As fate has it the 3 men that buried the gold ended up dead after the attack. With them was the remainder of the Confederate treasury, including crates of gold and silver coins, gold bullion from Richmond bank reserves and jewelry that had been donated to the Southern cause. Kevin and Al travel to Brad's home where they meet a woman who is the descendant of a large plantation owner. Digging Deeper: Lost Treasures of Oklahoma. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The trapper returned to the Chickasaw camp and married the daughter of the chief but her father had disappeared and no one in the village seemed to know where the cave was that held the treasure. Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to produce documents on the FBI's search for the legendary gold, which took place nearly four years ago at a remote woodland site in northwestern Pennsylvania. Morris was formerly a skilled circus performer and had an athletic build which made getting on off trains a breeze. Several legends, actually. There seems to have been a great deal of attention placed on finding the "Lost Confederate Treasure" which has spanned the last 154 years since the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on 10 May 1865 at Irwinville, Ga., which brought the Civil War to a close. Maybe you could be the one who prospers from finding one of these lost treasure gems in Alabama! The Chief agreed but he had other intentions as well. The story has it that Mr. Clemens buried $100,000 worth of gold on his property because he was worried about losing it. His nephew Grady tried to find the gold caches that his uncle had presumably buried in the woods. Keep in mind most of these lost treasure stories have been handed down by word of mouth over the centuries. (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({google_ad_client:"ca-pub-0945725028962484",enable_page_level_ads:true}); Unable to accept the end of the Confederacy and Northern domination over the South, he collaborated with other disenfranchised leaders exiled in Canada. My Special Bundle Package of digital books and the links to my TV series is loaded with information that will guide you toward treasures large and small. I have also researched the legend of Keel Mountain, I agree the O.R. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. She would then sail the goods back to France. When he is not sitting in front of a laptop, Todd enjoys soaking up everything the Jersey Shore has to offer with his wife, two sons and American Foxhound, Wally. Near Athens there may be a Confederate treasure. But on May 10, when members of the 4th Michigan Cavalry captured Davis group near Irwinville, Georgia, they had only a few dollars with them. They filled two wooden boxes full. It is said that John Buried $100,000 worth of gold there. Its still hidden in a limestone cave called Red Bone. Is There Treasure Waiting For You In Alabama? In the Civil War-era movie, Gone With the Wind (1939), Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, is rumored to have stolen the treasure. By all accounts, he stayed by the tracks between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama stealing from the trains every chance he got. They searched and searched for months coming up empty-handed so the trappers friend gave up and went back to Fort Rosalie. So many of them buried their gold and silver for safekeeping. It is said that some of those wine casks of gold and silver coins are stilled buried near his home. google037df74da6aab727.html I guess this happened more often than we would think. Halleck ordered Generals Wilson and Canby to intercept the rebel leaders and any wealth they were transporting. It was never recovered. He was a war hero, fighting in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, and looked set for a long, happy career as a statesman. Sharps bought a mill there called Whites Mill in 1897. (The fleeing Confederates also carried about $450,000 in Richmond bank gold, but wouldnt touch those funds, as they didnt belong to the Confederate government.). A big oak tree stands where his house was. The Paradas accompanied the FBI to the site in Dent's Run, about 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, but say they were confined to their car while the FBI excavated. Beauregard Trying to Profit by Sherman's Blunder. Hanna recorded some of the known expenses incurred by Davis group, including $108,000 paid to escorting troops near the Savannah River and $40,000 paid for supplies in Washington and Augusta, Georgia. JavaScript is disabled. Davis then deposited the reserve gold in a vault in Washington, Georgia, before continuing on. The mountain I saw that looked like an overturned boat is just to the east of Belleville, off US 231. Rumor has it that with Lafitte spending so much time at Fort Morgan he could have buried a worth of $10,000,000 there. This made Grady think that his uncle was burying the sack full of presumed gold coins in various places in the woods. During the months he was trying to stay ahead of his would-be captors, Danville became an encampment for the Union army. Ole Louina was a community during early settlement of Randolph County which was settled after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 when the Creek Indians were defeated by . One day a rebel soldier came by and Hansen decided to lead him to the lost treasure so they could possibly retrieve it. Even today, rumors persist about the fate of different parts of the missing Confederate treasure, fueling tales of discovery ranging from rural Georgia to Muskegon, Michigan. The Confederate States of America were formed prior to Abraham Lincoln taking office in March 1861. The gold and silver coins are said to be buried east of his old homestead. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. The crew members that survived and made it to shore said there was a million dollars worth of gold and silver aboard. What happened to it, however, no one knows, and this has created a mystery thats spanned over 150 years. This was probably done to increase the incentive to Union soldiers combing the villages and roads of the Carolinas and Georgia for the treasury, and for Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had fled Richmond. Federal soldiers were eventually able to round up some $140,000 of what was taken. His train, however, encountered some expenses. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. He and his friend decided to head out to recover the treasure. It was a safer place to store the treasure because confederates were likely to win and hold Columbia. They ended up in a large cavern and when they took the blindfold off of the trapper he saw that the cave was filled to the ceiling with gold and silver bars, coins, and jewels. Almost half a million dollars in reserve gold was also gathered from a bank in Richmond. De Soto ended up dying of fever. It would be a great place to find all kinds of history and relics that might still be strewn about by all those army camps. Instead of Liverpool, Semple eventually got as far as Nassau, after hiding out in the Okefenokee Swamp along the Georgia-Florida border for months. This would be a nice area to use a metal detector in. An aspect of the treasure that Clark omitted concerned the fate of 39 kegs of Mexican silver dollars. If its there Im all for digging it up. Finders Keepers asked the Justice Department for expedited processing, which can be granted in cases where there is widespread media interest involving questions about the government's integrity. Morris started robbing trains because he was angry with the Louisville and Nashville railroad because a brakeman found him on a train ride that was headed for Mobile that he didnt pay for. So Hardy decided to bury the treasure late at night when everyone was asleep. On May 4, after Davis and the few advisers that remained with him made the decision to disband his government, they entrusted some $86,000 of the remaining treasury funds to two Confederate navy. Henry Nunez 's don't mention anything about the skirmish. It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach. Bushes envelop the pig farm, and the cemetery is wooded over. He ran an inn and Ferry that became known as Buzzard Roost in 1801. The Union soldiers dug up the cask and went and spent the money in Mobile, Alabama. Jefferson Davis with members of his cabinet, 1865, By early May, both Davis party and the remaining fortune had reached Washington, Georgia. The entrance of the town has a historical marker at the entrance that explains the towns history. They held it until General John Bell Hood marched his Confederate army through in 1864. Long story short it is said that Levi Colbert buried some of his savings from the inn and ferry operations in what is now Colbert County Alabama. Jean Lafitte the pirate supposedly buried gold coins on a beach in what is now Bayou la Batre. Nunez being a former pirate had plenty of money stored up so he was able to save most of the money earned from the ferry. The area was founded by exiled followers of Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800's. And peoples imaginations take over from there.. There are many lost treasures and legends of Alabama and I encourage you to visit this state and enjoy the rich history that Alabama presents. Some people speculate that the valuables and money that railroad Bill stole during those 6 years of robbing trains could still be hiding in the caves between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama! In this Sept. 20, 2018 photo, Dennis Parada, right, and his son Kem Parada stand at the site of the FBI's dig for Civil War-era gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania. The whereabouts of his home are under debate. He is said to have stored the gold and silver coins that he got from the Ferry goers in wine casks. In the 1939 movie "Gone With The Wind," the Union Army believes Rhett Butler to have the missing Confederate gold, and they threaten to hang him. The story of this lost treasure dates back to 1540 when the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto was in this part of the New World. Henry refused to tell the soldiers where the treasure was and was beaten again. I have not heard of both of these stories. Hidden Treasure discoveries can happen anyt . Union troops closing in on the Confederate capital. Demopolis is an abandoned town on the Tombigbee River, near the intersection of rout 43, and 80. So I can't totally discount the story. The Chickasaw Chief and some of his braces took the treasure the Spaniards had left behind and hide it in a big limestone cave which was located on the northern bank of the Tennessee River. If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands you should know the laws of that State. Lost Confederate Gold A rich man named Hansen was a Confederate sympathizer who wanted to financially help the Confederate economy that was falling apart at the end of the Civil War. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Jefferson Davis fled Richmond with multiple wagons filled with gold and silver. The town of Louina lasted from 1834-1902. I doubt very seriously that any of the phantom confederate gold myths are real. Mysteries endure, too, including the ultimate disposition of the Confederate treasury. I was born and raised in the area. This ended in the Trail of Tears that forced the Indians out. He allowed both sides to use the ferry free of charge in hopes that he would be allowed to continue his ferry operations. ; Official from Secretary Stanton. Legend held the treasure was watched overby ghostly spirits. Clemens owned many slaves so he was worried they would tell any soldiers that came by where the buried treasure was. AFFILIATE DISCLOSUREI am an affiliate marketer. They also covered the boxes with straw and fertilizer to conceal the treasure within. In their book The Rebel and the Rose (2007), Wesley Millett and Gerald White tracked the path of that chunk of the Confederate treasure, part of which they believe one of the navy officials, James A. Semple, spent on his love affair with Julia Tyler, the widow of President John Tyler, as well as a failed plot to provoke war between Britain and the United States. Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere C.E. In any case, caches of the silver coins have reportedly been detected at several locations in the Danville search area. Semple did seem to disappear into the night, for he had to avoid the attention of both the enemy and paroled Confederate soldiers looking to confiscate horses and wagons in returning to their homes. In the film, a thief goes back in time to hijack the money using advanced technology. The duo focused on a spot where they say their instruments detected a large metallic mass. He also owned two plantations outside of what was called Savannah now central Alabama. [OFFICIAL. He also contracted pneumonia and had an infection that contributed to his death. Finally, in the wake of the treasure hunters' appeal, the FBI said it had located 2,400 pages of records and 17 video files that it could potentially turn over - but that it would take years to do so. Also, a Spanish galleon ship broke up near the east end of Dauphin Island in 1801. The location was described (by him) as being in northern Alabama, between the towns of Bellview and Booneville, at or near Keel Mountain. Henry knew he could make a fortune with his ferry because the Perdido River was a popular crossing spot for people going from Alabama to Florida and vice versa. It was an E-mail he sent to someone and it found it's way to being an article on several sites. Moses, a South Carolinian, who had moved to Columbus, Ga., and pioneered the growing production of peaches, was praised for his competence both during and after the war. Young refused to release it, but was compelled to do so by force. The wreck is still there and its treasure is waiting to be recovered! The gold (or some of it) in their treasury came with them. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. The true value of the treasure that left Richmondheld under the guard of Confederate Navy Captain William H. Parker and the young midshipmen in his commandwill likely never be known. Under the headline"What Became of the Confederate Gold," Moses told the newspaper a small portion of it went to buy food for returning soldiers, while the bulk of about$40,000was turned over to the federal authorities. Still, over the years I've met people in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and even Alabama and Kentucky, who genuinely believe the "treasure" is hidden there and who've spent decades trying to find it. In the 1938 book, Flight Into Oblivion, by A.J. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I would think that they would have USED the gold before burying it. So the gold could have been buried anywhere, or perhaps in different locations. Then too, given the volume and weight of the silver, the digging would have certainly been noticed by soldiers and townspeople, whether during the day or at night under the glow of kerosene lamps. This became a municipal nuisance in the 1930s because so many impromptu shovel patrols were digging holes around town that the Augusta City Council tried to restrict the activity. La Bellone was a French merchant ship that was in the area of Dauphin Island to pick up merchandise from the French Colonials in Louisiana. She says that some Confederate gold was hidden there and some is still being found today. The travels of James Semple and his infatuation with the widow of the president, Julia Gardiner Tyler, were mentioned in the book and provided evidence of Semples activities on behalf of Davis and the South, even after the surrender of Confederate forces. Davis was on the run for much of April 1865. According to local lore, the gold was lost or stolen during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg . So get your picks, shovels, and metal detector ready as we go through the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. [6], Last edited on 31 December 2022, at 01:37, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, "The Georgia Odyssey of the Confederate Gold", "OUR ARMIES. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Those products, whether pictures of a service or a product contain links to the seller.What companies do I work with and promote?I work with Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Clickbank, and MyTopo, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to these websites.I also promote Solo Build It Site Built It, because it's the product I used to build this website. The rest of the missing money has been said to be the basis for several local fortunes in the Danburg area. CBS News affiliate WTAJ-TVreported members of the Elk County Historical Society say they believe the gold is just an old wives' tale. People like to believe theres something out there, Rawlings says. And like all good stories of lost treasure, this one has staying power. He came to Alabama in 1815 and set up a ferry for crossing the Perdido River that has banks of the Alabama and Florida side. The rumor is that the gold was buried under the name of a confederate general between two false generals in a cemetery. Corroborating evidence found in Semples letters to Julia Gardiner Tyler, depicted a man on the run, carrying on underground activities for Davis. Almost every Southern state has a legend of Confederate gold lost/stolen/buried in the chaos of the Civil War's end. Confederate States of America currency circa 1865. Jefferson Davis, a Congressman from Mississippi and former Secretary of War, was named its president. The actual value of the treasury was probably not much more than $500,000. Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey-based politics, entertainment and history writer. Oak Island the Strange, the Bizarre, and Maybe the "Truth! The trapper ended up not marrying the chiefs daughter and he went away freely although he killed two braves to make sure he was able to leave. Civil War historian William Rawlings explained, People like to believe theres something out there. Please do not use this website if you disagree with any of the terms outlined here.Thanks for visiting!Thank You,Frank W. Pandozzi, Website Owner. But when Union officers caught up with Davis on May 10, near Irwinville, Georgia, he was reportedly carrying only a few dollars with him. So they filled a strongbox full of gold coins that the town had stored up as the treasury. Hansen and some other Alabama citizens raised quite a bit of capital in the form of gold and silver bullion and coins. The Associated Press contributed to this report. There is no record that anyone ever found the gold, sowhat happened to it? Also, keep in mind whenever you want to go metal detecting make sure you know the laws of the state in which you are digging in and always ask permission before metal detecting on any private property. Richmond was burning. The below mentioned George Trenholm incidentally, accompanied Davis on part of his flight but dropped out prematurely due to ill health, which was taken as circumstantial evidence by his Union accusers, when they later accused Trenholm of theft. Its unclear what happened to the money. You are using an out of date browser. In his 1938 book Flight Into Oblivion, the historian A.J. There are many different stories of where on his plantation the gold was hidden. Millions of dollars' worth of gold was lost or unaccounted for after the war. A member of the society said there is no historical evidence that gold is buried in the area. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. He tried to locate the treasure but the landscape had changed so much over the years. They filled two wooden boxes full. Whatever they had started off with, travel expenses had steadily depleted their coffers by that time. C.E. Even the Hardy Boys juvenile mystery series joined the searchin "The Secret of the Lost Tunnel," in which the clever lads discover Southern gold covered with lead and disguised ascannon balls. In the 1966 Spaghetti Western movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," the protagonists get information about lost Confederate gold hidden in a . I have talked to the guy who wrote what you found on #2. Then check out 14 Lost Treasures of Wisconsin. They would have USED the gold was lost or stolen during the months he was worried they would have the. That came by where the buried treasure was watched overby ghostly spirits Amazon i. 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