On his visits to Hendricks Lake with his son, they got a hit and brought a diver along to search the bottom. Keep in mind that the Lake was not there it there would be a river in its place. Throughout Lafittes Peter Walker Adams lived in one of the houses on the hill near the lake and figured prominently in many of the newspaper stories. Having lived 1. Abilene Reporter-News, June 24, 1958. 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Some historians recount that Lafitte went back to a life of crime, leaving the which is said to contain many records and may hold the key to Frisbys buried treasure. Hispanic conquistadors reportedly hid a massive cache of gold and jewels in a mine shaft While such tales abound in historical accounts about Chambers County, Steve Hoyt, the Texas Historical Commission's marine archaeologist in Austin, says, "At this point, we can't say for sure what is down there. One story even Treasure chest worth $1 million hidden in Rocky Mountains finally found. says that a swamp in the Natalbany River in Springfield, Louisiana, was drained Tensions were high during this time between the United States and Great Britain, creating the War of 1812 and forcing the United States to be on edge about who they could and could not trust. Lets be honest, everybody loves a good treasure story. By 1810, their successful smuggling operation had been supplemented with piracy. Ever seen an oak tree with a carving of two eagle wings on it? Gary L. Pinkerton, Soldiers approach, wagons sunk in Hendricks Lake, an oxbow lake just south of the Sabine River in northeastern Rusk County. In Texas they still search for a great deposit of silver and gold that Lafitte is reputed to have abandoned there. What about you? The ships turned out to be heavily armed privateers and they mounted a frontal counterattack that included heavy fire. Hidden gems in Texas are one of our state's greatest joys. Official Blog of Pelican State Credit Union. It happens every now and then," Hamilton said. Things to do in Seabrook: A guide to Washington's cozy Coachella 2023: What to pack for a weekend in the desert, What you should wear to Disneyland in May, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Daniel sought permission from the land commissioner to salvage the sunken ship and "exhibit whatever findings to the public," newspapers reported. The Mexican government promised the Indians a large sum of money if they could defeat the Texans, but upon the realization that that was not going to happen, they buried the gold and silver and ran. These questions At this time, Galveston island was largely uninhabited, except by Native American Karankawa indians. Gary Pinkerton, True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake, East Texas Historical Journal 47 (2009). Just let me know if you find anything so I can break the story first. The most beautiful lakes in Texas are all excellent choices for a trip. Some of the loot has been recovered, but the rest of these hidden treasures in Texas have mysteriously disappeared. the treasure be today? "He just got stuck.". The first recorded mention of the wreck came from Jacob Haven Sherman Jr., a cotton gin operator, who told his nine children about discovering the site in the 1850s. The story dates back to 1816 when pirate Jean Lafitte is said to have stolen $2 million in silver from the Santa Rosa. The family thinks this could be a clue as to where the actual treasure is. He declared himself governor or "master" until he fled to the Yucatan Peninsula after the U.S. government forced him to leave in 1820, records show. He told me there is an old, very old oak tree. Jean Laffite was a French pirate and privateer born circa 1780. So, if you google Money Hill in Abita Springs ,La . Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). I a month there. 6. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. In late 1815, Lafitte agreed to act as spy for Spain, which was embroiled in the Mexican War of Independence. knowledge (or educated guess) of Lafitte being the best privateer around, United Could it be To him it is the Chase and the history. It reads that a cache of ancient gold coins was found near Jefferson island. http://www.texasescapes.com/DEPARTMENTS/Letters/LettersToEditorDecember2001.htm, THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7, Metal Detectorists Ordered To Repay 1.2 Million Between Them 'Immediately'. because Lafittes treasure was thought to be underwater there. Another legend has it that in 1595, Juan de Oate hid five silver bars, 4,336 gold ingots, nine burro loads of jewels, and four priceless Aztec codices (books or manuscripts) in the mine. By 1829, the mythical lost silver mine of San Saba began appearing on Austins maps of Texas. 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There are many accounts that say Lafitte settled in My favorite part of the legend is that the Guadalupe Mission in El Paso was built in way so that the shadows of the mission point to the Lost Padre Mine. There are The Lost Padre Mine Somewhere in the Franklin Mountains overlooking the Rio Grande River in El Paso County is the Lost Padre Mine. What they would love to find, if not the silver, are clues to the treasure at least being there. Maybe they can help them in their search from the insights learned from their own pursuit of the Money Pit. I was living in high island Texas .mostly driving the beach further east to sea rim. And if so is the treasure still there? In 1940, a new search team was formed. i will try and take a picture of the location. Okay, that was a really bad joke. Ho-hum, right? So read this, get up, and go after your pot of gold. have buried a large cache of treasure somewhere in the bayous of Louisiana. Co-worker told me a story about Jean Lafitte having buried treasure near where we live. He shows Rick and Marty the 1957 Sherman, who died in 1879, said he was able to walk on its deck. In Colombian newspapers, his death was lamented and his obituary described him as a brave naval officer. Plus, if when they come back and nothing can be found, he says they have the whole Texas coast and more to continue their search. Here are seven stories of supposed buried lost treasure in Texas. "I think he came up through this cut to find cypress trees to repair his boats and sometimes would stash ships here to hide them, taking them into the shallowest waters that he could get," he says. And he says, Treasure has a way of keeping its secrets. Despite this, no silver bars were found. instead of just one? but what is clear is that he settled in the New Orleans area with his mother You can see a small door that was covered. One legend says the ship was laden with bearskins full of gold doubloons and silver pieces when it was run aground by Lafitte while attempting to evade a U. S. revenue cutter. James Bowie went on an expedition to find it. The ones found their range from the late 1770;s to 1814 or so. He built a new kind of sewing machine, and in 1851 he started I.M. treasure to speak of. Beyond Oak Island Episode 2 Summary: Wild West Gold and the Search at Robbers Roost Canyon for Butch Cassidys Lost Treasure, All can be found to have a questing theme within them. More information can be found in Guide to Treasure in Texas Discovering history is part of the adventure, and that never ends. Copyright 2019 by KSAT - All rights reserved. For decades the site has intrigued historians and treasure hunters. As they retreated, they headed into what is now known as Upshur County. Ie. His main focus is on Jean Lafittes treasure, When one of the recent landowners near the lake sold their property to the mining company, they inserted a treasure clause that reserves the rights to one-half of any treasure trove found on the Property by Purchaser. There will always be true believers in the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake. But remember Lafittes black dogs are still around dont go a hunting unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences. Lafitte knew that his new business outfit was hidden well enough that U.S. officials wouldnt be able to find him. Please note that some historians believe Lafitte had no significant treasure as he left Galveston or that he took his treasure with him to Louisiana. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hendricks-lake. He linked up with B.H. Omoa was the site of the largest Spanish fort in Central America, a fort constructed to safeguard the Spanish silver shipments from the mines of Tegucigalpa in Honduras. But the gold and diamond jewl was the confirmation I needed. His brother, wanting to make something of himself as well, went exploring the coast of Texas to find buried treasure. Is the image on this article what the actual chest looked like? ingots were in transport, but the Spanish had set a trap. There were no chests. Although $25,000 worth of coins and jewelry have been accounted for, no one knows where the rest of the loot went, and Collins and Bass were killed before they revealed anything. It also mentions reports of larger sums of the treasure being buried in the appropriately-named small town of Lafitte, Louisiana. True West Magazine article on Jean Lafitte. Rumor has it that some of the money is hidden in Cove Hollow, near Denton. Lafitte became very familiar with, and eventually mastered, an illegal smuggling profession, which translated into an extremely lucrative career for him. So, where could One such story, according to multiple sources, says Bass stashed loot in an old hollow tree around 2 miles west of Round Rock. I found this site just now from a google search for Lafitte's treasure and it brought me here. It is still In 1884 treasure hunters were all over the Sabine and a nearby lake that had been fed by the Sabine. In the final battle of the War of 1812, Lafitte and his comrades helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British. All in all, several wagons loaded with silver ingots went into the river. The show starts with the Lagina brothers, Rick and Marty, sharing how their search on Oak Island opened them up to a world full of mysteries and lost treasures to explore. Texas is full of buried bootyor, to be a bit more accurate, full of stories about buried booty that no one has been able to find. Numerous springs within and around the lake keep it filled. Comanche Indians were said to be chasing a train of pack mules carrying hefty loads of silver in the early 1920s and the men in charge of the bounty buried the silver to keep it from being stolen. pardoned by General Andrew Jackson in praise of his efforts and accomplishments The prizes that Lafitte took were slaves, cotton, commodities, etc. I grew up back there, in those waterways, in that area and found many interesting things. 3. They know its there. There was no treasure found. This catch rendered a lot of attention and by 1884, the Sabine River was riddled with silver hunters. May the odds be ever in your favor. In less than one year, Lafitte's small settlement grew to nearly 200 men and several women. It is my sincere belief that the Hendricks Lake treasure was silver taken by Lafitte from capturing of the Spanish ship Santa Rosa in Matagorda Bay in 1820. Beyond Oak Island Summary of Episode 1: Pirate Treasures and the Search in Hendricks Lake for Jean Lafittes Lost Treasure. I've heard for years, about a spot along Dickinson Bayou where Lafitte supposedly hid Treasure (very very near a certain Cemetary), Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. parties, as the Mystery of Jean Lafittes Unfound Treasure seems to be a voyage As background, the Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico; they consisted of several independent seasonal nomadic groups who shared the same language and much of the same culture.Lafitte named his island Campeche, after a Mexican outpost further south along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Read More about USS Hatteras, This is a funny little slot filled with intricate features and attention-grabbing symbols. On the edge of this little-known Chambers County lake off the Trinity about 35 miles east of Houston, Jack wants to show where a ship sank in the 1800s. This lake has its dangers, of course. The chest was filled with gold, jewelry and other valuables, worth an estimated $1 million. Louisiana State University alumnus (Geaux Tigers), fanatic of all things sports, pugs, and Star Wars, and teller of the occasional dad joke. Rumor has it the outlaw hid gold in canvas sacks on Packsaddle Mountain and that some of it could still be there. Many of the alleged treasure locations below can be found in the Texas Hill Country if youre looking for socially distant daycation from San Antonio or Austin. The stairs run beside it. Paul Uncle Fox Tatum, son of the founder of Tatum, Texas, carried out the first documented attempt to recover the treasure in 1884. No matter where you are in the state, youre bound to be able to search for some tempting hidden loot. ships as a last-ditch effort to gain an advantage in the pivotal Battle of New He had to take a pirogoe which is a wood boat that would have sank if all the treasure would have been on board. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Forced to leave the city, Lafitte decided to set up shop on a small island in Barataria Bay, about 40 miles south of New Orleans, to continue his smuggling ways. The Oil workers actually picked up readings that metal was to be found at the bottom of the lake. It may not display this or other websites correctly. He captured ships and sold their cargoes, which often included slaves, to shady merchants in New Orleans. The divers do feel some round objects, and a piece is Two films, starring Fredric March in the 1930s and Yul Brynner in the 1950s, also romanticized Lafitte's life, although Vogel notes that the pirate's life was "more equivalent to that of a 19th century cocaine smuggler. He could have stashed some treasure somewhere along the Eastern shore. The Sabine River could potentially hold a $2 million fortune in stolen silver. That is because he not only commandeered goods from dozens of foreign ships and traded slaves, but he also helped Gen. Andrew Jackson defeat the British in the Battle of New Orleans and escorted a mapping expedition into Arkansas. A treasured mystery, Markers are dropped, and divers are sent down. Yet because of his claim and the team's loss of salvage rights after failing to pay money owed on the state lease, that project also was abandoned, records indicate. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section! The silver has yet to be discovered, according to Lone Star Treasure, which says the story is based on a Spanish document from the conquistador era. The story goes that wagon loads of silver storytelling? Other variations of the mystery say Lafitte buried the treasure in multiple His exact whereabouts after that Both were the surnames of early settlers in the vicinity. May the hunters strike gold. They lowered another contraption through the pipe to the lake floor. The enduring story of Hendricks Lake is a treasure legend that has been around for more than 150 years. They say this inspired them to reach out to other treasure hunters and hear their stories. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. In 1969 an MIT graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and a patent for an underwater device for locating metals motored along the surface of Hendricks Lake in an eight-foot fiberglass boat towing his electronics. It is now thought that the money is on the southernmost tip of Padre Island. national hero. Then it unexpectedly spills into the wide-open lake that he has sought. Access to the lake that for 150 years had been accessible for picnics and fishing was closed off to all but a few private landowners at the time. But if you dont like that version of the legend there are others. below! well as the fortunes left on the merchant ships that he captured. The information comes from books and treasure hunting Web sites (the best of which are legendsofamerica.com and treasurefish.com). Jean Lafitte: Mystery of the Unfound Treasure, History of Louisianas State Bird: The Brown Pelican, Jacques St. Germain, The Infamous Louisiana Vampire. As early as next summer, Hoyt plans a preliminary investigation. Smith believes he found a sunken ship on Google Earth in 2006 in Refugio, just north of Corpus Christi. Cush Reeves. The popularity of treasure hunting during this time period was profiled in numerous pulp magazines and news features, and the business of supplying treasure hunters was page one news in the Wall Street Journal. Bass allegedly marked the spot with a rock in the fork of a tree, according to Lone Star Treasure. I always heard that an area Boat Company Owner started his business with a 5 gallon bucket of silver taken from that area. One time she wrote about sports. Check out some of these lesser-known places throughout the state: Natural wonders in Texas are perfect for those with an affinity for the great outdoors: Where are the most beautiful lakes in Texas? You must log in or register to reply here. Fort Worth Daily Gazette, October 3, 1884. Metal detector companies may be the only satisfied More maps appeared showing various locations of a lost silver mine. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. Lafitte's large fleet and multinational band of pirates, privateers, and smugglers caused havoc in the Gulf of Mexico for a decade. The story died down but regained momentum when treasure hunting became popular again in the fifties and when True West magazine printed an article about the long-forgotten silver prompting treasure hunters to flock to Carthage and Tatum. "There was not a lot of money during the Depression to do exploring," recalls Chambliss' wife, Tabitha, 84, who still lives in Anahuac. residents of Texas have claimed that the treasure was buried somewhere along But there is no proof Lafitte scuttled a boat there, he says. Most people wrote it off as another myth until a magazine published a story about long-forgotten silver, causing treasure hunters from everywhere to rush to the area. The total value? A huge battle ensued between the two groups near what is now known as Tyler. JavaScript is disabled. Jack -- whose official, but seldom-used, name is Lawrence Looney -- is a Trinity River guide for the Chambers-Liberty Navigation District. WebIn his long obituary of March 6, the Galveston "News" noted that: "In the death of Charles Cronea, the last of Lafitte's band, so far as is known, has passed away. He was moving logs across the lake when they snagged on the submerged wreckage, which was then in only about 2 feet of silt, historical accounts state. he was in his early twenties. One Texas legend says theres a cache of Spanish silver buried somewhere outside Leander. Jean Laffite (sometimes spelled Lafitte) was a pirate and the subject of many stories of romance and adventure across the Gulf of Mexico during the early 19th The smuggling operations of the well-known privateer eventually came to a screeching halt, though, when the United States began enforcing the embargo in New Orleans city limits some time after the act passed. Interest in the ship resurfaced nine years later when Elder H. Sherman, grandson of the man who first reported the wreck, remembered that his grandfather had driven a spike into an oak tree to mark the ship's location. People claim that a $2 million fortune stolen from the Spanish by Jean Lafitte was buried in the Sabine River. Christian is not discouraged. Orleanshe did not disappoint. However, she says her husband remained certain that Lafitte's ship was buried in that mud. Back in the 1580s, Spanish conquistadors and priests often passed beneath the peaks of the Franklins on their way to New Mexico to colonize the Indian villages. Could it be that there were multiple burial locations and brother in the early 1800s. It was a book on the treasures of Galveston and the surrounding area. Hendricks Lake, Do you think you could find them? Read More about Jean Laffites treasure in the Sabine River, USS Hatteras (formerly St. Mary) was a 1,126-ton steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the early part of the American Civil War. It is widely believed that Lafitte buried his treasure on Galveston before he left - and this video is about my search at three likely treasure sites. I am interesting in pirates treasures in Connecticut. Dallas Morning News, August 1, 1965. At the moment he is headed for Lake Miller, a pristine pool unreachable by road, although the rumble of traffic can be heard from Interstate 10 a few miles to the north. Probably inside the hidden stairs that went to the first floor of his mason rouge. Like a little wooden barrel. WebLaffite's Treasure Jean Laffite, the French pirate with an aristocratic air, and his confederates took millions in loot from ships in the Gulf of Mexico back in the early
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