Tukeys Landing

[Gypsy Heart]

Tukey's Landing

On a spring afternoon in 1862, John Tukey watched a canoe plying the waters toward his property, known as Tukey’s Landing (just at the bottom of the Chevy Chase beach trail). After beaching, three men climbed out, lugging an apparently heavy chest, and disappeared into the dense timber nearby. Soon, two men re-emerged from the forest empty-handed, silently slipped into their canoe and paddled rapidly away. The third man appeared a half hour later, empty handed, and requested a mount for Port Townsend, where he aimed to catch a steamer to Olympia. Tukey gave him a horse, and the man galloped furiously away. Tukey tramped into the timber in search of the stash but found no trace. The stranger was eventually recognized as the paymaster from Victoria who had relieved his employer of six thousand gold sovereigns. He was tried and convicted and died in prison. Since then authorities—and countless fortune seekers—have searched in vain for the buried treasure

 

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[lgadbois]

Re: Tukey's Landing

Today the cache is called the Chevy Chase Treasure.

Just East of downtown Port Townsend, WA is a golf course called Chevy Chase. It was originally a farm that was homesteaded by John Tukey. Most of the details of this story are vague.

Sometime, between 1862 and 1864, a Paymaster for a railroad that was being built in British Columbia absconded with the payroll. The payroll was in gold sovereigns. He escaped by having two First Nation Indians row him across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to an inlet that is called Discovery Bay. Some versions say that a trunk was unloaded with the loot, but this is uncertain as there were no witnesses to the landing except for the Indians. The Tukey farm has a low point in the cliff that was used a a boat landing. The Paymaster hiked from the beach to the farmhouse, and he requested to borrow a horse to ride in to town.

The Paymaster arrived at Port Townsend and boarded a vessel that was to travel to Olympia. The news of the robbery had spread quickly and he was recognized on board. The captain of the vessel changed course and headed to Victoria, BC where the man was turned over to the authorities.

In 1880, Tukey married Mrs Chase. In 1897 the farm started taking in summer guests, and the farm was developed into a resort. Tukey's stepdaughter, Mary Chase, managed the resort from 1913 to 1946 and renamed the property Chevy Chase. In 1946, Philip Bailey of Seattle bought the resort and golf course.

During the years after the incident, John Tukey and many others have looked for the payroll. We don't really know where the Paymaster hid the payroll. Was it in BC? Was in Discovery Bay? We don't know the actual size of the payroll: it could have been only 300 coins. The payroll may have been small enough to carry in a money belt. Unless better information is obtained through good research, it is a waste of time looking for the payroll.

 

[lgadbois]

Re: Tukey's Landing

Whoops! I meant to say that Chevy Chase is West of Port Townsend. Google Earth coordinates for Chevy Chase are:
48 04' 51.50" N
123 01' 10.79"W

Good luck!