Tuberale
Gold Member
A short distance to the east of Hood River, Oregon lies a series of high basalt bluffs descending from the south to the Columbia River. Somewhere between Mosier and Rowena is said to be a cache of jewelry taken from a Kansas City area jeweler by Frank Nash, Bud Maxfield and C. R. Williams. C.R. Williams gave an account of what happened to The Dalles (Oregon) Chronicle newspaper on June 28, 1963. According to Williams, "The gems are supposed to be in two glass fruit jars." Again, according to Williams, Frank Nash was killed in a gunfight at the Kansas City Union State. Bud Maxfield was shot by the F.B.I. after a bank robbery. Williams was the driver of the getaway car. He also aided and abetted Nash and Maxfield in the holdup of the Mosier Valley Bank on November 27, 1923. Williams was left in the car while one of the other men left with 2 quart jars, apparently the gems looted from the Kansas City heist, and returned within 10 minutes. The article says he was hunting for the cache west of Rowena, Oregon.
This is an interesting story for several reasons: C.R. Williams gave himself up after the trio robbed the Mosier Valley Bank, was held at the Wasco County jail in The Dalles, and escaped there by jumping from a 3rd story window. Bert Taylor was also housed in the jail at the time, and sprained his ankle when he jumped from the same window. After stealing a car belonging to Mrs. Anna Sandoz, they fled south, but quickly abandoned the car and fled on foot. On March 11, 1924 the men were caught in Patjens Canyon in Sherman County after walking over 50 miles.
Back to the search area: Hwy 30, also known as the old Columbia River Highway, between Rowena and Mosier is comprised of a series of switchbacks hugging steep cliff faces, basalt flows, and almost no topsoil. To have concealed the jars and returned to the car in 10 minutes, the jars almost assuredly were put in a rock crevise or had a cairn of rocks piled up around them, in order to be concealed in that short a time. Be aware that this area is noted for rattlesnakes, which have abundant hiding areas in rock crevises. Before you put your hand or face in a crevise to look for this cache, TAKE PRECAUTIONS!
A.R. Leichner wrote an article about this cache in A.T. Evans' Treasure Hunter's Yearbok 1970-'71 entitled "The Columbia River Diamond Cache."
This is an interesting story for several reasons: C.R. Williams gave himself up after the trio robbed the Mosier Valley Bank, was held at the Wasco County jail in The Dalles, and escaped there by jumping from a 3rd story window. Bert Taylor was also housed in the jail at the time, and sprained his ankle when he jumped from the same window. After stealing a car belonging to Mrs. Anna Sandoz, they fled south, but quickly abandoned the car and fled on foot. On March 11, 1924 the men were caught in Patjens Canyon in Sherman County after walking over 50 miles.
Back to the search area: Hwy 30, also known as the old Columbia River Highway, between Rowena and Mosier is comprised of a series of switchbacks hugging steep cliff faces, basalt flows, and almost no topsoil. To have concealed the jars and returned to the car in 10 minutes, the jars almost assuredly were put in a rock crevise or had a cairn of rocks piled up around them, in order to be concealed in that short a time. Be aware that this area is noted for rattlesnakes, which have abundant hiding areas in rock crevises. Before you put your hand or face in a crevise to look for this cache, TAKE PRECAUTIONS!
A.R. Leichner wrote an article about this cache in A.T. Evans' Treasure Hunter's Yearbok 1970-'71 entitled "The Columbia River Diamond Cache."
