Submitted by Anthony
Bootleggers.
In 1997, my grandfather passed away. However, before he died, he spoke to me of a buried treasure just north of Milford, Missouri. Only 16 at the time, I didn’t fully believe him, as my grandfather suffered from mental illness in his old age.
Soon, I told my mother the story, which I thought was outlandish. However, she looked at me in amazement, explaining that she had been told the very same story when she was a child. My grandfather lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and if he had ever even been in Missouri, I was unaware of it, but Mom told me differently.
The story began in the 1930s when my grandfather was running a bootlegging operation out of Frontenac, Kansas. One evening, he and a couple of friends made the journey to Kansas City to deliver their illicit merchandise.
Along the way, the two friends held up a farmhouse near Arcadia, Kansas, taking guns, jewelry, gold, and old photographs.
They then crossed the state line and buried their loot just north of Milford, Missouri, about 30 miles west of Arcadia, Kansas.
When I asked my mother why they hadn’t taken the loot with them, she didn’t know. Well, then, how did they know of Milford, Missouri, and why did they choose that place to hide their stolen cache? Evidently, another bootlegger who made moonshine for my grandfather ran his operations from Milford.
Though grandfather said there wasn’t much cash taken at the time, the guns, jewelry, and gold would be worth a significant amount today. According to Grandpa, the loot is still hidden in a small cavern near Horse Creek, northeast of Milford. The cave, once used as a moonshine location, bears the names of the bootleggers carved into its walls.
Today, Milford, Missouri, is all but a ghost town with only about 50 souls calling the small community home. Milford is located 27 miles southeast of Nevada, Missouri. From Nevada, travel south on US-71 for approximately 18 miles, turn left (east) on Missouri State Highway MO-C for 7.5 miles. Milford is just north of the intersection with Missouri State Highway CC.
Good luck to treasure hunters looking for this place and to those trying to find out who owns the land.
– Submitted by Anthony, March 2005, updated March 2026.
Reader Update January 2024:
The cave is not North of Milford. It’s on the back side of my grandpa’s farm. It’s more to the East and a little North. My grandpa died and sold the land. The main cave is now filled with settlement. My grandpa made moonshine and shared with me how to know if it’s safe to drink. I was around 12 years old at the time.
When we plowed our fields, we would find Civil War stuff, like cannonballs, belt buckles, buttons, and one Bennett. – Dave, Missouri.
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