Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1934-10-03

somewhere within hundred an,
) fifty yards of the new Red Lodge
Cooke City highway-the nortl
! side of the road, to be exact. Th'
key to the spot is boldly inscribed
on the remains of what was once
mighty tree. However, all tha'
is left of the tree today is a stump
perhaps six and a half feet high
and the inscription is now badly
weathered.
The inscription is as follows: Al
the top is a circle about eight
inches in diameter. Inside this
circle is a cross with the arms
about three inches in width. I'M
mediately below the circle and
cross is the date upon which the
tragedy occurred-1880. Below
this is a triangle, or perhaps the
outline of an Indian tepee, and in
large figures underneath are the
figures 6 and 5.
The legend that goes with the
inscription is somewhat as fol-
lows: In the year 1880 two pros
pectors who had made a stake at
Virginia City decided to return
east and live in luxury that their
hard work entitled them to. They
had an immense amount of gold
and, fearing robbery, they decided
to "back trail" and come through
country that was infested with
Indians, rather than brave the
hazards of robbery by white men.
Proceeding east over the old In
dian trail which passed through
Cooke City, the two lonely men
camped for the night in the mead
ows east of town. They were
travelling light and had mule
for packing. The camp was made
about 300 yards from the trail,
but the men had been followed and
in the night the camp was at
tackled. One of the travellers was
killed, and the other escaped on
foot in the dark. But before leav-
ing it is claimed he buried the
gold in one of the boots belonging
to his erstwhile partner and then
laboriously carved directions on
the tree as to where to again To-
cate the treasure.
He made his escape, as history
tells us that in later years three
nephews armed with a map show
ing the spot appeared and at
tempted to locate the gold. But
their trip was in vain and now the
ground in every direction from the
old tree has been thoroughly ex-
cavated. Some of the digging has
been done this summer and one
hole was sunk by direction of a.
"doodle-bug.
Some people read the "65" as
meaning so many feet from the
tree, so circle of holes, all an
equal distance from the stump
have been dug. Others take the
figures to mean yards, and some
figure in rods. So far the gold
has not been found.
The mule bones lie a short dis
tance from the road, but so far no
one has dug in that vicinity in or
der to prove the gold is not there.
In the early nineties three young
men, said to be nephews Of the
only survivor of the tragedy, ap-
peared one day at the old Eagles
Nest road ranch, just north of the
present town of Cody, Wyoming, |
and showing the proprietor, Sam
Launchberry, the map given them |
by their uncle, engaged him to |
guide them into this section of the |
mountains. The trip was unsuc-
cessful, as the party gave up af-
ter reaching the Crandall creek |
section. What became of their map
has never been learned, but so far
as they were concerned no further
attempt was ever made to locate |
the gold.
The land upon which the hidden |
treasure tree is located is today |
owned by George Ogden, and the |
exact spot will be marked by a |
sign along the road next season
by him. Originally this was a |
320-acre piece. of ground located in
1895 by two brothers, Frank and
Leonard Seeright, but Mr.. Ogden
acquired it in 1880, and he intends
to establish tourist camp in the
Wyman meadows, perhaps next
summer. In the timber to the
north he will erect summer cabins
and, as it is along the Clark's Fork
river, the place will become a pop
ular place for summer homes.
More than likely he will deem it
advisable to call it the Hidden
Treasure" camp.
In the meantime, if you desire
to become hunter of hidden
treasure, get permission from Mr..
Ogden to do some additional dig
ging. He will grant the permis-
sion, only asking share of what
is found.
Helena-Huge cuts have been