Newspaper Page Text
' 11111 , | TT
| LOST TREASURES
OF AMERICA
Gold and Jewels Still Waiting to be
Found by Some Modern Adventurer.
BY :
Buffington Phillips
4 (Copyright, by the Ridgway Co.)
TIE greatest treasure in the
United States, a vast sum that
awaits some one’s finding, is one
concerning which I have sought
the exact truth for the several years
that I have followed this fad of col
lecting treasure-trove data. The pub
lication of the story or stories about it
may bring to light the men who can
say definitely what is what. However
any man who cares to set out after It
In a business-like manner may turn
himself into a multi-millionaire be
tween Christmas and Fourth of July.
This much Is certain: somewhere
on the upper reaches of the Missouri
river lie four large barges, lost in
1866, laoded to their utmost capacity
with gold estimated in amount from
$7,000,000 to $25,000,000.
Just at the close of the civil war
some rumors of the finding of gold in
the Black Hills of Dakota and Mon
tana drifted into the towns on the
border of civilization in the northwest.
It seems odd to think that fifty years
ago that region was a frontier, but
there are hundreds of old Indians now
living on the reservations who then
were fighting braves and fifty years
ago they had never seen a white
man’s face.
In the spring of 1866 some old pros
pectors In the back drift from Califor
nia found gold in one of the tributaries
of the Missouri, said now to be the
north fork of the Cheyenne. Why it is
no more certain will appear. Others
of thier Ilk “smelled” the discovery
and a band of no more than forty
drew into the region, making a won
derful strike, the richest that has ever
been made on America soil according
to all accounts. The strike was made
In what is now called Deadmen’s
Gulch, named to suit the story, but
called in the old records Federation,
Desperation and Starvation Gulches.
The gold was alluvial, washed down
from the northern ledges, now being
worked by the rich Caledonia Qaurtz
Mine Company near Deadwood. The
gravel banks and flats were inexpres-
sibly rich with it and all summer the
forty men toiled feverishly, extracting
as much as they could before the win
ter should descend upon them, shut
off their fish, game and vegetable food
supply and drive them to civilization,
where the knowledge of the vast
wealth of the Black Hills and the re
mainder of the auriferous region would
'become public property.
f When the ground froze and they
-could work no longer they cut timber
and made four large barges of shallow
draft and on them laoded the gold In
provision boxes, and mule and deer
skins made into rawhide sacks. Even
then they were compelled to leave
some of it behind because the barges
would not carry it.
The hostile Indians who had not
dared attack so large a party in the
mining camp with its excellent de
fenses and those who were apparently
on friendly terms with the miners now
took a hand in the game. After the
hardy forty had reached the Missouri
and had negotiated a portion of its
distance they tied up one night, not
long before Christmas. They were at
tacked by a large band of Indians,
who massacred every living soul, sank
the barges and took all their belong
ings except the gold, of which they did
not know the value. Some accounts
hold the Blackfeet responsible, others
the Ogalala.
How the news ever got to the world
I cannot say, save as the Indians told
of it and friends of the dead men
traced them into the country from
which they never came out. Gradual
ly the story took form and it set the
prospectors wild. They ranged the
region from the Bad Lands to the Big
Horn river for twenty-seven years and
then came the great discovery in the
Black Hills.
The gold left behind at the point of
embarkation was finally found. Old
workings which showed the vast
quantities taken out by the forty pros
pectors were discovered and for a few
years a torrent of alluvial gold poured
out of the Black Hills. Then the whole
thing settled down to the staid and
regular quartz proposition.
The Kansas City Star some years
ago printed a circumstantial story
stating that a young Indian student at
Haskell had told a professor that his
father was one of the braves in the
massacre, knew where the barges were
sunk and was still living on the reser
vation. It may be that the river has
changed its course and left the barges
under a thin layer of gravel, easily ac
cessible on dry land. The way to find
the treasure is to trace down the Sto
ries, locate some of the old Indians
and induce them to locate the spot
and point it out from memory. It
should not be difficult.
In 1759 there was lost in the Bay of
Islands, at the mouth of the St. Law
rence river, the good ship Primrose,
with a store of gold and silver and
jewels aboard her. The exact amount
of her treasure is unknown, but it
must be vast.
Full of wild romance is the story
of the “Devil Duval's Horde” on the
top of the Rocks of Perce on the
Gaspe peninsula, only about twenty
tour hours ride by train from New
York City. Certain British laws must
be repealed before It can be recovered,
however. It is in one of the out-of
way places of the world and very lit
tle is knowrf by the general public
about it. The superstitious French
fishermen, unchanged in a hundred
and fifty years, still await the return
of the fierce pilot to claim his own.
The Rock of Perce, named for the
adjacent fishing village, is one of the
true natural wonders of our continent.
When some convulsion of nature rent
the coast this rock was split from the
nearby mountain and left standing, a
grim monument to the caprice of the
gods of sea dnd land. Several hun
dred feet high, with a comparatively
flat top, its sides are beetling and one
side is about two hundred feet higher
than the other. Once it was pierced
by three arches through any one of
which a small ship might sail, but now
one of these has collapsed, leaving
only the two huge galleries.
Captain Duval was a French priva
teer who returned only a small por
tion of his loot from English and oth
er ships to the French authorities,
and after the declaration of peace he
became an out-and-out pirate. He
protected the French fishermen and
was generous with them. They, in
their turn, protected him as the Eng
lish peasant protected Dick Turpin.
At last he was hard pressed by the
English, and having in his service a
Micmac Indian who knew a secret
trail to the supposedly inaccessible
Rock of Perce, he collected all his
caches of treasure in the maritime
provinces and brought them to Perce.
The Indian carried a line to the top
of the rock and hauled up a block and
fall. Then two prisoners were hauled
up, and next Duval himself. Boats
containing the great treasure chests
stood by below.
The tradition is that they were a
day ano a moonlight night getting it
all up. Then the Indian was sent
down and Duval himself was lowered
away. His rapier was dripping with
blood and when he reached the boat
he stood up, and with a harquebus
shot at the tackle till it was cut clean,
too high up the rocks for any one to
reach. “Devil Duval” sailed away and
never returned.
For years the winds battered and
the sun and rains rotted the ropes on
the walls of the rock till at last they
disappeared. So many lives were lost
in attempts to scale the rocks and re
cover the treasure that a law was
passed forbidding any one to make
the attempt without the necessary le
galized concession from the governor o 1
the province of Quebec. Only the wild
sea-birds, making their nests in the
top of the rock, know the story of the
two prisoners and the chests of treas
ure on the bleak heights. But an air
ship could learn it.
Carleton Island, in the St. Lawrence
river, was an outfitting place for Tory
raiding parties and an arsenal was es
tablished there. A pay chest was sent
to the post with a large sum of money.
The chest disappeared and its loss was
reported to General Haldimand at
Montreal. In 1879, Colonel Horr of
Cape St. Vincent, received a visit from
a stranger, who requested the use of
a boat and, being granted it, he rowed
to Carleton Island and returned in a
short time with a heavy iron chest
covered with clinging wet clay. Col
onel Horr, thinking nothing wrong,
helped the man row to the steamboat
landing and he was never heard from
again. In a few days William Majo,
one of the owners of the island, sent
a boy into the pine thicket for stray
ing horses and there the lad found
the flat-stone-lined hole where the
chest had rested.
There are two extensive areas of
buried treasure in the thickly popu
’ lated parts of the United States. One,
• the lesser, is on the general lines of
Sherman's march to the sea. North
I and south of it, plantation after plan
; tation, town after town, have their
: stories of treasures ranging from a
few hundreds of dollars to hundreds
’ of thousands which were buried for
> fear the Union army would get them.
. Many were never recovered because
-of the failure of the owners to locate
' the burial places. The surest way to
lose a treasure is to bury It, It seems.
1 The earth In some mysterious way
spreads a mantle of oblivion which
can not be pierced by the memory of
man and takes back to her bosom the
treasure that was wrested from her.
The other area is in the east, be
ginnig at about Camden, N. J., and ex,-
tending north to Albany and thence
to Portland, Maine. In that field lived
the rich Royalist and Tory families.
The sudden turning of the tide found
the Tories In possession of a great
quantity of gold coin, gold and silver
plate and jewels, and fearing they
would lose these, they burled them
and then fled. Comparatively little of
it was ever exhumed and the area is
dotted thickly with localities where a
search would be highly profitable. Os
them I can mention a few only.
At Sound Beach, Conn., Ilves Mrs.
Jane Louden, 101 years of age. Her
husband, knowing that on the home
farm a wealthy Tory family had buried
gold, hunted until he found several
pots containing several thousand dol
lars each. A neighbor also acquired
sudden wealth which he did not ex
plain. Every one knew there was a
great joint family cache somewhere
near.
It was known for many years that
on Lord Edmeston’s estate near West
Edmeston, N. Y., his personal repre
sentative, Perdifer Carr, had buried a
treasury, The property known as the
Burdick Farm, having been bought by
Henry F. Burdick in 1850, was the
site. In 1904 a tenant named Cheese
borough plowed-. Into a ease of china
and glass, breaking half of it before he
realized what the obstruction was. By
reason of design and quality the re
mainder, however, was worth a small
fortune to dealers in antiques. It was
the Edmeston ware. The law suit that
followed for possession made the case
famous. Where is the remainder of
the treasure?
Joel Coryell, sexton at Romulus, N.
Y., digging a grave on what was a
Tory estate in 1776, found a large
quantity of money in an old pot. The
grave belonged to Thomas Mann, but
Coryell kept the gold.
Walter Butler, the notorious Mo
hawk Valley Tory, returned to the val
ley at the end of the war with a force
of Tories and Indians to dig up the
treasures he had buried and those that
had been burled by other wealthy
Tories who had told him where to re
cover it in their behalf. When he had
finished his work and was returning,
the pursuing Colonials under Colonel
Marinus Willet, overtook the treasure
squad beyond Johnson’s Hall on the
bank of the West Canada In northern
Herkimer county.
The treasure was too heavy for the
fleeing party so It was dumped in the
shallows and horses were ridden
through the water to make it muddy.
Butler was killed, the raiders driven
away and the spoils await present-day
seekers.
While there is some dohbt as to au
thenticity, there is said to be a $16,-
000,000 cache of Spanish doublons,
buried by Captain Kidd, on Esopus
Island in the Hudson river, not far
from New York City, while at the very
gate of New York is a forgotten treas
ure of many hundreds of thousands.
This famous treasure was lost when
the British frigate Hesarar, a pay ship
sent in for the British soldiers during
the revolutionary war, went down in
the East river. It will be easy to look
up the old Admiralty records and get
the full Information that may lead to
the finding of the treasure.
The facts pertaining to Klopper
Smith's horde are as follows: “Der
Klopper” was a very brutal and much
feared knight of the road on the west
shores of the Hudson from Nyack to
the Catskills and he robbed the
wealthy Dutch In an unmerciful man
ner. He had no opportunities for
spending his ill-gotten wealth and
hoarded it somewhere. At last he was
captured and before his execution at
Newburg confided to a keeper who had
been kind to him that he had sacks of
gold and silver and jewels buried in a
spot on Storm King Mountain, just
north of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, some
thirty-five miles north of New York
City. No search has ever been made.
In the hey-day of Mississippi river
steamboat traffic, a great deal of sun
ken treasure accumulated in the Ohio,
Cumberland, Tennessee, Missouri, Red
and Arkansas rivers. A pay boat on
Its way to Grant’s army at Vicksburg
with more thyi two million dollar^
aboard was fir/d by some of her crew
who meant to rob her. The paymas
ter’s men defended the money till the
. boat sank. James B. Eads, who built
the Eads bridge at St. Louis and the
■ i Eads jetties at the mouth of the Mis
. | slssippi, invented an apparatus by use
> I of which he could reach some of the
i I treasure-wrecks in shallow water and
। 1 recovered several million dollars. All
-. j
. of it could/ be reached with compara
■ tlve ease now. *
Just above Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a
steamboat said to have been the Car
-1 lyle J. Harrison, with several hundred
thousand dollars in gold to pay for
cotton, was sunk in 1869. None of It
has ever been recovered.
There is a fascinating story about
an old barge that is burled In the Mis
souri sand-flats near Fort Rice, North
Dakota. With it is burled silver worth
more than half a million dollars. At
the time when the unsuccessful pros
pectors were toiling, empty handed,
back from the gold fields of California,
a little band of men struck a rich find
near what is now Virginia City, Mon
tana.
The built a rude camp and, with the
poor implements that they had, work
ed feverishly for many months until
they had taken out all that their
packs could carry across the miles of
uncivilized country they must cross to
the navigable rivers of the upper Mis
souri. Tolling across the mountains,
always in danger of massacre, facing
starvation and privations, breaking
roads in the frozen flats and blazing
trails through the forests, they finally
reached the river near Painted Woods,
and there built a rude barge and load
ed it to the water’s edge with the rich
silver ore.
Traveling by night, in constant feat
of Indian outbreaks, they wended slow
ly down the partly frozen river, know
ing that soon they would reach the
frontier town and safety. It was in
’64 and the few scattered settlements
had been deserted. No Indians had
been seen for days and, taking cour
age, they traveled faster and with less
caution. When they were near Fort
Rice they were attacked by the In
dians and all of the little band were
killed with the exception of one man,
Pierre Laselle.
Ignorant of the wealth aboard, the
Redskins sunk the float, and Pierre
Laselle escaped to Fort Rice leaving
behind him no trace of the expedition;
the secret of the hardships and toil
and wealth were with the river and
with him. He told no one anything
about it for some time —not until he
had enlisted in the army and maneu
vered so as to get back to be near his
treasure. Then he took an old Quak
er, named Richard Pope, into his con
fidence and at the urgent request of
the Quaker his son was also told the
secret.
Three months later the litle party,
well armed and well provisioned, went
quietly to the spot that Laselle remem
bered so well, only to find that the
river course had changed and "a bar
of sand had formed over the barge.
Not dismayed, however, they dug un
til they found the prow of the old
scow and on the very eve of success
they too were attacked by the Indians
and Laselle was killed! Pope and his
son, too badly frightened to work
again within the year, went back with
the secret to the town and while there
young Pope died.
After many years the old Quaker
took another man, named Emerson,
and with the drawings that Laselle
and he had made they went back to
the place of trove and found that the
sand bar had grown and that the river
ran many hundreds of feet away from
the spot where the fortune lay buried
In glistening sands. Where Pope said
the old diggings would be found a
young cottonwood tree was flourish
ing. They spent weeks digging for
many feet around the place, but found
nothing. Some mistake had evidently
been made in following out the former
instructions, but the barge was there,
because Pope and Laselle found it on
their first visit: Pope Is dead, but
Emerson is still alive and has the old
drawings, letters and records. Maybe
he can be Induced to part with it, and
maybe not, but somewhere In the flats
near Fort Rice is a snug little fortune
awaiting some finder.
Behind the city of St. Augustine, In
some likely spot, another rich treasure
is located. When It was a rich Span
ish town, a favorite putting-in port for
the heavily laden Spanish galleons
that were coming through the Straits
of Florida to avoid sailing the waters
made dangerous by Peter the Terrible
and Sir Henry Morgan, its wealth at
tracted the attention of the free-boot
ers and word of their preparations to
attack and loot the city was carried
to the captain-general.
For weeks the city was in a state of
great perturbation and when some
English ships, probably privateers, ap
peared off the coast, the public treas
ure, the church treasure and the valu
ables of the wealthy citizens were as
sembled, removed Inland and hidden.
For months the state of suspense con
tinued until the Spanish Admiral Quin
tana appeared with his fleet. Then
the St. Augustinlans thought they
could safely bring back their wealth.
To their horror the three prominent
men entrusted with the secreting of
it, either could not find It or pretend
ed they could not. One fled to Spain
before the anger of his fellow-citizens
and his flight cost the lives of the oth
er two. They were assassinated as
soon as the flight became known.
The archives of the Spanish admir
alty have full record of the affair and
the true key to the treasure trove can
best be found by searching the family
papers of the man who fled. He never
returned, but without doubt he left
the valuable information to his heirs.
Where millions await the finder in
wilder and more uncertain spots is
far more interesting ground than the
localities where thousands lie under
the very noses of the townspeople, or
where the plow passes every year over
the buried trove. All through the
west are rich mines which have been
; found and lost.
FRESH EGGS IN GOOD DEMAND
Little More Attention .to Details Will
Result In Profit, Repaying Time
and Labor.
(By PROF. A. G. PHILLIPS, Kansas.)
The demand for eggs seems practi
cally unlimited, more especially for
the better grades. The growth of the
storage industry has tended to equal
ize prices by increasing the de
mand in summer when fresh eggs
are plentiful and supplying the defi
ciency in winter when fresh eggs are
scarce.
Since the demand is greatest for
the best grades, it seems obvious that
a little more attention to details will
result in a profit amply repaying the
extra time and labor involved.
It is not the purpose here to enter
into any discussion of the ways of
increasing the production of eggs, but
simply to point out the possibilities
x
J ■ j
■ )
r .J
J V L!
.'. : , J
WiHlMic -J: «• -
An Excellent Egg Candler.
of profit as a result of extra care in
handling and marketing the eggs now
produced; the extra profit is to be
made by obtaining the top retail
price, and, as consumers become
acquainted with the product, by ob
taining a premium of from one to five
cents per dozen over the regular price
pair for ordinary eggs.
In order to obtain top prices for
eggs, they must be uniform in size,
uniform in color, and uniform in
quality. The uniformity in color is
not always important and depends on
the market; uniformity in size ex
cludes small eggs and unusually large
ones as well; while uniformity in
quantity calls for absolutely clean eggs
that have been gathered promptly
after being laid, kept under the best
possible conditions, and marketed not
more than three or four days after
they are laid.
TEACHING HEN GOOD LESSON
Poultry Gate as Shown in the’lllustra
tion Will Save Cussing and
Garden Truck.
Barrels of perspiration may be
saved by the poultry gate shown
herewith, which is reproduced, with
the article from the New England
homestead. Whoever has uninten
tionally acquired the hen chasing,
hen-cussing habit may cure himself
with this little device.
In the fence, preferably at a point
near where the fowls are fed, a little
door about 10 by 12 inches is hung
on the inside of the yard, so as to al
ways swing shut without springs. It
is stopped from swinging outward by
the peg shown at the right.
Mrs. Hen, returning repentant* from
the garden, will poke her head into
every mesh of the fence in her efforts
to rejoin her happy companions. The
gate will thus allow her to enter
without excitement or commotion from
the lord of the harem from the irate
owner.
But another advantage may be
gained by using the gate in connec
tion with the laying pens. If the two
gates are used, one opening inward
Garden or Nest Gate.
In front of the nest, the other open
ing outward at the back or the side,
so that the hens may go to another
yard after laying, the poultryman
may know which hens have and have
not laid. Thus he may avoid the
trouble usually connected with ordi
nary trap nests.
Breeders for Next Year.
This is the season of the year to
buy your breaders for next, as now
the large breeders are selling at bar
gain prices in order to have the room
needed for the growing stock.
Atlanta Directory
B “Tonks
cl»l Attention. All kind, ot Photo
Supplies. Send for Catalogue. OLEH
PHOTO OTOCH CO. 11l PeacMrsa Atlaiti. 8a
mm. wm rt-a. IgwOWZ CURED. QUICK /
■ W RELIEF. Reduces fl
■ swelling 15 days. “
Shortness of breath relieved in 30 hours, i
COLLUM DROPSY REMEDY COMPANY
Dept. K, 512 Auetell Bldg., Atlanta, Ga.
^^mc.smith typewriters
Edison Dictating Machines.
011110 BL Standard Folding Typewrite:**
H. M. ASHE CO, So. Dealers
Atlanta. Oa. Jacksonville. Ft*
THE OLD RELIABLE
FRICK ENGINES
and the best Steel Wire Cable Saw Mill on *
earth. Also large Engines and Boilers sup-
ZCX 4 * plied very M , -7,
IHO promptly.
HMM Circular
Saws, Engines and Mill
Xjy Repairs, all kinds of Patent '
Dogs, Steam Governors, Com Mills, Feed
Mills, Grain Separators, Saw Teeth, Locks,
Mill Supplies, and all kinds of machinery.
— ; SEND FOR CATALOG
AVERY & CO.. 61-53 S. Forsyth St., Atlanta, 6a.
The average man can make a fool
of himself almost as easily as a wom
an can make a fool of him.
As a summer tonic there is no medicins
that quite compares with OXIDINE. It not
only builds up the system, but taken reg
ularly, prevents Malaria. Regular or Taste
less formula at Druggists.
Easy.
“I put the wrong couples together
at that dinner and I don’t know what
to do about my mistakes.”
“Why, re-pair them.”
For BUMMER HEADACHES
Hicks’ CAPUDINE is the best remedy—no
matter what causes them—whether from tho
heat, sitting in draughts, feverish condition,
etc. 10c., 25c. and 5Uc. per bottla,at mediclna
stores.
Never trust your secrets to the mails
—or the females, either.
Men and women who are odd might
get even by marrying.
The Marvel of It.
“There is one thing in life which al
ways struck me as queer.”
“What is that?”
“While so few are successful in look
ing for an opening, almost every one
can find himself In a hole.”
Couldn’t Happen to Them.
Mike got a job moving some kegs
of powder, and, to the alarm of his
foreman, was discovered smoking at
his work.
“Je-ru-sa-lem! ” exclaimed the fore
man. “Do you know what happened
when a man smoked at this job some
years ago? There was an explosion
that blew up a dozen men.”
“That couldn’t happen here,” re
turned Mike calmly.
“Why not?"
“ ’Cause there's only you and me,”
was the reply.”—Everybody’s Magar
zine.
*
IF WIFEY HAD HEARD.
[r ““ 11 ~~"
'■ ' ■■ 4X— n । —
Jack —Who’s that bobbing up and
down out there?
Jim—Probably my wife. She’s al
ways bobbing up when she’s not want
ed.
A Large
Package
Os Enjoyment—
Post
Toasties
Served with cream, milk
or fruit —fresh or cooked.
Crisp, golden-brown bits
of white com — delicious
and wholesome —
A flavour that appeals to
young and old.
“The Memory Lingers”
Sold by Grocers.
Fortum Cereal Company, Limited.
1 Bailie Creek, Mich.
