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Looking for Hidden Treasuresby
Bob Bowman | |
East
Texas is resplendent with stories about hidden or buried treasures.
While
many of them may be only legends passed down by generations of East Texans, a
lot of the stories have some credence.
The stories in East
Texas are usually the products of folk tales handed down from one generation
to another.
And they are not restricted to just East
Texas. Such tales can be found in any part of Texas
and have become a part of local and regional histories.
Fortune-hunters
have been searching for buried and hidden riches for as long as there has been
a Texas. The Spanish often hauled silver and gold
bars, coins, and jewelry long distances to reach their destination, but often
without success and the occasional loss of life.
Some
examples:
A
Mexican cache of silver and gold was reportedly buried in the vicinity of Old
Pilgrim Church in Anderson County.A
treasure was buried somewhere along Biloxi Creek in Angelina County
Hendricks Lake, in Harrison County, supposedly contains six wagon loads of gold
and silver seized by Pirate Jean Lafitte
when he raided a Spanish ship. Lafitte’s wagons were sunken in the the lake when
Spanish soldiers almost caught up with the treasure bearers.Lafitte
also reportedly buried near treasure at Shacklefoot
on the Texas side of the Sabine River, near the old community of Patroon.The
loot from a bank robbery at Bowie
in Montague County was buried by bandits south of the Red River.
A cannon full of silver and gold was plunged into the Neches
River north of Woodville
by Spanish soldiers and is still being sought near the old ghost town of Fort
Teran.
These and other stories will go into a new book that we’re writing,
and we could use the help of you and other readers of this column.
If you
know of a treasure story in East Texas,
please send us an e-mail at bobb@consolidated.net, write us at PO Box 1647, Lufkin,
Texas, 75901, or call us at 936-634-7444 at our offices in Lufkin.
Bob
Bowman's East Texas August 8, 2010 Column
A weekly column syndicated
in 70 East Texas newspapers
Copyright Bob Bowman | |
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