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. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. It was a cloudy evening with low visibility, and Laffite attempted to capture what appeared to be two Spanish merchant vessels. Oak Island Treasure Found May 18, 2021 Gagare1952 13.4K subscribers Subscribe 1.2K 292K views 1 year ago Breaking News: My friend John from Oak Island spend his whole life looking for that. In 1909 members of the United States Geological Survey visited the site, which they described as being unproductive. When a giant storm hit the region, the raft was washed away and destroyed. Despite intense efforts at dredging, detecting, diving, and dynamiting for Hendricks Lake treasure, the only thing that was reportedly found in the lake was the rim of an old wagon wheel. Palm City. This catch rendered a lot of attention and by 1884, the Sabine River was riddled with silver hunters. Just another myth? Things Found in the San Antonio River: Periodic draining of sections of the river have revealed skateboards, Mardi Gras beads, old bottles and a cell phone. Winds light and variable.. Rio Vista | MLS# F10370332 1001 SE 5th Ct , Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 0000006665 00000 n The film will center around local lore of a lost treasure of $2 million in silver ingots said to have been stolen by French pirate Jean Laffite and hidden by smugglers in Hendricks Lake, a. <<83DDF97377B4B2110A0000A4D0C2FC7F>]/Prev 639425>> Stella Wieser was a reporter at the Panola Watchman from June 2018 to April 2022. May the hunters strike gold. The story goes that Union soldiers tracked down Confederate president Jefferson Davis in 1865 and confiscated his gold. Clarksville Standard, August 29, 1884. The people who believed the legend enough to pursue it were a diverse lot. The Curse of Civil War Gold - The HISTORY Channel The story revolves around oil fields in Texas, USA. 153 0 obj 0000003134 00000 n Pinkerton came across the Hendricks Lake legend while doing research for his book, Trammals Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North. Although hes fascinated by the legend and the excitement it created, Pinkerton doesnt believe its even a little bit true. Spring is a census-designated place within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. See the BLOG here for more details. endobj Lost Treasure In Texas Is All Over The State - OnlyInYourState But did it even exist? In the 1950s, the Sabine River and the nearby lake (Hendrick's Lake) experienced a new onslaught of treasure seekers when the story of Laffite's silver was published by the True West magazine. hunt presented by Christian, Rick and Marty offer to send Matty Blake down to After years of searching, Roper is still optimistic, and he said that his commitment to Hendricks Lake will still be there no matter what he finds. George Heye's Legacy: An Unparalleled Collection The mud is deep on the bottom, and just as Spanish silver stolen by the privateer, Jean Lafitte. He built a new kind of sewing machine, and in 1851 he started I.M. 3 talking about this. Lake Hendricks - Iowa DNR 159 0 obj In June of 2020, the treasure was finally found by a man who chose not to be named (perhaps understandably, as he was suddenly $5 million richer!). ingots were in transport, but the Spanish had set a trap. Only recently did I learn of a parallel effort to tell the story of the Hendricks Lake treasure legend via film. And if so is the treasure still there? One particularly famous legend is that of Jean Lafittes treasure. Two years later, its researchers went on a mapping expedition with the . They say this inspired them to reach out to other treasure hunters and hear their stories. In the early 1820s, Great Colombia under the government of Simon Bolivar had begun commissioning former privateers as officers in their newly formed navy. The Lagina Brothers, famous for their search for the lost treasure on Oak Island and featured in the show The Curse of Oak Island, now hosts a new show called, Beyond Oak Island. 3. hill on the Lakes side, the scans show some promising images. Although they attended different universities, Roper reconnected with high school friends Brackston McKnight and Ryan Travis and the three now work together on the project. Dallas Morning News, August 1, 1965. 01 April 2017. This is the list to receive occasional emails containing special offers, deals and promotions (like contests). Hendricks Lake A famous actress said, Legend remains victorious in spite of history. For this one to last over 150 years, the grains of truth have firmly resisted erosion by the progress of historical research and inspection. 151 0 obj Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. And soldiers were overtaking them, so they had six wagon loads full of gold and silver they dumped it in the lake. People from Texas, Louisiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kentucky, California, and even England wanted to find that treasure. Barnie Waldrop. Pinkerton is an enigmatic figure. The open-endedness and lack of conclusion is what attracts Roper to the story today. A man named Nathan Smith thinks he's found the remnants of a sunken ship from an 1822 hurricane north of Corpus Christi - thanks to Google Earth. 162 0 obj A dirt contractor who learned about the legend when helping another man drill holes on the edge of the lake. He maintains websites for Trammels Trace and for Hendricks Lake, as well as social media Facebook groups for both stories. Laffite spent the rest of his life attacking merchant ships around Central American ports; sometimes as a pirate and sometimes as a privateer. 0000002763 00000 n TV repairman in Carthage who kept up his efforts for years and was the local expert. Meanwhile, his younger brother John was exploring the coast of Texas. For information on, or to order True Believers, visit www.hendrickslake.com. endobj In the final battle of the War of 1812, Lafitte and his comrades helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British. $37 billion of treasure hidden around Germany - news For more information about this incredible project and to see a short film trailer, go to their website at www.sunkensilver.com. According to Swanger, the treasure was hidden beneath a dead tree at a place called Heughs Canyon Trail, at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. This caused the Its just a great story and what intrigued me was the people engaged in that all over those 100 years.. endobj Six wagon loads of silver carried north along Trammel's Trace. This warrants some underwater metal detectors to be taken The divers do feel some round objects, and a piece is Omoa was the site of the largest Spanish fort in Central America, a fort constructed to safeguard the Spanish silver shipments from the mines of Tegucigalpa in Honduras. The legend has taken many twists over the years. Legend remains victorious in spite of history and it just attests to the power that legends have over people when the facts may not necessarily support something, Pinkerton said. The same thing is true for the Paradise Cove Lodge down California 178. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. and the story of the Hendricks Lake treasure is no different. "My father and his friends shared the Hendricks Lake treasure legend with me when I was very young, perhaps 6 or 7 years old," Roper said. There are two legends in particular that seem to have found purchase in the minds of East Texas treasure hunters. 0000017011 00000 n The story was reporting the fact that Tatum beat a man to death who essentially made fun of that effort, Pinkerton said. &m;vH}p,$[%7?7hm'm&@A2Ef8IR%%p.Bs.H'QKR 5 ]sHT. In this work you will find what I hope you found in my first book solid, thorough research and a story with which we can all connect. In the 1950s, the Sabine River and the nearby lake (Hendricks Lake) experienced a new onslaught of treasure seekers when the story of Laffites silver was published by the True West magazine. On his website, Fenn wrote, "It was under a. Christian knows his pirate history! Or Black Lake. As of May 2022, she resides in Austin and does media relations for TCEQ. Thats the one thing we all agree on about Sunken Silver, is that legend is a very powerful thing.. If you would like to help, our fundraising campaign can be found here. But theres just been this very persistent legend, and so in the late 50s, mid 60s, there were two really big efforts (to locate the treasure), tons of articles in the Watchman about these two different groups searching for it, dredging.. Texas oilmen who later drilled an oil well based on scripture. Somewhere with access to treasure-laden vessels, open coast, and trails and waterways to transport stolen goods. 15 Hidden Treasures Rumored to Be Somewhere in the United States They are convinced that booty galore is waiting to be found, J. Barto Arnold, the former marine archaeologist for the Texas Historical Commission, told me. No matter the evidence, they knew there were more ships filled with riches.. 161 0 obj The Fenn Treasure was a cache of gold and jewels that Forrest Fenn, an art dealer and author from Santa Fe, New Mexico, hid in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. Exclusive opportunity to purchase 1843 S. Federal Hwy, Andy's Live Fire Grill & Bar. What I like most about the lake is that, it just contains this feel when you go out there and you see the Spanish moss hanging on the trees, you feel like youve gone back in time, Roper said. The real story of Hendricks Lake is not the legend alone, it is about the people who believed it fervently enough to put their time and money on the line in the hope of recovering it. Most of the cobs or old Spanish finds I've seen on the forum are either from Florida or the Upper East Cost. There are people who spend their whole lives and considerable sums of money searching for sunken treasure ships, lost mines, and hidden loot. <> More Idaho Treasure Tales - Legends of America There was another story that said No it wasnt Lafitte, it was Santa Anna, and he didnt want the gold to be lost in San Jacinto, so he sent it on the wagon train. The guy from Iowa who did the treasure hunting had researchers in Spain, in the archives. To view perks for contributors or to make a donation towards completion of the film, visit www.gofundme.com/sunkensilver. When a producer for The History Channel contacted me in early summer, the legend was about to add a new chapter to the story.The Lagina brothers of Oak Island fame were beginning a new series, Beyond Oak Island, and the story of Hendricks Lake was the premiere episode on November 17, 2020. After getting some readings at the bottom of the lake (Hendricks Lake), two Dallas oilmen actually brought in a giant crane and attached a drag bucket to the cable. Hendrick's Lake treasure is focus of Houston historian's upcoming book, By Stella Wieser According to reports, the total bounty would be worth more than $1.36 million today. At times the story stayed in circulation due to the efforts of Harry E. Rieseberg, a man who was the self-proclaimed '"worlds greatest underwater treasure hunter.. Fearing an ambush by Native Americans, they then decided to hide the treasure by pushing it into the muddy waters of the Sabine River. Bronze Age treasure found in Swedish forest by mapmaker \Dy@tw sde!F@D}@10 4c/ A dirt contractor. An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake. His main focus is on Jean Lafittes treasure, . Please post photos and a general area if you have . endobj In 1965 a professional syndicate of treasure hunters, men who worked together at a packaging company in LeClaire, Iowa, and led by Clarence A. 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. Beyond Oak Island: The search for stolen pirate silver in East Texas They know its there. 0000003684 00000 n 2019. Their father, Barnie Waldrop, was the most active local treasure hunter. A.C. SoRelle, Jr., and his brother, Henry, were oilmen who brought detection equipment, draglines, and other heavy machinery to dig into the gumbo mud on the bottom of the lake. . They also had a raft built from which large pipes were sunk into the lake bottom, and used a metal detector to search the sediment. Legend has it that Basss part of the money is in Cove Hollow, about thirty miles from Denton. Gary Pinkerton, True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake, East Texas Historical Journal 47 (2009). George Mallory (left) with Andrew Irvine in the last known photo of them on their fatal Everest climb in June 1924. While Pinkerton believes the lake area should be a park, the reality is Hendricks Lake is no longer accessible by the public as the land surrounding it belongs to private land owners or is being leased by mining companies. It featured Pirate Treasures. In Gretna in 1960, across the river from New Orleans, a large number of gold coins were found in an area frequented by Lafitte and his men .According to another story, Laffite buried a large cache on an unnamed island in Lake Borgne. I dont want to give too much away, but part of the reason that Hendricks Lake may have been incorrectly added to the story is because, I believe, in the late 1830s there may have been something found on a property owned by a man with the last name OHendrick, Roper said. Christian Roper and Brackston McKnight lay eyes on Hendricks Lake, the alleged locale of sunken pirate treasure. Not all listings found on this site are necessarily listed through Best of Luxury Realty, Corp. During the investigation, Roper found Gary Pinkertons book, We met with Gary in January and we had no clue about his book coming out, we just knew that he was kind of the expert on this trace, this route that had been taken in the story by this group of smugglers carrying all the silver, Roper said. The land was sold sometime in the last 20 years and is now within a restricted mining area. The search is called off for the time being. In one account, Pinkerton recalls doing research and finding a story about the son of the founder of Tatum. It is now thought that the money is on the southernmost tip of Padre Island. A team of treasure hunters could be on the verge of unearthing the "world's largest treasure hoard," said to be worth over $20 billion. PRIME turn-key restaurant is a landmark of Fort Laud(Former Ernie's BBQ). Continue Reading. xXMsFWLU9C*ZYWNUX=@$(" (~ J>iyAy/eJ%.%c~(~s9yLrMw3iQSM?FOgmvw[s[j3Hr'YyX~mvvN39 Kc7YcqZYo)~}u3 ? https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hendricks-lake. After sitting undisturbed for more than 10 years, a treasure chest holding gold nuggets and precious gems has been found in the Rocky Mountains. click photo for more. Forrest Fenn, a New Mexican art dealer, revealed on Sunday that his famed treasure was found, according to a post on his website that he confirmed to NBC News. Pinkerton spent time in Carthage recently talking to those with accounts of some of the treasure hunters, and he hopes to connect with more people who have Hendricks Lake stories to tell. During the Mexican War of Independence, the Laffites served as spies for the Spanish, after moving to Galveston Island, Texas. Calvin Wilcher is in charge of the scans..he is on watch for something not of Mother nature. Searching for sunken silver: Local filmmaker bringing legend to life Having already written a book on Trammels Trace, a road running through Tatum which he noted was the first road to Texas from the north, Pinkerton is now embarking on a journey to research the people and the reasons for the treasure hunting extravaganza for an upcoming book. Its slated to be released in May on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Tubi. Ive actually been at this project about 14 months now. Texas oilmen. Success! Legends live on! <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents()/Rect[130.3037 595.1786 171.4307 606.1786]/StructParent 2/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Lr !_) True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake. When they returned after the war, Singer could no longer find Money Hill because the sands had shifted and erased all the landmarks that he once knew. For more information on Sunken Silver, visit www.sunkensilver.com. To the north of Tatum, in the middle of the forest, lies Lake Hendrix. Trammel's Trace - Series of 18 newspaper articles | MLS# A11347652 1843 S Federal Hwy , Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316 La Belle was a French ship that sank in Matagorda Bay in 1685 after running aground in a storm. Essentially, somehow treasure came up in conversation and I had asked him if hed ever heard about the story of pirate treasure being lost in East Texas and we started slowly looking into it. 146 0 obj The brothers meet with a Christian Roper who is actively hunting for the lost treasure of the pirate, Jean Lafitte. 10 Lost Treasures in America Waiting to be Found. 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 State Historical Association (TSHA). Since that time, many parties and individuals have endeavored to find the Lost Treasure of Hendricks Lake, with searches as early as 1884 and as recently as the 1970s. There were treasure legends like that all over Texas, he said. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? A TV repairman. On 4 February 1823, Laffite was onboard the General Santander off the town of Omoa in Honduras. 0000000756 00000 n According to legend, Singer hid the money he found in a large sand dune that he called Money Hill. But as fate would have it, he and his family had to abandon their Texas home during the Civil War because they were considered Union sympathizers. Boise County - Near the Nevada state line at Rye Flats, a shipment of newly-minted gold coins . Not a treasure hunter, but a character who built an amphibious tractor he called the Watt-a-Bug which he drove into Hendricks Lake. endobj Page A5 | e-Edition | news-journal.com World's largest 'treasure hoard' worth over $20 billion may soon be found One particularly famous legend is that of Jean Lafitte's treasure. Please support the Cherokeean Herald by subscribing today. Low 47F. 148 0 obj Many came to the lake to drain, dredge, dig, dynamite and scan its murky depths. Many treasure hunters are convinced the money continues to lie beneath the mud of Little Cypress Creek in Upshur County. Two oilmen from Texas actually brought a giant crane to the lake after getting some interesting readings from the bottom of Hendricks Lake. Later, someone else who got high metal readings tried to dynamite the bottom of the lake. All in all, several wagons loaded with silver ingots went into the river. 0000002542 00000 n There was an error processing your request. Houston historian Gary Pinkerton, a Longview native, is fascinated by those treasure hunters and their searches. Somebody made fun of him; he clubbed the guy to death. Christina Hendricks - Wikipedia His book, True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake, focused on the variety of people and their attempts to discover the fabled hidden silver and was released this past April. The Mystery of the Final Years of Jean Lafitte Lafitte's Treasure Links Barnie Waldrop, a Carthage television repairman, had used his own electronics to search the lake for years. But people buy into it, and thats the part thats interesting to me.. On the trail of East Texas' buried treasure Markers are dropped, and divers are sent down. 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. In 2011, Michigan-based treasure hunters Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe found a shipwreck as they were searching for the $2 million in gold that, according to local legend, fell from a. He initially doesn't release any details on the finder or location. down. endobj At that time, the legend was that Mexican land pirates lived along the lake and dumped gold, silver, and precious stones in the lake when they were attacked by the Texans or some other forces. Tatum reportedly built a device with buckets on a conveyor and operated by steam engines to attempt to bail the water from the lake. Stories like this, its what created a filmmaker in myself, its what creates archeologists, its what creates people that come up with plans to conquer whatever they want to solve in life, its just a special place.. s f a s u . And an MIT-trained electrical engineer who held a patent for underwater metal detection. Spring is situated 3 miles northeast of Hendricks Lake. Tales of pirate booty and Mexican gold have captivated minds for generations, and it all could be closer than you might think. Well, my beloved fellow Texas readers, though I have no idea whether anything Im about to pass on to you is the slightest bit accurate, here are six of the supposedly great Texas treasures still waiting to be found. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hendricks-lake. While en route through East Texas, the smugglers received word the Spanish army was closing in and, in an effort to hide the treasure, dumped the loot in a local lake. It certainly had promise since it was a round piece of wood, like the legend of the wagon sunk in the lake. The dumping of the silver in the lake was a temporary thing until danger passed, then was recovered, after all he had divers at his disposal. The lake is located in the extreme northeastern part of the county along the boundary between Rusk and Panola. No matter what, I come to believe throughout professional research or diving, I will always associate it with Jean Lafitte, with treasure, with piracy because its meant so much to the community, Roper said. We Found Out Archaeologists on Easter Island Have Discovered a Previously Unknown Moai Statue Buried in a Dried-Out Lake Bed Christie's Pulled In $202 Million at Its 20th/21st-Century Sales in . It led all the way back to an 1884 account where the guy who was the son of the founder of Tatum, Texas in East Texas decided he was going to drain the lake. Since 2014, Rick and Marty Lagina have produced "The Curse of Oak Island" for The HISTORY Channel. . As a backup plan, they would supply all adjacent markets with fresh fish on ice. The Galveston Daily News made light of the effort by suggesting they move their operation to the Gulf of Mexico since a good deal of wealth has been left under its waters by shipwrecks. A week after that humiliation, Paul Tatum clubbed a man to death after he made fun of Tatums attempt to drain the lake. The treasure, placed in a. The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country - Legends of America Over the years, Hendrick's Lake near Tatum has been a place where many people have visited in search of a legendary treasure that was supposedly left at the site by Pirate Jean LaFitte. Houston oil men began a search for Spanish silver-thelegendary treasure of Hendricks Lake.! June 6, 2020 - Fenn writes on his blog that the treasure has been found. Its got quite a long story in the community. Stella Wieser of the Panola Watchman. "I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot," Fenn writes. Fenn treasure - Wikipedia The legend says that in 1816, Laffite and his fellow pirates plundered six wagon loads worth of silver from the Spanish. He built a new kind of sewing machine, and in. I once made a scientific study of all the known shipwrecks, from ancient to modern, that occurred off the Texas coast. January 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? The first documented treasure recovery attempt in 1894 was based on the belief that Santa Anna had dumped gold, silver, and jewels, By 1935, a full-page syndicated article fleshed out more details. Maybe they can help them in their search from the insights learned from their own pursuit of the Money Pit. Diving team finds hidden treasures lurking in Lake Lanier's - WAGA One person who is still committed to the Hendricks Lake legend is Jacksonville documentary film maker and treasure hunter, Christian B. Roper. Hendricks Lake, Pickering, a veteran diver, has made it his mission to recover all things odd and ordinary lurking in the lake to keep Georgia families safe. Legend holds that the Pirate Jean LaFitte, or in some other versions Santa Anna, left treasure at Hendricks Lake near Tatum. At the end of World War II, the German Nazi's are believed to have sunk a fortune in Lake Toplitz, Austria, Daily Star reports. Some tough local lawmen. :icon_scratch: Thanks, Ernie :P1N8ihB:Ap"4qau_-6)aqhcgZ!=(!~qB3&\S%I}Dc{M6H31jiet_Ya dZ`URw#ser6QcS$JJrnlHN_f1`>!nUA{:_>vtZ)F+/z#~+PDG-+\X?U89XfDD\%E%R! b#[\Z}%dw2Q cDDp=_Em&>M!$]5yors8%52]Tp%>E]SV)IW%]Ka("Y4'7QuFf$a by the Rieseberg article had gone home with no treasure to On Monday, June 16th, 1958 Barney