Texas Gold and Silver Treasure Still Awaits Discovery

There are reportedly a number of buried treasures in the great state of Texas. Here are a few of  the tales about the lost or stolen riches.

1. Burnet County - Using Longhorn Caverns as a hideaway, Sam Bass is said to have shrouded out of sight the loot from robberies. Sam Bass robbed trains and stagecoaches in 1878. His legend has grown over time.

Bass tried working as a freighter, but could not make a living at it, so he formed an outlaw gang preying on stage coaches. The gang literally struck gold when they robbed the Union Pacific Railroad gold train from San Francisco on September 18, 1877. They intercepted the train at Big Springs, Nebraska.  The robbery netted the gang over $60,000, and they split up. Bass promptly headed back to Texas and formed a new gang responsible for a string of stagecoach robberies. In 1878, the gang held up two stagecoaches and four trains within 25 miles (40 km) of Dallas.  Although the robberies netted them little money, they became the object of a manhunt by Pinkerton National Detective Agency agents and a special company of the Texas Rangers headed by Captain Junius Peak.

2. Packsaddle Mountain in Llano county - The gold is supposed to have been hidden in canvas bags. The rumor has it that it is still there.

3. Cove Hollow near Denton, Texas - 3000 gold bars were the object of Bass' thievery. He hit the Union Pacific Railroad for this trove of treasure with some being recovered, but not all. Could they still be there?

4. Austin, Texas - Then there is Mexican payroll money stolen (1836, $3,000,000) and buried near Austen, Texas, 

5. Sabine River - Reportedly $2 million of silver was disposed of at the bottom of a lake. Workers at an oil field apparently located metal before a storm hit and were not able to recover (this sort of thing is common in legend - a catastrophe strikes just before the wealth is uncovered. Read stories of the Lost Dutchman.  

6. Franklin Mountains near El Paso - Conquistadors filled a mine in to preserve a store of valued objects including gold coins and jewelry.

7. Money Hill South Padre Island - $80,000 in Spanish coins discovered by John Singer were buried in the sand dunes.

In all, $340,000,000 of buried treasure may be hidden away in the Texas Hill Country.

If you would like to know more about the life of Sam Bass, try reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bass_(outlaw)

References:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/padre-island-treasure/

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/texas/buried-treasure-tx/  Seven Amazing Stories

https://texashillcountry.com/buried-treasure-texas-hill-country/2/

https://www.ksat.com/news/2019/08/02/you-can-search-for-an-estimated-340-million-in-buried-treasure-in-texas/

Texas Hill Country

with Hill Country in Pink