The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-06-12
LIKE CAPT. KIDD.
Buried Treasure Said to Have
Been Dug Up
Near Ancient Indianola, On the
Old Military Road.
SEQUEL OF DAYS OF'53.
A Z. s. Paymaster Robbed in
That Year
Of Seventy-five Thousand Dol
lars in Gold.
No Trace Of the Money Ever
Found.
A FEW DAYS AGO
Some Remarkable Excavations
Found Near IndianOla.
The Treasure If Treasure 1t
Was, Lately Removed.
Capt. Jack Curtis Verifies Some
Some Remarkable Excavations
Found Near IndianOla.
The Treasure If Treasure 1t
Was, Lately Removed.
Capt. Jack Curtis Verifies Some
Of the Facts.

The old town of Indianola, on the
banks of Soldier creek, northwest of the
reform school, has been brought to pub
lie notice by a most remarkable discov-
cry made in that vicinity few days ago
and which has just been made public.
Indianola was a station on the old
government trail or military road which
was travelled between Fort Leavenworth
and Fort Riley in the early ffties.
In 1858 government paymaster was
robbed of $4,000 in gold on this trail
and the money disappeared. No trace
of it was ever found.
Early last Sunday morning Sheriff
Dave Burdge was awakened by j. Q. A
Peyton, who wanted him to go over the
river to a spot near Indianola where
some remarkable freshly made excava-
tions had been found.
These two men, with Under Sheriff Tom
WilkerSon, drove north past the re-
form school to the corner of
Col John M. Browns farm, where a
road leads off through the timber to the
McNown farm. They followed the road
past the McNown place and crossed the
Rock Island track, where they hitched
their team and went on foot along a
winding path through the woods across
Soldier creek, to a place whore they
struck the old military trail.
Finally, in sight of the old townsite of
Indianola, at place where the trail di-
vides and on a farm owned by W. w.
Phillips, the stump of an old tree was
reached The tree had been large elm
in it's day, the oldest and largest in that
section, and had been landmark for
miles around. The tree was cut down
| two years ago, but it's stump is still there
in conspicuous place.
Close to the stump four holes had
been dug in the ground. The holes
were five feet deep and nearly as many
square. In one of them were the i'm
print OF metal kettle and very large
demijohn, as if they had been buried
there a considerable time and had re-
| Gently been removed.
To all appearances some person had
measured a certain distance from the
| tree and dug to find something. He dug
four of the holes before the right spot
was located. The imprints of the kettle
and the jug are perfect, and there can
| be doubt as to the nature of the
articles removed from the hole.
The largest hole was in a southwesterly
! direction from the tree and about two
feet from that a second hole had been
dug.
1t was in the second hole that the
demijohn was found, as the place from
which it was removed showed the per-
feet shape of the vessel
From the hole where the demijohn was
| found a tunnel had been started in the
direction of the first excavation, and it
was in this tunnel that the kettle was
| found.
AIr. Peyton explained to JOURNAL re-
porter today that the earth was marked
perfectly, showing that there had been
really two kettles, turned one on top of
the other
He took some of the earth next to the
kettles to his house, and has it there now.
He says it resembles fine powder and
breaks in chunks when it is handled.
The people of the neighborhood have
become very much excited over the dis
covery of these remarkable holes in the
ground and the oldest settlers in that part
of the county are connecting the disap-
pearance of the $4,000 in gold in 1858
with the recent find.
Captain Jack Curtis, father of Con-
gresham Curtis who is familiar with the
early history of Indianola. said to a
STATE JOURNAL reporter today: II came
here in 1855, and I got the story about
the robbery of the United States Daymas-
ter from the half breeds and the people
who were here at the time l don't re-
member the government pay master s
name, but he was robbed not at Indiano-
la, but at St. Marys, after he had left In
dianola for Fort Riley.
"He was not murdered, but was just
robbed. The robbers were tracked east
towards lndIanola and the paymaster's S
chest was found, but the gold was gone.
The people had theory that the robbers
buried the gold somewhere in the neigh
borhood, as it was too heavy to get away
with without discovery"
MIR. j. Q. A Peyton, who was present,
suggested to Captain Curtis that he had
heard about two notorious gamblers who
were stopping at Indianola at that time.
These gamblers, he said, had come from
Fort Leavenworth and they run
the town while they stayed. While they
were there, Sam Harper, who now lives
northwest of Topeka, was teaming be-