Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-08-19
The Cow Greek Treasure.
An Engineers Story Of a Dream
and Bags of Silver.
iiNHIDwAY between the stations of

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway
in Kansas the road crosses Cow creek,
flowing southwark into the Arkansas
river" said western civil engineer
who was visiting New York. He was
one of little company the other night
In which the conversation had turned
to the subject of hidden treasure. ''The
creek is of no great account in low
water, though when it gets on the ram
page after a cloudburst or>heavy rains
1t is apt to tear things loose. It's prin-
'cipal interest to me was in the story of
the tragedy enacted there many years
ago and the traditions extant among
old Kansas of buried treasure along it's
banks.
''The tragedy was the murder of a
New Mexico merchant, Jose Chavez, in
the summer of 1887, by band of bri-
gands styling themselves Texans. 1t
was perpetrated while New Mexico was
still state of the. Mexican republic
and Texas was fighting with Mexico to
secure her independence. Chavez, COM
ing eastward over the Santa Fe trail
with wagon train, bringing sacks of
Mexican dollars to exchange for mer-
chandise, was surprised by II men at
Cow creek, who captured his outfit and
+afterward killed him. They plundered
his wagons of the silver and rode away
with their booty. From the weight of
the silver taken it seemed impossible
that they should have carried all of it
far on horseback, and the general be-
lief has been that they buried part of
it near the scene of their crime, intend
ing to return for it at another time.
Tradition has always located the hid
den treasure in the valley of Cow creek.
1t is supposed that none of the robbers
ever got back to recover it, for as soon
as the news of their crime got abroad
they were closely pursued and most of
them caught and hanged by the United
States authorities.
"Some years after the railroad was
built was staying for few days near
the point where it crosses the creek, en-
gagged with my party in doing some sur
veying for the company. Among my
assistants was an American of German
descent whom we knew as Fritz-a
laundering, hit-or-miss, impractical fell
low, who served somewhat as butt for
the wit of the others. He was with us
der of Chavez and the supposed hiding
of the treasure was told. Some time
that night Fritz got up, dressed him
self, and left the house. His room
mate, partly waking, heard him NOV
ing about, but without accosting him
went to sleep again. In the course of
four hours Fritz returned, this time
waking his roommate completely. He
seemed bewildered, saying that he had
been to the place where the buried treas
ure was, but had lost his way coming
back. In the morning he gave such an
account of his wanderings as left no
doubt in my mind that he had walked
from the house in his sleep, and had not
Weakened until some time after his ar
rival at the point where he had stopped,
and from which he had undertaken to
make his way back home.
cat this place, he said, he found him
self standing in the bottom land beside
a creek, watching some horsemen who
had dismounted and were digging
hole in the ground. When apparently
they had got the hole deep enough
they lifted IL sacks from the ground,
dropped them into the excavation and
reflled it, stamping the earth down
solidly with their feet and then laying
upon the earth the sods they had cut
from the surface in the beginning
There were other bags on the ground,
similar to those put in the hole, and
each man taking bag upon his saddle
they remounted and rode fast toward
the southeast.
HE watched them until they were
out of sight, and then went to the place
where they had worked and stood on
the sods that had been taken out and
replaced. Then suddenly the scene
changed about him; he saw houses and
cornfields where he had seen none be-
fore, and he realized that while he was
still standing in the same place, high
grass was growing round him of a diff
ferent character from that which had
been there when the men were digging
This undoubtedly was the time of
his waking, for his next thought was
to get home. He did not know which
way to go, but at last, after going miles
in various directions, he located his
bearings and found his way back to
the house where we were staying. By
this time he had discovered that the
spot from which he had begun to re-
trace his steps was several miles down
stream, on Cow creek.
'Of course the boys had their fun
with him over his sleepwalking and
dream, but as am something of be-
lever in dreams and clairvoyance 1
thought it worth while the next Sun
day to have my team hitched up and
take drive down the creek with Fritz.
He had been laughed at so much over
his exploit that he was rather ashamed
of it and not inclined TO talk on the
subject. But at last, as we passed
farmhouse on the prairie above the val
ley, he exclaimed:
"'Here's the place where I came up
out of the creek bottom. Down there