The lost treasure of the Big Horn River

[Henry4440]

                               The lost treasure of the Big Horn River
For many Americans living in 1876, the western part of the United States held the promise of great riches. Gold had been discovered in California, and in the early 1870s many were certain that huge amounts of the ore would be found in Montana and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Some small gold claims had already been filed there, but few struck it rich.
What the miners didn't know is that a lost shipment of gold was - and may still be - buried near the Little Bighorn battle site. When Custer and his men died on June 25, 1876, a steamboat named the Far West was making its way up the Bighorn River. Under the command of Captain Grant Marsh, the Far West had orders to follow the Bighorn River to the mouth of the Little Bighorn. Captain Marsh was then to guide the boat fifteen to twenty miles upstream and rendezvous with General Alfred H. Terry and resupply his troops. As the boat sailed to its destination, word reached Captain Marsh that Custer and his men had been massacred and that wounded soldiers would be brought to the Far West and taken to Fort Lincoln, near Bismarck, North Dakota.
The story of the Far West becomes confusing at this point. Some researchers agree that gold was on board the supply boat, but they disagree on how it got there. What's more, they agree that the gold was buried onshore, but they disagree on its precise location. In fact, two stories have been told to account for the appearance - and disappearance - of the Far West gold.
Treasure Tale 1: Gold bars from Williston
According to an account by writer Emile Schurmacher, Captain Marsh had taken the boat to Williston, North Dakota, where it had collected a shipment of gold bars worth $375,000 and then left for its rendezvous with General Terry. The gold was to be delivered to Bismarck on the return trip.
After fifty-two wounded men were brought on board to make the 740-mile trip to Bismarck, Marsh realized that he would need all the room he had on board for firewood to fuel the steamer's engine. The gold would have to be buried ashore temporarily; he could return later to collect it.
Schurmacher says that Marsh twice attempted to retrieve the gold. Once, two months after it was hidden, he docked the boat in the same location. He could identify the site because tree stumps indicated where the crew had cut firewood to make the return journey to Bismarck. Unfortunately, heavy rains had caused a mud slide to wash over the burial site. Despite considerable digging, he and his men were unable to find even one bar of gold.
Treasure Tale 2: Gold nuggets from Bozeman
The other account, by writer Roy Norvill, is more dramatic. In it, Captain Marsh encountered three men on the evening of June 26, the day after Custer's death. Marsh had not yet learned of the massacre, but he knew that many Sioux were in the area. The men shouted to Marsh from the riverbank. They were Gil Longworth, a wagon driver, and Tom Dickson and Mark Jergens, his guards. They were carrying a shipment of gold nuggets from Bozeman, Montana, to Bismarck. Longworth was worried that he would be attacked by the Sioux and would never deliver the gold shipment, so he begged Marsh to take it on board the Far West.
After it was transferred to the ship, Longworth, Dickson, and Jergens headed back to Bozeman on land, a route they considered safer. But Captain Marsh had second thoughts about keeping the gold on board. As he watched the smoke from many Sioux campsites that night, he concluded that it would be safer to hide the gold ashore and return for it later. This was accomplished the same night.
In the next few days, the wounded soldiers were brought to the steamer and Marsh learned the fate of the three men from Bozeman: All three were killed by the Sioux. Dickson and Jergens died at Pryor's Creek; Longworth's body was found a few days later at a spot known as Clark's Fork. Apparently, he had escaped the Sioux but had been mortally wounded in the process.
Norvill writes that although Marsh never forgot about the gold, he made no attempt to recover it. He was afraid that a return trip would be too risky. In 1879, however, he visited Bozeman to find the freight company that had hired Longworth. Unfortunately, the company had long since closed.
Two stories - and two versions of how the gold came to be on board the Far West and where it was buried.
Is either story true? Did Marsh load a shipment of gold bars in Williston, or did he accept a frightened driver's load of gold nuggets from Bozeman? Did he bury it on the Bighorn River, as Schurmacher claims, one-half mile from the Yellowstone River? Or did he bury it, as Norvill says, fifteen to twenty miles up the Bighorn River from the mouth of the Little Bighorn? Could there be two gold treasures? Or did one or both writers concoct intriguing stories?
Two things can be said for certain. First, Captain Grant Marsh and the Far West were real. Second, both helped in the evacuation of wounded soldiers and sailed the Bighorn and Little Bighorn rivers at the time of Custer's death.
Beyond that, however, nothing is clear. Although many people believe that a cache of gold is buried along the Bighorn River, a treasure tracker interested in this case should do a lot of library research before making a trip to the Bighorn River.
SOURCES
Brooks, Ken. "Custer's Nacy: The Tragic Journey of the Sternwheeler Far West." True West, October 1986: 14-21.
Schurmacher, Emile C. Lost Treasures and How to Find Them! New York: Paperback Library, 1968.

[Trailrider]

I haven't wanted to disclose this until now, but the gold was FOUND by "The Dutchman" who took it to Arizona, into the Superstition Mountains, and then...    So you can go look for it there, along with other gold, but beware! Seriously, many who have tracked into the Superstitions have not come back...alive!  In truth, I once talked to a soldier (back when I was about 15, 54 years ago) who was half-Apache on his mother's side.  He told me that he and his brother had gone looking for the gold, and were shot at, probably, in his opinion, by full-bloods who did not like people messing around there!

So far as the Montana gold is concerned, if a mudslide buried it, other weather and/or seismic events could have further buried the stuff.  Perhaps ground-penetrating radar might help.  But then, who does the gold belong to now?

[Fox Creek Kid]

L.H., seeing as how you are foreign let me explain. There is a "lost horde" story for every state 100 times over. IMO 99% of the stories are BS. However here is one that might possibly be true of a lost gold mine found:

http://www.desertusa.com/magdec97/gold/pegleg.html

[Jack Wagon]

In 1961, at the base of a rock monolith called Robbers Roost near the California Mojave Desert, an iron express box was found. The box contained bags of silver coins and gold bars, then valued at $50,000. Also found was a human skeleton, three rusty percussion revolvers and a rifle. It seems, California bandit Clodoveo Chavez, buried the loot while being hotly pursued by the U.S. Cavalry in 1875. Chavez's head was returned to California in a jar of alcohol and the other gang members killed except for one who died in prison. Frank Fish and Charlie Mills claimed they found the treasure following a crude map hand drawn by the sole survivor, who give it to his cell mate before he died. Fish obtained the map from the 80 yr old ex-con, who almost died looking for it, in exchange for food and transportation to Los Angeles. I guess it can happen.   JW

[Deadeye Dick]

Jack Wagon,
Where did you get your info on the 1961 Robbers Roost treasure of Clodoveo Chavez?
Deadeye Dick

[Jack Wagon]

Deadeye, I got my info on the Chaves treasure from the August 2011 issue of Wild West magazine. On page 43 there is an article "Bring Me the Head of Clodoveo Chavez" by John Bressenecker.   JW

[Deadeye Dick]

JW,
I let my subscription to Wild West Mag. expire this spring. I felt they shorted me one of the yearly subscription of six, but who knows the postman could have got it. I had googled the lost treasure and couldn't locate anything about it, apparently Mr Bressenecker did.  
Thanks for the reply.
Deadeye Dick

[Jack Wagon]

Deadeye, if you google John Bressenecker, you'll see he's quite the author of California history books. I didn't realize it but I have some of them in my library. If you google Frank Fish, he was an avid treasure hunter in the 40's and 50's and had a museum of the artifacts he had discovered in Amador City, Ca. Mr. Fish died of a gun shot wound a few years after the Chavez find.Some folks say it was self inflicted, some think foul play.   JW

[Deadeye Dick]

Jack Wagon.
I'm not getting anything for John Bressenecker either. I did find some stuff on Frank Fish. Haven't had a chance to study it yet.
Thanks,
Deadeye Dick

[St. George]

That's because it's spelled 'Boessenecker'...

Good Luck - that magazine's noted for publishing eye-catching BS...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Jack Wagon]

Deadeye, there is a June 03, 2011 interview with Boessenecker at Interview with Outlaw-Lawman Biographer John Boessenecker » History Net       http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-outlaw-lawman-biographer-john-boessenecker.htm
                       
                                              JW

[Henry4440]

L.H., seeing as how you are foreign let me explain. There is a "lost horde" story for every state 100 times over. IMO 99% of the stories are BS. However here is one that might possibly be true of a lost gold mine found:

http://www.desertusa.com/magdec97/gold/pegleg.html

Perhaps this is the 1% that is not BS.