2-Million Dollar Jesse James treasure...anyone heard of it?????????

M

monkeyman

Guest
Ok, I know someone out there has heard of this story. Mexican pack train that was supposidly ambushed by the James gang. The supposidly took the 2-million dollar gold bullion treasure into the wichita mountians in Oklahoma, and in a heavy snow storm decided to bury the treasure in an aroyo "Have no idea what an aroyo is"??? Anyway, its unclear weather the treasure was subsequently reburied by Jesse James and his group, or weather it was left where it was...anyway supposidly no one from the gang ever recovered it. Supposidly Frank James looked for the treasure and others, "Some of which he did recover!!" He lived in oklahoma for a period of time after he was pardoned by the gov. of Mo.
Anyway would love to learn any additional information on this treasure tale!!

Thanks
 

ghost surf

Full Member
Dec 11, 2004
242
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I have heard something of that ..Look up the story of Jessy James and his gang of thugs...At Tales of the old west.com and Old west magazine will carry 1000s of historical western stolen money stories.
 

zommbee

Jr. Member
Jan 31, 2005
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Tacoma, WA
"Have no idea what an aroyo is"

ar?roy?o - Spanish / Mexican

noun; plural ar?roy?os

A deep gully cut by an intermittent stream; a dry gulch.
A brook; a creek.

Dave
Zommbee
 

Lowbatts

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Jul 1, 2003
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Yeah, heard of a lot of treasures. Good luck. Got salt?
 

M

mayo1951

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I grew up in Buchanan County Missouri, St. Joe to be exact. As a boy I remember the old folks talking about silver, gold, and paper money the James Gang had stashed in the river bluffs over looking what is now Missouri 45 highway.

Since the James family lived in Clay county, Missouri I would look in the Parkville area. I know they robbed the Savannah Mo. and Liberty Mo. banks, along with the strong box from two or three trains in the area. As far as I know, their loot has never been found.
 

Texas Jay

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Hi monkeyman. As a matter of fact, I was just reading about the $2 million Wichita Mountains treasure in an old treasure magazine that I borrowed from our Central Texas Treasure Club's library. The fascinating article, "Outlaw Gold" by Steve Wilson, is in the June, 1968 edition of Long John Latham's "True Treasure" magazine. It is an excellent account of some of the loot the James Gang, Dalton Gang and Cole Younger and his brothers stole and buried in Oklahoma. Wilson mentions " a cache of $2 million in gold bullion down in the Wichita Mountains" and says that Frank James spent a lot of his time looking for it rather than searching for the gangs' other buried Oklahoma treasures. I think that every treasure hunter that is interested in outlaw loot in Oklahoma should read this article.
-Texas Jay
 

stoney56

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Oct 4, 2004
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Texas Jay, you might check out either your public libraty or interlibrary loan of Steve Wilson's book "Oklahoma Treasure and Treasure Tales."
 

Texas Jay

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Thanks, stoney56, I will do that. Our local public library is very helpful in this regard.
 

buscadero

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??? Monkeyman: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the James Gang never pulled a job of that description! In 15 yrs of thieving, there are 26 verified J.J. robberies. Total Take: Approx. $200K! Avg Take: $ 7700, split amongst how many members? People confuse the Actual Jesse James w/ the Mythical Jesse James! My advice, Search for Real Treasures! ::)


Joe
 

Siegfried Schlagrule

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eerivestcc said:
The word arroyo in spanish means a river.

eerivestcc
always thought arroyo was a big gully or a valley. rio is the most common word for river.exanimo, ss
 

eerivestcc

Greenie
Sep 21, 2006
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Siegfried Schlagrule,

Very true. A rio is a river, but some people in Mexico call rivers arroyos too. An arroyo is a smaller river.
 

Roadquest

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Monkeyman...I agree with Buscadero. Theres not $200.000 buried out..BUT, you know what?
You will never know if you don't search for it. I have a friend out in Calif. that has done a lot of research
on this, and this guy don't like to waste his time. He thinks it worth looking into.
Lission to everyone, them make up your own mind.

Roadquest
 

STR8JCKTED2U

Tenderfoot
Oct 17, 2006
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damn it seems as if everything jesse stold he buried.i have heard of a story here in southern illinois were he took a strongbox filled with gold.it was on the st.louis trail....has anyone ever heard about this.i do know archives have him boarding up in greenville,illinois.
you also have hills fort were another big cache of gold was buried by john hill
 

Mainedigger

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Just recently read a book on Jesse...titled "Jesse James, Last Rebel of the Civil War" by T.J. Stiles...great book and states fact not myth or fiction. He made no mention of a haul that big by the James gang (unless he did and my oldtimers is causing me to forget) and basically stated that while the gang made alot of robberies, none were as large as the one you mention....sounds like a myth..but nothing more fun than quieting all the naysayers and proving a myth to be fact..:):):)
 

diggummup

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;D ;D Ahhh yes,Jesse James-The Myth,The Man,The Legend! :D :D :D


Mainedigger said:
Just recently read a book on Jesse...titled "Jesse James, Last Rebel of the Civil War" by T.J. Stiles...great book and states fact not myth or fiction. He made no mention of a haul that big by the James gang (unless he did and my oldtimers is causing me to forget) and basically stated that while the gang made alot of robberies, none were as large as the one you mention....sounds like a myth..but nothing more fun than quieting all the naysayers and proving a myth to be fact..:):):)
I'll have to check that out.Thanks. :)
 

Shortstack

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buscadero said:
??? Monkeyman: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the James Gang never pulled a job of that description! In 15 yrs of thieving, there are 26 verified J.J. robberies. Total Take: Approx. $200K! Avg Take: $ 7700, split amongst how many members? People confuse the Actual Jesse James w/ the Mythical Jesse James! My advice, Search for Real Treasures! ::)


Joe
Amen and Amen!!! Everytime somebody saw an outlaw, it was JESSE JAMES. If Jesse and Frank pulled even half of the ones that are blamed on them, most of their time would be spent travelling, since those things happened al over the place. The value of the robberies they DID do "grew" with each telling. If the story says $2,000,000--it was most likely $20,000, if THAT. Tall tales, folks. Tall tales. Sort of like the Belle Starr history. Early pulp writers and Hollyweird made her out to be a bandit queen--a gang leader. BUNK. She was a whore and a camp follower. A hanger-on and got a thrill being around "dangerous" men. But, even today, you'll still find people who believe the stories of the Belle Starr gang hiding stolen bank loot. These are armchair THers who haven't bothered to read anything but the treasure magazines' rerun stories of fabulous treasures. Use some common sense, folks. Some of the more popular treasure stories talk about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold bullion or $20 gold coins. Wellllll, sit down and figure what the WEIGHT of such a haul would be and figure out if one or a dozen horses could actually carry it. $200,000 in $20 gold coins would weight somewhere in the area of 600 to 700 pounds. You must look at the logistics these situations would take and think if it makes any sense. And remember, you must use the technologies available THEN.

Sorry I got on my "soapbox". But I learned a very important lesson years ago by "listening" to some of the REAL THers such as Dean Miller, aka Karl Von Mueller, aka Deek Gladson; as well as Apache Jim, both Hardrocks, and Frank Fish. NEVER waste your time looking for treasure written about in any treasure magazine or any book with the word " Treasure " in its title. You find real treasure leads in history books and newspapers--even biographies. If you want to be a successful THer, then you MUST learn to find and develop your own leads. If you are successful, keep your mouth shut and go on about your business. ( but pay all due taxes as insurance from being targeted by the government ). And, as KVM was fond of saying; remember those who helped you along the way if ( or when ) you hit the big ticket.
 

cptbil

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Mar 27, 2003
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Texas Jay:
I have that very issue of Long John's Treasure Magazine ! ;D
In fact!
I have the whole set, complete, of True Treasure! (Vol 1 Issue 1, Fall of '66, up to Nov.'75)
Yep!
Including Vol. 1 Issue 1 .....
I also have, a complete set of Bill Mahan's Treasure World,
That was later bought out by Long John and included in later editons of L.J.s "True Treasure Magazine"!
So!
If you need any info drop me a line ....
As I have completes sets of, "Gold", Treasure Trails, Desert Mag, Lost Treasure, True Treasure World, Western Treasures, Western & Eastern Treasures
AND! So On!
Plus sets of magazines like...The West, Real West, etc !
In other words, I have thousands of these kinds of magazines!
I have and do, buy collections of "Treasure" related magazines/books!!
 

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