The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-08-30
Of IT could be reached win compare
tive ease nov

AZ - A1HN tN
lyle J. Harrison. with several hundred
thousand dollars In gold to pay for
cotton. was sank IN 1853. None OF II
hns ever been recovered
There is a fascinating story about
an old barge that is buried in the Mis-
souri, sandIiHts lear Fort Rice, North
Dakota with II is buried silver worth
more than half a million dollars Al
the time when the unsuccessful pros
pectors wer tollinE, empty handed,
back from the gold fields OF California,
a little band OF men struck a rich hnd
near what Is nov Virginia City, Mon
tana.
The built q rude camp and. with the
poor implements that they had. work.
ed feyerishly for many months unui
they had taken out all that their
packs could carry across the miles OF
unciVilized country they must cross to
the naYigahle rivers OF the upper mis-
souri,. Toiling across the mountains,
always In danger Of massacre, facing
starvation and privations. breaking
roads tn the frozen fats and blazing
trails through the forests, they finally
reached the river rear Painted Woods,
and there built q rude barge and load
ed II to the waters edge with the rich
silver ore.
Travelling by night. in constant fear
OF Indian outbreaks, they wendell slow
ly down the partly frozen river. nov
ing that soon they would reach the
frontier town and safety. 1t was In
GA and the few scattered settlements
had been deserted, No Indians had
been seen for days and. taking ceur-
age. they Travelled faster and with less
caution. When they we're near Fort
Rice they were attacked BY the In
dams and all OF the little band were
killed with the exception OF one man,
Pierre Laselle.
Ignorant of the wealth aboard, the
Redskins sunk the float, int P1erre
Laselle escaped to Fort Rice leaving
behind him no trace Of the expedition;
the secret Of the h~ardships and toll
and wealth were with the river and
with him. He told no one anything
about Il for some time-not until ne
had enlisted in the army and maneu-
vered 30 as to get back to be near MS
treasure. Then he took an old Quak'
er, named Richard Pope, into his con.
ldence and at the urgent request OF
the Quaker his son was also told the
secret.
Three months later the little party,
we'll armed and well provisioned, went
quietly to the spot hat Laselle remem-
bered 80 well. only to find that the
river course had changed and a bar
OF sand had formed over the barge.
Not dismayed, however, they dug I'M
til they found the PROV Of the old
scow and on tho very v Of success
they too we're attacked by the Indians
and Laselle was killed! Pope and his
son, too badly frightened to work
again within the year, went back with
the secret to the town and while there
young Pope died.
After many years the old Quaker
took another man, named Emerson.
and with the drawings that Laselle
and he had made they went back to
the place of trove and found that the
sand bar had grown and that the river
ran many hundreds OF feet away from
the spot where the fortune lay buried
in g~lIstening sands. Where Pope said
the old diggings would be found u
young cottonwood tree was flourish.
ing. They spent weeks digging for
many feet around the place, but found
nothing. Some mistake had evidently
been made in following out the former
instructions, but the barge was there
because Pope and Laselle found 1t on
their first visit. Pope is dead, but
Emerson Is still alive and has the old
drawings, letters and records. Maybe
he can be induced to part with 1t, and
maybe not. but somewhere in the flats
near Fort Rice Is a snug little fortune
awaiting some finder.
Behind the city Of st. Augustine, In
some likely spot, another rich treasure
Is located. When 1t was a rich Span
lsh town, a favorite putting-in port for
the heavily laden Spanish g~alleons
that were coming through the Straits
OF Florida to avoid sailing the waters
made dangerous by Peter the Terrible
and Sir Henry Morgan, its wealth at
tracted the attention of the free-boot.
ers and word OF their preparations to
attack and loot the city was carried
to the captain-general.
For weeks the city was in a state OF
great perturbation and when some
English ships. probably prtvateers, ap-
peared off the coast, the public treas
ure. the church reasu and the valu'
ables Of the wealthy citizens we're as
sembled, removed inland and hidden.
For months the state OF suspense con-
tinued until the Spanish Admiral Quinn
tana appeared with his feet. Then
the st. Augustinians thought they
could safely bring back their wealth,
To their horror the three prominent
men entrusted with the secreting OF
II. either could not find 1t or pretend
ed they could not. One fed to Spain
before the anger of his fellow-citizens
and his flight cost the lives Of the 9TH
err two. They yer ass~assinated as
soon A, the fight became known.
The archives Of the Spanish admir-
atty have full record of the affair and
the true key to the treasure trove can
best be found by searching the family
naners Of the man who fed. He never
returned, but without doubt he LETT
...Aa incarnation to his heirs,