The Kokoweef story began in 1934, during the depth of the US Depression, when Earl Dorr penned his now famous "Sworn Statement", concerning his find in the County of San Bernardino. The caves which he discovered are in the Eastern Mojave Desert near Kokoweef Peak (thus, it's name) and he claimed that they contained a "river of gold." The extent to which the Depression helped fuel interest in his find, is impossible to know, but the desperation of those years certainly would suggest that it did. The prospect of finding this "river of gold" must have been nearly impossible to ignore, especially when life was so difficult for so many.
One can look to countless reasons why the "find" may have been exaggerated, or even untrue, but the one that jumps out immediately is found in the last paragraph of the last page. As you read this paragraph, keep in mind that mining operations, in general, are work intensive, time consuming and VERY expensive, and rarely did the prospector who found the gold, have the resources to fund large scale operations to extract it. Mining history is rich with stories of gold strikes which were sold (or in which an investment was made) which turned out to be overstated or just untrue. In these cases, the seller would reap incredible profits, all based on false information. So, keeping that in mind, consider this part of Earl Door's "Sworn Statement":
On the other hand, however, there are sufficient facts in Dorr's Statement that ring true enough to at least arguably give credibility to the story. A case in point was Door's willingness to openly confess the need for investors, a statement that did have a certain disarming effect by boldly admitting something that was generally not part of a prospectors glowing reports of their strikes. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the mere fact that there are extensive efforts, even today, to make the discovery of this river of gold, would suggest that there is more than just legend to Dorr's claims. All of the following images below are from the Kokoweef website at http://www.kokoweef.com.I, E. P. Dorr, residing at 390 Adena Street Pasadena, California, make the following statements for the purpose of inducing investors to invest in the work of mining the gold in these caves, and I solemnly swear that all statements made hereinabove are true and that all persons will find the physical conditions in the cave as above stated.
This is the affidavit that started it all
- Earl Door Afadavit 001.jpg (691.63 KiB) Viewed 3659 times
- Earl Door Afadavit 002.jpg (746.84 KiB) Viewed 3658 times
- Earl Door Afadavit 003.jpg (412.33 KiB) Viewed 3659 times
These drawings are supposed to depict the "river of gold"
- Dorr's Cavern Drawing.jpg (505.53 KiB) Viewed 3659 times
- Kokoweef_Dorr_Peak_Cutaway.jpg (711.21 KiB) Viewed 3659 times
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As mentioned, the search for Dorr's treasure continues today, more than 80 years after it' was first reported. The current owners of the Kokoweef project are actively searching the area in and around Kokoweef Peak, now using both traditional mining techniques as well as modern technology to search underground. A few years ago, we received permission from the owner to visit the site, complete with a guide who was the manager of the project. Our tour of Kokoweef will be the subject of this net, along with some history.
The East Mojave Desert covers an enormous amount of land, and offers the explorer and camper unlimited opportunities for dispersed camping. With few exceptions, travel time from one location to another requires some time. Our visit to Kokoweef was no exception, but it gave us an opportunity to select a very scenic campsite for this trip, large enough to accommodate our entire group. There are other pictures of our camp, but this photo is a good start.
- Camp.JPG (434.05 KiB) Viewed 3644 times
