Treasure Hunter: A Memoir of Caches, Curses, and Confrontations

What is it like to hunt for something that lies in a long-neglected, forgotten place? A thing with great value, with the possibility to bring unknown wealth to its finder? Those are the questions answered by W.C. Jameson in his memoir, Treasure Hunter.

Jameson is a veteran of many expeditions in search of lost riches and he tells the story of fifteen of those adventures in this memoir. And adventure is perhaps what he really sought, as adventure is the theme that ties his stories together, more so than the actual riches found and recovered.

Jameson writes clearly and with a certain readable and engaging style, a style that always called me to begin reading the next story as soon as the preceding one ended. For all of the stories except show more the first one he is accompanied by the same cast of three partners and I enjoyed the way that something that happened on one trip came to have significance on a later trip. And the last chapter was by far the best, not for the expedition it described, but for the cogent and compelling view it gave of the underlying drive for every adventure of Jameson's life. show less

Reason read: LibraryThing and the Early Review program.

Author fact: Jameson has written over 25 books on buried treasure and over 15 books on other subjects such as poetry, food and biographies.

Book trivia: Treasure Hunter has minimal photographs; mostly of Jameson as a young (and very handsome) treasure hunter.

First, the good news.Jameson is a great storyteller. His flair for detail makes every gold or silver ingot expedition come alive. You are right there with him and his crew in the desert, crawling through caves, avoiding snakes and spiders and, of course, the law. Right away, three things about Jameson are apparent. He values privacy due to his semi-outlaw status, he is proud of his semi-outlaw status and he wishes his treasure show more hunting days weren't drawing to a close. He wants to go back for the gold or silver he left behind. Which brings me to the bad news. Every expedition may start off differently: different state (mostly in the southwest) or different country (Mexico), but they all end the same way - the bulk of the treasure (sometimes all of it) is left behind for one reason or another. It's as if Jameson is daring us to get out there and look for it ourselves. Every chapter ends with "the treasure is still there, waiting" or something like that. show less

This is an adventure story so big I had to keep checking the back cover to remind myself it's an autobiography. Each chapter is a new challenge in treasure hunting and a lesson in why those treasures were originally left behind. Rattlesnakes and tons of rock still protect much of the gold and silver he went after in these stories. Before I even got to the end of the book, I was checking local libraries for some of his other titles that describe events closer to where I live. This just puts more adventure into walking through the woods and mountains and gives a reminder that maybe you should stop and look into that hole in the ground.

The last chapter goes into the motivation of adventurers and treasure hunters, and Jameson makes a good show more case for money not being at its heart. Getting into the wilderness is worthwhile precisely because it is not quite safe, and it's full of challenges need to be met even if they can't all be overcome. All of the stories were good entertainment, but the last chapter is good motivation to get outside of the walls around you. show less

Who hasn't always wanted to stumble over the pirate's treasure, the bandit's bank sack, the dragon's hoard? W. C. Jameson has spent his life doing just that. This is his memoir of a life spent treasure hunting. Well written and enthralling you may take a few moments to question his complete veracity, but who cares? What fun! His was a life filled with adventure that the rest of us can only envy.

Who wouldn't want to strike it rich? In fact, the allure is so strong, when I received this book, I immediately set aside another book I was reading and plunged into Treasure Hunter. I found my treasure. It is in this small book wrapped in a gold colored cover. Not the brushed and polished gold of the jewelers display, but the raw earthy color of gold worked from the rock. This book tells the fascinating and true story of one man's life long trek for treasure and adventure. Along the way he encounters, Mexican bandidos, law enforcement agents, and rival treasure hunters while finding lost gold and silver mines, loose gold nuggets, caches of Spanish gold and silver ingots hidden for centuries in the southwestern United States and show more northern Mexico. The treasures are found in desolate areas of nature often teeming with snakes, spiders, poisonous centipedes, and scorpions. Some finds are associated with legends of curses placed on the treasure. W. C. Jameson is not a man who easily lets these things deter him from searching for treasure. He is a smart, articulate, well educated outdoorsman, who has lived his life in the great southwest, paid his way through college, in part with funds found on his adventures, and has received a Ph.D. He has written many books on treasure and treasure hunting. He heartily defends his forty year quest for lost treasure where ever it takes him. Life is an adventure for Jameson and he pursues it with uncommon gusto. We armchair adventures can share a bit of the excitement of his machismo world through this excellent book. show less

How do you review a book that the author is sometimes the only witness to the events, admits to having changed names, and left specifics of location out of? The only way you can review it is not based on the facts but on whether he tells a good story(not that I doubt the authors veracity, though some aspects may be viewed with a little skepticism due to his age at the time) If that's the measure of this kind of book then the author succeeds marvelously. Will I ever learn of the location of the source of these treasures? No, but I'll certainly enjoy reading about his hunt. I warn those that are looking for archaeological context of the treasures place in history, you will not find much here. He's solely on the lookout for gold and more show more importantly adventure, which he makes clear in the introduction. show less

WC Jameson's book of true stories of treasure hunting for gold and silver in Mexico and the American Southwest makes for an amazing read. This book has it all. Caves, mummies, curses, silver bullets (albeit inadvertent), quicksand, gun play and snakes. Lots of snakes.

Using extensive research, Jameson and his team determine likely locations of abandoned and lost treasure and then the danger and adventure begins. As Jameson says, "almost everything treasure recovery professionals do is illegal", either due to land claims, historic value or government laws. However, nature is as much a deterrent as anything, and many of their finds have to be left behind due to terrain or snakes. Lots of snakes.

This is not a full memoir, but each chapter show more is a standalone story of a separate adventure. The introduction has good background on Jameson, but I would have preferred a more complete story of his life or more adventures. My only complaint with the book is that I wish it was longer. He definitely seems to have picked the most gripping stories, but I'm sure even the less exciting ones would still make for great reading. show less