Greetings,
I live in Longview, not far from Tatum. I too have knowledge of this treasure. I spent a few years as a deputy sheriff for that county and all my life in this area. I have done EXTENSIVE investigation about the claims i have heard through the years and talked to many of the town locals. The most concrete evidence i have is several years back, is a old man's account who lived on Martin Creek (Martin Creek/Lake is just south of Hendricks Lake approx. 2 miles as the crow flies) before it was flooded to make Martin Lake for the power plant. He explained that as a very small child around 1890's-1900's he played in Martin Creek. He said there was a heavy Indian population in this area at that time (i've found this to be true also by numerous found arrowheads and broken pieces of pottery). He said one day he was playing in this creek and ventured away from his property into an area he'd never been, that's when he said the found a hollowed out cave in the creek bank. He said he entered and saw many gold bars inside. As a result he was confronted by an Indian, he said he then ran off scared to death. He told his dad but no one believed him and dismissed him off as a imaginative kid. He told me the Indians kept a close eye on the treasure and that area but never did anything with it. As time passed he left the area and the creek was flooded into a large lake.
This man had no reason to lie to me and no reason to make up such a claim. As a police officer of many years i consider myself a pretty good judge of when i'm being lied to or not. This man told me he could put my feet on top of the exact spot where this cave is if there wasn't a lake there now. I don't know of anyone who has heard this story but i believed the old man who has since passed on. He also told me the treasure is GOLD, he said he saw GOLD bars, NOT silver. He also said Hendricks Lake is NOT where this GOLD is, he said there is nothing in there like everyone thinks.
I do not know anything more than what the old man told me as i have described above. As i said, i believe the old man and will from now own. Texas A&M came up here several years back and dredged Hendricks Lake, they spent lots of money and resources only to find NOTHING! Their conclusion was that the treasure is somewhere else and NOT in Hendricks Lake. If Texas A&M tried and found nothing, you can probably bet nothing is there. They have some pretty awesome equipment, personnel and financial backing.
