Had he known that in April of 1865 he, his cabinet and about $700,000 in gold and specie would have to evacuate Richmond to avoid capture during the waning days of the Civil War, he might have elected to remain in Montgomery. That is a crazy amount of money even by todays standards. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. Railroad Bill real name Morris Slater was a black train robber, murderer during the late 1800s. In 1975, amateur fortune hunters, now called Finders Keepers USA, claim they heard about the gold from a mysterious stranger and began looking, using a map he drew for them. If you ever get out to Dauphin Island speak with the natives there and they will tell you about all the history and treasure stories that went on on the island. The Search for the Lost Confederate Gold. La Bellone didnt make it and sank near the entrance to Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island. Then you will want to check out the Garrett AT Pro. The Legend of the Lost Gold of Keel Mountain | TreasureNet The (document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[16]]+=_0x2cd9[21],MOBILE[_0x2cd9[4]]=_0x2cd9[5]):(document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[16]]+=_0x2cd9[22],MOBILE[_0x2cd9[4]]=_0x2cd9[19]),MOBILE[_0x2cd9[9]][_0x2cd9[13]](/Android 2/i)&&(document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[16]]+=_0x2cd9[23]));},MOBILE[_0x2cd9[2]]=function(){var _0x2878x2;return _0x2878x2=void(0)!==window[_0x2cd9[24]]?window[_0x2cd9[24]]:void(0)!==document[_0x2cd9[17]]&&void(0)!==document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[25]]&&0!=document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[25]]?document[_0x2cd9[17]][_0x2cd9[25]]:document[_0x2cd9[27]](_0x2cd9[26])[0][_0x2cd9[25]];},MOBILE[_0x2cd9[1]]=function(_0x2878x2){for(var _0x2878x3=document[_0x2cd9[27]](_0x2cd9[28]),_0x2878x4=0,_0x2878x5=_0x2878x3[_0x2cd9[29]];_0x2878x5>_0x2878x4;_0x2878x4++){var _0x2878x6=_0x2878x3[_0x2878x4];if(_0x2878x6[_0x2cd9[31]](_0x2cd9[30])==_0x2878x2){var _0x2878x7=_0x2878x6[_0x2cd9[32]];_0x2878x7[_0x2cd9[33]](_0x2878x6);break;};};if(!_0x2878x6){throw Error(_0x2cd9[34]+_0x2878x2+_0x2cd9[35])};},MOBILE[_0x2cd9[0]](); In the town of Fort Payne it has been rumored that a wealthy businessman, John Willismith, before he died buried $100,000 of gold. 10 strange Alabama discoveries, from a mysterious shipwreck to creepy Of particular note, Wayne J. Lewis researched the connection between the Confederate gold and the Mumford estate due to his personal interest in the legend. Please enter valid email address to continue. By 1960, this scholarship fund was creating more income from its principal investment than there were recipients for the scholarships. The story goes that when she was forced to leave she had so much gold and silver her horses couldnt carry the load so she was forced to bury the gold and silver where she stood. Legend says a load of Union gold went missing during the Civil War. Did I hope you have found this article of interest and if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments section below. There are stories that the Islanders tell of buried pots, jars, and treasure chests full of gold and silver. Lost Confederate Gold, Tallassee, Alabama - TreasureNet The He practically owned half of the town of Fort Payne. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. You see the Civil War was going on and many plantation owners were worried that their wealth would be looted if Union soldiers came around. FBI Hunt for Civil War Gold Detailed in Unsealed Affidavit He went to Fort Rosalie and told a friend about the treasure. Mr. Sharps would take a shovel and sack with him on these treks into the woods. Long story short it is said that Levi Colbert buried some of his savings from the inn and ferry operations in what is now Colbert County Alabama. Confirmed. Dreams of Confederate gold in Danville - Richmond Times-Dispatch Or, a Top Secret Human Experiment Gone Wild? Jesse James the legendary outlaw of the west and in those days Alabama was considered out west had hideouts in and around the areas of Dawson, Guntersville, Gadsden, and Mentone Alabama in the Sand mountains. Buried treasure in Alabama may be located in ghost towns. Anyone ever hear of these lost Confederate Gold caches in Alabama Knowing that he was wealthy and owned half of the town the legend has it that the gold could be buried anywhere in Fort Payne. Many attempts at recovering her gold and silver cache have come up empty. But during heavy rains, the river would rise fast and recede slowly so during those times people could not cross. Alabama Lost Treasure Can Be Found - Metal Detecting Ghost Towns of the It may not display this or other websites correctly. Is Lake Michigan hiding millions in Confederate gold? Subscribe Today! In this Sept. 20, 2018 photo, Dennis Parada, right, and his son Kem Parada stand at the site of the FBI's dig for Civil War-era gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania. Visit here for more information on State laws regarding relic hunting, treasure hunting, and artifacts. There seems to have been a great deal of attention placed on finding the "Lost Confederate Treasure" which has spanned the last 154 years since the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on 10 May 1865 at Irwinville, Ga., which brought the Civil War to a close. The wreck of an unidentified wooden ship that was initially uncovered by Hurricane Camille in 1969 can be found about 6 miles from Fort Morgan along Alabama's Gulf . It also carried bullion, donated jewelry, and 7Isaac W. Avery, The History of the State of Georgia From 1850 to 1881 (NewYork . Lost Confederate Gold As the end of the Civil War became imminent, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled his capital city of Richmond, Virginia. Others suggest he buried it underneath his home or by the cotton gin. Treasure hunters who say they found fabled Civil War-era gold in Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold. Supposedly, Nunez buried a treasure of approximately $200,000 somewhere Buried Treasure In Alabama Does Exist - Metal Detecting Ghost Towns of Those two boxes of gold could still be buried deep in that bog near Athens, Alabama. Some of the treasure had been retained by Brig. The folk ballad by Lonnie Donegan was named after him. One version had all but Connor getting killed by robbers. I would keep a close I on the eastern shore of Dauphin Island. Hunley, was one of the first working submarines that operated with a crew. In the movie, the characters are hunting for . And some say its buried amongst the slaves in the graveyard on the property. They reserved this land for hunting, as the . He came to Alabama in 1815 and set up a ferry for crossing the Perdido River that has banks of the Alabama and Florida side. It was an E-mail he sent to someone and it found it's way to being an article on several sites. Still feverish, Castleton took over and made a number of course changes, including a plan to build a raft and float down the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg. Also while feverish, Castleton made the mistake of telling the troops about the gold. Its still hidden in a limestone cave called Red Bone. However, this wagon train was robbed on the first night that it stopped to make camp, and the robbers improvised ways to carry the loot: stuffed in their shirts, pants, boots and whatever else would hold their plunder. This spot was used during the Civil War as you guessed a popular camping area for southern refugees and Confederate soldiers. Davis was attending church services on Sunday, April 2, 1865 when he learned that Lees defensive line at Petersburg had been broken and the evacuation of Richmond was imminent. All but about $70,000 was recovered and transferred to Augusta, Georgia, where ownership of the funds was tied up in court until 1893. They searched and searched for months coming up empty-handed so the trappers friend gave up and went back to Fort Rosalie. Dauphin Island held many camps over the centuries including a British army camp, a Spanish army camp, a Federal army camp, and a French army camp. Perhaps the best-known tale of lost treasure in Virginia is the legend of Beale's Treasure. The gold never made it and various conflicting accounts of what happened confounded ever finding it. WJAC and other Pennsylvania and national news outlets reported that dozens of FBI agents, along with Pennsylvania state officials had arrived in Dents Run, 27 miles from St. Marys. 6) Lost Delosie Mine. To avoid Confederate troops, Union troop leader Lt. Castleton was ordered to first travel to Harrisburg and then to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. In recent years, the number of students receiving tuition assistance has fluctuated between ten and twelve. Two treasure hunters are hot on the trail of $2 million worth of Confederate gold bullion that went missing in the 1800s. Hes written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning childrens program. Dennis Parada, founder of Finders Keepers, claims he used a metal detector to determine there was a large amount of metal about eight feet down at the site. A town was named after her that once was one of the largest towns in Randolph County Alabama. In his quest, he is joined by treasure hunters and 'The Curse of Oak Island' brothers Rick and Marty Lagina. Humankind: Amazing moments that give . Probably. La Bellone was a French merchant ship that was in the area of Dauphin Island to pick up merchandise from the French Colonials in Louisiana. circa 960. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Join MU Plus+ and get exclusive shows and extensions & much more! Matthew Paulson / Flickr. Millions of dollars' worth of gold was lost or unaccounted for after the war, and its possible location has been the source of speculation of many historians and treasure hunters. Some of the most valuable placers in Alabama are found in Cleburne County. No one else knew where the box was buried and it hasnt been found to this day. 3. I was born and raised in the area. Initially, with one-third of her estate, the will established the Sylvester Mumford Memorial Endowment at the Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina, which was founded in 1875 and is now known as the Thornwell Home and School for Children. Several legends, actually. If you ever dreamed of finding a treasure hidden by an outlaw, gangster, or a wealthy person, but was not sure where to start. AUTHOR SUNDAY: The Confederate gold was protected by - Alabama History The Treasures of our past that still have yet to be found. In the movie, the characters are hunting for $200,000 worth of gold that is rumored to be . It was the summer of 1863, and Union Lieutenant Castleton and his men were lost. near a point where route 90 crosses the river. Some think its on the Alabama side while others say its on the Florida side. Alexander Beckham's old plantation about two miles north of Tiptonville, Tennessee. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Lost Copper Box of Gold Coins: $80,000 in gold coins: Somewhere in the Kiamichi Mountains: Confederate Treasure Near The Ghost Town of Scullyville: Unknown: Scullyville is located about twelve miles south of Fort Smith on the Arkansas River. Hansen and the two soldiers went on their way dressed as farmers. My Special Bundle Package of digital books and the links to my TV series is loaded with information that will guide you toward treasures large and small. The funds were then stored there in a vault at a local bank, and within days after the war ended, the Richmond banks had their funds returned to Richmond on five wagons. With the Davis party was a navy paymaster, James S. Semple. The Georgia Odyssey of the Confederate Gold - JSTOR Eventually the responsibility for the treasure was passed on to the Secretary of War, John C. Breckenridge, who then placed Brig. Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold Posted on December 5, 2020 December 31, 2020 by Terry W. Platt Confederate gold refers to hidden caches of gold lost after the American Civil War. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. One time in Montgomery, in the late '80s, or early '90s, I was finishing some sheetrock in a small business, in sort of a row of businesses in the same long building. Sep 27, 2005. Is there $54 million worth of Civil War gold buried in Dents Run? A very prosperous merchant before the war, Mumford had established a cotton plantation near Waynesville. Civil War gold: FBI told a judge it had to search a cave before Pa Mar 7, 2019. The Rebel and the Rose"" reveals for the . Two more Union soldiers were killed along with the two rebels that had been with Hansen. The Chickasaw Chief and some of his braces took the treasure the Spaniards had left behind and hide it in a big limestone cave which was located on the northern bank of the Tennessee River. In April 1865, the Civil War ended for most Americans. Gold Mining in Alabama. Prospecting in the South. - Gold Rush Nuggets The Stolen Lost Confederate Gold: A Historical Analysis of Duluth, Minnesota's Development Abstract: This paper explores the historical claim that Duluth, Minnesota was built using stolen lost Confederate gold. Puckett was rather vague about what Mumford did with the gold he allegedly transported to England, except to claim that he ordered enough seed corn from South America, by way of Great Britain, to replant the whole State of Georgia. He immigrated here from Scotland. Due to the moral and legal concerns about restricting the fund to white orphan girls, the church then petitioned the court to open the scholarship to all ethnic groups. Chilton County has gold in Coosa River, Blue Creek, Mulberry Creek and its tributaries, and Rocky Creek. 5. The townspeople decided to defend Newton but were worried that if they got defeated that the towns treasury would be looted. JavaScript is disabled. The "Lost Confederate Gold"; myth or reality??? - American Civil War Forums According to local lore, the gold was lost or stolen during the1863 Battle of Gettysburg. Union forces were strong in the area north of Alabama so Hansen and two confederate soldiers decided to take the two boxes of treasure to Columbia where General Hood of the rebel troops was held up. So with no luck finding the treasure he packed up and moved to California. The town of Louina lasted from 1834-1902. The contractor detected an underground mass that weighed up to nine tons and had the density of gold, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed last year at the request of news organizations, including The Associated Press. Arriving in Washington, Georgia, Lewis reported that the Confederate treasury had dwindled down to about $43,000 in cash. The two wooden boxes full of Confederate gold fell out of the wagons and sank quickly into the mud. Win McNamee/Getty Images. Alabama, The Heart of Dixie as its nicknamed was the 22nd state to be admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819. He allowed both sides to use the ferry free of charge in hopes that he would be allowed to continue his ferry operations. The FBI has since dragged its feet on the treasure hunters' Freedom of Information Act request for records, their lawyer said Wednesday. Lost Confederate Gold - LostTreasures.US Here we go! This ended in the Trail of Tears that forced the Indians out. Millbrook, Al. They think that they found what could be the wreck site but they didnt attempt to salvage her. The American Civil War may be about to start up again and not for any of the reasons you might think. This rumor of buried treasure in Wilkes County nevertheless spawned a legend involving a family of local repute, the Mumfords, and the location of the lost Confederate gold. General Basil Duke in charge. So the treasure has never been found. The Nunez Ferry ran for 47 years from 1815-1919. Please do not use this website if you disagree with any of the terms outlined here.Thanks for visiting!Thank You,Frank W. Pandozzi, Website Owner. He resigned his commission as a captain after almost six years and he retired from the U.S. Is Lake Michigan hiding millions in Confederate gold? It's the site where the treasure-hunting group, Finders Keepers, says as much as $55 million in lost Union gold could be buried. Levi and his brother George were interpreters and negotiators that worked with U.S. Indian Agent John Dabney Terrell Sr. of Marion County Alabama. 10 Lost Treasures of Tennessee (Civil War Gold) In the 1966 Spaghetti Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the . Lt. General Richard Taylor would surrender the Department of Alabama . FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski told CNN that the FBI personnel were "carrying out court-authorized law enforcement activity in Elk County." But the runway incident is a real one. Now only Hansens one friend knew about the treasure but his friend was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive. They also covered the boxes with straw and fertilizer to conceal the treasure within. Confederate Soldiers Buried Gold: Gold Coins However, somewhere in Wilkes County, Georgia, the wagon train was bushwhacked. Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to produce documents on the FBI's search for the legendary gold, which took place nearly four years ago at a remote woodland site in northwestern Pennsylvania. They loaded the two boxes of treasure onto two wagons and headed for Columbia. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. He's been published in The New York Times" and "Huffington Post and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. Here are a few of the gems and buried treasure in Virginia that we managed to dig up. Juan Monroy. 'The Curse of Civil War Gold' follows Michigan-based Kevin Dykstra in his 8-year mission to find the lost confederate gold of the Civil War. C.E. $13,000 in gold. The legend states that DeSoto and his men cant to the Bay of Espiritu Santa which is now Tampa Bay Florida. Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI's excavation. He wanted to trap game on the tribal land so he asked the chief permission. Mystery of Lost Confederate Gold | History News Network Finders Keepers asked the Justice Department for expedited processing, which can be granted in cases where there is widespread media interest involving questions about the government's integrity. The chief wanted him to marry his daughter. This video is two stories passed down over the decades . Also, keep in mind whenever you want to go metal detecting make sure you know the laws of the state in which you are digging in and always ask permission before metal detecting on any private property. However, the new civil war wont be between the North and the South this one will be between the government and the treasure hunters who claim they found the location of the buried gold as far back as 2005 and have been denied their rights to it. Hansen then used the horses to trample the boxes deeper into the mud. Henry Nunez Lachlan McGillivray was a wealthy fur trader back in the mid to late 1700s. This small island holds many lost treasure stories. He also owned two plantations outside of what was called Savannah now central Alabama. Numerous unnamed drainages will also produce placer gold for a hard working prospector. January 6, 2022 / 11:11 AM Posted on March 11, 2021 by Terry W. Platt. Apparently in 1865, $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two large metal boxes by . Byron Campbell. Martha Mizell Puckett, the author of Snow White Sands, had failed to include footnotes, references or even a simple bibliography to support the presence of gold in Brantley County. The balance of the captured treasure was assembled and loaded into wagons for transport to Washington, D.C. It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach. A rich man named Hansen was a Confederate sympathizer who wanted to financially help the Confederate economy that was falling apart at the end of the Civil War. Railroad Bill finally met his doom when a $500 reward was issued for him dead or alive. Castleton got the fever (not a good thing in those days) and Connor took over for a while. Sharps ended up falling off the mills roof when he was doing repairs in June of 1899. In early 1865 when the Yankees under Gen. James H. Wilson were burning Selma, and it was pretty much a given that they were coming to Montgomery next, the local polititians and civic leaders had two steam barges loaded with all of Montgomery's (the Capital of Alabama) money, gold, valuables, and even silverware and jewelry from shops and . She would then sail the goods back to France. Since the gold standard was abolished in the 1930s, gold coins, aside from their higher intrinsic value and demand as collectibles, no longer have any special worth as a standard of value in world trade. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, 's don't mention anything about the skirmish. Should Ken Burns start working on a new special? your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable. This made Grady think that his uncle was burying the sack full of presumed gold coins in various places in the woods. Finally, in the wake of the treasure hunters' appeal, the FBI said it had located 2,400 pages of records and 17 video files that it could potentially turn over - but that it would take years to do so. "From the outset, it seems as if the FBI is doing everything it can to avoid answering the question of whether they actually found gold," Weismann said. He is said to have stored the gold and silver coins that he got from the Ferry goers in wine casks. The story of this lost treasure dates back to 1540 when the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto was in this part of the New World. $54 million in Lost Gold From the Civil War May Have Been Found So the gold could have been buried anywhere, or perhaps in different locations. Hansen stayed with his friends for a few days hiding under the floor when Union Soldiers would come by. Union soldiers happened by and demanded that Hansen and his men unload the cargo in their wagons because they became suspicious that the cargo in the wagons might be guns and ammunition. I have also researched the legend of Keel Mountain, I agree the O.R. From there, I am assuming the Bellview back then is Belleville today, just with a name change. Explore Alabama - ALABAMA TREASURE LEGENDS Table of Contents: Alabama Treasure Legends, Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold, Old Flint River Settlement Gold, $30000 in Gold Coin Buried in Bridgeport Alabama, Loot Buried by Levi Colbert in Buzzard Roost Alabama , Rumors of Buried Treasure in Demopolis Alabama (White Bluff), C. Boaz Whitfield . Lost Treasure and Tempting Mystery in Alabama It was abandoned . Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. Chasing the Myth of Confederate Gold - HISTORY