Buried Gold in Oysterville

[Gypsy Heart]

When oyster schooners came to pick up their cargo of bivalves, the oyster owners were paid in gold coin. Since a bank was the one business that was never established in this boomtown metropolis, gold receipts were stashed under mattresses or buried in old tin cans for safe keeping. It is said that there was often more gold here than in any other town on the West Coast except San Francisco.



http://www.funbeach.com/attractions/walk_oysterville.html

 

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[Connecticut Sam]

Good to hear from you again.

 

[Tuberale]

Thanks for the lead, Gypsy Heart! Oysterville is not that far away, and many of my friends live there. After checking out the URL, I can see why. It is also noted for its mushroom production and retirement community today.

I knew a little of the history of the town, but was unaware of the banking procedures.<G> Oysterville is not situated to deal with tsunamis well, and has survived a few. I'm not sure the inhabitants were so lucky, and its possible gold in the sands still remains today.

Fascinating reading about Capt. James R. Johnson and his wife, too. I suspect this was one of 2 sons of Capt. James Johnson, who lived nearby at Ilwaco, WA. Ilwaco was named for the daughter of Chief Concommoly of the famed Chinook (sometimes spelled Tchinook), who were great sea traders in the area. Concommoly once told one of his many son-in-laws, that he was the grandson or great-grandson of a shipwrecked Spanish sailor enslaved by the Tillamooks.

This is also a well-known area for gold slugs, which were actually early privately minted gold coins from California. Capt. James Johnson recovered some 400 of these from a ship which became trapped in the sands of the Columbia River mouth. Not having seen such coins before, he contacted several nearby neighbors, who conscientiously weighed each and gave estimates on how much gold content they actually contained. Most were in the $48-$52 range, with a significant portion above the stated $50 amount. For this reason, many if not most $50 gold "slugs" were remelted for their gold content. Early minters in California included Augustus Humbert, Kellogg & Company, United States Assay Office of Gold.

Tens of thousands of Chinooks died in the 1840's after malaria was introduced by a White trader ship which had taken on water (and mosquito larvae) in Panama. Many Chinook burials were discovered during the building of the highway between Astoria and Ilwaco. Some burials contained gold "slugs" which the Chinooks used as gaming tokens.