Product Description

Written for the adventurer in all of us, Out of the Dust: Utah’s Lost Mines and Treasures is a unique guide that surpasses all other books of its kind.

Author Steve Shaffer brings to light stories of lost gold and silver mines carved out of the earth by Spaniards and Mexicans. Other stories tell of modern miners and their quest for hidden wealth in the hundreds of mountains and valleys of the West. While some treasure seekers have been rewarded with fabulous wealth, others have known only grief and disappointment.

Explore the vast Uinta Mountains and their rich mining heritage. Learn of long-lost mines that few treasure hunters have even heard of. Discover the secret of the Lost Rhoades Mine and the real story of the Lost Josephine Mine. Find out where to look for treasure and buried mines in Utah’s desert country.

Utah’s Lost Mines and Treasures features many photos and sketches—published here for the first time—and reveals long-forgotten cryptic and decoded treasure signs. This book, a treasure trove itself, is an essential asset for every adventurer and treasure hunter.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #358344 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

About the Author
Stephen B. Shaffer was born in Salt Lake City in 1947. At age sixteen, he left home, looking for adventure. Eventually, he became friends with several members of the Ute Tribe in the Roosevelt, Utah, area. Stephen learned a great deal from his new friends and grew to love and appreciate their knowledge and wisdom.

When Stephen turned eighteen, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving as a Ranger in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. As an adult, Stephen’s love for the Uinta Mountains grew, and he often hiked the mountains in search of Spanish mines and treasures. His relentless pursuits have paid off, and he has been rewarded with some exceptional finds.

Stephen graduated from the North American School of Conservation and from the first Division of Wildlife Resources Hunter Education Instructors Academy in 1981. He received his associate’s degree in applied science in the pipe trades and his bachelor’s degree in archaeology from Kennedy International University.

Stephen has written several books about ancient civilizations in the West and about Spanish miners in early Utah, including La Mina del Yutas, Of Men and Gold, Nachi, and Treasures of the Ancients. Stephen can be seen in the documentaries Tops of the Mountains and The Golden Rhoades.

Stephen and his wife, Bonnie, live in Lake Shore, Utah. They have ten children, twenty-nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

The Mysteries Continue...
Stephen B. Shaffer is an amazing man on an amazing quest for knowledge. If you've read his previous works, and have an open mind, then you know what I'm talking about. I really enjoyed this book. Many tales of adventure and treasure, both lost and found. This book, though definately entertaining enough, does not shed a whole lot of new light on old gold. For the casual treasure hunter, it does offer some direction, but for the technical fanatic, you will find that Stephen stops short of disclosing the details.

Not worth it.
This book is well-written, and gives a bit more information about some of the great legends of Utah treasure history, but it doesn't go into enough detail. This would be fine for the casual, armchair treasure hunter, but for someone who wants to hit the trail and find these places, it is seriously lacking. It makes me wonder if the real way to make money from lost treasure in Utah is by writing books about it.

stir the blood and get ideas
A lot of what has be written by Shaffer, is rehashing of the works by George A Thompson, and Gail Rhoades, among others. There are many that put the books down, thinking that the author(s) should publish maps with all the trails and way points, to the point of allowing the reader to drive right up to the entrance, get out the hoverchair, and glide right up to treasure.
Any treasure tale, utah or otherwise, may require a lifetime of effort to locate the specific thresholds that actually point to treasure sites; true of the Uintahs, Pinto Ranch, Hamblin Valley, Goldstrike, Kimberly, Blanding, or any other place where gold has been found, then lost again.
In the ways of the Old Spanish miners, it wasn't a picnic of excursion lasting a couple of months, but an exercise in priesthood, slaves, animals, and foraging for sustenance that covered years, or decades. Once amassing the fortunes, and a decision made to return to Mexico or Spain, some closure was necessary, along with a map on a hide.
Chances were that the posterity wouldn't find out about the map for years afterwards, and once finding one, would not find the wayposts or marks leading to the family treasure, because they weren't there, and wouldn't be able to recognize familiar places. Plus, they had to fight the indians, and cover 1000 miles or so on foot or horseback.
I have been one to look myself, and the Uintahs is a mysterious, spooky place (A lot of places in UT, AZ, CO and NV are too). I have found my own evidence of possibility with truths, but desecration of native american shrines and religious areas isn't one of my actions.
Of course, there are myriad locations throughout the West, territories once belonging to Spain and Mexico, where antiguas (old mines) are to be found- some not far from Las Vegas, Needles, Albuquerque, or Zion Park. Again, the quest can take years of searching.

Here, the author is planting a seed that may or may not take root in the brain of the reader. The god of the Spanish was gold, and human life was worth less than horse dung. If you locate treasure, think about the cost to those enslaved and tortured to recover it. Follow your conscience- maybe it has your name on it, maybe not. the search is always the adventure.