunt Sponsors Needed!

 All proceeds from Hunt Sponsors' Donations go to purchase token prizes for our Hunt Entrants to compete for at this year's Central Texas Treasure Club Friou Allen Memorial Open Hunt. Currently we're somewhat behind on the number of token prizes we had last year but the good news is that the average value of token prizes is much greater than previous years. We still urgently need more Sponsors to cover the prices of token prizes that we already have in hand and that I'm still ordering. We've had a great response, as usual, from local and area businesses who support what our Club does for our communities and our hobby. So we need our Hunt Entrants and CTTC Members to really push hard over this next week recruit Hunt Sponsors so we can get them listed and assigned token prizes. We need your help to make this Hunt our best ever! At this point, we're allowing Sponsors or the Members who sign them up to decide what specific or what kinds of prizes they want assigned to them, according to the size of their donations. Here are a few examples to choose from that we currently have in stock and the amount of Sponsorship Donation it takes to sponsor each prize. Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond Sponsors can sponsor however many prizes their donations cover.

 

See the Sponsorship Flyer attached to sign up Sponsors and collect their donations.

One Brilliant Uncirculated 2026 U.S. Mint 1-ounce .999 Fine American Silver Eagle $1 Coin. For $80 Sponsor Donation.
One Troy Ounce Alexander the Great .999 Fine Silver Round. For $75 Sponsor Donation.
One 1982-S PROOF George Washington 90% Silver Half Dollar with COA and Box. For $35 Sponsor Donation.
One Pair of Serious Detecting Gloves with One 1991-1995 50th Anniversary World War II PROOF Commemorative Modern Silver/Clad Half Dollar. Both for a $30 Sponsor Donation.
 
Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club
Call me to Sponsor - 325-646-1000 (no text)