The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-04
DID THEY DIG UP 100000?
4 STORY OF THE RECOVERY OF
BURIED GOLD IN TEXAS.

From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat.
Caldwell. Tex. May l6.-Veterans Of the
Mexican war brought back with them sto-
ries of au immense sum OF gold that was
lying in a swamp near "a little creek only
q few miles west OF the place where the
old san Antonio road crosses the Brazos
river. One old Texan of the name Of Bee
claims that he talked with a Mexican in
Monterey during the time that a part of
Gen. Taylor's army occupied that city,
who told him that he was member of
the escort who were guarding the gold
when the pack train was attacked by
Indians.
He said they were on their way from
Mexico 10 san Augustin. and had camped
on the banks OF little creek. supposed
to be the Davidson creek. when their SEN
tinels were driven in. followed by a flight
Of arrows and enough musket balls 10
show them that they We're out-numbered
ten to one. They fought the Indians as
best they could during a greater part Of
the night. Just before day the commander
of the train ordered the men to saddle
their horses and pack the mules. The pack
mules bearing the gold were surrounded
by the escort. and the train began to
march through the woods on the west
bank of the little creek, north of the old
road. toward the west. The Indians pur-
sued them ana kept up a continuous at
tack. They had not moved more than a
mile before they found that they We're
again surrounded, and the air was so full
of arrows and muskct balls that il began
TO look as If the chance of escaping was
small indeed. Day was breaking, and the
MeXicans felt that daylight would enable
the Indians, concealed behind trees. to
shoot down the members of the pack train
in "a few moments
They were I'm a swamp, and the pack
mules that We're loaded with the treasure
We're standing In water nearly up to their
bellies. The Mexican commander ordered
the treasure sacks TO be cut loose from
few moments and the gold fell into the
water and sank into the mud. They
moved little away, and then abandon
ing everything, they formed into solid
column and charged through the Indians
lines and escaped. They lost three men
and had several wounded. Fortunately
they had with them one man who knew
something of the country, and in a half
tamiShed condition, SIX days afterward,
they reached san Antonio. The Mexican
commander who was perhaps the only
man who closely observed the land marks
where the treasure sacks were cut loose
from the pack mules, was killed shortly
after he returned to San Antonio in
duel
During the succeeding years. some five
or six before the Texas revolution ana
the defeat of Santa Anna. half dozen
expeditions Went in search Of this gold
but the MeXicans always claimed that
that il had never been found. Mr. Bee
the veteran soldier, was no sooner dis
charged from the army than he followed
the old San Antonio road TO Davidson
creek and spent all one summer looking
for the treasure. In feet he moved into
the neighborhOod and lived there several
years and spent half his time prowling
about through the woods looking for bull
let's in the trees. lie found these and
arrow heads al one place in abundance,
but the little swamp continued to elude
that the old Mexican had told him In
Monterey, and before he died he be
queathed all that he knew of the lost
treasure to one of his friends. He said
that there were twelve pack mules, and
that each one of them carried about S5,-
900 in gold, most Of 1t In COIN, but the
Mexican told him that some of IL was IN
bars. To the day of his death the old
man carried IN his pocket chart made
on sheepskin. which he and the old Mexl-
can made out in Monterey. 1T was per-
feet map of the old San Antonio road,
with ali it's crooks and crossings Of
streams, from the ford on the Colorado
to Davidson creek, The treasure, ne
firmly believed, was within mile OF this
crossing. and on the west side or the
creek
AT one time old man Bee went off some
where and purchased an instrument which
the vendors guaranteed would point with
unerring certainty 70 the very spol
where the gold was hidden in the earth.
with this instrument I'm his hand he went
about digging holes in the ground durins
cowboys are still swearing at the old
man about these excavations, for their
horses occasionally stumble into them yet.
Mr. Bees successor in the secret the man
to whom he bequeathed the chart, did not
have so much faith in the existence or
the buried treasure as did the old Veter-
an, but IL Is known that he consulted
fortune tellers and clairvoyants and dug
more than one hole in the earth on the
banks of Davidson creek. For good
many years the story Of the lost treasure
refOll
few people who regarded II as something
more than a myth. AS the years passed,
it became vague, shadOWy thing, which
only fingered in the minds OF few ola
citizens.
one day last week the old story of the
lost treasure was suddenly revived in "A
very startling manner. On the last day
of April an intelligent negro Of the name
of Jack James, who was living with q
negro family named Merida, went out in
the Davidson creek bottom to look for a
calf. 1t was nearly shutdown when the
James negro left the Merida cabin. The
Merida negroes waited supper for him,
but he did not return. As he did not
come hame that night, they felt a little
uneasy about him. but supposed that fall
ing to find the calf he had gone to town
or stopped at the house Of some neigh
Dor.
For nearly two weeks people wondered
what had become of Jack James when
one evening he stepped off of the south
bound express attired In q fine suit Of
clothes and startled the community by
telling such an astounding story that no
one believed Il until he had taken
few of his friends into the Davidson creek
bottom and confirmed 1t by very strong
circums tantial evidence. James says that
he was walking along in the bottom look
ing for Mrs. Merida's calf when he sud
denly found himself n the presence OF
three Mexicans. They seemed startled
and he was in the act of passing on
when one Of the men presented a cooked
revolver at his head and began to talk
rapidly to him in Spanish and make signs
for him to stand still. He was scared
half to death, thinking that they were
going 10 murder him on the spot. They
talked among themselves for a few min
utes, and then one Of them took a sash
from around his waist and tied the ne
esro's arms to tree They next tied a
gag in his mouth and sat down and began
10 smoke cigarettes as if nothing unusual
had happened. James had his eyes, how
ever, and they soon informed him that
the Mexlcalns had been digging gold out
of the ground. They had evidently been
at work for some time, for they had
dug up the earth over an irregular clrcu-
lar space forty or fifty feet In diameter
to a deDth of two or three feet. AS soon
as 1t was dark another Mexican Joined
them and they began to carry a lot Of
sacks out in the direction of the road,
which was about 300 yards away One Of