The Treasure at Basin Pass

By R. G. Lee

About the Book
Come along with the crew of the Mary Morris, as they travel west from Bristol, England to California on a quest for gold in the years from 1496 to 1500. See a world untouched by western influence and meet the people that lived and prospered there for 10,000 years. Bear witness to a way of life lost to a fast-changing world, and erased along with most of its people, from the face of the world forever. Discover knowledge of medicine, law, and civics, lost with the people who practiced it, and in the end a treasure of gold.
A fun easy read by new author R. G. Lee that's hard to put down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Sep 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798885278034

Book preview

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead; events; or locales is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by R.G. Lee

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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ISBN: 979-8-8852-7075-5

eISBN: 979-8-8852-7803-4

This book is dedicated to Richard Moloney for always

being there for me. Thank you for showing how to be a true friend.

FOREWORD

In 238 BC, Pharaoh Ptolemy founded the Library of Alexandria. Where scholars lectured, studied together, and inscribed documents. It housed gardens, shrines for each of the nine muses, lecture halls, and a zoo. Over the years it had accumulated half a million scrolls themed from architecture and medicine to botany and philosophy. It was said to hold all the secrets of the pyramids, and the ancient world. It was the epicenter for knowledge, technology, medicine, and art known all over the world.

In the year 48 BC, Rome was in a civil war, between General Julius Caesar and General Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. While chasing Magnus, Caesar was attacked by ships from Alexandria. He defeated the fleet and sailed into the harbor of Alexandria, where he burned all the rest of their ships, as well as a part of the city. The street where the Library was located burned, and that was the end of the half million scrolls held there, and the history of what must have been the rise of modern man.

All through the 1400s the Aztecs were fighting the Mayans. It was done in the way the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incans did things, with a great deal of human sacrifice. As the Aztecs encroached on the Mayans, they burned all the Mayan Codices they found, so that they could change the history of the area to better reflect their beliefs. By the end of the 1400s, the Aztecs had killed, or assimilated, almost all the Mayans, and with them went the Mayans’ version of history.

In the 1500s, the Americas were being invaded by Europeans. In 1519 Hernan Cortez attended a festival with his host Moctezuna, where he witnessed human sacrifice, on an altar made of the skulls of tens of thousands of previously sacrificed people. The next day he attacked the Incas with muskets and steel armor, killing thousands. They burned any Codices, or any religious idols they found, and replaced them with images of Christ and the Virgin Mary. By the time anyone wondered what was in the Codices, less than two dozen were left, out of millions.

For as long as anybody could remember, the history of the people of North America was told orally from generation to generation. By converting stories to song and dance, they were able to tell a story over and over without it being changed by the teller. Mozart wrote music centuries ago that is played note for note the same today. Changing a word changes the rhythm, and that is more noticeable than changing a word in a story. So the people told their history in story songs.

From the early 1500s until the end of the 1800s, Europeans settled North America in what has been called Manifest Destiny. Whatever you call it, it had a side effect of displacing, and for lack of a better term, genocide of the indigenous people. There were whole tribes of people that disappeared off the face of the earth. A population of millions reduced to tens of thousand of people at its least. With the death of the people went the story songs that told their history.

 Like the Aztecs did to the Mayans, the Europeans changed the history of North America by silencing their songs, and replacing them with their written versions.

I’ve heard it said that we are a species that has forgotten its own history. But the truth might be that it is the nature of our species to destroy and replace its own history.

Chapter One

12-21-1905

Harold Wayne had been a reporter for the San Francisco Post Tribune for nine years, when he received an invitation to interview one of the most influential men in San Francisco, millionaire and philanthropist, Gilbert Hastings. He was told to be at the front gate of the only building on the southeast corner of California St. and Jones Ave. in the Nob Hill area, at exactly nine o’clock a.m. He had been there ten minutes early, and waited another fifteen minutes after that. When the huge gate finally opened the butler, Willis, was there to greet him. Willis was clean shaven, slender, and imported from England. With a somewhat expressionless look on his face, Willis asked, Mr. Wayne?

Responding with eagerness, Harold said, Yes, I’m Harold Wayne.

As Willis talked he turned from Harold, and began walking back through the gate, I’m Willis, please come with me, and I will take you to Master Hastings in his study.

Turning to make eye contact again, Willis continued his conversation with Harold, Mr. Hastings is getting very old, and has trouble hearing these days, so shouting is the only way he will be able to hear you. Don’t think we haven’t heard shouting every day since his hearing began to fail. It’s accepted behavior here to shout every question, statement, and answer directly into the horn Mr. Hastings has to his ear. Surprisingly he speaks in a very normal tone of voice, so sometimes you might forget to yell your responses into the horn. He’s a bit impatient about this so try to remember to shout into the horn. The older he gets the crankier he gets, but he’s a very kind man. If he gets angry he will usually disregard it a few moments later.

The men walked up the long stairs that had only just been remade from concrete with river pebbles added on the top of the drying concrete to add texture and grip. They crossed a garden area, and up three stairs to a flagstone patio. Across the patio and through a set of French doors, and they were standing in Gilbert Hastings office.

Once in, Willis announced in a shouting voice, Mr. Harold Wayne to see you, sir. Nodding his head, he gestured for Harold to have a seat across from him. When he sat down Willis began to go over the offerings. Would you like coffee, Mr. Wayne?

Yes please, answered Harold.

Looking Harold in the eye now, Willis said, And how would you like it, sir?

Shrugging, Harold answered, Just black is perfect. Thank you.

Almost interrupting, Willis continued, We have breakfast for you, Mr. Wayne. I would advise you to eat, because Mr. Hastings’s meetings can go on for a long time, once he gets going on something. Since it’s your first meeting, you can expect a long meeting.

Yes of course, said Harold, I will have some of the fruit there and one of the rolls please. Willis served him, and left directly after.

Harold sat across from Gilbert, who was thin, grey, and showed his years, in the wrinkles on his face. He had a look on his face and a twinkle in his eye that hinted at a mischievous side. A horn was mounted on his desk that allowed him to engage Harold without holding the horn up the whole time. Harold looked down on the floor and noticed the imprint of a much larger desk on the carpet, and realized Gilbert was a man who made adjustments in his life when he had to. Gilbert leaned back holding the earpiece as it telescoped out and accommodated any position he chose to sit in. Harold shouted into the horn, Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you today, Mr. Hastings.

With a look of impatience Gilbert barked, I didn’t ask you up for a talk. I invited you to hear a story I have never told anyone before. What do you know about me, Mr. Wayne?

Clearing his throat, Harold answered, Well, as much as most people know. You’re a very well-known man here in San Francisco, so some of what I know could be an exaggeration. Pausing, he continued, But I know this. You are one of the wealthiest men in San Francisco as a result of discovering gold back in forty-nine. You are known for being a strict taskmaster, and a supporter of just about anybody that runs a successful campaign for local office. Known for making men, and breaking others. A very powerful man here bouts. You are generous to charities, and are known to seek out the hungry to feed them just because you can. You came here to mine gold in the forties from somewhere back east. That’s about all I know.

Gilbert nodded his head, and said, "Yes that’s right. I came here in forty-nine, like about a million other men at the time. But I didn’t discover my gold the same way the other men that hit it big did. By the time I found my gold it had been dug from the ground or picked from the water already. It’s the reason I called you here today. I want to tell you about the Treasure at Basin Pass.

 "The treasure paid for all you see and have heard about. It will make my descendants wealthy for generations. As much as it has made an exciting story, about a modest man finding great wealth, there’s another part of the story that is arguably more interesting.

"I arrived aboard the SS Oregon on April 2, 1849. We had sailed from New York, south around Cape Horn, and six months after leaving New York we arrived in San Francisco. I was sixteen years old, and ready to make my fortune. When you’re sixteen years old, nobody can tell you not to do something you’re determined to do. Even though many tried to discourage me from going into the mountains in California to search for gold. There were already well over a hundred thousand men here looking when I got here. Still I was determined to find gold. I had a fair stake of money, and had been able to keep it from being stolen from me by the hundreds of men whose only goal was to swindle newcomers. I bought a knag of a horse and a pack mule, loaded my provisions, and out into the wilderness I rode.

I’m not going to tell you about the many times I had to protect the few things I owned at the time, from those that would take first and explain never for stealing what they could. The problem I had with being sixteen was that I looked thirteen. I had a big target on my back just because of that. I carried a brand new 1848 Colt Baby Dragoon pistol, and an A.J. Plate double barrel shotgun, loaded with double ought buckshot. There were more times than I could recall if I tried that I let it be known I wouldn’t be giving up anything without a fight. He giggled in a way only old men do, and said, "I always looked a lot older pointing a double barrel shotgun.

"When I finally got to the streams where gold had been discovered, there were no more claims to be had. The only hope I had was to buy an old claim and hope the last owner missed the gold there. I studied for a long time about which mine to buy, when I decided to just look where nobody else had ever thought to look. I decided that I would look on the east side of the mountains for another stream to mine. I had been looking for the whole of the summer, and I was going to have to go back to San Francisco, to winter. I decided to follow one more ridge down from the top of the eastern side of the mountain, and call it a season if I didn’t find anything. I was close to the bottom of the mountain, and hadn’t found even a stream to search. It was late in the day, and my search was changing from looking for gold to looking for some shelter from the night air.

As I came out of a deep cut, the ground formed what looked like a large ladle you would serve stew from. It was high on each side, and about twenty feet wide. You could see how over the centuries water has been channeled down it every time it rained, leaving a smooth boulder-less road to walk down. At the bottom it opened into the shape of a large bowl, and about twenty feet up the western side of the bowl was a small cave. You could see that the cave was above the water line because the east side of the bowl was only about fifteen feet high where the water would cascade over in a rainstorm. I left the horse and mule, and climbed into the cave. I had to make a torch out of an old rag that I had been carrying since I left New York City. As soon as the fire illuminated the cave, I noticed a skeleton in deer skins laying his head on an old English saddle, and this was laying next to him.

Gilbert rang a bell and in seconds Willis was standing next to him with a wooden box. He handed it to Harold, and quickly disappeared again. Harold held the box in his hands and studied it. Then he shouted, Is it a puzzle box?

With a sly little smile on his face Gilbert said, Yes it is, Harold, a very clever puzzle box in fact. It took me all that night to get it opened. I almost resorted to breaking it open, when I finally moved the right slides the right way, and it opened up. Here let me show you how to open it. Gilbert reached over and began sliding hidden pieces of wood on the sides, top, and bottom of the box in the proper combination to allow the box to open. When it opened it exposed a portable writing desk, and all its needed components.

Reaching inside, Gilbert removed an ancient manuscript. Holding it up he said, This is the journal of Richard Austin Marlowe. The man who hid the Treasure at Basin Pass, for me to find three hundred and fifty years after he hid it. And now four hundred and five years after he hid the treasure I’m telling the world the true story of Richard Marlowe. I would just have you read it, but it’s written in old English, and took me most of the winter of forty-nine and fifty to read and understand it. You can read it yourself, but I’m going to tell you the story as I understand it now. With that Gilbert set down the journal and began to tell Harold the story that made him one of the wealthiest men alive in 1905 San Francisco.

"One thing I want to say before we start is that when I started to read the journal, I had no idea that there was a treasure. It took half the winter before I finally realized that there was a hidden treasure. It was even longer before I understood this journal enough to tell someone the story, and quite a bit longer before I had a desire to tell someone else the story.    

"Now Richard traveled a long way to get here, and he started in England. This is the story taken from Richard’s own words. The story starts with Captain William Pierce, the man Richard hired to captain his own ship from England to North America….

***

5-12-1496

Poole Harbour, southern England

…A groan of frustration, a last turn under the covers, and the struggle to sleep was over for the last night. For William it was almost impossible to sleep on land. William had been a man of the sea over twenty years, and only slept well onboard a ship at sail. He sighed as he thought of the past two and a half months ashore preparing for the voyage. Today however William was feeling different than he had over the last seventy-two days. Today William was setting sail for the new world on the newest, biggest, and best provisioned ship he had ever seen, yet alone sailed on. This from a man who had spent the last twenty-three years aboard ships of one kind or another in service of England’s Royal Navy.

Williams’s thoughts went to his future with the owner of the ship, Mary Morris. A ship named after the owner’s wife who would be waiting for the return of her husband Richard Marlowe. Richard had enticed William to retire his commission with the Navy and become a partner of his. William would receive payment of 10% from all they could trade for, to captain the Mary Morris to the new world and back.

William stretched and yawned as he rose from his motionless bed, and walked immediately to the door and across the yard to the privy. After which he slowly walked back towards the shack that had been his temporary home while Richard and he made ready the Mary Morris for her maiden voyage. Richard had offered a much nicer place farther inland, but William was incapable of being too far from the sea. If he couldn’t feel it under his bed he had to be able to hear it, and smell it, or sleep would be impossible. Actually William hadn’t slept very much at all since coming ashore a bit over two months ago. The little shack was windowless and sat atop a ridge that overlooked Poole Harbour where the Mary Morris was moored. Every morning he would walk the two miles to the pier where he could take a dory out to the Mary Morris. Today he readied himself with an added spring in his step, as he embraced the notion of returning to the sea, with the promise of wealth and position upon his return to this harbor in three years or so. He finished gathering the last of his things, and grabbed his two drawstring canvas bags on the bed. Throwing one over the shoulder and carrying one at his side, he left the cabin for the last time.

Walking down the road towards town, William was reminded of the first time he had walked to catch a ship. He was twelve years old and scared of what was to come of him as an apprentice officer in the Royal Navy. He had to walk for three days that time. There were times that William thought of turning back in shame, or running away instead of joining the navy. His father had pushed him to go and establish himself in a life of service and glory for England. His father was right of course. There would be no more opportunities if this one was abandoned by him. But he knew nothing of the sea, other than stories he had heard.

Along the way William thought of the best way to present himself for the first time to those who would be his masters, while he was an apprentice Navy Officer. The closer he got to the dock, the more his confidence grew, because he knew what he had to do, and how to do it. Before he started walking that last morning, he had spent a good amount of time preparing his clothing to appear as if he just left home that morning. He was only about two miles from the dock when he woke up that morning, allowing him to be there at six o’clock as he had been instructed to do. Right before he got to the dock, he stopped to give himself one last tuck of his shirt, and made sure he looked his best. Then he walked onto that pier as if he had a hundred times before, never letting his fear be seen or smelled. Over and over in his life he hid his fears when those around him reacted to theirs. Launching him to the rank of captain at the youngest age of any captain the Royal Navy had ever promoted before.

He thought of the time it took him to grow from a child to a man on those ships, and the men who molded him into the man he had become. Some of them would become lifelong friends in the process. He felt a sense of regret for retiring his commission in the Navy, but knew he was doing the best thing for his future. Richard and William were going to become wealthy men with the Mary Morris, and the men that they had put together for the voyage to the new world. William had recruited all the sailors from the Navy ships he had served on over the years. He wasn’t going to have to tell them every little thing to do because he only took seasoned, well-disciplined men. Richard had served in the War of the Roses with the men that made up the marine unit. They would work side by side on the ship. Then his men would stay aboard the ship, keeping it safe when the marines went ashore to trade the ship’s cargo for gold with the savages. William would keep the ship at sea when mooring was ill-advised, and he would stay closer to shore when weather permitted.

As soon as William approached the dock, he passed the sailors who had been standing next to one of two dories, waiting to ferry men to the ship, standing in the harbor. Richard stood with Blake Carter, Charlie Christian, Dean Riley, and George Jeffrey. The men Richard chose as platoon leaders to the men. Men that had shown time and time again to be brave, quick-thinking leaders in the War of the Roses. Blake held a flank with 12% casualties for six hours, preventing the over-running of an entire company.

Richard was a fascinating man. A renaissance man who not only attended the best schools in Europe but was a great warrior as well. He was raised by his father after his mother died in childbirth. When he was a child, his father hired tutors and then brought his son to work with him daily. Richard worked alongside men all of his life. His father pushed him at every point making pressure the norm for Richard, molding him into a confident leader.. His father was the kind of business owner that worked every day at all parts of the ship building process. He could build any part of the ship and Richard could too. There are carpenters and there are shipwrights. Houses don’t have to stay afloat during a storm; ships do. Every joint had multiple angles that had to fit perfectly and had to be strong enough to hold together in the worst of storms. Even though Richard was the commander of the marine unit and William was the captain of the ship, Richard knew every nuance of the ship and could captain it if he wasn’t planning on being ashore for months at a time.

Richard attended university in Heidelberg, Venice, Florence, and Paris where he rose to the top of the class each time. What appeared to be the hardest studying man in the class was actually a man with an eidetic memory. Every word Richard read or heard, and everything he saw, he would remember for the rest of his life. He could tell you what he ate on any day of his life, as well as anything else about the day. It was almost impossible for William to doubt him, as he inspired confidence in all who saw him. Towering above the other men, and built as if Michelangelo had carved him, he was a picture of authority and leadership. Standing among his men, he was towering above men that were considered tall.

William approached the men on the pier to the sound of Richard asking, William, we have been waiting for you. How does the day find you as if I wasn’t aware?

Always with a face that hid his thoughts, William answered, As you surely know, sir, I have awaited this day with anticipation, and here we stand now. William looked at the men. Gentlemen, he said with a nod, and all returned with the same.

Richard said, And so it begins. You all know what to do. Blake. You, Charlie, Dean, and George go aboard first. William and myself will leave in ten minutes.

With that the four men climbed aboard a dory and ordered the sailors already aboard to row them out to the Mary Morris. As they did Richard and William watched and talked of their coming journey. Looking with admiration at the Mary Morris, Richard spoke first, Look at her, William, the greatest ship I have ever built and I’ve built many. She’s a thousand ton, a hundred and fifty feet at the keel, and thirty-five foot at her beam. Six decks counting the two in the after castle. Five hundred tons of cargo for trade and provisions, a hundred and ten muskets, and weaponry for a hundred and ten men. Thirty-five sailors, seventy-five marines, and if I may say so myself, the best two men to lead them. Twelve horses, four burrows, twenty lambs, thirty chickens, and one rooster. Well what do you think of our chances, William?

Confidently William answered, I’m sure we are up to the test of it, sir. The men are top notch and hand-picked by us. I’ve run it over and over in my mind, sir, and I don’t think we’ve missed anything. Aye, I think we’ll come through it all, sir. Aye, I’m sure of it.

They talked as if they’d known each other all of their lives. In many ways they had. Both had been raised by other men and were pushed to perform at a high level. They had been in the company of men like themselves all of their lives. Richard commented, You know, William, I wish Mary was as confident as you are. She’s quite convinced I won’t be coming back. She all but buried me before I left her this morning. I hated to leave her like that, but she said the same when I left for the war.  

I wouldn’t know, sir. I’ve only known loose women having spent most of my life at sea. Perhaps upon our return I might seek the company of a more permanent woman.

Shaking his head no, Richard said, Oh I doubt there will be time for that, William, I plan to return to the new world at least three more times.  

Aye, then I’ll be right there with you, sir, replied William.

The Mary Morris stood in the harbor like a goliath. She towered over everything that had ever entered this harbor. The Mary Morris was the largest ship ever built up to that time, and she was hardly known. Richard had kept her a secret from those who would have been insulted if he hadn’t offered her for sale to them. He knew the day news came that Christopher Columbus had found a new world, that he would use this ship for himself. The less people that knew the easier it would be for him to focus on the building of her. It took three years and almost all he had to build her. If he didn’t make it back there was only enough for Mary to live the rest of her days modestly. The thought of it made him sick to his stomach. When he left for war, he would have left her wealthy if killed in action. This was a gamble she didn’t deserve. He forced it from his mind and replaced it with the fact that he had the best equipment, and the best men, to make it there and back. He smiled and thought, I’ll be back Mary. I’ll be back.

William and Richard heard the men brought to attention as the four officers came aboard the ship to much formality. Richard and William climbed aboard their dory, and headed out to the huge ship swaying gently in the morning breeze. As their dory came aside the Mary Morris, William went up first followed by Richard. Although he wasn’t the captain, he was considered the ranking man aboard. Even though he would never give an order in front of the men onboard the ship. If there were to be orders given, they would be to William only, and he would allow William to make the order his own.

William stepped aboard to the sound of the men being called to attention. He saluted and turned half right toward Richard coming aboard. Richard saluted William first, then to the officers, and lastly turned to the men, looking them over and slowly returned their salute. Richard took a deep breath and began his comments to the men. Stand at ease men, he barked. "Today we begin our great adventure. It’s nothing really new to any of you, being the veterans that you are. Captain Pierce and myself have picked each of you because we have been witness to your professionalism and abilities. Each of you have performed the tasks you are assigned many hundreds of times. I’ve never seen a better collection of men than the ones here on this ship. The only problem I foresee is becoming overconfident or complacent. Stay alert and aware of everything you see along the way, as the unexpected is always in wait for an opportunity to destroy us.  It is my intention to make this our first voyage to the new world. This is the first of many trips I hope to make with you men. Some of us may not return from this trip. Those that fall will be given a Christian burial and a share, and a half will be given to your family. We are one crew made