Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-03-22
AFTER BURIED GOLD

CORRESPONDENT AT STANDING
ROCK REVIvES A TALE ABOUT
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN
BURIED TREASURE.
Ft. Yates, N. D., March ~2O.--Some-
where in the sand flats OF the Missouri
river, twerfy miles north of Fort
Rice, is the rotten hulk of a rough
scow and half a million dollars worth
CT gold nuggets. A score Of miners
gave up their lives to protect this
treasure, and only one man out Of the
party escaped death. and he because,
like Capt. John Smith, an Indian girl
interceded for and rescued him.
Montana in the early sixties wa a
place were life was held cheaply when
whites We're pitted against whites,
but when the Sioux met the p~aleface
one or the other was sure to die. So
in 1866, when a party Of placer miners
at Virginia City, decided that they
had had enough Of fortune-hunting,
twenty-one banded together for the
return trip. A scow was built, and in
iwater-tight compartments on the
bottom each mans gold was stored in
buckskin bags, marked with the name
of the owner. A rough floor was laid
over this, and above was packed the
rifles, ammunition and provisions
needed for the trip.
AS they proceeded down the Mis-
souri, and entered the land of the
Sioux the danger of travel increased.
So they gave up trying to go by day,
and sneaked down stream at night,
and then as quietly Is possible. When
within two days journey OF Fort
Rice, seeing no signs of Indians, the
argonauts laid aside prudence and
pressed forward by day.
Suddenly from the shore one morn
ing came the crack of a rifle, and
the man at the steering a sprang to
his feet, gasped and then fell into the
turbid waters that were bearing the
boat swiftly on. The others seized
their rifles and prepared for defense.
Without a steersman the boat swung
around, and the next instant the PROV
crashed on a rock and the whites
were held an open target for the con-
cealed Indians on the shore.
- All -. 1c,,sn 411 ,,pn01Ia1 Fl orhfL urQS
continued and one after another the
miners were killed, while at noon,
with ammunition exhausted, a little
party of four was all that remained.
When the Sioux discovered this they
dashed ito the boat with knife and
|tomahawk to finish their work. The
survivors were butchered, save one,
Pierre Lavalle, a Frenchman, whose
Sioux bride crouched by his side. He
was made a prisoner and adopted into
the tribe. Later he made his escape
and reached Fort Rice, the only maj
OF t%wenty-one who knew where the
treasure lay. For the Indians, In
looting the scow, had not gone below
the false bottom.
A few months later he confded the
secret. of the sunhen gold scoW to an
old Quaker, Richard Pope, and to his
son. The three visited the scene Oh
the tragedy, and dug away the gravel
and sand that had formed about the
scow, but before they could get to the
gold the Indians attacked them again
and Lavalle was killed.
Two years later Pope told the story
to !. D. Emerson, now an agent fo1
the Northwestern Fur company, sta:
toned at Basin, on the North Pacific
His son had died in the meantime, 81
the two determined to secure tn,
treasure. They went to Fort Rict
and started up the river in a boat
Before they had gone ten miles thei
craft sank. Pope was nearly drown
ed, and died shortly after, from tn
effects of exposure, but moi, however
before he had given Emerson an &C
9I.-tWNHsT 0[EFE&e ~ssEtTEH
~curate description OF the spot wher
the scow was lost.
In the years that have passed sine
then the Missouri has changed 1t
bed, and where the scow sank is noN
a broad sand fiat, covered with
sparse growth Of trees. Many per
sons have sought the treasure an
have dug trenches IN various part
of the fat, but only n person, J. I
! Emerson, knows where the spot il
and some day, he says, he will re
turn to recover the gold.
FUNERAL OF MAJOR FLEMING.
The funeral of Major R, E. Flemin
OF Fargo, will be held Sunday after
noon. There will be short privat
services at his residence conducted b
Dean Burleson and the body will the
be taken to the Masonic Temple
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