Oklahoma Hidden Treasure

Treasure At Black Dog Trail Crossing

Outlaw William Coe and His Missing Loot

Otter Creek Buried Cache

 

Treasure At Black Dog Trail Crossing

Along the Black Dog Trail in north central Oklahoma, there is said to be hidden, several pouches of gold from the California Gold Rush.  In 1850, after having struck it rich in California, eight men from Virginia were making the long trek home when they camped near the Black Dog Trail Crossing on the Arkansas River. This area was widely known to be inhabited by the Osage Indians who guarded their land with war-like ferocity.

For those unwary Virginians, that night was no different as they witnessed the advance of an oncoming Osage War party. Seeing no chance of escape, the men quickly buried the bags of gold near the river bank, wedging a broken rifle in the fork of a nearby tree to mark the spot. After the attack, seven of the men lay dead, but one, though severely wounded, managed to survive.

After several weeks the weary and injured traveler made his way home to Virginia where he eventually died as a result of his wounds. However, before he took his last breath, he told his family of the hidden gold and where to find it.

The family was unable to travel to Oklahoma for several years to look for the hidden cache. When they did return, they spent several weeks searching the crossing. The rifle was long gone from its place within the fork of the tree and the terrain bore no trace of the battle that had been fought there. Disappointed, they returned home to Virginia, empty handed.

Old records support the story of the miner who had survived the Indian attack to return home to Virginia. To this day the gold has never been found. The Black Dog Trail Crossing is located northeast of Newkirk, Oklahoma in Kay County.

Otter Creek Buried Cache

Long ago, a group of outlaws stole a government payroll from Fort Sill at Lawton, Oklahoma. As the bandits were being pursued by the Fort Sill cavalry, they reportedly crossed Otter Creek two miles south of Cold Springs at a known historic crossing. Panicked by their pursuers, the outlaws buried their cache in the creek bank at the crossing. However, another version reports the bandits as having buried the loot below the narrows, which would have placed them more like seven miles south of Cold Springs, Oklahoma.

© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated October, 2015.

Also see:

Lost Treasure Tales

Outlaws on the Frontier

Treasure Hunting Code of Ethics