Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-02-02
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/ Astor in his fur trade, and who had
Tor several winters traded with the In
dams and hunters along the upper wa.
.ers OF the Penobscot River, returned
from New York, where he had been
| 10 deliver the seasons collection Of
1urs, and expressed a desire to pur.
chase from Oliver Cromwell Olmsted,
who was then the owner by inherit.
ance, OF Deer Isle, either the whole is.
land or the south end, where the cave
before described was located. Mr..
Olmsted refused both requests, but
finally sold him a Few acres near the
center OF the island, where he built a
log house and lived for many years
with an Indian wife, hunting and fish
ing occasionally as diversion. but
giving up entirely his former method
OF gaining a livelihood. This trader
mad for several years previous to 1901
camped upon the south end of Deer
Isle when collecting his furs, passing
up the Penobscot river and it's tribu-
taries in a small canoe, and storing
his furs in a hut at his camping-pIace
until the end of his season, when he
sailed with his little cargo for New
York. He had always seemed ex-
tremely poor, having but meager sal
airy from Mr.. Astor, but when he pur-
chased portion of the island he
seemed to have an abundance of mon
ey, sufficient in fact, to meet his wants
for many years. Occasionally, when
under the influence of whisky, he
would speak vaguely of some sudden
good fortune which had befallen him,
but when sober he always denied even
having made the statement,and seemed
much disturbed when asked about the
source of his wealth, which led to va
rious suspicious among the few inhabi-
tants of the island as to the honesty
of his methods in acquiring it. These
suspicious ultimately became so point
ed that he suddenly disappeared from
the island and never returned. On
searching his cabin some fragments of
papers were found, torn and partially
burned, so that no connected meaning
could be determined from them. On
one fragment was the signature of
John Jacob Astor, and on another, in
the same handwriting, the words:
absolute secrecy must be observed
because" These fragments we're pre-
served, however, and are now in the
possession of Mr.. Frederic Law Ohm
sted. From the story of the trader
and from the fragmentary papers, Mr..
Olmsted fancied that there might be
some connection between the mysteri-
GUS box and the newly acquired wealth
| OF the trader. and that the secret, If
one there was, was shared by Mr.. AS
tor. AS the trader for many years
previous to his sudden good fortune
had camped upon the end of the island
Immediately adjoining the cave, it
might readily be conceived that a
heavy storm had washed the sand
away so as to make the top of the box
visible, and that he had found it and
taken it with him to New York to Mr..
Astor, with his boatload of furs. His
desire to purchase this particular loca-
ton in the island harmonized with
this suggestion.
Various questions presented them
selves regarding this theory. Had the
box contained the long-lost treasures
of Captain Kidd? If so, to whom did
the box and its contents belong? Mr..
William M. Evarts, to whom Mr. Ohm
sted applied for an opinion as to the
legal phase of this question, after care
full examination of the evidence, gave
his views, in substance as follows:
/. That Captain Kidd, in the year
1900, has acquired, by pillage,vast trea-
sures of gold and gems, which he
somewhere concealed prior to his exc
cution in 1701.
2. That If such treasure was con-
cealed upon Deer Isle, that island was
the absolute property, at that time, Of
Cotton Mather Olmsted; for while the
record title to the island bore date in
President Washingtons administra-
ton in 1894, yet this, as appeared by
it's tenor, was in affirmation of the title
made in 1892 when the island was
given to Cotton Mather Olmsted by the
Indian chief, Winnepesaukee and es-
tablished the ownership of the island
in Mr. Olmsted when the box, If con
cealed by Captain Kidd. was buried,
and that Frederic Law Olmsted, by
inheritance and purchase, had ac-
CURED all the rights originally held by
his ancestor in that part of the island
where the treasure was concealed.
8. That, as owner of such real es-
tate, the treasure would belong to him,
as affixed to the land, as against the
whole world, except possibly the lineal
descendants Of Captain Kidd, if any
there were.
(To be Continued Thursday
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