X MARK
Now this is a story that went all the way to the top.
The top court in this country was to say go or stop.
And all because of a solitary little letter where it was placed.
You can bet that if they'd known then, well, they'd be blush-faced.
So, it all began way back in them dark days,
The days when folks had no writing ways.
Illiteracy is what they call it now, but back then,
It was so common, it just occurred again and again.
There was no writing by the most of the people.
And when it came down to doing anythin' legal,
Well, they just used a simple mark of the cross.
It was their official signature to keep from loss.
An X is what we say today, or, "make your sign."
The signature was just a line crossed by another line.
And that was legal in most every situation,
Until, that is, we hear about this litigation.
Well, I had to tell you that to tell you this.
So now, I'll go ahead and explain the premise.
The story is about a lost treasure and who owns it.
And after all the lawyerin' is done, have they shown it?
But, I 'spose, you should also know this right from the top.
The same mark, an X, was used on treasure maps to mark the spot.
So now, it ain't gonna take no genius to figure out where the conflict is
And that's why we gotta get the Supreme Court mixed up in this biz.
Beings that you've now been schooled on the background,
It's time to help this story begin to get unwound.
This is about an old German who did that mountain wandering game,
And 'cause he couldn't read or write, he just marked his name.
Now if you be havin' superstitions 'bout the validity of this here story, see,
Just you wait till you make your own discovery, glory be.
You'll see that what that little mark did cause some real trouble,
And just why that old German's blood began to bubble.
When he first saw that map of where the gold should be,
He noticed right off like that they had the same mark as he.
Well, that caused him some mighty big concern, for sure.
Just how in the world did they get his mark on their treasure paper?
If you wanna look this up in the annals and records books,
Dutchman v. Treasure Maps is the case for which you should look.
Dutchman was his name, or at least the one he used,
And on legal documents, that's the name that gets confused.
Well, this case went to the first court and was overturned by the next.
Then it got tossed back in the stack for some corrections to the text.
The lawyers argued on either side about who was right,
And the case drug out for years - just like any good legal fight.
Finally, that highest court in the land took a long hard look,
And they checked their precedents and records books.
They had expert testimony and analysis from specialists,
And they scrutinized all the documents and all the elements.
And in the end they said the two Xs were not the same.
Oh, they looked similar and they could fool the lame.
But they didn't cut the mustard when it came down to the sign,
And that is how the old Dutchman lost his gold mine.
© 2026 Brian McNeal
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PESO POSSE
Before Butch and Sundance,
"Black George" and Grant had their chance.
They blew the Wells Fargo box,
Near the town of Wilcox.
Virgin train robbers, they were.
No experience for sure.
More is better, they thought.
Too much dynamite from robbers, self-taught.
Silver pesos flying through the air.
Bags of Mexican coins with due care,
Placed as ballast against the blast.
Empty pockets flee the scene fast.
Flying pesos in the air.
Flying pesos everywhere.
The blast had scattered,
The only treasure that mattered.
Silver in the trees, silver in the ties,
Silver on the ground and in the skies.
No posse to catch and deliver.
Towns people on the hunt for silver.
"Black George" and Grant, two drifters,
Left the Wilcox sifters -
Looking for Mexican coin,
But not wishing to join
But what happened to our bungling duo
Nothing like the famous ones you know
Up at the Hole-In-The-Wall in Big Wyo
Nowhere, like a Butch and Sundance place to go
Never caught, "Black George" faded into history
And forevermore shall remain a mystery
Grant Wheeler, took his last breath, in the end
Self-inflicted, with the law just around the bend
Can more silver yet be found?
Yes, it's true, all over that ground
One hundred years later, still a test
The most cultivated ground in the West
Before Butch and Sundance,
"Black George" and Grant had their chance.
They blew the Wells Fargo box,
Near the town of Wilcox.
Virgin train robbers, they were.
No experience for sure.
More is better, they thought.
Too much dynamite from robbers, self-taught.
Silver pesos flying through the air.
Bags of Mexican coins with due care,
Placed as ballast against the blast.
Empty pockets flee the scene fast.
Flying pesos in the air.
Flying pesos everywhere.
The blast had scattered,
The only treasure that mattered.
Silver in the trees, silver in the ties,
Silver on the ground and in the skies.
No posse to catch and deliver.
Towns people on the hunt for silver.
"Black George" and Grant, two drifters,
Left the Wilcox sifters -
Looking for Mexican coin,
But not wishing to join
But what happened to our bungling duo
Nothing like the famous ones you know
Up at the Hole-In-The-Wall in Big Wyo
Nowhere, like a Butch and Sundance place to go
Never caught, "Black George" faded into history
And forevermore shall remain a mystery
Grant Wheeler, took his last breath, in the end
Self-inflicted, with the law just around the bend
Can more silver yet be found?
Yes, it's true, all over that ground
One hundred years later, still a test
The most cultivated ground in the West
© 2026 Brian McNeal
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