Desert Shadow wrote:
  [Jerry Freeman Story, Papoose Lake]

It sounds legit because of a sum total of points.
1.  I believe he had the desire to find the last of the artifacts.  In
his world that would have been quite a feat.
2.  The military had definitely pissed him off by not letting him go
in there for science.  He clearly wasn't interested in military
crafts. He is a true archeologist.
3.  He had the experience from past hikes.  Although this would
definitely be the most difficult and dangerous.
4.  Glenn Campbell met him twice and discussed the trek.  It sounds
like Glenn believed him.  Glenn may have his moments, but he is
without a doubt one of the best BS detectors when it comes to Area
51.  This event took place during a time when Glenn was still very
much involved with Area 51.
5.  The last and most important for me, I don't believe the Air Force
or Nevada Test Site officials had monitoring equipment out there where
he went.  The danger of the desert is enough to deter most
individuals.  It wouldn't make sense to patrol or monitor the route he
took.  The environment was enough to protect the area.  It would be
possible to make the trek with enough water, equipment, desire and
BALLS!

Just as a matter of investigative process, and not meaning
to rag on you, none of the above are "points".
They are all simply your desire to believe it's true.
That kind of "investigation" works well at ATS.
But "I want to believe" is not good research.

I'm not exactly sure if I believe Freeman made the trip or not.
But there are a couple of glaring inconsistancies in the journal
as he reports it.

Apparently his associates, the Spanish Trail researchers,
have some doubts about this, and other treks he has
reportedly made.

The US Natl Park Service did scientific research that
pretty clearly disproves Freeman's claim to having found
a trunk, belonging to the original 49'ers.

MY subjective view of Jerry Freeman, totally unsupported
by any facts (just as your view is), is that he was a
colorful writer and enjoyable story teller. But I have
trouble believing his stories, particularly in light of
the NPS findings.

I would certainly not classify him as "A true archaeologist".
I've seen no scientific description, research or methodology
in his writings. A true scientist, or even a non-scientist
who wished to be taken seriously, would have/could have used
some incredibly simple and obvious means (photos?) to prove
and document his research.

Ask yourself this -

Here's a guy, obsessed with the history of the 49'ers.
Embarking on a trek to the holy grail of 49'er history.
What would have been the result if he HAD found what
he was looking for? He would have had a story to tell
and nothing more. If you were looking for such telling
evidence, wouldn't it make sense to have the means to
document it if you had found it?


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com