LOST FRENCH GOLD, MINERVA, OHIO

[Outrider43]

Do you know if Anyone is currently looking or a point of contact to get things rolling?

 

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[Fred Finder]

Any updates on the gold? Just asking. Im not the tax man lol

 

[Zaynewolf]

It's cool people are still interested after all these years. Also If there hasn't been progress in years than lets change that. Someone mentioned that the location of the three clues isn't on a map yet, so lets make a new map including them. I'm all in on finding this treasure so if anyone is interested in joining me, respond to this post.

 

[JJMillat24]

Zaynewolf, I'm from Canton, I have heard this story a few times over the years but would love to get involved with solving the mystery. I wonder if there is anyone that had contact with Mr Robbins that is still around to give us some clues. I would love to spend a weekend out searching for the markers and determining a possible location of the site.

 

[Steve in PA]

In the 1760's the French held possession of fort Duesquine, which later became fort Pit in Pittsburgh. George Washington was leading a company of 2000 British troupes from the east to attack the fort. The British held up at Turtle Creek for the night.
Indian scouts reported to the French that an attack was coming. The French loaded one ton of gold which was to be the french payroll onto 10 pack horses and sent them west along the Great Trail.

First of all, the French abandoned and blew up Fort Duquesne in November 1758 upon the approach of the British under General John Forbes. So they were not in control of it in the 1760s. Second, some retreated up the Allegheny to Canada, and others down the Ohio to French controlled areas. They did not retreat cross land.
AND THIRD,,,,Why in God's name would there be a ONE TON Gold payroll for the couple hundred men in the tiny garrison at Fort Duquesne!!!

I grew up next to Fort Ligonier which was the staging and jumping off point for the last push by the British to take Fort Duquesne. I hav

e metal detected all the encampment east of Pittsburgh associated with the 1758 campaign to take Fort Duquesne. I also have all the volumes of the Bouquet Papers with the British officers correspondence. Good luck on your wild goose chase

 

[Sod Buster]

In the 1760's the French held possession of fort Duesquine, which later became fort Pit in Pittsburgh. George Washington was leading a company of 2000 British troupes from the east to attack the fort. The British held up at Turtle Creek for the night.
Indian scouts reported to the French that an attack was coming. The French loaded one ton of gold which was to be the french payroll onto 10 pack horses and sent them west along the Great Trail.

First of all, the French abandoned and blew up Fort Duquesne in November 1758 upon the approach of the British under General John Forbes. So they were not in control of it in the 1760s. Second, some retreated up the Allegheny to Canada, and others down the Ohio to French controlled areas. They did not retreat cross land.
AND THIRD,,,,Why in God's name would there be a ONE TON Gold payroll for the couple hundred men in the tiny garrison at Fort Duquesne!!!

I grew up next to Fort Ligonier which was the staging and jumping off point for the last push by the British to take Fort Duquesne. I hav

e metal detected all the encampment east of Pittsburgh associated with the 1758 campaign to take Fort Duquesne. I also have all the volumes of the Bouquet Papers with the British officers correspondence. Good luck on your wild goose chase

Not that I believe the story, but "the 1760's" was never part of it. There are two schools of thought on the timeframe of the assault on Fort Duquesne that led to the gold transfer, one suggests 1755 and the other 1758.

Again, not saying this isn't a wild goose chase, just clearing up that little mistake.

https://activerain.com/blogsview/478852/the-great-trail----the-legend-of-the-lost-french-gold

 

[Steve in PA]

In the 1760's the French held possession of fort Duesquine, which later became fort Pit in Pittsburgh. George Washington was leading a company of 2000 British troupes from the east to attack the fort. The British held up at Turtle Creek for the night.
Indian scouts reported to the French that an attack was coming. The French loaded one ton of gold which was to be the french payroll onto 10 pack horses and sent them west along the Great Trail.

Not that I believe the story, but "the 1760's" was never part of it. There are two schools of thought on the timeframe of the assault on Fort Duquesne that led to the gold transfer, one suggests 1755 and the other 1758.

Again, not saying this isn't a wild goose chase, just clearing up that little mistake.

https://activerain.com/blogsview/478852/the-great-trail----the-legend-of-the-lost-french-gold

Agree. The British mounted two expeditions against Fort Duquesne, one in 1755, and one in 1758. The 1755 expedition ended in Braddock's defeat, and I have heard that there may have been some gold recovered from the British baggage of the battlefield. The 1758 expedition finally removed the French from the forks of the Ohio. However, it is beyond me as to why the French would be storing any quantity of gold at a remote outpost like Fort Duquesne. They certainly didn't need it to pay off the Indians, and French soldiers could easily be paid in Spanish silver like the British soldiers were.

 

[starsplitter]

Larry, are you still on TNet Mark here. Been trying to connect off and on for several years.

 

[Sasquatch87]

hello im new to treasure hunting and im fascinated im located in canton ohio i enjoy researching things and want to get into metal detecting ive started researching the french gold minerva ohio legend and would love to share info and work together on this im new to archeological research so if anyone wants to work together and show a newbie the ropes feel free to reach out

 

[Sasquatch87]

Well, I might as well be the first! lol
I will give an abbreviated version of the story......well, something like this anyway:
In the 1760's the French held possession of fort Duesquine, which later became fort Pit in Pittsburgh. George Washington was leading a company of 2000 British troupes from the east to attack the fort. The British held up at Turtle Creek for the night.

Indian scouts reported to the French that an attack was coming. The french loaded one ton of gold which was to be the french payroll onto 10 pack horses and sent them west along the Great Trail. They were to head to Bolivar where there was a block house for shelter and provisions. That location later became the location of Fort Laurens.

The British were successful in overthrowing the fort and learned of the escape with the gold. Four days out of Pittburgh, the British were catching up to the French, so the Frenchy burried the gold to avoid it getting into British hands. It was reportedly burried at the fork of 3 springs. One mile to the west of that location a rock was placed in the fork of a tree.

There was only one survivor of the ensuing battle, a fellow by the name of Le'sour. (sp?). In 1820 or so, a diary of the (by then deceased) Le'sour telling the entire story was found.

I lived along side the Great Trail, and researched this story for years.My notebook of "facts" mostly substantiated, was over 100 pages long. It has been researched by many, and plenty of springs in that area dug up, but nothing ever found...Except for one thing that is.

A lady I met while researching this....showed me a rock, wrapped in a towel, and placed in a shoe box.
"Her grandfather hit it with an axe while splitting fence posts".

I tried.........and finely learned to live with the failure! lol......Let me know when you find it.

Tim

im trying to locate the archive for the newspaper article posted april 3rd 1875 by the minerva commercial can anyone help thank you

 

[Outrider43]

I locate a copy of the book in Minerva and the Lucas County Library not transferred here on loan. The about the gold Spanish gold coin in the chicken was barely a paraph long. I was side tracked researching British payroll in gold stolen by Native Americans and hidden near Shunk Ohio. The story revolves around the gold being buried on the banks of North Turkeyfoot creek on now Metro park property. Research shows it was actually South Turkeyfoot creek. A local farmer was reported to have buried a chest of gold north of Shunk Ohio years after the British gold was stolen. The Farmers name appears on a grave stone in the Cemetery where in 1893 two people showed up and hired workers to dig up 2 acres near there to the depth of a foot and a half. I plan a trip to that area and to Minvera this Spring.

 

[ken135]

Hi All,
Very interesting story. It got me reading some of the old newspapers. Perhaps find a copy of the original 1875 post. I didn't find that post yet, but did find this article interesting. It's not a hidden treasure of gold but still would be cool to find and the general location is given in the article.

May 26, 1871