DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how that official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William C. Sublett was born in 1835 in Alabama, and from the very start, his life had a way of moving west — always west.
He made it to north Texas before the Civil War, fought for the Confederacy, and came out the other side a man shaped by hard country and harder times. Then, in 1874, his wife died. And something in William Sublett broke loose.
He packed up his three young children — young children, mind you — and headed for the Texas frontier to hunt buffalo. Now that tells you something about the man right there. Most folks would've stopped, would've steadied themselves, would've found a porch somewhere.
Not Sublett. He went deeper in. By 1881 and into 1882, he was supplying game to the construction crews building the Texas and Pacific Railroad — feeding the iron road as it pushed across west Texas, which was no small thing.
The marker makes a point of saying that kind of hunting was important to the development of west Texas and to transcontinental railroad construction. Sublett wasn't just surviving out there. He was part of something bigger than himself, even if he didn't wear it like a badge.
Eventually he settled in Odessa. Built himself a dugout-and-tent home near this very site. Homesteaded a 160-acre claim.
To keep his family going, he hauled wood, and he water-witched — dowsed for wells — helping settlers find water in country that didn't give it up easy. A hard, honest living. And then came the gold.
In the 1880s, people started noticing that William Sublett was trading gold nuggets for supplies. Not coins. Nuggets.
Raw, pulled-from-the-earth gold. When folks asked, he had an answer — said an Apache Indian had directed him to a mine somewhere in the Guadalupe Mountains, about a hundred and fifty miles west of here. He'd disappear for a spell.
Come back with gold. Disappear again. Come back with more.
People tried to follow him. They always failed. He once took his young son to the mine.
Just the once. And later, that boy could not find the way back. In 1889, Sublett sold his Ector County property.
On January 6th, 1892, he died in Barstow — without ever disclosing the location of the mine. Not a word. He took it with him as sure as the gold itself.
But here's the thing about a secret that good — it doesn't stay buried. Stories of Sublett's treasure still lure explorers into the Guadalupe Mountains to this day. The mine may be out there right now, patient as stone, waiting on somebody who asks the right questions and follows the right trail.
William Sublett never told a soul how to find it. But he sure left enough of a story to make sure people keep trying.
What the marker says
Born 1835 in Alabama. Moved to north Texas before the Civil War, in which he served as a Confederate. After his wife died in 1874, he went to the Texas frontier to hunt Buffalo, taking his three young children with him. In 1881-1882 he supplied game to Texas & Pacific Railroad construction crews. (Such hunting was important to development of west Texas and to transcontinental railroad construction.) Settling later in Odessa, Sublett built near this site a dugout-and-tent home, and homesteaded a 160 acre claim. To support his family, he hauled wood and "water-witched" to locate wells for settlers. In the 1880's he attracted notice by using gold nuggets to trade for supplies. In explanation, he said an Apache Indian had directed him to a mine in the Guadalupe Mountains, about 150 miles west of here. Periodically he disappeared and returned with gold, but efforts to follow him to the mine always failed. He once took his young son there, but the boy could not find the way later. in 1889, Sublett sold his Ector County property. He died Jan. 6, 1892, in Barstow, without disclosing the location of his mine. However, stories of his treasure still lure explorers into the Guadalupe Mountains. 1967