The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1920-09-23
HUNTING COLD IN
s. DAKOTA CAPITAL
Sinking of Shaft and Expendi-
ture of Money BY Uncom-
municative Men Cause
Speculations.

Pierre S. D.. Sept, 2o.-Is there a
treasure of gold reposing in the hull
Of a steamer buried in the shifting
sands Of the Missouri river at Pierre?
Or is the diligent and expensive
search for this buried treasure merely
blind to cover more important
operations such as testing out foun-
dations for a railway bridge to be
built across the Missouri at this
point?
These are questions which Pierre
people have been asking during more
than year that digging operations
have been carried on hard by the
banks of the Missouri in the City
park. Ostensibly the search is for
sunken gold alleged to have been
located by some sort OF divining rod.
and under an agreement to give the
city share Of any treasure unearthed
but the amount Of work and money
put into the enterprise is held by
many to be out of all proportion to
the probability Of returns. Up-to-
date machinery has been used in
sinking shaft, which is being curbed
w;:th cement At . time whc:. It has
been impossible to obtain sufficient
supply of cement for building pur-
poses, these alleged gold hunters
have shipped in two carloads for
their operations. They appear to
have plenty of capital to put into
this hole in the ground" or to be
backed by some opulent corporation
In the spring of 1919 there arrived
in Pierre an elderly man of the name
of SwitZer who, after spending sew
eral days prospecting in the vicinity,
informed Mayor Binder that he had
positively located a spot where a
large deposit of gold could be found.
He claimed that his attention had
been called to an article in an Omaha
paper giving a detailed account of
barge loaded with gold bullion bars
being brought down the Missouri
river in 1850. When near Pierre the
barge was attacked by a large force
of Indians. Being hard pressed the
crew scuttled and sunk the boat in
the hope that the treasure could be
recovered later if any survived the
battle with the Indians All were
killed, however, and the only infor-
nation as to their fate. or the scene
of the massacre, was obtained many
Years ldteI lIOlu llleSS lOlO Ny dSSO
Indians.
SwitZer was impressed with this
story and having many times proven
the merit of his mineral indicator"
determined to investigate Starting
from Wyoming, he approached Pirre,
and as he neared this portion of the
state, the indicator pointed ahead of
him. On arriving at the ST. Charles
toll IN, M I'D
in a southernly direction. For a day
or two he carefully made his way
over devious routes noting the ex-
cited waverings of the needle, until
it finally settled upon an exact spot
where, as plainly as bird dog
points it said: Here is your quarry"
Oil Expert Takes Up Hunt.
After a few weeks Switzer left
for parts unknown, but the trail of
the buried treasure was taken up by
Mr.. Embrey, an oil expert, who
was employed by company Of oil
field operators and who located a
prospect in Stanley county, where the
company is preparing to drill for oil
Embrey, who claims Omaha as the
head quarters of himself and part
ners, alleges that prior to his COM
ing to this portion of the state, he
was approached by a friend, Frank
Howes, who had been employed by
the city of Pierre as a supervising
engineer, and who informed him
OF Swltzer.s claim to have located
gold in the city park with his finely
constructed instrument. knowing
that Embrey used similar appliances
for locating minerals, he urged him to
investigate SwitZer'S alleged "find {"
Thus it was that Embrey, while
scouting for oil here, tried out his
trusty indicator, and it lead him I'M
failingly to the spot where Switzer
had located possible wealth.
It was Embrey who secured per-
nit from the city to dig in the park
guarantee that the ground would
found. Soon large engine and
was sunk to depth where water and
quicksands were encountered. The
curbing used could not withstand the
pressure The work was discontinued
for weeks at a time, but always re-
sumed after fresh supplies and ma
terial had been shipped in. A few
weeks ago stranger to the city ap-
peared and after careful inspection
of the sunken shaft, departed. Re
Gently two carloads of cement were
received by Embrey and this is
rapidly going into the shaft in the
form of circular tubing ten feet in
diameter.
LAKE PRESTON HAS
"A NEW NEWSPAPER