(Cameron) Potter County & Blackbeards Silver

[jeff of pa]

Most people don’t know there was a second Captain Blackbeard - a British sea captain who salvaged the treasure of a sunken ship in the Bahamas in the early 1800s.The $1.5 million of silver bars he recovered traveled to Baltimore with Captain Blackbeard to be shipped back to London; however, he was confronted by a French privateer and evaded capture by loading his loot onto wagons and moving inland from the Susquehanna River. As the War of 1812 broke out, Blackbeard planned to travel to Lake Erie, which was controlled by the British. Captain Blackbeard was an excellent sailor, but was not so successful navigating by land and underestimated the rugged terrain. Rather than risk losing the treasure, Blackbeard is said to have buried the silver near a salt lick outside of Keating Summit.
Blackbeard made it to Canada, and from there to Britain, but while he made his way back to America, Colonel Noah Parker was sent to guard the treasure site. Parker, a man of opportunity, successfully kept the treasure hidden...including from Captain Blackbeard. Parker claimed to have never found the silver, but was reported to have shown a sudden level of wealth around town. Most believe that Parker, who kept the location of the treasure a secret to his grave, couldn’t possibly have spent the entire fortune, and that some portion of it remains undiscovered in the wilderness in Potter County.

I say Find the Parker Farm in Cameron County & search there.

the smart thing would have been to slowly and methodically transfer it
to his place, where he could keep an eye on it and live off it.

odds are his daughter could have also known about it.
so her home in Gurdeau may also be of interst.

Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.), 15 Oct. 1908.



Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, October 15, 1908, Image 1 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress

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Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.), 23 March 1899.



Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, March 23, 1899, Page 5, Image 5 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress

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Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.), 24 April 1902.



Cameron County press. (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, April 24, 1902, Image 8 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress

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[pa plateau hiker]

There's no truth to that story. It's a fable, fabricated years ago by an author who lived in Potter County.

 

[jeff of pa]

PENNSYLVANIA’S LOST
​

SILVER TREASURE
​

By Francis X. Scully
​

At the time it was lost, it was valued at one and a half million dollars, but with the increasing value of pure silver the lost bars could conceivably be worth double that amount. Supposedly buried near the mini-village of Gardeau in McKean County, northern Pennsylvania, the lost treasure has been part of the folklore of the Keystone State’s oilfields for over a century. What is more, if you go after this one, you will be within fifty miles of four other lost treasures valued at five million dollars or more—-a rare opportunity for an enterprising treasure hunter.
In 1811, a Captain Blackbeard (not to be confused with Edward Teach) received a commission from the British Admiralty to raise the wreckage of a Spanish galleon, which had gone down off the Bahamas during a raging tropical hurricane in the early fall of 1680. Plainly visible in less than 20 fathoms of water, the hulk posed no difficulties for the astute Blackbeard, one of the greatest marine salvage experts of his day. In less than a month, the canny Englishman raised the hulk, and by surrounding it with pontoons, made ready to tow his prize and its cargo to the safety of an American port; England then being at war with Napoleonic France.
Escaping a furious storm by a matter of hours, Blackbeard landed his wreck at Baltimore, where he immediately made arrangements to have a warship tow it and the loot it contained to the safety of an English port.
In June of 1812, while tipping a few tankards of ale in a Baltimore tavern, Blackbeard met Peter Abelhard Karthaus of the privateer Comet. Blackbeard’s heart almost stopped beating when Karthaus very subtly informed him that he was aware that the English sailor had successfully brought to the Maryland city a Spanish galleon and its $1,500,000 worth of silver bars.
Running the gauntlet with French warships was one thing, but trying to escape the relentless privateer, the rogue of his day, was another thing. Then, too, the possibility of war with America was growing stronger with each passing day. To attempt to take the treasure across the sea was an impossibility, reasoned Blackbeard. The land route to Canada and safety was only four hundred miles, most of which was through uninhabited wilderness and it could be accomplished in a few weeks reasoned the now-thoroughly alarmed Englishman.
That night Captain Blackbeard studied the route he would take. He would follow the Susquehanna due north to about what is now Williamsport, Pennsylvania and from there to the Sinnemahoning River northwestward until he reached what is now Emporium, Pennsylvania. Then there would be a twenty-three mile portage over Keating Summit to the headwaters of the Allegheny River near Port Allegany. This was known as Canoe Place at the time, and had been used by traders, trappers, and warring Redmen for over three centuries. Then all he had to do was follow the Allegheny to the mouth of the Conewango Creek near present-day Warren, and then up to Chautauqua Lake (Jamestown). From the head of Chautauqua, he could practically roll down the hill to the blue waters of lake Erie. Britain controlled Lake Erie, Blackbeard mused, and the treasure would be home safe, and he would claim his reward and perhaps a knighthood from a grateful king. This was the plan to follow, and so the Englishman made ready.
The silver bars were loaded into wagons, all of which had a false bottom, covered with hay and straw. Each wagon was drawn by six oxen, accompanied by a handful of guards supposedly loyal to Britain, now almost on the verge of war with their cousins in North America for the second time in forty years.
Blackbeard never dreamed of the difficulties the land route through Pennsylvania’s trackless wilderness could pose until he reached what is now Lycoming County. Twice, the Englishman had to build rafts, in order to ascend the turbulent Susquehanna, and twice the bulky log platforms had capsized dumping the bellowing oxen and wagons into the icy river. By the time the expedition reached Clinton County and present-day Renovo, Blackbeard was coming apart at the seams. War had finally broken out between America and England, and the Englishman became almost obsessive in his efforts to avoid contact with any wandering trapper, whom he felt almost certain would have to be American. Then, the gnawing suspicion that one or two of his guards had betrayed some suspicious attitudes, brought Blackbeard to the brink.
That night, the English captain made up his mind that he would get the silver over the twenty-three mile portage, and then bury it for safekeeping. Word had slipped through that Fort Niagara had been blockaded, and Lake Erie was swarming with American boats, perhaps influenced his decision, but his mind was made up. He would bury the loot until after the war. After the British had trounced the upstart Yankees, he would have no trouble in reclaiming and finding the silver. It was perfectly safe in this primeval forest, reasoned Blackbeard.
And so, late in the summer of 1812, in the southeast corner of McKean County near the tiny village of Keating Summit, and not far from either Smethport or Port Allegany on CW 1198 and CW 1199, the huge treasure was buried near an old saltlick. During the digging, at least two dozen elk watched the strange behavior of the sweating humans, as they lowered box after box to the bottom of narrow trenches. Legends of McKean County indicate that bison at one time congregated at the lick, and early records state that over 300 elk were counted at one time around that spring and its salt deposits.
So Blackbeard made it safely back to Canada and eventually to Britain, where he reported to an exasperated Admiralty that the tremendous treasure was buried someplace in the wolf-infested forests of northern Pennsylvania, back in Yankeeland. Returning to America, Blackbeard sent Colonel Noah Parker to the treasure site. Perhaps this was like sending a fox to guard a henhouse. While Parker kept intruders away, he also managed to keep Blackbeard from finding out anything about the silver hoard.
Within a few years, the frustrated Englishman went to his reward and the treasure was forgotten by all—save Parker. From time to time he showed sudden affluence, but always denied that he had ever found any of the silver.
After the Civil War, Parker opened one of the first spas in northern Pennsylvania, claiming that the curative powers of the spring waters would move the Iron Virgin. Hundreds flocked to the little hotel, and Parker never failed to regale them with the story of the lost treasure. Thousands searched for the treasure and never found it, and if Parker knew of its whereabouts he went to his grave without telling anyone.
It is now part of the folklore of the people of the rugged hills of Pennsylvania, and Captain Blackbeard’s fabulous treasure—or at least that portion not expended by the shrewd Colonel Parker—is still awaiting a finder.

https://www.coudy.com/Austin/Scully3.htm

 

[jeff of pa]

https://books.google.com/books?id=T...AG#v=onepage&q=Blackbeard Noah Parker&f=false

 

[My Name Is Mud]

PENNSYLVANIA’S LOST
​

SILVER TREASURE
​

By Francis X. Scully
​

What is more, if you go after this one, you will be within fifty miles of four other lost treasures valued at five million dollars or more—-a rare opportunity for an enterprising treasure hunter. [\SIZE]

https://www.coudy.com/Austin/Scully3.htm

Does anyone know the stories of the other 4 lost treasures? I can only think of 2 and I'm not 100% sure they are within 50 miles.

 

[FinderKeeper]

This treasure story is real, I tracked it for several years and we located the wagons and artifacts but no silver. Its not in Gardeau its in Emporium . There is no way for them to make the trip past Emporium. We know were they camped at and dump the rafts, then we followed their trail and found all the wagons burned up in a ditch under 6' of dirt. WE scanned the area from one end of Emporium to the other end and NO SILVER. We believe the Indians moved it and we think we located all of it miles away. BUT its on state game land again. So it sits. Later this year we should be back to working in Pa. Right now we have a TV series in the works again in Nova Scotia and we plan to open a office in Clearfield with high grade equipment for our think tank .

 

[jeff of pa]

What are your thoughts On The rumor Parker Built a Cabin on top of it ?
If I have the Correct Treasure Story, That is what I read.

and that he may have done this to make disposing of it easier

 

[FinderKeeper]

I don't think Parker found the silver. There is a salt lick in Emporium with a lot of big fields with Elk. If you look at Emporium you see its a lot like Gardeau with the salt lick, rivers , fields, etc. I think Blackbeard knew of the salt lick in Emporium but did not know about the salt lick in Gardeau were salt was being made. I think Parker returned to the first salt lick and stayed in that area and in time he found out he was at the wrong spot but by then the silver was removed and the wagons were buried by floods in the area .

 

[boscooliver]

I dont believe the natives would have moved it or even cared to if they found it. I am onsite now and have unlimited permissions for the area and three counties
Found some cool stuff detecting today at the site of the old sanitarium. Getting close to this one. I dont believe its on state land but if you are positive where it is finders keepers let me know and Ill get you permission

 

[boscooliver]

it would make no sense to bury silver in emporium at that time it was already settled

 

[FinderKeeper]

From what I know Emporium only had one farm in the south west area of what is the town area now. It would be possible for them to get off the river and camp and travel up north with out the farmer seen them. I did not locate the silver in Emporium or Gardeau . We still have one location we need to check out this year in Emporium. They did not have the dirt to cover the boxes of silver so they used the river stone from the river to fill the trench up and cover the treasure. After a few floods the river stone was covered and a new trench was made until the rail road came in and changed the water flow that made the trenches in the area. I have artifacts from the wagons that date from the period. All 5 wagons are still on site down under. We dug one up in 2008. We spent 5 years tracking this treasure with the best equipment we had and found no silver YET at Emporium or Gardeau.

There is no way for you to get the OK to hunt this treasure in 3 counties unless you are DCNR . I will give DCNR the location were the silver is , when we get a permit to dig at the Dents Run site. Until then NO info on the location will be given on Blackbeards silver or any other treasure site we located.

OK who owns the land in Gardeau were silver road is.

 

[miboje]

BUT its on state game land again.

Gee, that's shocking. NOT.

 

[miboje]

I will give DCNR the location were the silver is , when we get a permit to dig at the Dents Run site. Until then NO info on the location will be given on Blackbeards silver or any other treasure site we located.

What reason(s) are they making up to drag their feet on this, FK?

 

[FinderKeeper]

The state of Pa. or DCNR will not give us a 10% Finders Fee on the Dents Run hunt and we worked with them for 5 yrs . That will not happen again so all new treasure finds on State land sit . We can not dig and they can not dig , this is what happens when GREED sets in. They want it all 100%. We are back to hunting for treasures in Pa. and they do what they can to see what we are up to. Good Luck DCNR

 

[FinderKeeper]

boscooliver I ask you a easy question, and if you did have the OK to search for treasure in 3 counties you should of answered back with in hours . I do not see a answer and its been days . Who owns the land in Gardeau were silver road runs on. I am sure DCNR knows this answer .

 

[FinderKeeper]

We have located a large amount of silver bars that we believe are Blackbeard's /Parker Treasure and now we are tracking the Spanish silver coins he buried on his way to Canada. His crew could not carry the silver bars so they took as many silver coins as they could carry for spending in Canada and passage to Europe. They took to many coins and that slowed them down so they buried some along the way. We located one of their camp sites and got silver readings . Now on our next trip we dig to see what it is.