The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1912-08-30
BURLINGTON PHILLIPS
CCopyright. BY the Ridgway Cos

wWNE5E greatest treasure in the
United States. a vast sum that
awaits some ones finding, is one
concerning which / have sought
the oxAct truth for the several years
chat have followed this fad of col
yecting treasure-trove data. The pub
yication Of the story or stories about it
may bring to light the men who can
say definitely what is what. However
amy man who cares to set out after 1t.
In business-lilke manner may turn
himself into multi-millionaire be-
tween Christmas and Fourth of July.
This much is certain: somewhere
ON the upper reaches Of the Missouri
river lie four large barges. lost in
! 1866, laoded to their utmost capacity
with gold estimated in amount from
$7.OOO.O00 to $25,000,000.
Just at the close of the civil war
some r,imors Of the finding Of gold In
fhe Black Hills of Dakota and Nom
tana drifted into the towns on the
border Of civilization in the northwest.
II seems odd to think that fifty years
ago that region was a frontier. but
there are hundreds OF old Indians now
living on the reservations who then
were fighting braves and fifty years
n ago they had never seen a white
mans face.
I'm the spring OF 1856 some old pros
pectors in the back drift from Califor-
mia found gold In one of the tributaries
Of the Missouri, said now to be the
north fork OF the Cheyenne. Why it Is
no more certain will appear. Others
Of tllier Xix "smel1ed" the discovery
and q band Of no more than forty
drew into the region: making won
derful strike, the richest that has ever
been made ON America soil according
to all accounts. The strike was made
III what is now called Deadmen's
Gulch, named to suit the story. but
called in the old records Federation.
Desperation and Starvation Clutches.
The gold was alluvial, washed down
from the northern lodges, now being
worked by the rich Caledonia Qaurtz
Mine Company near Deadwood. The
gravel banks and flats were inexpres-
8A4ll& IASu WILL II anu OH SuunknOk LA0
forty men toiled feverishly. extracting
Nh much as they could before the win
ter should descend upon them. shut
ON their fish, game and vegetable food
supply and drive them to civilization,
where the knowledge Of the vast
wealth of the Black Hills and the re-
nainder OF the auriferous region would
Become public property.
When the ground froze and they
could work no longer they cut timber
and made four large barges Of shallow
draft and on them laoded the gold in
provision boxes, and mule and deer
skins made into rawhide sacks. Even
then they were compelled to leave
some Of it behind because the barges
wQald not carry 1t.
The hostile Indians who had not
dared attack so large party in the
mining camp with its excellent de-
lenses and those who were apparently
ON friendly terms with the miners now
aDOk hand In the game. After the
hardy forty had reached the Missouri
and had negotiated portion Of its
distance they tied up one night. not
1uug before Christmas. They were at
sacked by a large band OF Indians.
who mastered every living soul, sank
The barges and took all their belong
Imgs except the gold, Of which they did
I not know the value. Some accounts
hold the Blackfeet responsible, others
the Ogaiala.
How the news ever got to the world
cannot say, save as the Indians told
0f 1t and friends Of the dead men
Traced them into the country from
which they never came out. Gradual
~ the story took form and 1t set the
prospectors wild. They ranged the
region from the Bad Lands to the Big
Horn river for twenty-seven years and
then came the great discovery in the
Black Hills,
The gold left behind at the point Of
embarkation was finally found. Old
workings which showed the vast
quantities taken out by the forty pros
pectOrs were discovered and for few
years torrent of alluviai gold poured
out OF the Black Hills. Then the whole
thing settled down to the staid and
regular quartz proposition.
The Kansas City Star some years
ago printed a circumstantial story
stating that young Indian student at
Haskell had told professor that his
father was one Of the braves In the
massacre. knew where the barges were
sunk and was still living on the reser-
walton. 1t may be that the river has
changed its course and left the barges
wnder thin layer of gravel easily ac-
eeasible on dry land. The way to find
me treasure is to trace down the sto-
Efes. locate some Of the old Indians
and induce them to locate the spot
nnd point 1t out from memory. It
Should not be difficult