The northwest tip of Padre Island has for years been known as Treasure Dunes. Christian is not discouraged. Lafitte eventually returned to smuggling at Galveston Island in Spanish Texas until he was forced out by the U.S. Navy in 1820. Texas is full of buried bootyor, to be a bit more accurate, full of stories about buried booty that no one has been able to find. Also join us in the Facebook Group: Beyond Oak Island Treasures for more discussions. Moving on to piracy by around 1810, Lafitte was based at the secluded Barataria Bay inlet. Some believe it belonged to the pirate Jean Lafitte. The fortune is said to have been stolen from the Spanish by Jean Lafitte. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. His body was buried at sea in the Gulf of Honduras. The ones found their range from the late 1770;s to 1814 or so. They used 10-foot poles to outline the vessel, which measured roughly 75 feet by 35 feet, news reports stated. This same engineer, only two years earlier, had led the team who located the Tecumseh, a Union metalclad ship sunk during the battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864. His exact whereabouts after that Please note that some historians believe Lafitte had no significant treasure as he left Galveston or that he took his treasure with him to Louisiana. My grandfather never got to look for the treasure s. Ive heard he would sometimes slip into Mobile Bay. chagrin of the locals that helped drain the swamp, there was no trace of the One story even Many from the area have taken artifacts from there, including coin. Do you think you could find them? And if so is the treasure still there? Leave them blank to get signed up. He has no need for modern conveniences, living in a primitive cabin on the Trinity that is accessible only by boat and has no telephone. below! In 1909 members of the United States Geological Survey visited the site, which they described as being unproductive. 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. This would later be used to his great advantage. I have a metal detector. Much to the Access to those treasure seekers was largely through land owned by a former Panola County sheriff, Corbett Akins, and one of his deputies, L.E. Lafitte's large fleet and multinational band of pirates, privateers, and smugglers caused havoc in the Gulf of Mexico for a decade. Charles Fitzhugh Grice had the technology needed to find Spanish silver if the treasure was there. Having lived But they got nothing. Comanche Indians were said to be chasing a train of pack mules carrying hefty loads of silver in the early 1920s and the men in charge of the bounty buried the silver to keep it from being stolen. It is my sincere belief that the Hendricks Lake treasure was silver taken by Lafitte from capturing of the Spanish ship Santa Rosa in Matagorda Bay in 1820. they might find something, a storm rolls in. The silver was never recovered. But alas, nothing came of it. These goods were at a high demand and otherwise illegal due to the Embargo Act of 1807. The enduring story of Hendricks Lake is a treasure legend that has been around for more than 150 years. He also might have(might have, I remind you)come across a wooden chest containing what was then $80,000 in jewelry and coins. History suggests there is a possibility that hidden treasuresgold coins, doubloons, precious jewelryare somewhere beneath the surface just waiting to be found! Clarksville Standard, August 29, 1884. Apparently, he found a chest full of Spanish coins and jewelry amounting to over $80,000. floor after a shipwreck. Lafitte knew that his new business outfit was hidden well enough that U.S. officials wouldnt be able to find him. Laffite was wounded in the battle and is believed to have died just after dawn. Peter Walker Adams lived in one of the houses on the hill near the lake and figured prominently in many of the newspaper stories. Most of the people were locals, from Lafourche Parish, the southern part, mainly Cut Off and Larose and the Gheens area, and also from the Des Allemands location. locations along the Gulf Coast. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section! hunt presented by Christian, Rick and Marty offer to send Matty Blake down to However, since it pointed toward someone else's land, he never did or said anything about it. And he says, Treasure has a way of keeping its secrets. Check them out: Love Texas? Official Blog of Pelican State Credit Union. Barnie Waldrop, a Carthage television repairman, had used his own electronics to search the lake for years. 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, I have spoken to people who have been out there, muddied around and felt portions with their bare feet. This is just the beginning! "I've always been interested in the site and had it in the back of my mind but been too busy on other projects.". The first episode premiered on Tuesday November 17 at 10PM EST on the History Channel. Great story! but what is clear is that he settled in the New Orleans area with his mother though. . "Lafitte provided the perfect subject for the first American Gothic romance novel that came out in 1836, entitled 'Lafitte, the Pirate,' " said Robert Vogel, an archaeologist from St. Paul, Minn. Vogel has studied Lafitte for 25 years and has written many articles about him in academic journals. The tried to dynamite the bottom, but ended up with no silver for this efforts. With the It is still What they would love to find, if not the silver, are clues to the treasure at least being there. Have you ever heard of any of these stories about mysterious lost treasure in Texas? Legendary French pirate Jean Lafitte and his crew were also known to troll the Gulf for booty at the time . 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. Switching gears back to Louisiana, this Jean Lafitte tale quotes a former student of Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans stating that the treasure is buried near an oak tree on the schools campus. The family thinks this could be a clue as to where the actual treasure is. I was living in high island Texas .mostly driving the beach further east to sea rim. In 1821, the US government drove Lafitte from the island. Most people wrote it off as another myth until a magazine published a story about long-forgotten silver, causing treasure hunters from everywhere to rush to the area. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. They know it. He married Cecilia Taylor, daughter of frontiersman Anson Taylor, who lost three sons at the Alamo. In late 1815, Lafitte agreed to act as spy for Spain, which was embroiled in the Mexican War of Independence. He had to take a pirogoe which is a wood boat that would have sank if all the treasure would have been on board. The Lost Padre Mine Somewhere in the Franklin Mountains overlooking the Rio Grande River in El Paso County is the Lost Padre Mine. residents of Texas have claimed that the treasure was buried somewhere along When a giant storm hit the region, the raft was washed away and destroyed. The story dates back to 1816 when pirate Jean Lafitte is said to have stolen $2 million in silver from the Santa Rosa. Lafitte lived on Galveston island in the state of Texas, USA - from 1817 to 1821. Taylor Prewitt is the newsletter editor for Texas Monthly. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. One such story, according to multiple sources, says Bass stashed loot in an old hollow tree around 2 miles west of Round Rock. Jean Lafitte: Mystery of the Unfound Treasure - Pelican State of The smuggling operations of the well-known privateer eventually came to a screeching halt, though, when the United States began enforcing the embargo in New Orleans city limits some time after the act passed. As background, the Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico; they consisted of several independent seasonal nomadic groups who shared the same language and much of the same culture.Lafitte named his island Campeche, after a Mexican outpost further south along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Hendricks Lake is an oxbow lake one and one-half miles south of the Sabine River and about four miles northeast of Tatum in Rusk County, Texas (32.371864N, 94.493190W). The tree is privately owned, but sits right on the highway (FM 2100) just a few miles north of FM 1960. The elderly owner has an attractive home and keeps a wonderful After pinpointing the wreck, he plans to have divers dig up to 9 feet deep for artifacts that might date or identify the ship. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. The Lost San Saba Silver Mine This lost mine, with its rich vein of silver, has been what one treasure hunter writer has called the Holy Grail of Texas treasure seekers. In 1756 a Mexican official traveling through Texas learned from Indians of an exposed strain of pure silver that ran through a certain hill in Central Texas. This story was told to me several years ago by a man in his 80 s Back in 1940 or 41 two men hired to clean up around what is said to be Lafittes red house disapeared after a few days. The basic story is that in 1816 silver stolen by pirate Join the adventures in Beyond Oak Island- Tuesdays at 10PM and summaries and more in depth looks into the many stories of treasure, here at MW! A nearby lake fed by the Sabine River also caught their attention, since the silver might have been transported there by the current. Forced to leave the city, Lafitte decided to set up shop on a small island in Barataria Bay, about 40 miles south of New Orleans, to continue his smuggling ways. Anahuac Jack feels certain that evidence will show that the boat belonged to Lafitte. Get it? Jean Laffite (sometimes spelled Lafitte) was a pirate and the subject of many stories of romance and adventure across the Gulf of Mexico during the early 19th One group proposed to use a new divining rod activated with isotopes. It included G.C. This warrants some underwater metal detectors to be taken The four-mile trek into the backwaters off the Trinity River becomes strenuous as he pushes his boat over cypress stumps and cuts through debris. Texas, I learned, is full of buried treasureor, to be a bit more accurate, full of stories about buried treasures that no one has been able to find. In 1965 a professional syndicate of treasure hunters, men who worked together at a packaging company in LeClaire, Iowa, and led by Clarence A. As of 2019 much of the land surrounding the lake was in the permit area for the surface mining for lignite that covers thousands of acres. It was a cloudy evening with low visibility, and Laffite attempted to capture what appeared to be two Spanish merchant vessels. The parade of those who made documented efforts for the treasure included oilmen, a television repairman, a pharmacist, a grocery store owner, dirt contractors, water well diggers, fraudulent treasure hunting equipment hucksters, a heating and air-conditioning technician, and numerous other true believers. Searchers used aerial photos, underwater metal detectors, and magnetometers to aid in their efforts. No treasure chests, hooks or parrot skeletons have been reported as of yet. The man who was killed left an estate of 60,000 in cash plus land in Mississippi. Have you ever heard of Money Hill near the southern tip of South Padre Island? https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hendricks-lake. Other potential treasure troves require a longer drive but if youre willing to camp out or find a hotel, AirBnb, etc., you could be in for a big payday. The man who told this did not or would not tell me the names of the two men. Learn Cajun traditions from people who live them. I always wondered why the searchers were only local, and that an organized big search never happened but it never did. East Texas Gold From Mexico In 1839 Mirabeau B. Lamar, the newly inaugurated successor to Sam Houston as President of Texas, sent the Texas Army out to get rid of the Cherokees. Visibility is nil, so it is a touchy situation. I've heard for years, about a spot along Dickinson Bayou where Lafitte supposedly hid Treasure (very very near a certain Cemetary), Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Well, according to a story by Mary Rogers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there is evidence that in the early 1800s the theft did happen and that Jean Lafittes men, afraid that they were about to be ambushed, pushed several wagons loaded with silver ingots into the muddy waters. Exactly where he was from remains a bit clouded, In Jean Lafitte's day, silver and gold filled a pirate's treasure chest, but today's treasures are people, places, and memories. 1. well as the fortunes left on the merchant ships that he captured. According to legend, the infamous robber Sam Bass stole 3,000 gold bars worth $20 each from the Union Pacific Railroad. down. accessed May 01, 2023, Locating a ship that belonged to Lafitte or one of his officers would be a "significant find" because of the role he played on the Texas coast, said Hoyt. One time she wrote about sports. Maybe well be writing about you and your discoveries in the future. storytelling? Latest local news from South Texas from KSAT12. Buried Treasures of Texas: Legends of Outlaw Loot, Pirate Hoards, Buried Mines, Ingots in Lakes, and Santa Anna's Pack-Train Gold, W. C. Jameson. F 386 .6 .J27 1991. The Treasures of Galveston Bay: Facts and Legends of Hidden, Lost and Buried Treasure Located in the Galveston Bay Area, Carroll Lewis. Found bones of mamouth and Indian tools. Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. If anyone has heared or knows any more info please let me know. A man claiming to be Lafitte's grandson, John A. Lafitte of St. Joseph, Mo.. claimed an interest in the ship but would years later be proved a fake, Epperson said. Roach once lived on Lake Miller -- which earlier was called Lake De La Roche after him -- and had boats there that he used for pillaging. A family in Baytown, Texas tell their story as they believe they found one of Lafittes sunken ships. Outside of work, you can likely find her curled up on the sofa with a hot cup of coffee, watching a crime TV show or scary movie. This national preserve protects the incredible diversity of life found where multiple habitats converge in southeast Texas. "There was not a lot of money during the Depression to do exploring," recalls Chambliss' wife, Tabitha, 84, who still lives in Anahuac. North of Tatum, in the middle of the woods, lies Hendricks Lake. True West Magazine article on Jean Lafitte. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. This lake has its dangers, of course. They got away with three thousand freshly-minted 1877 $20 gold pieces. Fearing an ambush by Native Americans, they then decided to hide the treasure by pushing it into the muddy waters of the Sabine River. Huge beautiful tree. Not one of them found any of the reported treasure, but that never prevented the next person from trying. Handbook of Texas Online, If you study your info you will be lost. By 1829, the mythical lost silver mine of San Saba began appearing on Austins maps of Texas. Beyond Oak Island: The search for stolen pirate silver in You will see it gets its name from the treasure being buried there. Ever seen an oak tree with a carving of two eagle wings on it? The team reported finding the ship, which reportedly is sheathed on the bottom with copper. The popularity of treasure hunting during this time period was profiled in numerous pulp magazines and news features, and the business of supplying treasure hunters was page one news in the Wall Street Journal. They then filled in the shaft. But the treasure is in my best belief to be in Galveston. 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. History suggests there is a possibility that hidden treasuresgold coins, doubloons, precious jewelryare somewhere beneath the surface just waiting to be found! But why? And where? Louisianas most well-known buried treasure mystery still to this day is the unfound treasure of Jean Lafitte. Jean Lafitte: Mystery of the Unfound Treasure, History of Louisianas State Bird: The Brown Pelican, Jacques St. Germain, The Infamous Louisiana Vampire. When one of the recent landowners near the lake sold their property to the mining company, they inserted a treasure clause that reserves the rights to one-half of any treasure trove found on the Property by Purchaser. There will always be true believers in the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake. What books would you recommend about this pirate? 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. and its inlets. According to legend, Bass used Longhorn Caverns in Burnet County as a hideout after some of his robberies although treasure seekers have yet to find any loot in the caverns. Many treasure hunters are convinced the money continues to lie beneath the mud of Little Cypress Creek in Upshur County. goal to once again evade U.S. seizure and to come back to it later. I found this site just now from a google search for Lafitte's treasure and it brought me here. I also. That set off a huge treasure hunting stampede. If the rumors are true, Cove Hollow, near Denton is another Bass treasure location. Oil workers actually picked up readings that metal was to be found at the bottom of the lake. Hendricks Lake, most well-known buried treasure mystery still to this day is the unfound Some of them do have people who can corroborate the stories. The Temple was located just North of what is today Little Lake, in Lafittes time it was Little Lake Barataria, where Bayou Perot and Bayou Rigolets meet. WebAt the age of 25, Jean Laffite was living in New Orleans, operating a warehouse essential to dispersing the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre. More than once the crane almost toppled into the water. Watch an alligator bask on a bayous bank. Franklin Mountains, El Paso, TX 79904, USA, Back in the 1860s, a man named Isaac Singer started a clothing manufacturing company in Texas. treasure to speak of. Galveston after his adventures in Louisiana. Although the lake was searched in the 50s and 60s, nothing was found at that time. They just might inspire you to become a treasure hunter and find some real adventure out there! His treasure Before I started to work on the story running in the July 2009 issue (Sleeping Booty) about California musician Nathan Smiths quixotic attempt to find a lost Spanish treasure ship near the town of Refugio, north of Corpus Christi, I assumed that there was no buried treasure at all in Texas. People claim that a $2 million fortune stolen from the Spanish by Jean Lafitte was buried in the Sabine River. The cousins have found buried treasure of sorts, their research has brought to life stories of pirates that come from a pivotal moment in our history when pirates became heroes. Gary L. Pinkerton, My grandfathers mother lived next to his mother and we were told of the storys on where some was at. Other stories of Pirate Treasures are discussed. In the early 1800s, Stephen F. Austin, on his first trip to Texas, also heard about a rich silver mine on the San Saba River and a gold mine on the Llano. Gary L. Pinkerton, Trammels Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2016). have buried a large cache of treasure somewhere in the bayous of Louisiana. A treasured mystery, I determined that there were maybe five that might have contained some sort of treasure. from oil explorers and water witchers to plain nuts.. Since the U.S. claimed much of Laffites fortune as its own once he left Galveston, Laffite is believed to have buried an enormous treasure on one of the sandy islands near the Texas coast. One of the men was found living in east Texas where he had bought a farm. They say this inspired them to reach out to other treasure hunters and hear their stories. When the Embargo Act of 1807 came into force, the Laffite brothers moved their business from New Orleans to an island in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. The total value? says that a swamp in the Natalbany River in Springfield, Louisiana, was drained Jean Lafittes treasure Photo of Hendricks Lake, courtesy of Gary L. Pinkerton One particularly famous legend is that of Jean Lafittes treasure. Louisianas According to a story by Mary Roger of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the silver was indeed robbed from a galleon by Laffite and his mean in the early 19th century. Lets be honest, everybody loves a good treasure story. No matter where you are in the state, youre bound to be able to search for some tempting hidden loot. States officials granted him legal authority to pirate and capture British Rumor has it the outlaw hid gold in canvas sacks on Packsaddle Mountain and that some of it could still be there. that is. The chest was filled with gold, jewelry and other valuables, worth an estimated $1 million. instead of just one? In the final battle of the War of 1812, Lafitte and his comrades helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British. 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. Legendary outlaw Sam Bass is said to have buried his bounty from stagecoach, train and bank robberies in several areas around the Texas Hill County. In searching some old newspapers.found a newspaper article from 1935, a full page on Jean Lafitte. All in all, several wagons loaded with silver ingots went into the river. Read More about Texas Tea Slot, about Jean Laffites treasure in the Sabine River. Sherman, who died in 1879, said he was able to walk on its deck. I once made a scientific study of all the known shipwrecks, from ancient to modern, that occurred off the Texas coast. parties, as the Mystery of Jean Lafittes Unfound Treasure seems to be a voyage Katie Lawrence is a Southeast Texas native who graduated 18th in her high school class with a GPA of 4.25. It seems like a plausible place for a notorious bandit to hide his loot, so we are inclined to believe it! national hero. It's apparently a large wreck and about the right size and shape for a Lafitte vessel.". Hispanic conquistadors reportedly hid a massive cache of gold and jewels in a mine shaft in the Franklin Mountains near El Pasos Guadalupe Mission, OnlyInYourState.com reported. . Discover New Orleans rich cultural mix. Stories of Subscribe to the Pelican State of Mind blog by providing your email below! It was stuck in the crack of the stairs. During this time in New Orleans, Lafitte became a very rich man, acquiring extraordinary amounts of money, ships, and weapons. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. You can see a small door that was covered. The Handbook of Texas devotes two pages to Lafitte's establishment of a base in Galveston around 1816. They send a probe down and it hit metal just before a giant storm hit, destroying the raft and any other evidence, according to OnlyInYourState.com. Supposedly, it still lies buried beneath the dirt. More information can be found in Guide to Treasure in Texas Most who plied that area back then kept what they found close to the vest, and today that area is all open water, though many locals can still point out to you exactly where the Temple was. Scotty Stotlar, Sr., appeared to have what it took to mount another serious attempt.

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