Swamp Gold

[Bigcypresshunter]

The news clipping says that Harvey discovered, checking through records, that a detachment of troops led by Capt Riley was sent from Fort Knox in 1865 with a 1/2 ton of gold. The destination was Fort Meade. The article says it was reportedly taken for safekeeping as the Confederates fell back.

WHAT RECORDS?

 

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[ECS]

The news clipping says that Harvey discovered, checking through records, that a detachment of troops led by Capt Riley was sent from Fort Knox in 1865 with a 1/2 ton of gold. The destination was Fort Meade. The article says it was reportedly taken for safekeeping as the Confederates fell back.

WHAT RECORDS?

Gold from Ft Knox !!! That sounds like a tall tale to give credence to the legend.
Kentucky was never apart of the CSA,never seceded from the Union,but kept its options open in both camps-even sent representatives to the CSA congress.
"taken for safekeeping"-From whom,Union ? CSA? from Ft Knox?-there would be a historical of this. Is there?
Seems to be an embellishment to the tale.
APRIL 2,1865,Richmond fell,and the Confederate treasury was sent in many different directions.
APRIL 9,1865,Robert E Lee signed terms of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.
MAY,1865 was when the CSA TREASURY began appearing in Florida.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Its hard to seperate fact from fiction but I believe there is some basis of fact. I believe the 1940's news article refers to safekeeping from Union forces. "It was reported taken for safekeeping as Confederates fell back." It would seem more likely to be cattle money. Where would cattle money come frrom? New Orleans?

 

[ECS]

The news clipping says that Harvey discovered, checking through records, that a detachment of troops led by Capt Riley was sent from Fort Knox in 1865 with a 1/2 ton of gold. The destination was Fort Meade. The article says it was reportedly taken for safekeeping as the Confederates fell back.

WHAT RECORDS?

I should have mentioned in my previous post about FORT KNOX-
The US TREASURY began construction on the US BULLION DEPOSITORY AT FORT KNOX in 1936,after FDR's Executive order 6102,outlawing private ownership of gold in the USA.
There was NO gold depository at Fort Knox in 1865.
That is why I have always felt the L P Harvey story suspect.

 

[ECS]

Its hard to seperate fact from fiction but I believe there is some basis of fact.

So do I,its discarding the decades of embellishments that cloud the basic facts thats hard.
The basic facts are:
Ft Meade was used by the Confederates as a depot for the cattle trade.
The CSA COW was established to protect this trade from Union raiders.
Jacob Summerlin sold cattle to both Union troops at Ft Meyers and to Confederate blockade runners,and was paid in gold.
Summerlin owned a wharf at Punta Rassa and also shipped out of Charlotte Harbor.
CAPTAIN JOHN RILEY Bless McIntosh was a succcessful CSA blockade runner,sailing from New Orleans to Florida to Cuba,South America,and Europe.

 

[ECS]

Do you have anything on L.P. Harvey?


In September, 1944, it was reported that State Game Officer L. P. Harvey led a small party into the Everglades and located what they believed to have been the last camping place of the Confederates, almost hidden by undergrowth but identified by Confederate relics found there. The site was described as being located at the point of an angle formed by a line 40 miles due west of Ft. Lauderdale, and another line due northwest of the Miami City Hall until it met the first line.

During the War of Northern Agression some of the Seminoles joined the cause of the south.
John Jumper became a Colonel in the Confederate Army.It may be possible that the Confederate relics found at "the last camping place" were from Confederate Seminole soldiers returned from the war.
What has not been established from the legend is:
Timeline of the pursuit,or that matter,if it actually ever happened.It seems all the versions of this Confederate gold and Union chase legend lead back to Florida State Game Officer L P Harvey.Another source needs to be found to confirm the events of this tale.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Im trying to send you the news articles ECS in a PM but I cant figure how to add an attachment. The new TN is nothing but aggravation.

TN is storing 9000 jpg. attachments that I didnt want saved but I can only store 500 short emails. I have had many emails that just dont reach me because my inbox is often full. Just doesnt make any sense.

If you can figure how to send a jpeg attachment in a PM let me know. I click on "Insert Image" but there is no way to browse or upload a file.

 

[ECS]

Recieved the newspaper articles.Thank you.
This legend still always folds back to L P Harvey.Where did Harvey get his information about the Confederate gold that was mentioned in the articles? There had to be an earlier source of the legend to draw from,or Harvey just filled in the blanks for a good news story.Was there a byline to those articles?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I dont see a byline. Another member is working with me. She is great at researching ancestry. We are gathering more information and I now have the names of the rest of the party which includes a well known WWII pilot named Hully Stirling from Davie Florida. .

LP Harvey says the gold story was given to him by "the historical society". The members of the expedition party were from Miami, Davie and possibly Fort Lauderdale. It would have been a long expedition because this was before Alligator Alley was built.

You have been a big help and I will forward you other information after I sort through it. Im not sure if I want to reveal everything at this time online. Im afraid others will steal my research that has taken years to get this far. There is another man searching and he is asking for investors. http://www.evergladeslostgold.com/ I will try to speak with him when I go back to work. Maybe I should start a website because I seem to have much more information than he does LOL.

Truthfully, I didnt believe the story but now I am finding that Riley and LP Harvey are actually real people and at least the 1940's story is real. I actually work for the Game Commission during hunting season and I may ask my boss for some information but I dont want him to think Im crazy.

This is the oldest source I have found so far. I agree we need to get back further. A news print from 1864-65 would be best. Maybe there are records at the historical society.

 

[signal]

I dont see a byline. Another member is working with me. She is great at researching ancestry. We are gathering more information and I now have the names of the rest of the party which includes a well known WWII pilot named Hully Stirling from Davie Florida. .

If memory serves me right, Hully was the pilot that spotted an odd looking patch in everglades, because of the trees growing there. I believe the location was Horseshoe Head. There they discovered a confederate camp. Also, whenever you see Tree Islands in the everglades, particularly with plants that aren't indigenous, it's a good sign of a mound/midden or camp.

If there is anything you want me to research, I can try to help. I have access to the entire Harvard University library, which is one of the largest in the country, as well as JSTOR and other e-resources. Since I am in Florida however, I have to use whats "online", as I don't get up to Massachusetts often.

 

[signal]

Truthfully, I didnt believe the story but now I am finding that Riley and LP Harvey are actually real people and at least the 1940's story is real. I actually work for the Game Commission during hunting season and I may ask my boss for some information but I dont want him to think Im crazy.

This is the oldest source I have found so far. I agree we need to get back further. A news print from 1864-65 would be best. Maybe there are records at the historical society.

Lawrence County, Illinois has a house built at about that time, by Capt. John Riley. He had a daughter Henrietti Riley who was married as first wife to Mr. Daniel Gold.

Source:

Historical Notes on Lawrence County, IllinoisAuthor(s): Mary Tracy White
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), Vol. 10, No. 3 (Oct., 1917),pp. 367-393
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Illinois State Historical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40187017

"The steamboat Ellen Douglas was built in New Albany, Indiana, in 1834, although based inNew Orleans. She was a sidewheeler of 270 tons, 150 feet long, and had two decks, with cabins on the second deck, all ofwhich placed her in the category of large steamers of that era. Owned by her captain, John Riley ofNew Orleans, the Ellen Douglas operated until 1842 when she was abandoned. The av erage life of a steamboat at this time was five years; they wore out and were aban doned, ifthey had not already exploded and burned. "The Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States, 1790-1868," The Lytle-Holdcamper List and the steamboat enrollment records ofNew Orleans. This information was furnished by the Inland Rivers Library, Cincinnati, Ohio. The first steamer run from New Orleans to Lou
isville had been made only twenty years earlier, in 1815, but soon the round trip was regularly made in less than one month. By 1835, the up-river speed was about
six miles per hour and down-river about twice as fast. The Ellen Douglas arrived in New Orleans on May 18, 1835, and probably John's flatboat had docked only a day or two previously. The turnaround time for unloading and loading was about one week. The cost of deck passage was one-fourth cabin class, hence John's choice. "The
deck is covered and contains berths, but it is a very undesirable way of travelling." Wheeling Gazette, quoted inNew Orleans The Bee, May 21, 1835"

Source:
"To do for my self": Footloose on the Old Northwest FrontierAuthor(s): William C. Wilkinson
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 86, No. 4 (December 1990), pp. 399-420Published by: Trustees of Indiana University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27791425.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

During the War of Northern Agression some of the Seminoles joined the cause of the south.
John Jumper became a Colonel in the Confederate Army.It may be possible that the Confederate relics found at "the last camping place" were from Confederate Seminole soldiers returned from the war.
What has not been established from the legend is:
Timeline of the pursuit,or that matter,if it actually ever happened.It seems all the versions of this Confederate gold and Union chase legend lead back to Florida State Game Officer L P Harvey.Another source needs to be found to confirm the events of this tale.

Harvey says he has estabilshed "definitely" from historical records and relics found that this is the last encampment of the Confederate party. Here is a 1949 photograph of William Gill of Davie Fl, a member in the expedition.. He is convinced that soldiers camped here because the relics bore the markings of Confederate Army issue equipment.

View attachment 641864

Its possible that this is John Jumpers camp but it doesnt explain why it was abandoned. Harvey says the area was as if hit by a hurricane with bones of animals and humans and debris scattered all over the site.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

If memory serves me right, Hully was the pilot that spotted an odd looking patch in everglades, because of the trees growing there. I believe the location was Horseshoe Head. There they discovered a confederate camp. Also, whenever you see Tree Islands in the everglades, particularly with plants that aren't indigenous, it's a good sign of a mound/midden or camp.

If there is anything you want me to research, I can try to help. I have access to the entire Harvard University library, which is one of the largest in the country, as well as JSTOR and other e-resources. Since I am in Florida however, I have to use whats "online", as I don't get up to Massachusetts often.

Yes thats all here on my thread. Hully Sterling was also the fellow who scattered Australian Melaleuca seeds across the Everglades from his plane in an attempt to drain the swamp.

Welcome signal and thanks for the help. I seem to be working backwards. The story appears in many treasure magazines and now online in many websites. I was able to trace the story back to a 1964 treasure book and I spoke with the author himself (Jeff K).

I have now, with the help of another member, traced it back to the 1940's. I am looking for anything older. I am looking for any historical record of Capt John Rileys gold shipment or his alleged capture. I would even like to know if Riley went back to Florida looking for the gold.ever

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

All my images have disappeared from this page. I dont like the new TN, very aggravating. Can anyone else see them?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see I have also lost images on other pages. I will try to repost the latest ones..

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I was able to repost some of the images lost but its a very slow process.. sorry.

 

[ECS]

On a site dedicated to the Knights of the Golden Circle I found this two line paragraph:
"KGC Captain John Riley trying to ship gold to Havana in the spring of 1865,was chased into the Everglades by Federal troops.Riley buried $500,000 in gold bullion in west central Broward County"
The KGC connection leads me to believe that the gold was shipped from New Orleans (re: previous post on Suwannee River gold story)

 

[ECS]

If memory serves me right, Hully was the pilot that spotted an odd looking patch in everglades, because of the trees growing there. I believe the location was Horseshoe Head. There they discovered a confederate camp. Also, whenever you see Tree Islands in the everglades, particularly with plants that aren't indigenous, it's a good sign of a mound/midden or camp.

If there is anything you want me to research, I can try to help. I have access to the entire Harvard University library, which is one of the largest in the country, as well as JSTOR and other e-resources. Since I am in Florida however, I have to use whats "online", as I don't get up to Massachusetts often.

Hello signal. Does JSTOR contain any 1864-1865 Union army records, reports or campaign maps from Fort Meyers?
Also a 1861-1865 map of south Florida ? That would be a great help.

 

[signal]

Hello signal. Does JSTOR contain any 1864-1865 Union army records, reports or campaign maps from Fort Meyers?
Also a 1861-1865 map of south Florida ? That would be a great help.

There are many articles in JSTOR, I tried to pick out a few that may have some good information, I put them on a dropbox here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14091323/Ft. Myers.zip

It won't be here for long, but I will keep it up for a few weeks. If there is something more specific let me know.

One thing that I read much on was Punta Rassa, which seems to be heavily linked to trade with Cuba, so when people wanted to get something to Cuba, Punta Rassa was a likely launch point.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

On a site dedicated to the Knights of the Golden Circle I found this two line paragraph:
"KGC Captain John Riley trying to ship gold to Havana in the spring of 1865,was chased into the Everglades by Federal troops.Riley buried $500,000 in gold bullion in west central Broward County"
The KGC connection leads me to believe that the gold was shipped from New Orleans (re: previous post on Suwannee River gold story)
Would that be 40 mi inland from the Atlantic and 45 mi NW of Miami?
Need to research the "historical society"& discover the name of the "ghost town" and location.

The ghost town is probably Horseshoe Head offlimits on the Indian Reservation. I havent actually laid it out yet on a map.