The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-26
A TREASURE MAP ON HUMAN SKIN
Dreamy Tale of the Lost Wealth Of the Agonquns Which
lishman Seeks With Strange Proofs.

black DEATH died and was buried at sea-
The map fell into the hands of the first
mate OF the ship, and he took up the
search He found the spot on the noun
tain, but landslide had obliterated the
mouth of the cave and he was never able
to locate the treasure, altho he spent two
years in the quest.
THE mate, whose name was Parish or
Paris eventually died, and the map passed
thru several hands, It came to me in a
| most peculiar way. About ten years ago,
while cruising off the coast of India. be-
| friended an old sailor He gave me the
map, which Immediately recognized as
the one drawn on sheepskin by my ances-
tor. He said he got it from sailor who
yoyaged between Hongkong and New
| York.
1.-THE parchment was badly worn and
was so diseolored that the drawings were
almost obllterated. I suggested that a
| copy could be, made on paper, whereupon
| the sailor declared that he knew of a
scheme whereby the precious outlines
could never be lost"
| Coventry, in relating the tale, said that
the man pulled up, his hospital shirt, rolled
over on his chest, and told him to look on
his back. There between the shoulders
was the map tatooed in the skin with In
| Ola ink. =
when die want the surgeon to re-
| to me. 1T will be a grewsome reminder
of the treasure, but if you follow it up
you Will be a rich man. He called in a.
surgeon and made him swear that he
would carry out his wish, and then he
seemed easier. That night he died, and
| later the map was turned over to me.
didn't think much Of the mans story at
the time. and laid the parchment away
with some private papers.
| L discovered that the mans story so
| FAR as his ancestors search was concerned
was undoubtedly true, and, further, that
| the Algonquins did lose their treasure
| during the Iroquois raids. Other facts
have come to my knowledge, and 1 am
now confident that the ingots are still in
the treasure house I shall search for
| them all summer II necessary"
! While Coventry is somewhat mixed in
| his data, it Is, nevertheless true that
many believe the Indian treasure still lies
In hidden vault, and that 1t comprises
untold wealth. So strong was this belief
some years ago that several solid bust
ness men living at Montpelier organized
stock company to remove the rocks at
the mouth of the cave. This proved i'm
possible and the drilling was resorted
to. After $50. 900 had been expended the
enterprise was abandoned. The entire
| holes and shafts, =
| According to the story told several
years ago by centenarian the original
DE Grau, accompanied by his son Of IL
years, came to America when there were
few settlements north of Boston. He de-
| c1ded to prospect that country
He journeyed by slow stages ND the
| Connecticut river to what is now Bel
| lows Falls and then turned west crossing
| the Green Mountain range and then fol-
lowing Otter creek north While en-
| camped one night near what was later
| New Haven. VT, he was appraised by a
friendly Algonquin scout that the Irouuois,
powerful branch of the Five Nations,
We're on the warpath, and had routed his
| tribe.
De Grau and his son found the mouth
| of a passageway leading into the side OF
| the mountain. The two crawled In They
found that a rock cut led toward the cliff
De Grau found that the pa ssageway
ended In cave which showed evidences
of having been visited by redskins. The
cave opened into a larger chamber and
this led to another. Finally the pair
struck series of underground vaults. In
the last one De Grau saw by the aid of a
torch a crack in the wall He stuck the
end Of the torch into this, and a section
Of the wall moved Then man then saw
that a slab fitted on rough grooves COW
cred an opening. Removing the slab he
saw tons of silver ingots In a circular
chamber blown out Of solid rock.
The place is now known as Money
Digger's Cave"