Treasures of Baja, legends and lore..

I thought I'd move this to a new thread that has more to do about legends and history of Baja....

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Moved from the Anchoring Out thread by lencho:

Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
"Pomp:
There was always a "Mexicano" rumor that Cortez buried a large amount of Gold somewhere off the Pt.

Maybe we should start a Salvage Operation for Boats, Sunken Sailboats and Gold!!

Skeet/Loreto"

Skeet! Shh...quiet! Keep it down...mum's the word!

I have dug up most the most peninsula looking for the fabled lost treasure of Cortez. So far, my metal detector has found me these 'treasures'...

I believe...no, ..I KNOW ...that the rusted stirrup was worn by old Cortez himself! And these coins I have found on the beaches and desert are further proof of buried treasure....

....genuine descendants of 'peices of eight.'

What legends do you pursue in Baja...or are you sworn to secrecy?

[Edited on 4-23-2007 by Pompano]

Senor Pompano-

i believe cortez was a punk, if not an outright thief....one in a loooong line of conquistadores. but heck, i probably woulda been along for the ride myself! history is what it has become!!!there is more than one type of gold to be found in the deserts of our Baja! the ocean is the mother of many of our desires....get yours amigo!

[Edited on 4-22-2007 by woody in ob]

Treasure from a Legend - Baja Patty

Many of you know the legend of Baja Patty, who lived on the Conception Bay peninsula at her Rcho Margarita. She was a real Baja gal who loved horses, horsemen, tequila, the rugged outdoors, life without too many rules, and giving with her heart. Per her wishes, she is buried there now.

Once she heard I was sick with a fever and drove the 3 hours over the old rough trail from her place to mine to give me some homemade tea medicine and this little figure. We were blessed to know her.

One of my 'treasures'...a Baja Patty 'Little People' figure of Villa...and memories of Patty.

Laguna Hanson treasure

I was told of a lost treasure in Laguna Hanson, that was the reason that Hanson was kill.It has beeb said that he own alot head of cattle worth alot money,story tells that he had alot money hidding in different places around his properity.(laguna Hanson)

Vince..

That was an epic sailing trip you guys made from Guaymas to Coyote Bay way back in the day. I can remember some of those great turtle dinners myself...a long time ago of course. Strictly taboo these days, Manuel tells me....

On that trip over to the peninsula and the suddenly-abandoned ranchero, we heard later from 'Blackjack', JW Black, a ramrod for Earl Stanley Garner's expeditions to Baja, that there was a 'haunted' place over there...maybe this was the place you found? Blackjack was thee best storyteller around those early campfires we had on Coyote Beach.

Baja Patty did indeed start up her horse ranch (and goats) on the same spot many years later, because of the water there.

You may have visited also the Painted Canyon, which indeed is an old aboriginal campsite of the nomadic people who once dwelled here. We camped there quite a bit back in the 70's and always could hear a slight murmur from the canyon walls....

This is a painting by them that you may recognize from your trip. And did you notice the fallen rock jammed in that crevice? An awesome place...full of demons and witchcraft...I have never dared to go back.

Baja Road lore

Pomp

HOLD THE PHONE!!

You got him/her/it....Balalero. Quite a Baja Road fixture for many years. Damnedest thing you ever saw walking out in the desert or along the highway! The truckers nightmare...or not.

Once I saw Silvia laying on the side of the highway near Pta. Arena...SHE/HE was laying on her back just her head and shoulders sticking out from the roadside bushes..with a plastic bouquet of roses in her hands, no less. Holy Cross-dresssers! I punched the gas to the floor before she/he could wink at me...

If I can get by the sensors I will scrounge around and try to unearth an old photo of Silvia to post here. Aquaholic gave me one...from when they roomed together.

[Edited on 5-11-2007 by Pompano]

Old post..old faces

Baja Patty was one-of-a-kind for sure. Looked more like Jack Palance than he did. When she died, most of Mulege turned out to give her a send-off, with many eulogies and also many flowers set on the river to head out to sea.

Then a big bunch of our boats escorted her panga carrying her coffin across the bay to her chosen spot at Rcho Margarita on the peninsula. Sure wish she would hurry up and get reincarnated like she promised...but then, maybe she has already? I miss her a lot, as all her friends do. She was real old-time Baja gringa.

On the Painted Canyon, Arroyo Pintando, over on the Conception Bay peninsula, one can find a great day's adventure by boat..but preferrably by 4X4. Plan to camp a day or two and enjoy the solitude and quiet. Camp on old Kochmi middens, photo all kinds of arrowheads, flints, fishpoints, awls, drill stones, grinding bowls, burned-out volkwagen buses festooned with peace signs, bikinis, Ripple bottles, and a DeSoto.

Just kidding..please practice Leave No Trace. We respect the past to show promise for the future.

Of course don't forget to take your photo under the famous Hanging Rock. Here are photos of The Rock from 1959 Earl Stanley G's expedition and one of our forays in 1999. That's present-day resident Ricardo Castillo and Paradise, Ca redisent JW Black (Blackjack) in the '59 photo.

Earl had us beat on safari hats, but we took top honors on full beer coolers.
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..FUN STUFF...

'The Pearl' - A Fractured Baja Fable

The Nature of Man.

(This fits into this old thread about Baja Legends and Lore...kinda.)


It's been frio and mucho viento around here lately, so I thought I'd use a suggestion from the 'What to do on a cool, windy day?' thread....and do something constructive.....like...kick back on the couch and read a book.



Based on an old Indian fable.

Here is a light, easy read of a pearl diver, Kino. It does have a good message, though. It explores man's nature as well as greed and evil.


‘THE PEARL’ - condensed for this thread

“Kino, a young and strong but poor Indian pearl diver, lives in a small town called La Paz, with his domestic partner (to whom he is not married because he cannot afford to pay the priest for a wedding ceremony), Juana, and his baby son, Coyotito.

When Coyotito is stung by a scorpion and is slowly dying from the poison, Kino must find a way to pay the town doctor, an extremely prejudiced white settler, to cure Kino's son. When Kino discovers an enormous pearl when diving for pearls, he is ready to sell it for money to pay the doctor. But other forces seem to be working against Kino.

Nearly as soon as Kino returns from sea, the whole town knows of the pearl. Nicknamed "the pearl of the world," many people begin to crave it.




Soon after the pearl is found, Kino is attacked in his own home. Determined to get rid of it, he takes the pearl to the pearl buyers in the town and tries to receive a good price. When the pearl buyers refuse to give him the amount of money that Kino wants, he decides to go to the capital to find a better price. However, Juana, seeing that the pearl is causing darkness and greed, sneaks out of the house late at night to throw the pearl back into the ocean.

When Kino catches her, furious, he drives her to the ground and leaves her on the beach. Returning to the house, Kino is attacked himself by several unknown men, one who is killed by Kino and one who knocks Kino down and tries to find the pearl. When it is not found, the attacker leaves, but Juana, recovered, finds it again and gives it to Kino.

When they go back to the town, their home is found burning down. Kino and Juana spend the day in the shadows of Juan Tomás (Kino's brother)'s house, hiding from the townspeople and gathering their strength to find the capital city. Only then can they hope to sell the pearl for a decent price. When the family travels away, they realize that they are being tracked by men who are hired to hunt them.

When Kino, Juana, and Coyotito hide, Kino realizes that he must get rid of the trackers if they are to survive the trek to the capital. Desperately, Kino hides at night near the trackers' camp, ready to attack, but the men hear the cry of baby Coyotito. One of the men c-ck a rifle to shoot in the direction of the cry, where Juana and Coyotito lie, and as Kino leaps to stop him, the man shoots. Kino tackles the man down and kills the remaining tracker before returning to his family and finds the man's shot had found its mark. Kino and Juana then return to La Paz, mourning, no longer wanting the pearl, with Coyotito's dead body.

At the end, Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean himself. The pearl has caused nothing but sorrow, greed, and evil."


Naturally, there is a point to writing this breezy, short fable...as you know, there's always a lesson in fables, so what can you make of this one, if anything?…any morals concerning events in modern-day Baja?

‘The Pearl’ explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the disastrous effects of stepping out of an established system. Bad things will happen if one abuses their station in life, according to the Father in the novel.

The ‘Pearl’ itself eventually leads to a family's devastation. At the outset, Kino envisions a better future the pearl will bring as he wants new clothes for his family and himself, a proper wedding for him and Juana, and a proper education for Coyotito. Before Kino undertakes his plans, friends and relatives of Kino wonder whether it will make or break Kino and his family and people question whether he can achieve these goals because Kino would have to essentially break away from the rigid social structure.

The pearl is symbolic of all the power to deceive, to corrupt, and to destroy. But it does bring hope, promise to comfort, and security to this poor, Indian family.

"Si los he toreado cornudos, cuantimás los toreo sin cuernos."

‘The Pearl’…a ‘novella’ was written by John Steinbeck in 1947.













Other threads about Baja Legends, People and Lore:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=41064#pid4449...

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=23072&pag...




[Edited on 1-15-2012 by Pompano]

Do you think Silva's makeup ever looked good? Everytime I saw himher, heshe looked like a painted lady that got painted by a two year old, and my foot got heavier on the gas for some odd reason.