The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-12-28


minute and | got 10 quit. Yours,
u. W.
PS.-Mebbe it. aint that house.
but what other big house could he
have meant?"
The purport of the letter is plain.
The money referred 10 is unGoubt-
edly part Of that paid 10 Black
Hawks tribe by the United States in
return for the lands sold by them,
either by the treaty Of 1904, or OF
1892 or some intermediate date.
There is an old story in the neigh
borhOod where the letter was found
OF how three Indian braves were ap-
pointed 10 bury this gold, the num-
ber being chosen so that if one was
killed there would yet be some one
left to find the location. As the irony
of fate would have il, however, a
tribal war followed, and every one
OF the three in the secret was killed,
so that none OF the tribe could locate
the missing treasure.
The map which was found with
the old letter gives fairly legible di-
dozens are at work digging i'm the
various parts OF the ncighbOrhood in
search of the money. OF all the lana
marks mentioned on the map, how
ever, but one tree remains. though
pioneers familiar with the neighbor-
hood say they well remember when
all OF those shown were standing.
eh In 10
OnaIIy 400 feet southeast OF the
cabin. This line is crossed by one
running due east. A line running
north and south crosses these two,
and the letter says to dig at the CEN
tre OF the triangle instead Of the
crossing OF the east-west and north
south lines, where all previous dig
Ging has been done.
An even greater amount Of gold
treasure lies buried $50 miles north
of where Mr. BIint found his S45 600
and where the Fairfield residents are
digging for the $4,000 spoken OF in
the BonnifieId letter. There is sS0.-
900 sent from st. Louis in 1880 TO
Fort Mckay to the soldiers under
led until the Indian trouble should
blow over, and which has never been
discovered. Men and even women
have dug for this money for many
years, but the success OF the search
ers in the southern part of the State
has inspired those in the northern,
and the search is being taken UP
again as never before.
The story Of the Taylor fortune is
interesting in the extreme.
One day in 1880 four bags Of gold
were received at Fort Mckay, near
where the little town of North Nc
Gregor, Iowa, now stands. It wa,
the largest shipment ever sent out
from St Louis to any of the frontier
posts and was to be used to pay off
the white soldiers who were valiantly
preserving order by holding the re-
bellious Indians in leash. Col. Tay-
lor, when apprized Of the safe arrival
of the money, took every preCaution
to safeguard il until the Indians had
been driven away or pacitied, when
the men could be paid and allowed to
return 10 lut W ulNt Stlllthltul "
spend their hard-earned money.
Calling together the command, Col.
Taylor chose four of the bravest and
most trustworthy men and, after in
forming them Of the Importance OF
the mission upon which he was about
TO send them, he gave to each a bag
of gold with instructions to carry the
bags to some safe place, which they
should Jointly select. and there hide
the treasure from the Indians. An
attack being feared at any moment.
the four men started at once. They
never returned
Hardly had the four men left the
stockade when a well-planned attack
was made by the Indians. The fight
ing was fast and furious and extend
ed over several days. When at last
the Indians had been repulSed Col.
Taylor lost no time in selecting a
party and sending it out to rescue
the gold hunters. The party searched
for many hours before they came
across the four men lying dead and
entirely naked, the Indians having
murdered, scalped and stripped them.
Not the smallest suggestion OF the
whereabouts of the gold could be
found about the place where the
men had lost their lives in defense
of their trust. but after thorough
search one of the members of the
party was rewarded by finding a
scrap OF paper near the body Of one
of the men. known as Mercierre. It
is that scrap OF paper which has in
spired three-Quarters OF a century of
digging. on IL was scrawled:
=.
on HIGHEST BLUFF ACROSS
ERnM ENRT N 4 PILES