Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-16
Four Bags Of Gold Valued at $4,000
Were Hidden and the Men Who Did
the Hiding .ed-onIy Slight clew
to the Where the Treasure Was
Left.

treasure, but have never been success
full. They are still looking for it and
there always will be those who will
continue the search until the treasure
has been found.
In the year 1880 Zachary Taylor
then colonel in command of Fort
Mckay, was busy keeping order in his
western community, always turbulent
thru constant outbreaks of the In
dams. His little band of men was al
WAYS on the alert for trouble. and few
nights were spent in complete repose.
An early morning inspection of the
earthworks might unsuspectingly re-
veal a dead sentinel outside the walls
of the stockade, his scalp missing and
his life blood coloring the ground upon
which he lay. Blackhawk was taken
for exactly what he was-a SLY and
crafty chief, who stopped at nothing to
accomplish his ends in the way OF
murder and rapine on the advancing
pioneers.
The tale of the lost thousands has it's
beginning in the middle of the Black
hawk war. The fort over which COL
onel Taylor had command was prepar-
ed for attack at any time. Scouting
expeditions were sent fosth from time
to time to scour the surrounding coun-
try, but the willy natives were as well
on the qui vive, and battle we%e all
most always resolved to backwoods
scrimmages. A small scouting party.
If not constantly on the alert, ran every
chance of being surprised at any lnop-
perfume poment, the next moment kill
ed, and their only message to their
comrades would be their CHASTITY scalp
ed heads, the. work of Black HAWK.
Bags Of Gold Received.
One day in 1880 four bag- of gold
were received at the fort, to be used
in the payment of the United States
soldiers on duty at the stockade. The
gold was in coins Of large denomina-
ton and the total amount of the con-
signment reached to $4,000. This was
the largest amount of coin ever ship
ped to a western point, and the utmost
secrecy attended its shipment and its
care after it had reached it's destina-
ton. Colonel Taylor, when apprised of
it's arrived, took all possible pains for
its safe keeping until such time as
the Indians would again be driven
away.
Calling together the command, he
chose from the men four of the bravest
and most trustworthy of them, and
after informing them of the Importance
Of the mission with which he was about
to intrust them he gave them each a
bag of gold, with instructions to carry
them to safe place, which they should
select, and there hide them from the
Indians. An attack being feared at any
moment las we'll as the resulting loss
Of the gold, the four men went at once
their way with the four bags of gold In
their possession
Keepers Of Gold Killed.
Hardly had they left the stockade
when a we'll planned attack was made,
and after the repulse many of the
brave defenders of the fort were found
dead in their tracks The battles and
skirmishes We're kept up for many days
and. at the conclusion Of the hardest
fighting an expedition was sent out IN
search of the four men to whom had
been intrusted the bags of gold. After
three or four days Of strict search the
bodies of the men were found, stark
and dead. 4
Not the smallest suggestion Of the
whereabouts of the gold could be
found about the place where the men
had lost, their lives in the defense OF
their trust, but after thorough search
one of the members Of the party was
rewarded by finding scrap of paper
near the body of one Of the men known
as Mercierre. Upon this scrap of paper
was scrawled the intelligence that the
money had been buried on the highest
of the bluffs across from the place
where they were found. 1t is supposed
that the poor fellow, upon finding that
his minutes were numbered, hastily
wrote the few words on the bit of pa
per and throwing it into the bushes IN
the hope that his comrades would find
1t, he bravely met his death.
At the close of the hardest of the
fighting, parties were sent out in
search of the money but the four bags
were never found The men had evil
dentaly fulfilled their trust carefully,
and as result they buried the money
so well that not the slightest sign Of
disturbance of the soil could be found
at any place about the bluff
Hundreds Have Searched.
Hundreds of people have worked by
the day in an effort to locate trace
of the thousands of dollars buried in
the lonely buff, but all efforts have
been unavailing and the gold yet lies
where it was buried by the brave
fellows who took their lives in their
hands to protect the earnings of their
fellow soldiers.
Today the great mass of gold would
be more valuable than it's face, for the
reason that premium has been Of
fered, yet the premium has only in
creased the desire for its discovery
without practical result. 1t will re-
main in it's hiding place until some
farmer turns it up, when Zachary Tay-
lor and his band of men will again
be brought to the eye of the admir-
ing public.
A dozen landmarks still remain in
the country all about Prairie du
Chen, showing where Black Hawk
spent his last days in battle. In Rich