In 2012, Finders Keepers members said they'd found the location of . 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. 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. Original: Feb 28, 2018. Louinas gold and silver could still be buried under the ground in that old ghost town! Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. . In conclusion, historical research has determined only $70,000 of the gold belonging to the banks in Richmond is missing, but not lost, as it was accounted for in the robbery during its shipment back to Richmond. In late May 1861, Jefferson Davis, the former Mississippi Senator and the reluctant president of the seceding Confederate States of America, moved the capital of the CSA from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia to boost the morale of the Confederate troops and weld Virginia to the Confederacy. It was in Washington that the bulk of the treasure was captured along with Jefferson Davis and his staff. We are situated in a flat, cotton friendly region which once hosted the Cherokee and Choctaw Indians. Anyone ever hear of these lost Confederate Gold caches in Alabama Visit here for more information on State laws regarding relic hunting, treasure hunting, and artifacts. Numerous unnamed drainages will also produce placer gold for a hard working prospector. The townspeople decided to defend Newton but were worried that if they got defeated that the towns treasury would be looted. The town of Louina grew to 2,500 residents with 30 homes, two churches, two schools, eight stores, and even a Masonic Lodge. Then check out 14 Lost Treasures of Wisconsin. After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. It happened between the Confederate Armory which was not over run during the war and present day, Wall Street . For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Lost gold of the Confederacy continues to inspire legends Bruce Wetterau is the author of Lost Treasure, A Clay Cantrell Mystery Adventure, a novel about the hunt for a horde of Confederate gold and the story of how it came to be lost in a cavern in the Allegheny Mountains. 23 Lost Treasures of Louisiana It definitely would be worth taking a metal detector to the beach. Lost Confederate gold near Tallassee, Al.?? Henry refused and was subsequently strung up to a tree and whipped. Over the years the trapper kept trying to find Red Bone Cave and the treasure without avail. You could argue the Delosie Mine belongs to North Carolina AND Tennessee, as it used to lie right on the border. Search for buried treasure: The mystery of millions in lost Confederate Here are 11 hidden treasures most people don't know about: 11. (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. The gold became a lost legend. General Lee advised Davis that he had until 8 p.m. to load the gold, valuables and cabinet members onto two trains which would travel southward on the only line still open between Richmond and Danville, Virginia. Finders Keepers' owners, the father-son duo of Dennis and Kem Parada, had spent years looking for what, according to legend, was an 1863 shipment of Union gold that was lost or stolen while on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. It was then settled by wealthy plantation owners and then vacated around 1860. buried treasures may be here. The Lost Confederate Gold of Jefferson Davis, the Outlaw President I would think that they would have USED the gold before burying it. The Mystery of New York's Renegade Subway Psychic, Forget About What We Know About Roswell: It's What's Missing About the Case That We Need to Look For, Archeologists Discover Another Secret Corridor Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, Self-Driving Robot Cars Claim Their First Human Victim, Bigfoot Bathing, Godzilla Egg, Five-Legged Toad, Presidential Hair in Space and More Mysterious News Briefly, About That Time Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Supposedly Saw Aliens on the Moon, Royal Time Traveler, Illuminati Psychic, Human with a Tail, Drug-Sniffing Squirrels and More Mysterious News Briefly. Millbrook, Al. However, their work created great doubt that any lost Confederate gold ever existed in the first place. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Having his ferry there solved this problem. All the merchandise including the gold and silver bullion and coins sank with the ship. Confederate Gold - New Georgia Encyclopedia In the 1966 Spaghetti Western movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," the protagonists get information about lost Confederate gold hidden in a . However, despite searches conducted throughout the years, nothing of value has ever been found there. 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. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. This is the tale of what happened to the Confederate Treasury. It is said that he would only accept gold coins as payment for the ground corn and flour that he sold. Morris started robbing trains because he was angry with the Louisville and Nashville railroad because a brakeman found him on a train ride that was headed for Mobile that he didnt pay for. Chasing the Myth of Confederate Gold - HISTORY Win McNamee/Getty Images. An FBI agent applied for a federal warrant in 2018 to seize a fabled cache of U.S. government gold he said was "stolen during the Civil War" and hidden in a Pennsylvania cave, saying the state . The chief said that he could have all the treasure if he would marry his daughter. Alabama lost treasure sites are listed on this page. Lost Confederate Gold - J. Mark Powell CSS Texas (1865) - Wikipedia The FBI claimed their 2018 dig came up empty, but treasure hunters Dennis and Kem Parada aren't so sure. Alabama Treasure Legends - Digital Alabama The legend of James Copeland, along with his treasure, is largely drawn from the somewhat questionable account of Sheriff J.R.S. Maybe you could be the one who prospers from finding one of these lost treasure gems in Alabama! If you ever dreamed of finding a treasure hidden by an outlaw, gangster, or a wealthy person, but was not sure where to start. The entrance of the town has a historical marker at the entrance that explains the towns history. 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. . The Chief agreed but he had other intentions as well. The ferry was used by Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. The Sound and the Fury: William Faulkners Great-Grandfather. Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it? 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. You must log in or register to reply here. While sitting at the store Morris Slater was gunned down by Constable Leonard McGowin and some other posse members. The remainder of her estate was divided between two scholarship funds. So with Jesse James spending time and hiding out, its only natural that many believe that he would have buried treasure in and around these areas of Alabama. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The gold and silver coins are said to be buried east of his old homestead. Wesley Millett and Gerald White are the authors of The Rebel and the Rose. From lost confederate Civil War gold to lost Indian gold to plantation owners and their lost treasure we have a little bit of everything in these stories. Military money pokes. Hardy Clemens died in 1863 leaving no trace of where he hid his treasure. 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. This guard consisted of mostly young navy midshipmen from a training ship on the James River and some of them were only twelve years old. 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. The lost gold also played a key role in the legendary 1966 Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Mr. Willismith owned most of the town. Her book alleged that New York native and Confederate sympathizer Sylvester Mumford was present at the Confederacys final cabinet meeting in Washington, Georgia, and claimed that Jefferson Davis divided the gold among those present and instructed them to use the money as they felt best. 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 . Sometime during the Civil War Confederate soldiers were being pursued by Union troops and they buried $20,000 in gold and silver coins close to a spot named Old Camp Place. Treasure hunters who say they found fabled Civil War-era gold in The Beale Treasure - The Myth of Millions in Bedford. Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library & Museum, William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, On Trees and Forests: Correcting Historys View of J. Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln on Emancipation Proclamation Day, January 1, 1863, General Burnside of Burnsides Bridge Fame Faced Infamy at Fredericksburg for Lack of a Bridge. So get your picks, shovels, and metal detector ready as we go through the 15 lost treasures of Alabama. General Dukes Brigade. In the waning days of the war, in April 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond with a trainload of what was left of the Confederate treasury . The phrase "Lost Confederate Gold" has a romantic ring. With slightly less than a thousand men in his command, Duke transferred all the treasure into six wagons and began his journey south with eight of his veterans on each wagon as guards and the rest of his command, along with the midshipmen, as escorts. Sep 27, 2005. Treasure hunters in the area believe his house was located at the following coordinates: N 3030 38 W 872651 which is close to U.S. Highway 90 bridge that now crosses the Perdido River. 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. The FBI has since dragged its feet on the treasure hunters' Freedom of Information Act request for records, their lawyer said Wednesday. Hello all, Any of y'all ever read or hear of the Confederates escorting $250,000.00 in gold to the east coast in 1864 being attacked about two miles east of Tallassee, Alabama near or crossing a little creek? C.E. The "Lost Confederate Gold"; myth or reality??? - American Civil War Forums An unknown amount of gold. Near Athens, Alabama, in Limestone County Alabama, there may be a Confederate treasure. The duo focused on a spot where they say their instruments detected a large metallic mass. The area itself was founded followers of Napoleon Bonaparte who . Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, I have also researched the legend of Keel Mountain, I agree the O.R. Morris was formerly a skilled circus performer and had an athletic build which made getting on off trains a breeze. The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. 33 Missing Treasures Experts Say Are Real - Best Life Here's how this gold war began, according to a Pittsburg Post-Gazette article about a 1983 story in Lost Treasure magazine. With the Davis party was a navy paymaster, James S. Semple. ALABAMA TREASURE LEGENDS Table Of Contents The Outlaw PresidentJefferson Davis was an unlikely traitor to the United States. 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. It was the summer of 1863, and Union Lieutenant Castleton and his men were lost. This legend was first advanced by Martha Mizell Puckett, a former school teacher and Brantley County native, who spun her tale of Confederate gold in her book, Snow White Sands. Should Ken Burns start working on a new special? Winter was approaching so De Soto and his men set up camp until spring. One version had all but Connor getting killed by robbers. Long standing stories tell of $100,000 of gold and silver was put into two boxes by Confederate troops in 1865, and then thrown into the swamp. Manage Settings 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. He was very skilled at evading the police. 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. A message was sent to the Justice Department seeking comment on the suit, which asks a judge to order the FBI to immediately turn over the records. 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. Now only Hansens one friend knew about the treasure but his friend was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive. The area was founded by exiled followers of Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800's. Although Jefferson Daviss family was on the train with the gold shipments, Lewis wrote that Jefferson Davis was not. Captian Seigneur de Beauchamp was able to get her anchored in the harbor without any damage. They fought with the Indians and ended up taking their gold and jewels and then going onto Alabama. Given this claim that the source of these scholarships was in fact a portion of the lost Confederate treasury, researchers throughout the years sought to confirm the veracity of the Mumford legend. The bushwhackers were stragglers from both the Federal and Confederate armies who had heard of the treasure and the handouts being given to soldiers. The belief that Confederate gold is buried in Wilkes County has persisted since the end of the war. They never made it. 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. In 2002, the church awarded $32,000 to qualified women from Southeast Georgia, and in October 2003 there were fifteen women attending colleges or technical schools who were funded by the scholarship program. This spot was used during the Civil War as you guessed a popular camping area for southern refugees and Confederate soldiers. The treasure may be your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable. Or, a Top Secret Human Experiment Gone Wild? After some minor resistance from roving Confederate bands, on April 11, 1862, his Union troops marched into Huntsville and occupied the city. Worth roughly $100,000 in 1865, when it disappeared, it would be a small fortune in today's dollars--around one million dollars. AFFILIATE DISCLOSUREI am an affiliate marketer. As the story goes, Thomas Jefferson Beale and a team of 30 men . The troops were trying to keep the gold and silver away from Union soldiers. Today the town has only two homes standing that are in use. JavaScript is disabled. Legend of the Lost Confederate Gold - Digital Alabama So I can't totally discount the story. Buried Treasure In Alabama Does Exist - Metal Detecting Ghost Towns of It would have taken a large amount of troops to dig and hide all the treasure, and as poor as alot of those soldiers were after the war, why not go back and dig up the treasure? While they fought the commander detailed a couple of men to hide the gold. William Pettits Buried Gold Coins: $80,000 worth of gold coins: A few miles from Lexington, Kentucky. Lost Confederate Gold As the end of the Civil War became imminent, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled his capital city of Richmond, Virginia. They picked 3 men to bury the box full of gold coins somewhere near the courthouse. JavaScript is disabled. Many attempts at recovering her gold and silver cache have come up empty. Eventually the responsibility for the treasure was passed on to the Secretary of War, John C. Breckenridge, who then placed Brig. Confederate Gold - New Georgia Encyclopedia. This made Grady think that his uncle was burying the sack full of presumed gold coins in various places in the woods. This means that certain products that you may see advertised on this site I get paid a small commission if that product is clicked on AND purchased by you. Postal Service in 2000 and still has family and friends in Brantley County. (adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({google_ad_client:"ca-pub-0945725028962484",enable_page_level_ads:true}); Mystery Gulf Coast shipwreck. Do the Finders Keepers have a right to it, even though they didnt do the final digging? A town was named after her that once was one of the largest towns in Randolph County Alabama. "If gold was . Civil War Gold And | Civil War Potpourri Shipwrecks of Mobile Bay and Alabama 1861-1865 - Admiral Raphael Semmes You are using an out of date browser. Jean Lafitte the pirate supposedly buried gold coins on a beach in what is now Bayou la Batre. The duo heard about the legend from Kevin and decided to help him in his adventure. The Search for the Lost Confederate Gold - Cleveland Civil War Roundtable If you are venturing on to State or Federal lands. What Confederate Money (paper notes) that they had was burned at Washington, Ga. in the middle of town by Brig. The Rebel and the Rose"" reveals for the . He was specific about the state, but Bellview and Booneville are marked as being in Tennessee. List of missing treasures - Wikipedia He took the bodies of the Confederate soldiers with him. Perhaps the best-known tale of lost treasure in Virginia is the legend of Beale's Treasure. But the runway incident is a real one. The treasure was secured in the false bottom of a carriage. So if you are ever in that area you might want to have your metal detector and shovel ready because there might be something worth finding buried in the ground there. In fact, when she died in 1946 at age 99 in Washington, D.C., she bequeathed almost $600,000 to the children of Brantley County through an endowment and two scholarship funds. Residents of Wilkes County who witnessed the event said that the bushwhackers waded knee-deep in gold and silver coinage before loading it in all kinds of bags and sacks and riding away. 1. In the 1966 Spaghetti Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the . So with no luck finding the treasure he packed up and moved to California. According to local lore, the gold was lost or stolen during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. De Soto ended up dying of fever. It was said that, after taking possession of the gold, Mumford transported some of the Confederate treasury southeast to North Florida and the Atlantic coast, where he boarded a British steamer bound for England. Metal Detecting in Alabama - Coin & Treasure Hunting "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. In 1720 there was a trapper that came to the Chickasaw village. . The Justice Department denied the request - and, as of last month, had yet to assign the FOIA request to a staffer for processing, according to the lawsuit. President Davis pleaded with Lee to form defense lines for just one more day and informed his cabinet that Richmond was to be evacuated and that they would take the Confederate treasury with them. The FBI initially claimed it had no files about the investigation. Lost Treasure and Tempting Mystery in Alabama The image of stacks of gold bars imprinted with "C.S.A" is tantalizing. 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. Newton Alabama in Dale County came under attack by the 1st Florida Calvary that was led by former Confederate captain Joseph Sanders who lived in Dale County. 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. Three children and two men drowned but the rest of the passengers were saved by a brigantine sailboat that was nearby. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Others suggest he buried it underneath his home or by the cotton gin. There are stories that the Islanders tell of buried pots, jars, and treasure chests full of gold and silver. Here we go! Bushes envelop the pig farm, and the cemetery is wooded over. The treasure was suppose to be hidden under the foundation in the creek at the old Lucille grist mill, so one moonless night he employed the help of his . Moving to the southwest, Parker and the wagons zigzagged across the South Carolina-Georgia state line several times to evade capture. Lost Confederate Gold - LostTreasures.US The Curse of Oak Island. It was an E-mail he sent to someone and it found it's way to being an article on several sites. What remained of the Confederate treasury, in the form of gold and other valuable coins, was disbursed as payroll to Confederate troops during its transport south. They loaded the two boxes of treasure onto two wagons and headed for Columbia. There is also a story of a cross embedded with jewels that were put in a well by pirates that never came back to claim it. By the end of the war, nothing remained in the coffers of the Confederate treasury except for its incalculable amount of debt. After meeting with the treasure hunters in early 2018, the FBI brought in a contractor with more sophisticated instruments. As the men transporting the money neared Athens, Alabama, the wagon became stuck in a muddy "bog hole." '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. Originally published Aug 3, 2007 Last edited Mar 26, 2020. Back in the 1800s that made for a huge town. Many soldiers were said to have buried their money around the base in holes they called money pokes. Did the FBI Steal Nine Tons of Civil War Gold? - The Atlantic In Danville, the officials handed out a lot of the gold in exchange for Confederate money to help the soldiers when all hopes of saving the Confederacy were lost," Ricketts said. He also owned two plantations outside of what was called Savannah now central Alabama. Juan Monroy. Many of these treasures are now on private land or owned by the federal or state government. Standing a discrete distance away and watching were Dennis and Kem Parada, owners of Finders Keepers, who still believe well, you known their name. In June 1863, President Lincoln ordered two wagons with false bottoms to carry anywhere from 26 to 52 gold bars weighing 50 pounds each from Wheeling, West Virginia, 400 miles north to Pennsylvania to pay the Union troops . Some of the treasure had been retained by Brig. He ended up in prison until the end of the war. However, somewhere in Wilkes County, Georgia, the wagon train was bushwhacked. Many names and records have been lost to time. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. In 1810, King Kamehameha was the first king to bring all the islands of Hawaii under his control. Legend of Lost Gold of Keel Mountain National Treasure Hunters Gurley It seems tales about long-lost Civil War gold will not go away, even though for the last 156 years people have looked unsuccessfully across the country for it. Is There Treasure Waiting For You In Alabama? By all accounts, he stayed by the tracks between Atmore and Bay Minette Alabama stealing from the trains every chance he got. It also carried bullion, donated jewelry, and 7Isaac W. Avery, The History of the State of Georgia From 1850 to 1881 (NewYork . 11 Treasures That Are Still Hiding In Kentucky - OnlyInYourState The most famous lost Confederate ship, the H.L. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious. I live in Athens, Alabama. In the 1939 movie "Gone With The Wind," the Union Army believes Rhett Butler to have the missing Confederate gold, and they threaten to hang him. The church petitioned the court to expand the scope of the scholarships by including residents of counties which immediately surrounded Brantley and by defining an orphan as a child who had lost at least one parent. Somewhere near Primm Springs, Tennessee. This little island has been cut off from the outside world until just recently when a bridge was built that goes from the mainland of Alabama across the Mississippi Sound to Dauphin Island. The trapper returned to the Chickasaw camp and married the daughter of the chief but her father had disappeared and no one in the village seemed to know where the cave was that held the treasure. He immigrated here from Scotland. Hunting James Copeland's Lost Treasure - Country Roads Magazine De Soto and his men fled and left the treasure they had stolen from the Cherokees behind. Two treasure hunters are hot on the trail of $2 million worth of Confederate gold bullion that went missing in the 1800s.