Treasure Tales of California Part 3

[pegleglooker]

Part 3

42. A great Mexican treasure is buried on Angel Island. In 1870, a dying Negro said that he was the servant of a wealthy Mexican family in
the early 1850's and had helped them bury the hoard somewhere on Angel Island. Before he could give further details of the cache, the man
died.
43. There are stories that say an Indian buried a sack of gold coins in the vicinity of Goat Rock which has never been recovered.
44. In 1892, while delivering a mine payroll of coins to the Great Western Quicksilver Mines over a steep road below the mine, the horses
became frightened and backed the wagon over a steep grade, scattering money all over the hillside and canyon. Some of it was never
recovered.
45. A large cache of coins worth $20,000 or more and mostly gold, lies about 6 air miles NE of the Donner Party Monument, located at
Donner's Lake near Truckee and along Hwy. 40. The ill-fated Donner-Reed party wintered in 1846-1847 at the monument marker under the
most trying of circumstances. Many of the group died of hunger, and for many years afterwards, artifacts of this group and at least one cache
of money was discovered all along their route of travel. Another search area for the cache of coins is near the Prosser Creek encampment
where the Donner brothers died. This campsite is located precisely within 1 mile NW of where Hwy.89 crosses Prosser Creek or about 1/2 mile
NW of Prosser House. Another suspected area is somewhere along the deep-sand section of the trail near Humboldt Sink. Another search area
is at the Truckee Meadows campsite of the emigrants.
46. In 1901, a stagecoach was robbed above the American River Canyon between Auburn and Foresthill. Several years later the Wells
Fargo strongbox was found on a sandbar in the depths of the American River Canyon, empty. A good many of they old timers believed that the
treasure was secreted near the site of the holdup and still remains there. The robbery site is near a grave marked "Old Joe" above Auburn, the
name of a horse shot and killed during the holdup.
47. An unnamed miner buried a quantity of gold near his cabin which stood near the present site of Lake Vera Lodge. He went into town
for supplies and mysteriously disappeared. his cache of gold was never recovered.
48. In 1853, a stagecoach was held up at Clipper Gap above the North Fork of the American River. One of the passengers was carrying a
satchel containing $4,000 in $50 gold slugs from the Mount Ophir Mint. During the robbery, the stagecoach plummeted to the bottom of a
ravine along the North Fork of the Forest Hill Road at Clipper Gap. The satchel broke open and the $50 slugs spilled out. All of the gold coins
were found and recovered except 3 which still await recovery today. These coins are worth about $50,000 each to collectors today.
49. $27,000 in gold contained in 2 strongboxes was stolen during a stage robbery between Nevada City and the Sacramento wharf in 1856.
The treasure was buried a few miles from Nevada City and never recovered.
50. Prospector Bill Snyder struck it rich on his claim along one of the branches of Oregon Creek up the ridge back of Camptonville. He
amassed a large quantity of gold over the years and just as his claim began to run out, he became seriously ill. He buried his gold, estimated at
$30,000, between 2 large pine trees in the flat area below his cabin before seeking medical attention. The treatment took over a year before he
could return to recover his treasure. When he returned, his cabin was gone as were all the pine trees and a saw mill now stood there and only
stumps of trees remained. He was never able to locate his cache and later died in the county home.
51. A miner named Mayberry took over $40,000 in gold from his claim at Bloody Run and buried it near his cabin. Robbers attempted to
learn where his gold was buried and, when Mayberry refused to tell them where it was, they killed him. His gold has never been found.
52. In 1895, two outlaws stole $50,000 in gold coins from a Wells Fargo shipment in a Union Pacific RR train robbery and buried the
cache in the area of a hobo jungle just outside Washington. A hobo named John Harmons witnessed the burial, dug it up and took $5,000 from
the sacks, reburying the rest a short distance away. Harmons went on a long drinking spree and when he returned for more money, he was
unable to relocate the burial site and the $45,000 was never recovered.
53. A man by the name of Hines lived in the area of Strawberry Valley area in the late 1800's. He is known to have accumulated about 30
pounds of gold from his prospecting trips which he buried somewhere in or near his house. Hines died in 1897 and his cache of gold was never
found.
54. Between $18,000 and $22,000 in gold coins was buried by a Basque sheepherder about 7 miles from Loyalton, a short ways up Six
Mile Canyon near a large, tall pine tree. The cache has never been found.
55. In 1849, Granville Swift settled at Bidwells Bar and hired a large number of Indians to mine his property. The mined gold was placed
in earthen jars and buried somewhere on the property. He once made the remark that he had hidden so many jars that he could not
remember either the exact number, or their locations. Swift died in 1864. All sorts of mysterious holes appeared on his land and around his
old stone cabin. A few of his jars were found, but the majority of seekers came, dug and departed empty-handed. An unknown number of
gold-filled jars still await recovery.
56. A retired, highly-successful prospector converted all of his gold into gold coins and settled at Yankee Hill where he buried his hoard in
the corner of the house. He accidentally knocked over an oil lamp and the house burned to the ground. A neighbor tried to help the badly
injured man, but he refused medical attention but, instead, asked for help to dig up his money. The neighbor assisted in uncovering a tub full of
coins, then went for help. When the neighbor returned, the old man was dead and the tub missing, presumably reburied somewhere in the area
during his absence. It has yet to be found.
57. The Eskridge outlaw gang buried the loot taken from2 successful stage robberies near the Upper Bear Creek Crossing in 1881. The
treasure has been estimated at between $50,000 and $120,000 and has never been recovered.
58. The outlaw Joaquin Murrieta buried $200,000 somewhere between Susanville and Freedonyer Oass near today's Hwy. 36.
59. A prospector is known to have buried $25,000 in gold nuggets somewhere along the banks of middle creek, 5 miles upstream from
Redding. It is still there.

[pegleglooker]

hey gang,
Has anyone ever found any of these old " lost " mining cabins or their foundations or anything Has anyone ever went looking for them? Or should I ask just how remote are these areas ??

PLL

[Old California]

Hello Pegleglooker,

I haven't found any of these locations but have been to the Mount Ophir Mint location that produced the famous $50 gold slugs (Story No. 48), I have a picture of the Mint structure here somewhere at least what's left of it and will post that pic once I find it. I took a friend of mine there a few months ago and showed him the structure, We were in the area so I made time to show him the old Mint.

Thanks for bringing up the thread, I'll post the pic once I find it

HH, Paul (Ca)