An old-timer of McMullen County, Kenney by name, tells of a fellow
county-man, named Snowden, who was led by a negro to believe that a
certain boulder out on a plain ten or fifteen miles from the San Caja
marked the site of buried money. In the first place, the boulder really
did look to have been placed where it was by human agency, for there
was not another rock of its kind within miles. Snowden went to San
Antonio to consult a fortune teller. The fortune teller, without ever
having seen the country, drew up a chart of the whole territory,
marking down on it the position of the boulder. He told Snowden to draw
two parallel lines from the northwest and southeast corners of the
boulder, respectively, and to dig at the intersection of the lines.
Snowden paid a nice fee for the information and came back to Tilden and
organized an expedition.
When they came to draw the parallel lines, they found that they would
not meet and sent back the chart for correction. But it was not
returned, and becoming impatient for the treasure, the gold diggers
twisted about the directions somehow so that the “parallel” lines would
intersect. There they dug and dug. Finally, one of the party in disgust
swore that he would sell out his interest “for two-bits’ worth of Bull
Durham tobacco.” Snowden took him up. Presently all the other members
had sold out on the same terms, leaving Snowden to pay the expenses of
the whole work.