It was one of the first times I met with Brackston after we graduated university last summer, Roper recalled. The brothers meet with a Christian Roper who is actively hunting for the lost treasure of the pirate, Jean Lafitte. 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. Later, someone else who got high metal readings tried to dynamite the bottom of the lake. Houston historian Gary Pinkerton, a Longview native, is fascinated by those treasure hunters and their searches. 30 April 2021 AFP It is one of Sweden's most spectacular Bronze Age finds A man surveying a forest for his orienteering club in western Sweden stumbled on a trove of Bronze Age treasure reckoned. Ive actually been at this project about 14 months now. But they got nothing. A dirt contractor. endobj Having grown up hearing these stories about buried treasure and now searching for it himself, hes becoming a part of history. endobj Contacts. When researching Trammels Trace for my last book, I encountered the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake. The son of Corbett Akins, Brodie grew up with Hendricks Lake as a routine part of his life and still owned that land on the lake until mining began. 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. . Spring is situated 3 miles northeast of Hendricks Lake. At one point, while wandering the beaches of Padre Island, he came across a bunch of Spanish coins. Our new Privacy Policy will go into effect on January 1st, 2023. June 6, 2020 - Fenn writes on his blog that the treasure has been found. Hendricks Lake, once a commonly-frequented lake both for recreation and treasure hunting, is no longer accessible to the public. We had not even known that he had heard of the treasure. 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. Little Cypress Creek, north of Gilmer, is the site where legend says a cache of Mexican coinage was dumped, according to A Brief History of Upshur County a history book published in 1946. 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. They lowered another contraption through the pipe to the lake floor. And he says, Treasure has a way of keeping its secrets. Two years later, its researchers went on a mapping expedition with the . By 1829, the mythical lost silver mine of San Saba began appearing on Austins maps of Texas. 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. 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. Royal discovery made after 99-year-old code is broken by Siberian mathematics genius. Extremely competent in market analysis and comparative sales, Angie has worked in many aspects of the real estate industry and uses this experience and foresight to be proactive and address all . Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. A few of the Cherokees were accompanied by agents of the Mexican government who had promised a lot of money to the tribe if they were able to drive out the Texans. Jean Lafitte's treasure Photo of Hendricks Lake, courtesy of Gary L. Pinkerton There will be people still in town who will remember Barnie Waldrop, Pinkerton said. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hendricks-lake. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? endobj Maybe they can help them in their search from the insights learned from their own pursuit of the Money Pit. 1930, it came up again, 35. Visibility is nil, so it is a touchy situation. A semi-weekly newsletter with all of The Panola Watchman's sports coverage. Pictured from left, Gary Pinkerton, Brackson McKnight and Christian Roper. The first episode premiered on Tuesday November 17 at 10PM EST on the History Channel. In 1969 an MIT graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and a patent for an underwater device for locating metals motored along the surface of Hendricks Lake in an eight-foot fiberglass boat towing his electronics. The various people that searched for the Hendricks Lake treasure hooked him. Some fishermen in the last century pulled several silver bars from those very waters with a hoop net. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. George Mallory (left) with Andrew Irvine in the last known photo of them on their fatal Everest climb in June 1924. Born to an American mother and English father in Knoxville, Tennessee, Hendricks was raised in Portland, Oregon, and Twin Falls, Idaho, where she became active in local theater. Hendericks was a member of the Cras Est Nostrum and became Salazar at some point in the past. Singer Treasure on Padre Island In the mid-nineteenth century, a man named Isaac Merritt Singer made significant improvements to the sewing machine. The story was reporting the fact that Tatum beat a man to death who essentially made fun of that effort, Pinkerton said. And then again, the 50s and 60s, there were a bunch of these treasure magazines about metal detectors. 0000044783 00000 n 156 0 obj Others have mounted full-scale salvage expeditions with backhoes and monster trucks and whatnot. He frequently returned to Galveston or the barrier islands near New Orleans to unload booty or take on supplies procured by Pierre. 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. Kuna, ID hosted by Treasure Valley Disc Golf. There are two legends in particular that seem to have found purchase in the minds of East Texas treasure hunters. 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. Leave them blank to get signed up. Charles Fitzhugh Grice had the technology needed to find Spanish silver if the treasure was there. Over the years there have been many who made a minimal effort or spent a little time at the lake only to discover that the conditions were too difficult and they had neither the time nor the money for such an undertaking. He also noted there were a handful of other treasure legends that were nearly the same but with a different location or body of water and no specific piece of evidence regarding the Hendricks Lake silver on which he can hang his hat., When asked what he hopes Sunken Silver will accomplish, he answered just to tell the story.. Winds light and variable.. In 1965, led a team of Iowans in some aborted, but ambitious, attempts at the treasure. 159 0 obj Plus, if when they come back and nothing can be found, he says they have the whole Texas coast and more to continue their search. And if so is the treasure still there? Host Mattie Blake and local movie maker Christian B. Roper (see Sunken Silver) led a team conducting underwater searching. The tale basically states Galveston-based pirate Jean Laffite, in the year 1816, plundered a Spanish ship named the Santa Rosa. 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. The divers do feel some round objects, and a piece is All in all, several wagons loaded with silver ingots went into the river. TV repairman in Carthage who kept up his efforts for years and was the local expert. Low 47F. There are two legends in particular that seem to have found purchase in the minds of East Texas treasure hunters. But all the treasure hunters declared that I must be hiding the truth. Im hoping someday that people can get back down there, Pinkerton said. 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. Gary L. Pinkerton, This caused the Did the infamous privateer Jean Laffite steal a $2 million fortune in silver from a Spanish galleon and bury it in the Sabine River near the East Texas town Sabine? "You're a liability, Sebastian" Hendricks[src] Agent D. Hendricks is an FBI agent and the leader of Cras Est Nostrum. The same thing is true for the Paradise Cove Lodge down California 178. In 2018, we decided to renew the legend with some information of our own. There are many stories about famed pirate Jean Lafitte, but one places his lost buried treasure at the bottom of a lake right here in East Texas. 0000000756 00000 n . After completing high school in Virginia, she moved to New York City and pursued a career as a model following her entry into a Seventeen cover contest. 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. 2019. There was no treasure found. Christian knows his pirate history! <<83DDF97377B4B2110A0000A4D0C2FC7F>]/Prev 639425>> During the Mexican War of Independence, the Laffites served as spies for the Spanish, after moving to Galveston Island, Texas. Hotspots would include the many watercourses through the area and gravel arroyos northeast of Boise, near Idaho City. 0000010052 00000 n Please post photos and a general area if you have . Laffite was wounded in the battle and is believed to have died just after dawn. Although hes fascinated by the legend and the excitement it created, Pinkerton doesnt believe its even a little bit true. hunt presented by Christian, Rick and Marty offer to send Matty Blake down to Barnie Waldrop and the former Sheriff of Panola County, Corbett Akins, at the time were in an article on the first page of the Wall Street Journal. The Cherokees started getting their butts kicked. Texas oilmen. The story revolves around oil fields in Texas, USA. from oil explorers and water witchers to plain nuts.. Hendricks Lake was the sight of many treasure hunts over the course of the 20th century. The earliest mention of the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake that Pinkerton could find was in 1884. He is the primary antagonist of season one of National Treasure: Edge of History. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents(Provide feedback)/Rect[392.1938 211.9047 476.7295 224.7953]/StructParent 8/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Low 47F. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents( \n h t t p s : / / s c h o l a r w o r k s . It is this tale that Christian wants to follow up on. Houston oilmen who conducted the largest search ever attempted in 1957-1958. The area served as a naval base during the war, and the publication notes that when the Allied forces were approaching, the Nazi's began sinking treasures in metal boxes in the lake . The stolen loot was smuggled north some years later but ended up in Lake. 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. When you see Hendricks Lake it just looks like it should have treasure in it.. I got copies of pages in Spanish that say Yeah there was the Santa Rosa, the proposed name of the ship, there was a Santa Rosa, (but) it didnt sink. It carried cane liquor and salt and sugar from Cuba to Cadiz. Winds light and variable. His main focus is on Jean Lafittes treasure, Roper has been pursuing the legend and examining where and how the various parts of the story originated. . 0000002062 00000 n 0000003134 00000 n I havent found anything to suggest that a centuries-worth of stories about buried treasure have any credence. Six wagon loads of silver carried north along Trammels Trace. After sitting undisturbed for more than 10 years, a treasure chest holding gold nuggets and precious gems has been found in the Rocky Mountains. 0000002542 00000 n Not a treasure hunter, but a character who built an amphibious tractor he called the Watt-a-Bug which he drove into Hendricks Lake. They both were at the lake during the treasure hunts of 1957 and 1958. though. Follow the link to read our updated Privacy Policy. . Ocean Breeze. (All you English teachers out there, stop making fun of me for using the what is now known as phrase two sentences in a row.) One group proposed to use a new divining rod activated with isotopes. In the early 1820s, Great Colombia under the government of Simon Bolivar had begun commissioning former privateers as officers in their newly formed navy. Other stories of Pirate Treasures are discussed. The ships turned out to be heavily armed privateers and they mounted a frontal counterattack that included heavy fire. This lake has its dangers, of course. e d u / e t h j)/Rect[230.8867 249.8227 390.0566 261.5414]/StructParent 5/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> He believes that stories like this reveal something about the people who tell them. Every dollar helps. The tale basically states Galveston-based pirate Jean Laffite, in the year 1816, plundered a Spanish ship named the Santa Rosa. 157 0 obj The lake is located in the extreme northeastern part of the county along the boundary between Rusk and Panola. Some tough local lawmen. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Little is known about his origins, but he was probably born either in Basque-France or in the French colony Saint-Domingue. endobj The legends a legend, but the people that believed it and the effort they went through to actually find it despite obvious questions about the details, Pinkerton stated. Is there anything better than the tale of someone discovering a hidden clue, figuring out an obscure reference, finding the final piece of the puzzle, and then discovering a fantastic stash of gold or silver? Gary is currently working on a history of Spanish East Texas focused between 1770 and 1813. The Irish Crown Jewels, stolen from Dublin Castle over a century ago, are still out there for treasure-seekers to find today. Roper believes that the Little Cypress Creek story and the Hendricks Lake story may have a common heritage. "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. Hughes Springs up in Cass County was founded by two brothers looking for a treasure in the 1850s or 60s. Although it hasnt yet been decided if the film will first be released at festivals and then to the public, Sunken Silver will eventually be available through online streaming. That was the story.. Christian is not discouraged. For information on, or to order Trammels Trace, visit www.trammelstrace.com. Off the shores of Nova Scotia is Oak Island, a place where unimaginable riches (or absolutely nothing) can supposedly be found at the bottom of a money pit that has eluded treasure seekers for centuries.Originally, the money pit was found in 1795 by a teenager named Daniel McGinnis who claimed he saw mysterious lights coming from the island, and upon investigating, found a small circular hole . Legend has it that the ship was so big it took two months to load and the Spanish were so upset with its loss that they sent five more ships to recover it- unsuccessfully. 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. Many of them are wandering through the beaches and backlands with nothing more than metal detectors. Angie Hendricks has been a dedicated RE/MAX Realtor for more than a decade, who offers attention to detail in every real estate transaction she handles. Its just a great story and what intrigued me was the people engaged in that all over those 100 years.. hb```E@9Z9:sj*5)o(Hd`8iQ^gFMJNvZ7he);Ndx8uy}xc;Mt0u410[t0v4t40t40Zt00L@,E@`E,AsE^X/q5tDX4C#{ Beyond Oak Island Episode 2 Summary: Wild West Gold and the Search at Robbers Roost Canyon for Butch Cassidys Lost Treasure, All can be found to have a questing theme within them, Third Annual Masquerade Tribute of Hunts for Charity, The Second Annual Masquerade Tribute Wrap Up, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Affiliate Disclosure. By The Siberian Times reporter. Markers are dropped, and divers are sent down. <>stream An estimated $340 million., And as I write, the treasure hunters are out there, hunting, hunting, and hunting. Download Free PDF. Lets be honest, everybody loves a good treasure story. Roper is the director of a four-part documentary series about the Hendricks Lake legend titled Sunken Silver. The documentary follows Ropers personal journey with the story, starting when he first heard it at 7-years-old and chronicling his dives and searches at Hendricks Lake. 155 0 obj He bought some steam engines and pumps, had a months worth of logs to keep the steam engines going and was gonna drain the lake. 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. The silver was never recovered. The other big buried treasure legend from East Texas is the story of Little Cypress Creek. He built a new kind of sewing machine, and in 1851 he started I.M. Two oilmen from Texas actually brought a giant crane to the lake after getting some interesting readings from the bottom of Hendricks Lake. The basic story is that in 1816 silver stolen by pirate Jean Lafitte from the Spanish brig Santa Rosa was being moved north from Matagorda Bay to St. Louis, Missouri, for disposal. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. accessed March 05, 2023, Texas oilmen who later drilled an oil well based on scripture. The stories of treasure have been around for a long time, Pinkerton said. Click here to start your Free Trial (no credit card required), by Michelle Dillon michelle@thecherokeean.com. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. In Texas, the Laffites founded a pirate colony named Campeche. Hobe Sound. Many treasure hunters are convinced the money continues to lie beneath the mud of Little Cypress Creek in Upshur County. 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. Akins and one of his former deputies were landowners along the lake and active onlookers with a piece of the action. It was found approximately a decade later in 2020 in Wyoming by an anonymous treasure hunter later revealed to be former journalist and medical student Jack Stuef. Stella Wieser was a reporter at the Panola Watchman from June 2018 to April 2022. When I found out theres essentially a documentary, a great one right here in East Texas waiting to be put out there, I was just excited to try to do everything I could to make that happen, he commented. Building on that production they are airing a new 8-episode series titled "Beyond Oak Island" premiering Tuesday, November 17 at 9:00 pm central. But did it even exist? Sheriff of Carthage, who co-owned 470 acres on the northwest end of the lake with Corbett Akins. Believed the treasure was in Martin Creek after meeting old Mexicans with a map when he was just a boy. The people who have looked for Hendricks Lake treasure since the 50s have spent a lot of money and hired a researcher in Spain to see if the Santa Rosa actually existed, all kinds of things, Pinkerton said. If you would like to help, our fundraising campaign can be found here. By using deep-sea sonar technology that can pierce the thick mud and clay at the bottom of the lake, Roper said he may have found a cart or wagon that might have moved treasure to the lake. Pinkerton went on to describe how there have been dozens of expeditions and attempts to find buried treasure between Hendricks Lake and the Sabine River. Discovering history is part of the adventure, and that never ends. Lived at the lake, rented boats to people who wanted to fish. None of (the rest) lines up, but 1860s, 1870s, there was enough yada yada to create some story.. Gary L. Pinkerton is an author and independent researcher. Thats the one thing we all agree on about Sunken Silver, is that legend is a very powerful thing.. Some said it was Santa Annas gold sent north from San Jacinto, and others say it was not even in Hendricks Lake, but in Martin Creek. The box was hidden by millionaire art dealer. Houston oil men began a search for Spanish silver-thelegendary treasure of Hendricks Lake.! To view perks for contributors or to make a donation towards completion of the film, visit www.gofundme.com/sunkensilver. The duo are currently working to make a documentary about the local legend of sunken silver ingots in the lake near Tatum. They know its there. North of Tatum, in the middle of the woods, lies Hendricks Lake. Every penny counts! 0000003470 00000 n 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. Singer & Co., which was renamed the Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865. The tried to dynamite the bottom, but ended up with no silver for this efforts. This book is the story of those people. In 1912 it was like a big resort, come out and fish and real flowery language (in advertisements).. Paul Uncle Fox Tatum, son of the founder of Tatum, Texas, carried out the first documented attempt to recover the treasure in 1884. 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. An historian named Herbert Bolton, using the original journals of the Mexicans from the eighteenth century, found what is now known as the Boyd shaft on Honey Creek. True West Magazine article on Jean Lafitte. From the first searches in the 1880s to the large scale efforts of the 1950s and 1960s, its story has . 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. May the hunters strike gold. For Roper, stories like these are more than a curiosity. For more information on Sunken Silver, visit www.sunkensilver.com. The search is called off for the time being. 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. In 1925, W.E. 0000001730 00000 n Id met his daughter, who when she was 12, they let her push the plunger on the dynamite to blow up the bottom of the lake.. A brig named Santa Rosa plundered in Matagorda Bay in 1816. The total value? endobj A TV repairman. That set off a huge treasure hunting stampede. In one Internet posting, I read the following: Texas has more buried treasure than any other state, with 229 sites within the states borders. they might find something, a storm rolls in. Many came to the lake to drain, dredge, dig, dynamite and scan its murky depths. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. And then he became postmaster two years later, so apparently nothing came of that. This catch rendered a lot of attention and by 1884, the Sabine River was riddled with silver hunters. By 1810, their successful smuggling operation had been supplemented with piracy. Christian B. Roper, Ryan Travis, and Brackston McKnight, all Jacksonville natives, are working toward a documentary film about Hendricks Lake called Sunken Silver. Trammel's Trace-The First Road to Texas from the North is a 2016 book by Gary L. Pinkerton. LAKE ISABELLA, Calif . 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. Jupiter Island. And an MIT-trained electrical engineer who held a patent for underwater metal detection. For more information about this incredible project and to see a short film trailer, go to their website at www.sunkensilver.com. 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! If information about one of the last searchers had been documented and publicized it would likely have discouraged further similar attempts in the future. Calvin Wilcher is in charge of the scans..he is on watch for something not of Mother nature. <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents(www.easttexashistorical.org)/Rect[308.5376 282.2367 447.0903 295.1273]/StructParent 4/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Soldiers approach, wagons sunk in Hendricks Lake, an oxbow lake just south of the Sabine River in northeastern Rusk County. People from Texas, Louisiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kentucky, California, and even England wanted to find that treasure. The dig, which employed 39 Zuni workmen, was conducted from 1917 through 1921 and in 1923, and uncovered approximately 25,000 artifacts as well as human remains. Christian B. Roper on a scouting trip for his film . Only recently did I learn of a parallel effort to tell the story of the Hendricks Lake treasure legend via film.