LOST AND FOUND

By Guest Author Suzie Grant

Thank you to the ladies of the Sweethearts of the West blog for asking me to join them today. Being here with like-minded western lovers is a real pleasure.

My kids and I are planning our bucket list trip to find buried treasure. We’ve listed all the important things we’ll need for our trip, a list of possible places to go, and now all we need to do is make a decision. What brought all this on? Well, we were discussing past vacations to ho-hum places like the beach or the mountains, and we decided that next year we’re totally going to blow the lid off our vacation and do something incredibly crazy: like search for buried treasure. How cool is that? I mean how many people can say they’ve done that?

Forget the fact that we’ve never done anything remotely exciting before in our lives, other than camping for boy scouts, and forget the fact that we have no clue what we’re searching for, we’re going for it.

Luckily, we have at least one of us who has done some kind of survival training in their lives. Hubby is ex Cavalry in the military and I love his military speak. I mean how sexy is it when he answers me with a “negative,” or even when he’s spelling something out using the military phonetic alphabet. I love it. But I digress.

He’s trained in special operations stuff…mumbo jumbo…and luckily has taken control of the “what-we-need-to-survive-in-the-wilds list” because obviously the hair dryer I decided to bring doesn’t quite fit with his idea of “roughing it.” Sigh. I’m not sure I like this idea anymore, but I’m trying to stay optimistic here.

Do keep in mind I’ve only been out of my home state of NC a handful of times so any trip is an adventure for me. My kids are 20, 16, and 4 yrs old. All boys. So needless to say they’re all for the “roughing it” mantra that has sprung up in our conversations as of late. Me…not so much. I like to write about epic cowboy adventures but I don’t like to live them. So I’m letting you all know beforehand if I happen to keel over during next year’s vacation, you’ll all know exactly who to blame. *Points finger at the military drill sergeant who lives in my house.*

So where are we going? Well, I just released my new book THE DEVIL’S DEFIANCE, book two in the Devil Ryder series, and it’s an Indiana Jones meets the Wild, Wild West story. I researched and fell in love with the legend of the “San Saba Mines.” So we’re discussing a trip to San Antonio. We’re definitely going to see the river walk, the Alamo, and while we’re there we’re going to search for buried treasure in Meynard county near the San Saba river. Of course, we really don’t expect to find anything but it’ll be fun just to go hiking near the river and pretend. I do have a fairly vivid imagination if I do say so myself.

What is the San Saba mine? A military expedition from Spain headed by one Lieutenant-General Don Bernado de Miranda was sent north from San Fernando (now known as San Antonio) to search for minerals and assess the strength of the local tribes. The slow moving expedition set up camp near Honey Creek and several of his men found a natural cave and cavern, discovering several thick veins of silver inside. While Miranda sent samples back to his superiors in San Fernando, the Presidio was built, as well as a mission, although Miranda was sent off to another military expedition before he could see his venture to fruition.

Though it has never been confirmed, legend has it that the Spanish missionaries started the extracting and smelting of the ore without Spain’s approval, and so, the legend begins. On the morning of March 16th, 1758 the mission was attacked by a large force of Comanche Indians, burning it to the ground. The Presidio was manned by only a small number of men and was incapable of sending help to the missionaries. So the secrets of the San Saba mine are forever lost. There are more rumors that the cave has been found over the years, once in the 1830’s, again in 1878 by a drifter named Medlin, and once more in 1887 as you can read here in a New York Times article written in June 18th 1887.

The history is fascinating behind this little mystery and hundreds, perhaps thousands of treasure hunters, geologists, prospectors, and adventurers have searched for the lost mine. So you can imagine that little old me, three rowdy boys, one drill sergeant, and a tiny three-legged Shih-tzhu will likely never find the cave. But! We’re happy to go exploring, camping, and just plain searching out the wonders of history while we try. As of now we’re still in the planning stages of our trip and the drill sergeant has a heck of a fight if he thinks for one rotten, stinkin’ second that I am not going to find somewhere to camp where I can at least have a decent shower! ☺

Here’s a blurb of THE DEVIL’S DEFIANCE and I hope you enjoy my ragged, hair pulling, planning of a future-trip that is looking less and less likely as a go. So tell me what is the most unusual family trip you’ve ever taken?

                                                        THE DEVIL’S DEFIANCE

New York City Lawyer Garret Ryder takes the law into his own hands when a vicious killer gets away with murdering his family. Nothing will stop him from delivering the justice denied him by the law he vowed to uphold. But when the killer kidnaps a judge’s daughter, his childhood sweetheart, he must decide if any price is too high to exact revenge.

San Antonio socialite Sophia Maria Osbourne doesn’t trust easily. With a dirty politician and a blackmailing judge for a father, she learned not to rely on anyone but herself. But when her father’s shady dealings lead to her kidnapping, she must place her faith in the man who stole her heart long ago, if she hopes to survive.

Suzie’s life has been one big adventure. Her childhood was full of reading the classics like TREASURE ISLAND, ROBINSON CRUSOE, and THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON tales. In fact her mother has another word for her “stories” but to this day, Suzie continues to dream up adventures of her own.

As a pregnant teen her adventure became a life-defining moment as she struggled to survive and raise a child on her own. During those rocky years writing became an emotional outlet. After a very long divorce she again found herself climbing that rocky path of life and learned to live by a single quote: “Obstacles are placed in our path to determine whether we really wanted something, or just thought we did.” By Dr. Harold Smith. Suzie looks forward to each new obstacle.

Taking life by the proverbial horns, Suzie now lives happily ever after with her husband, three boys and one little Shih tzu named Peppy Le’Pew in NC. One day she plans to retire and sail along the east coast, an adventurer to the end.