Publisher:
Taylor Trade Publishing

Publication Date:
11/05/2014

Copyright Date:
N/A

ISBN:
9781589799929

Binding:
Paperback

U.S. SRP:
16.95

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Treasure Hunter

By W.C. Jameson

IR_Star-black
IR Rating:
5.0
Jameson writes with conviction and vitality, expressing a joy for having lived such an active life and never regretting a moment of it - even when having to deal with spiders and diamondbacks in a cramped Kentucky cave.
In 1953, an eleven-year-old West Texas boy named W.C. Jameson had his first adventure, which led to his second adventure - his first treasure hunt.

Attempting to poach a few berries from a local fruit grower, Jameson overheard the farmer and his three friends discuss a cache of gold hidden in a cave near a dry creek bed before the farmer caught him.  If not for one of the farmer’s friends recognizing the boy and vouching for him, Jameson could have ended up in a great deal of trouble.  Instead, the four men, aware that the boy had overheard their treasure-hunting plans, decided to let him in on it to keep him from talking.  Treasure hunters, after all, try to keep their activities secret. Jameson’s help on the expedition led to him to seek treasure for the next four decades, and he never looked back.

The result is a memoir of a life of adventures more vivid and colorful than Hollywood could ever offer.  Jameson chronicles in rich detail his experiences in seeking old ingots of gold and silver left behind by the Spanish conquistadores who mined areas in what is now the American Southwest and northern Mexico, along with a few caches of precious metals in Arkansas and Kentucky.  More like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre than the Indiana Jones movies, Jameson nonetheless is not exactly a latter-day Fred C. Dobbs.  He stresses that he was never looking for precious metals for glory and wealth – only for the fulfillment of embarking on a quest and taking a chance.  (Like the farmer who introduced him to treasure hunting, Jameson avoided media attention, mostly because he feared sensationalism and a lack of privacy.)  You’ll cheer and hang on the edge of your seats as Jameson and his partners have a run-in with the U.S. Army, ford the Rio Grande in the aftermath of a severe rainstorm, deal with an unidentifiable toxic dust in a New Mexico cave, and battle desert rattlesnakes.  His descriptions of the expeditions – from the rugged landscapes to even the food he and his partners feasted on – provide a “You Are There” feel to the narrative.  You can’t put down this book, but if you have to, you’ll be eager to pick it up again.

Jameson writes with conviction and vitality, expressing a joy for having lived such an active life and never regretting a moment of it – even when having to deal with spiders and diamondbacks in a cramped Kentucky cave.  And how much treasure did he recover? Without giving too much away, he was successful enough to make some of his efforts worthwhile, but he clearly expresses a sense of reward even from the times he and his partners came up empty-handed.  Whether or not gold fever is contagious, Jameson’s exuberance for the thrill of the chase certainly is.  This all makes reading the book as rewarding as living out the adventures in it must have been.

Reviewed by Steven Maginnis for IndieReader

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