|
East
Texas is resplendent with stories about hidden or buried treasures.
While many of them may be only legends passed down by generations
of East Texans, a lot of the stories have some credence.
The stories in East Texas
are usually the products of folk tales handed down from one generation
to another.
And they are not restricted to just East
Texas. Such tales can be found in any part of Texas
and have become a part of local and regional histories.
Fortune-hunters have been searching for buried and hidden riches for
as long as there has been a Texas. The
Spanish often hauled silver and gold bars, coins, and jewelry long
distances to reach their destination, but often without success and
the occasional loss of life.
Some
examples:
A Mexican
cache of silver and gold was reportedly buried in the vicinity of
Old Pilgrim Church in Anderson
County.
A treasure
was buried somewhere along Biloxi Creek in Angelina
County
Hendricks
Lake, in Harrison
County, supposedly contains six wagon loads of gold and silver
seized by Pirate Jean
Lafitte when he raided a Spanish ship. Lafitte’s wagons were
sunken in the the lake when Spanish soldiers almost caught up with
the treasure bearers.
Lafitte
also reportedly buried near treasure at Shacklefoot
on the Texas side of the Sabine River, near the old community of
Patroon.
The loot from
a bank robbery at Bowie
in Montague County
was buried by bandits south of the Red River.
A cannon full
of silver and gold was plunged into the Neches
River north of Woodville
by Spanish soldiers and is still being sought near the old ghost
town of Fort
Teran.
These and other stories will go into a new book that we’re writing,
and we could use the help of you and other readers of this column.
If you know of a treasure story in East
Texas, please send us an e-mail at bobb@consolidated.net, write
us at PO Box 1647, Lufkin, Texas, 75901, or call us at 936-634-7444
at our offices in Lufkin.
Bob Bowman's East Texas
August 8, 2010 Column
A weekly column syndicated in 70 East Texas newspapers
Copyright Bob Bowman
|
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories
and recent or vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
