Pawhuska 1910 post office robbery.

[Gooner]

The post office was robbed. Three men. North of town three men were seen riding up from Soldier Creek and heading north on wagon road. This is a little east, maybe 1/4 mile, from bridge on old Hwy 99 N. When the couple got into town and heard about the robbery they told police. A search was made, but no loot ever found. Hugh Surber (deceased) looked for this loot for the rest of his life. I've looked a few times. I have a suspicion. In that area in the creekbed is about 400 lb. boulder with several sets of initials. The take was said to be $13,000. paper and coin. Could the hard money be under that boulder? I'll maybe look again in spring of 2011, maybe not, depends on time.
-bill-

 

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[Jason in Enid]

If the theives weren't caught, why would the money still be hidden. People dont steal money just to bury it. That money would have been spent a long time ago.

 

[Gooner]

A few examples of why money would still be there:
They hid so much there was no need to recover all of it.-Frank James
They were later all killed.-Al Spencer for one.
The landmarks changed, trees were cut down, or new ones grew while so and so was in prison. Silver coins near Wynona.
Illness.
Death by other causes.
The theif got religion, or some version of it.
The posse found the loot and divvied it up.
They just couldn't find where they hid it.
It sank.($63,000.) in Arkansas river below Keystone dam.
Any number of reasons, anyone of which would cause loot to still be there.
So much hidden, little recovered. No way could outlaws have spent it all.
-bill-

 

[Jason in Enid]

You believe too much camp-fire tales, and not enough in truth. Robbers didn't steal just to bury the cash. They spent it on horses, guns, liquor, women and gambling as fast as they could steal it. If they weren't caught immediately after the robbery, without the cash, there is no reason to expect THAT pile of money to still exist.

 

[Gooner]

$1000 in silver weighs 62 and 1/2 lbs. Some loot was hidden, some wasn't. some was recovered, some wasn't, and remains hidden today. $100,000. in gold coin weighs about 300 lbs. If the money from the 1862 wagon train massacre in northeastern osage county wasn't hidden near Artillery Mound, how did the guy find it in 1962? If the main group of Coronado's 1541 expedition did not hide the six cannon that they left behind, what did they do with them? The possibility exists that the portion of the $13,000 that was silver coins was hidden because it was just too heavy. If this is the case, then looking for such loot is justifiable. The landowner believed it and searched whenever he walked his fences or whatever. I've looked a few times and have my own ideas. Doesn't hurt to look.
-bill-

 

[Gooner]

You believe too much camp-fire tales, and not enough in truth. Robbers didn't steal just to bury the cash. They spent it on horses, guns, liquor, women and gambling as fast as they could steal it. If they weren't caught immediately after the robbery, without the cash, there is no reason to expect THAT pile of money to still exist.

$1,000 in silver coins weighs about 62 1/2 pounds. It was speculated by the townfolk that the portion (the coins) was hidden to lighten the load, with the intention of recovery at a later date when the posse wasn't in hot pursuit. They didn't steal it just to hide it, however, the James gang did steal money from the railroad and they did hide it. Supposedly not all was recovered. There are over 300 treasure stories in Osage County alone, some big and some small.

 

[gazmuth]

I know this is an old post, but one other thing I fail to see mentioned in any posts, which is the fact that because the "Post Office" says it was $13,000, that doesn't mean that the amount stated was actually the amount taken. Even back then, insurance scams existed, so the amount could have been $3,000 or maybe more, or even less. It has been found, and I can't recite specific articles, but the amounts that would ensure that the Pinkerton Agency would go after a robbery, there had to be a certain value of the goods, or the agency would not go after it, due to their payment was a portion of the found goods. Certainly, money was stolen, maybe by the 'three' horsemen, but perhaps not actually the amount stated, and if that amount was taken, the thieves may or may not have taken $5,000 and the proprietor may have stashed the other $8,000, which has also been seen in cases but rarely proven.