I
There are two distinct legends about the old place: in one it is [[45]]a fort; in the other, an old sheep ranch. Of later years, the fort idea seems to have gained ground. Mr. E. M. Dubose of Mathis says that he first got “the straight” of the matter from an old Mexican who was looking for the Casa Blanca site. According to this Mexican, a band of bandidos had in early days captured the fort from Spanish priests who were using it as a kind of ungarrisoned mission. The bandits pillaged the place of a cross of precious metal, golden candle-sticks, and other costly paraphernalia, and took up their headquarters in a secret cave a short distance east of the building. Later they were run out of the country by the Texans, leaving in the cave all their churchly plunder as well as much money that they had robbed from freighters and ranchmen. The problem with treasure seekers has been to locate the cave, of which there is now no sign.
In trying to make the location, Dubose and his party used at first a “gold monkey,” or mineral rod. This “monkey” was supposed to oscillate towards rich mineral until it got over it, then to halt. It oscillated all right, and under its guidance the treasure seekers dug two holes, both to the west of the fort.
Then Dubose went to Victoria to consult a famous mulatto fortune teller. The fortune teller described Fort Ramirez satisfactorily and said that he could and would locate a buried chest of money near the place for $500. The agreement was made, and one dark night Dubose drove the mulatto to the fort. The fortune teller led at once to the north corner and, walking thence east a few paces, planted his foot down and said: “Here it is. With this spot as the center, dig a round hole ten feet in diameter.” The two went back to Wade’s Switch that night, and when they got there the negro demanded his $500. Dubose told him that he would have to wait until the money was dug up, and offered to allow him to be present at the ceremony, but he refused to stay. He declared that unless he was paid his fee at once, “spirits would move the box” and that it would be useless for anyone to try to find it.
He was not paid at once, but in spite of the threatened futility of digging, a few days later two white men, aided by two or three Mexican laborers, were digging a great hole circumscribing the point marked by the fortune teller. When they had got down six or seven feet, they came upon a loose soil that was different in color from the contiguous earth. It appeared to be “the filling” in some old hole. Hopes became feverish, but after about a barrel [[46]]of the extraneous earth had been removed, the foreign matter petered out, and at the depth of twelve feet the men quit digging.