Symbol of tree seems to match the lay of land

Carved on a very large beech tree in the Cohutta Forest appears to be a crude map.

The tree sits beside a large stream. Just upstream from this tree with the symbol, an unmapped intermittent branch enters the large stream.

Just before where the small branch enters is a cave / mine entrance (second photo). The cave / mine appears to have been sealed about 10-15 feet inside.

Now, that is some very interesting stuff!

Not gonna say "That's where ALL of the Cherokee gold was buried"!

I hike and backpack Cohutta fairly often, and know it very well, but I have never seen anything like this, nor any caves at all. I'm sure you don't want to post the location of this, and rightly so, but I have to say I'm very curious! I'm really big on finding cool old historical places in the woods. I guess it's time for me to take a several day trek and try to find this!

If I found this, I would spend every waking hour tunneling thru that plug... IMO, those 3 dots on the tree are chambers and the Cherokee were known to have hidden their gold before embarking on the Trail of Tears... This is as good a location as any in which I have read in Forest Wade's book of that very topic... Hammer and chisel would be my weekend trade... (Of note, the rock to the right of the plug at the floor, to me, looks like a chiseled indian face with a tear coming out of the eye.) The indians are known to have used the phrase, "the trail in which they cried" when referencing the Trail of Tears...

icefly said:

If I found this, I would spend every waking hour tunneling thru that plug... IMO, those 3 dots on the tree are chambers and the Cherokee were known to have hidden their gold before embarking on the Trail of Tears... This is as good a location as any in which I have read in Forest Wade's book of that very topic... Hammer and chisel would be my weekend trade... (Of note, the rock to the right of the plug at the floor, to me, looks like a chiseled indian face with a tear coming out of the eye.) The indians are known to have used the phrase, "the trail in which they cried" when referencing the Trail of Tears...

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X 2

It does look like a face.

Need some help?

also, of note in "Lost Treasures of GA"

"Many other legends of lost gold exist in Cherokee country. One of the most widespread is a story about a cave filled with gold. Often called the Waterhouse Treasure, it was discovered by William Waterhouse in 1890. Reports of the cave were even printed in Chattanooga papers. "William Waterhouse, a young white farmer of Keith, Georgia...claims to have found a cave in the fastness of the mountains.." Ernest Andrews, who wrote "Georgia's Fabulous Treasure Hoards" claims to have found a Waterhouse family who owned a hotel in Cohutta, Georgia, a few miles east of Keith. He guesses that the cave would be located on Rocky Face, based on earlier research. This, by the way, would put it almost exactly in the middle of the old Cherokee gold fields."

Could it be that Rocky Face is not the location and the cave you found in the Cohutta Wilderness is the Lost Treasure cave... The symbol that you found on the tree could be one of many pertaining to that one cave... A treasure as large as that believed to have been buried by the Cherokee would have taken great pains to conceal...

I seriously doubt that is even possibly a cave with Cherokee gold. That symbol on the tree would not even be barely visible after what, 170 years. Nor would they have blocked in the entrance with concrete.

It's gotta be something else.

I'm a watching as this is getting interesting

If it's way back in there then who plugged it?

Pingdis said:

Carved on a very large beech tree in the Cohutta Wilderness appears to be a crude map. (top photo)

The tree sits beside a large stream that runs north/south. Just upstream from this tree with the symbol, a small branch enters the large stream from the right (east).

Just before where the small branch enters the large stream, and on the same side of the stream is a cave entrance (second photo). The cave appears to have been sealed about 10 feet inside. (third photo)

Interesting...

Click to expand...

Is that plug concrete? It doesn't look very old, still pretty white. Maybe the pic just makes it look like that.

See, thats just it... I don't think it's concrete... I think it's a mixture of sand, water and whatever else is readily available (along with chunk rock) to make a paste to form the plug. Much like the "chinking" that is made in early log cabins to keep out the cold.... The pic, you're right, looks like concrete, but that looks like a camera phone and the picture is not of the best quality...

And, you are, also, right about the carving in the tree... It doesn't look that old or as old as I would think a carving made in the 1830s would look.

What, however, makes me think that it is a plug of some sort is that the rock strata surrounding the cave opening is of a different type, color than that of which makes up the plug. And, why would someone go thru the trouble to seal a cave opening in such a remote part of the wilderness than to do so to protect something of importance? While it might not be the elusive Waterhouse treasure tunnel, there are many other caches buried in this area of GA, which is right in the middle of the old Indian Gold fields and later the settlers who came to this area to mine that gold metal... ;-)

A lot of people get confused between Rocky Face Mountain near dalton, GA and Rocky Face Mountain just south of Cohutta Mountain as is outlined in this map: (move the map to the right and you will see them both side by side to the right of route 411)

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Keith&state=GA

Could be one that was plugged before the land was made part of the wilderness area by previous land owners. Maybe some one got lost or killed in there. Could even be a burial site. I wouldn't open it without seeking advice about the legality. Could be a Federal issue if you got caught. Just MHO, you can do what you wish.

It just came to me last night that this isn't the first time I've seen these pic's.

The last one is a pic of a painting.

Where is out computer savy guys that can debunk this?

I thought Pindis took those pictures!

man, and I was so sure this was legit...

interesting find!

??

if the tree scar was old it would have lichen growing "in it" just as it is around it

No, the pics are real, the tree is real, and the cave/mine is real. The creek is in the Cohutta Wilderness, on U.S. Forest property.

Here is another photo of the "plug". I agree the "map" marking on the tree looks too recent (10-15 yrs?). Other trees nearby have markings.

Here is another marking on a beech tree nearby and a rock pile nearby. There are at least 8-10 of these rock piles nearby.

Here is a video screen cap of the cave floor which had about 6" of water in it. You can see the bottom edge of the "plug".

BTW, these photos are taken by a camera phone.

My friend if this is a real pic then you may have a once in a lifetime find.I have no doubt these are very real,I had a friend that found 2 indian caves here in rabun county in the late 60s and early 70s.When I was a kid I would come to his house and stay with his son and he would show me the things he found in these caves and tell me the stories.Neither of these caves were full of gold but they had pots and bowls that were in perfect condition he said they had what looked like old leather that looked to him like it may have been clothes.I never saw pictures or anything of when he found it but I did see some pretty cool stuff at his house.He told me that when the indians were forced out they hid what they couldn't carry with them and marked the trees with symbols,but most of these trees are long gone but a few are still around.I have saw 3 in cherokee county in the woods off of Salacoa rd. but I never found anything and they were pretty grown out so it was hard to tell what they were.My friend is gone now but the only thing I would advise is to not go beating around in there without a partner so if it caves in you may have some help and PLEASE at the very least take good quality pictures to document things as you go.Even if the cave has no valuables it may at least be a historic find and needs to be treated as such.I would recomend contacting a historian and ask what is the legal thing to do but never give any locations to anything to protect yourself.Good luck and I hope you have found a cave of gold that will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.