Evening star., 1940-01-07
Lake Treasure Hunts
Continue Despite
Failure 10 Find Gold.
Many Tales Persist
About Coches in
Michigan Dunes
., the Assoeittsd Press.

long enough ana dik deep enough,
the old-timerS insist, you may And 1t
almost anywhere around Lake
Michitan.
Many Locations Mentioned.
That say 1t is buried In the stony
beach Of North Fox Island. that It
is deep In . wandering dune At
Grand Haven, sunk IN 10 fathoms
Of water of the shores Of Platte Bay
and lost on 4 farm near Ludington.
All you have to do IL find 1t. -
There are dozens Of stories About
buried treasure In Western Mich
igan, but the list narrows sharply
upon examination. Even 20, enough
remains to intrigue the adventur-
Gus.
In 1850, for example, 4 schooner
that dropped anchor in the lee Of
North Fox Island started one Of the
most persistent treasure tales.
Among the passengers were two
Germans, whose names have been
lost over the years. These two were
said to be carrying several thou.
sand dollars In gold to Milwaukee
as payment for 4 tract Of Wisconsin
land on which some Of their cotlYa.
tryrnen planned 4 settlement. Wof.
ried over the dangers Of piracy the
Germans reputedly hid their sold
in the hold Of the ship. Next morn.
ing 1t was nowhere to be found, al.
though the ship WAS searched nom
STAN to stern.
Story IL klagniasd.
Later generations embroddsrtd
this into Z full-dress legend q
buried treasure. Ths told, % the
story runs, Was found By q nAs0b1e
Of the schoonef's crew, SPIRITED
lahore during the night and buried
On the Aland. The last known
search for the treasure wAs u years
aSo.
There are sporadic treasure hunts,
too, on North Manitou Island WAt1e
1t Is claimed that gold stolen from
Z Chicago bank during the great Are
Of October, 1871, has bstn buried.
The value Of this hoard has besn
estimated all the way from $500
to $25 ,000-depending On who tells
the story.
One Of the most recent treasure
hunts occurred 5 miles north Of
Frankfort In the summer Of 1916
when Jack Browne, 4 young MIL
waukee diver, made 4 futile attempt
to locate the s,lnken. hulk Of the
schooner WestmorelAnd which r.
putedly foundered IN the mouth Of
Platte Bay during 4 storm In 1856.
The vessel was supposed to have
contained $50 barrels Of whisky and
100000 in currsncy.
Grand Haven got its dose OF the
gold fever in 1874 when Coroner
Curtis w. Gray returned from
Michigan State Prison and told
strange tale about 4 dying prisoner
who claimed he had buried 4 box
containing 5000 in gold near the
top OF Five Mile Hill, 4 gigantic
dune. Gray didn't put much faith
in the yarn, but there were those
who did. Twenty -five years later
two Grand Rapids men went to the
dune and made some secretive ex-
cavations, but, IKE all the others,
drew . blank.
MAst Treasure Hunt.
There VA 1 futile mass treasure
hunt near Muskeson In the early
days Of this century On . farm for
merly occupied by 4 woman whose
two brothers had served In an Emf
lish prison for defrAuding the Bank
Of England Of several million dol
lars.
One Of the most recent, and per-
haps one OF the most credible,
stories about buried treasure came
out Of Ludintton in 1857 when Fred
Noyes decided to revisit his Old farm
near the city and recover sAlne
money he had buried there 50 years
before because ne hadn't trulted
the banks OF the period. This hunt
WAS carried on under the .wateAful
eyes Of 1 United States Secret Skrv-
ice operative and some state pe-
Hcemen becaus4 the buried money
Was supposed to be ia eold. peur
days Of distins failed to reveal 1t.
There Il ~, 900 in gold supposed.
" buried III the Slashtnss neazs aa
abandoned lumber town east Of
Fremont, - miles inshoee, and
somewhere, 4 map Of the SPOT. This
story came to light In 1907 whsn
An unidentified STRANGER appeared
in the region and asked nAtiyes to
help him locate the treasure which,
he said. had been stolen from 4
Montana bank. They never found It.
But the legends thrive with the
years. There Is supposed to be 4
nice supply Of whisky buried IN the
beach, on the east arm 81 Grand
Traverse Bay; there IL supposed 70
be sunken schooner With . strons
box full Of gold somewhere IN Lake
Michigan. OF South Maven and
there 10 sunken. whisky ship on
Benton Harbor. =. :. =.
Birthday Boil chairmon
Aaron HorWits has been nained
chairman Of tAe presadent's Birth.
Aa>, nan ASivA |Ap AAO4h IA aNh