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A Minnesota Story
In 1862 a troop of soldiers where transporting an army payroll from Fort Snelling to Fort Ripley. Near Blue Hill Township, they were informed by a dispatcher of a nearby Indian uprising and were ordered to bury the payroll and proceed immediately to Mankato. Only the paymaster and one other soldier knew where the payroll was buried, and both were later killed. The treasure’s location remains unknown.
There is also this slightly different version of the Fort Snelling – Fort Ripley gold story. It was told to the writer by Aaron McDonald of Zimmerman in 1978. His version indicated that the soldiers had made contact with some Indians just north of Elk Lake along Battle Brook. This would place the location of the event in Baldwin Township.
It was getting dark when the soldiers buried the two saddlebags of gold coins under the roots of an oak tree. The soldiers whipped the packhorse, sending it off into the night towards Fort Ripley. The Indians thought the soldiers were escaping and followed the packhorse. Meanwhile the soldiers escaped and returned to Fort Snelling.
A fire burned through the area later that year and when the troop came back in the spring they were unable to find the gold. No one can confirm the absolute truth of the above legends. The information on which they are based was handed down verbally through several generations of people. But there appears to be sufficient consistency to believe that they are more fact than fiction or imagination. There probably was a sizable amount of gold buried in Blue Hill or Baldwin Townships and, from what we can surmise; it is probably still there today.
From: "There's Gold in Them Thar Hills" by Sherburne County Historical Society
In 1862 a troop of soldiers where transporting an army payroll from Fort Snelling to Fort Ripley. Near Blue Hill Township, they were informed by a dispatcher of a nearby Indian uprising and were ordered to bury the payroll and proceed immediately to Mankato. Only the paymaster and one other soldier knew where the payroll was buried, and both were later killed. The treasure’s location remains unknown.
There is also this slightly different version of the Fort Snelling – Fort Ripley gold story. It was told to the writer by Aaron McDonald of Zimmerman in 1978. His version indicated that the soldiers had made contact with some Indians just north of Elk Lake along Battle Brook. This would place the location of the event in Baldwin Township.
It was getting dark when the soldiers buried the two saddlebags of gold coins under the roots of an oak tree. The soldiers whipped the packhorse, sending it off into the night towards Fort Ripley. The Indians thought the soldiers were escaping and followed the packhorse. Meanwhile the soldiers escaped and returned to Fort Snelling.
A fire burned through the area later that year and when the troop came back in the spring they were unable to find the gold. No one can confirm the absolute truth of the above legends. The information on which they are based was handed down verbally through several generations of people. But there appears to be sufficient consistency to believe that they are more fact than fiction or imagination. There probably was a sizable amount of gold buried in Blue Hill or Baldwin Townships and, from what we can surmise; it is probably still there today.
From: "There's Gold in Them Thar Hills" by Sherburne County Historical Society
