When we were looking through the story and seeing some of the characters that got interested in it, seeing some of the nations most prominent treasure hunters getting interested in the story, the story being picked up by some of the largest magazines and news outlets across the country in the 50s and 60s, seeing involvement from one of the worlds most famous psychicsits an incredible story, Roper noted. Born in Longview in East Texas and living in Houston, Gary has published works of history born of his curiosity about what happened long ago in East Texas that played a role in the history of the Republic and of the State of Texas. 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. In the last chapter of the book, I really talk about where do we go from here now., Theres something inherent in us that wants to believe those legends, Pinkerton stated. 33 Missing Treasures Experts Say Are Real - Best Life 162 0 obj hunt presented by Christian, Rick and Marty offer to send Matty Blake down to It featured Pirate Treasures. If the treasure is out there, then some East Texan is bound to find it. THE LEGEND A brig named Santa Rosa plundered in Matagorda Bay in 1816. Hutchinson Island. When you see Hendricks Lake it just looks like it should have treasure in it.. There are two legends in particular that seem to have found purchase in the minds of East Texas treasure hunters. 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. Hendricks Lake, Hendrick's Lake treasure is focus of Houston historian's upcoming book Over the years, Hendricks 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. endobj Download Free PDF. The July 17, 1958 edition of the Panola Watchman includes this update on a search for Jean LaFittes treasure at Hendricks Lake near Tatum. This is the list to receive occasional emails containing special offers, deals and promotions (like contests). 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 . 154 0 obj 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. 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. . Pinkerton himself doesnt personally believe there was any silver brought through East Texas during the time in which the legend takes place because the roads were little more than Indian trails. Treasure chest worth millions found in the Rocky Mountains after decade Roper himself had first heard the legend when he was a young boy and has returned to it intermittently throughout his life. \Dy@tw sde!F@D}@10 4c/ Alternate versions of that story have been documented since the 1880s, with variations including that the silver was from Santa Anna and the battle of San Jacinto and that the treasure was in a different location nearby. 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. 0000003470 00000 n 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. Brackston has been on board about 12 of those months. It was a cloudy evening with low visibility, and Laffite attempted to capture what appeared to be two Spanish merchant vessels. And soldiers were overtaking them, so they had six wagon loads full of gold and silver they dumped it in the lake. 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. PRIME turn-key restaurant is a landmark of Fort Laud(Former Ernie's BBQ). Lake Hendricks - Iowa DNR TATUM A trio of Jacksonville natives wants to turn two-century-old piracy legend into a full-length feature documentary film and theyre seeking funding help to do it. <>stream An estimated $340 million., And as I write, the treasure hunters are out there, hunting, hunting, and hunting. Barnie Waldrop of carthage was one of the more persistent treasure hunters. Jean Lafitte's treasure Photo of Hendricks Lake, courtesy of Gary L. Pinkerton This lake has its dangers, of course. My favorite part of the legend is that the Guadalupe Mission in El Paso was built in way so that the shadows of the mission point to the Lost Padre Mine. 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. That's . Host Mattie Blake and local movie maker Christian B. Roper (see Sunken Silver) led a team conducting underwater searching. Its hard to find any newspaper before that, but thats the first and oldest mention that I found of it, he said. 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. All they found was a big sawblade from one of the sawmills that had operated on the lake; they left the artifact behind for future treasure hunters. 3. Secret stash of tsar's gold worth billions found in old rail tunnel near Lake Baikal. To him it is the Chase and the history. By The Siberian Times reporter. The earliest mention of the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake that Pinkerton could find was in 1884. The story revolves around oil fields in Texas, USA. 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 historian Gary Pinkerton, a Longview native, is fascinated by those treasure hunters and their searches. Spanish silver stolen by the privateer, Jean Lafitte. More Idaho Treasure Tales - Legends of America 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. 160 0 obj Read More about The wreck of La Belle, 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? According to one legend, a group of priests put about three hundred burro loads of silver in a mine on one of their expeditions to New Mexico. 30 of the world's most valuable treasures that are still missing Fenn treasure - Wikipedia Rio Vista | MLS# F10370332 1001 SE 5th Ct , Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Ho-hum, right? 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. Handbook of Texas Online, Photo: WhisperToMe, Public domain. When researching Trammels Trace for my last book, I encountered the treasure legend of Hendricks Lake. What they would love to find, if not the silver, are clues to the treasure at least being there. None of (the rest) lines up, but 1860s, 1870s, there was enough yada yada to create some story.. He also might have(might have, I remind you)come across a wooden chest containing what was then $80,000 in jewelry and coins. The self-proclaimed worlds greatest underwater treasure hunter wrote several articles about Hendricks Lake for pulp magazines of the 50s and 60s. The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country - Legends of America Joe spent many hours growing up around Milzie Williamson and later used his Fisher M-Scope metal detector to search those mysterious holes. Beyond Oak Island Summary of Episode 1: Pirate Treasures and the Search The legend of Hendricks Lake treasure has inspired men to search for it for at least 150 years. There were treasure legends like that all over Texas, he said. Now, two years later, in his book, "True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake," he has given new life to a legend about hidden silver that developed alongside Trammel's Trace. Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake" but he is not a 'true believer' himself. 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. . 0000001207 00000 n Soldiers approach, wagons sunk in Hendricks Lake, an oxbow lake just south of the Sabine River in northeastern Rusk County. 158 0 obj 1930, it came up again, 35. Oak Island Treasure Found May 18, 2021 - YouTube Hendricks Lake Map - Texas, United States - Mapcarta The last. Spanish soldiers in pursuit overtook the transport at Hendricks Lake and rather than give up the silver, the transport leader cut six wagonloads of silver loose and pushed them into Hendricks Lake. mATTY BLAKE (HOST) AND cHRISTIAN B. ROPER. Scotty Stotlar, Sr., appeared to have what it took to mount another serious attempt. We met with Gary and it was very strange because he was working on this book at the same time we were working on this film and it had been decades since anyone had ever shown any interest in Hendricks Lake.. Some fishermen in the last century pulled several silver bars from those very waters with a hoop net. The son of the founder of the town of Tatum. No one's found the Spanish silver cache, but some treasure seekers in this area have struck gold-or gemstones, as the case may be. "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. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. The total value? Christian is not discouraged. There was an error processing your request. 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. For more information on Sunken Silver, visit www.sunkensilver.com. Christian B. Roper on a scouting trip for his film . Mainly clear. The desire to believe that millions of dollars of silver bars still lie at the bottom of Hendricks Lake is not for the treasure hunters only. 0000044783 00000 n They lowered another contraption through the pipe to the lake floor. Bronze Age treasure found in Swedish forest by mapmaker 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. An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. 10 Lost Treasures in America Waiting to be Found. Winds light and variable. The tale basically states Galveston-based pirate Jean Laffite, in the year 1816, plundered a Spanish ship named the Santa Rosa. 0000002763 00000 n He built a new kind of sewing machine, and in 1851 he started I.M. Hendricks Lake, once a commonly-frequented lake both for recreation and treasure hunting, is no longer accessible to the public. ]9xd@% ilIA):cOr+}fJg-|o)!6ns+"6nsj[R JMr}bz b)N$PvfeY%Gc Za}J8420sw*b96z>r$J54a 75U,Y{hw!C'9i?| P[Zvh]|bNb7hRAbTi#n'M{ Any "COB" finds in Texas I was just wondering if any member in Texas has found any cobs, reales, etc. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The People hendrickslake.com Angie Hendricks - Real Estate Agent in Lake Butler, FL - Zillow To make this film a reality, we are seeking donors to help us meet our minimum budget goal. 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. 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. Any "COB" finds in Texas | TreasureNet The Original Treasure Hunting 168 0 obj But all the treasure hunters declared that I must be hiding the truth. Every penny counts! 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. Stella Wieser was a reporter at the Panola Watchman from June 2018 to April 2022. The hidden fortunes of the Doan Boys Gang, said to be $2 million at least. Blackbeard and the mysterious unsolved code of Olivier Levassuer, or The Buzzard, are mentioned. Ocean Breeze. The Lakeview Motel's name is false advertising these dry days. . A Book by Gary L. Pinkerton, author of "Trammel's Trace", Ive seen fifty of em beaten by the lakes bog bottom, from oil explorers and water witchers to plain nuts. . This caused the World's largest 'treasure hoard' worth over $20 billion may soon be found <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents()/Rect[493.2393 594.2333 540.0 607.124]/StructParent 3/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> Beyond Oak Island Summary of Episode 1: Pirate Treasures and the Search in Hendricks Lake for Jean Lafittes Lost Treasure. 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. Fort Worth Daily Gazette, October 3, 1884. Gary Pinkerton, True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake, East Texas Historical Journal 47 (2009). He is portrayed by Armando Riesco. 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. During his research for Trammals Trace, Pinkerton came upon the legend and it was something he tucked away and parked for a little while.. In one account, Pinkerton recalls doing research and finding a story about the son of the founder of Tatum. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. 3 talking about this. Its just a great story and what intrigued me was the people engaged in that all over those 100 years.. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. The legend says that in 1816, Laffite and his fellow pirates plundered six wagon loads worth of silver from the Spanish. Last dive for Lake Toplitz's Nazi gold | World news | The Guardian Lake Ridge (5) Las Olas Isles (5) Las Olas by the Sea (0) Lauder Gate Isles (2) . Their father, Barnie Waldrop, was the most active local treasure hunter. And if so is the treasure still there? Laffite approached them and was granted a commission and given command over a 43-ton schooner named General Santander. Cush Reeves. At the age of 25, Jean Laffite was living in New Orleans, operating a warehouse essential to dispersing the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre. The Hix boys from Baytown were featured on Discovery Channel's "Expedition Unknown" for their quest . Meanwhile, his younger brother John was exploring the coast of Texas. There are many stories about the famous pirate Gene Lafitte, but one of them places his lost treasure at the bottom of a lake right here in East Texas. Sheriff of Carthage, who co-owned 470 acres on the northwest end of the lake with Corbett Akins. Calvin Wilcher is in charge of the scans..he is on watch for something not of Mother nature. I havent found anything to suggest that a centuries-worth of stories about buried treasure have any credence. 0000006665 00000 n :icon_scratch: Thanks, Ernie Many believe the body of water concealing the silver to be Hendricks Lake near Tatum, although other places have also been examined. One particularly famous legend is that of Jean Lafitte's treasure. 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. On 4 February 1823, Laffite was onboard the General Santander off the town of Omoa in Honduras. 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). 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. endobj Some tough local lawmen. It featured Pirate Treasures. click photo for more. Follow the link to read our updated Privacy Policy. James Bowie went on an expedition to find it. Visibility is nil, so it is a touchy situation. 148 0 obj Hendrick's Lake treasure is focus of Houston historian's upcoming book, By Stella Wieser Location of Forrest Fenn's Treasure Finally Revealed Laffite was wounded in the battle and is believed to have died just after dawn. The first episode premiered on Tuesday November 17 at 10PM EST on the History Channel. 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. :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 %PDF-1.7 % 1``b`5 Y0$ Au`j`H@ endobj June 6, 2020 - Fenn writes on his blog that the treasure has been found. 25 Real-Life Treasure Hunts That Turned Up Millions In Loot - TheTravel On his visits to Hendricks Lake with his son, they got a hit and brought a diver along to search the bottom. Treasure Hunters Find Mysterious Shipwreck in Lake Michigan Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? March 11 Saturday Daylight Wasting C-tier . And then again, the 50s and 60s, there were a bunch of these treasure magazines about metal detectors. Although hes fascinated by the legend and the excitement it created, Pinkerton doesnt believe its even a little bit true. hb```E@9Z9:sj*5)o(Hd`8iQ^gFMJNvZ7he);Ndx8uy}xc;Mt0u410[t0v4t40t40Zt00L@,E@`E,AsE^X/q5tDX4C#{ endobj A heating and air conditioning contractor. Or Black Lake. Now, more modern equipment was available, and one man used a metal detector and managed to get some interesting readings from the bottom of the lake. Contacts. help him in his search. The Cherokees started getting their butts kicked. Hendricks Lake was the sight of many treasure hunts over the course of the 20th century. Not all listings found on this site are necessarily listed through Best of Luxury Realty, Corp. 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. The NOAA says the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and partners first found the Ohio in Lake Huron in 2017. 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. 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 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. 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. The silver was never recovered. <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 142 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> But did it even exist? The legend has taken many twists over the years. In a location on the lake, matching the tale, with a sloped Every dollar helps. But alas, nothing came of it. His main focus is on Jean Lafittes treasure, 0000010052 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.. 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. 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. The divers do feel some round objects, and a piece is 161 0 obj In the final battle of the War of 1812, Lafitte and his comrades helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British. Just another myth? Seagoville pharmacist who was the diver that planted dynamite on the bottom of Hendricks Lake. 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. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Others have mounted full-scale salvage expeditions with backhoes and monster trucks and whatnot. The Irish Crown Jewels, stolen from Dublin Castle over a century ago, are still out there for treasure-seekers to find today. The men, in fear of Spanish retaliation, are said to have hidden the wagons in a nearby body of water. endobj So, he set up these steam engines and buckets on a conveyor belt and pumps. Another legend has it that in 1595, Juan de Oate hid five silver bars, 4,336 gold ingots, nine burro loads of jewels, and four priceless Aztec codices (books or manuscripts) in the mine. 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. (Image credit: Pictorial Press Ltd./Alamy) British . endobj Singer Treasure on Padre Island In the mid-nineteenth century, a man named Isaac Merritt Singer made significant improvements to the sewing machine. 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. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. trailer Hendricks Lake was By the time the summer of 1958 had ended, Waldrop, buzzing again and the moss-laden oaks echoed the sound of the SoRelles, and all of the other treasure hunters spurred on heavy equipment and trucks pulling in for another attempt. 0000004529 00000 n We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. The Lost Treasure of Hendricks Lake The infamous pirate of the Gulf Jean Lafitte took a $2 million fortune in silver from a Spanish galleon and supposedly buried it in the Sabine River near the East Texas town of Sabine. May the hunters strike gold. All in all, several wagons loaded with silver ingots went into the river. Beyond Oak Island: The search for stolen pirate silver in East Texas Christina Hendricks - Wikipedia 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. <> At one point, while wandering the beaches of Padre Island, he came across a bunch of Spanish coins. A dirt contractor. 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. Lets be honest, everybody loves a good treasure story. We organized some strategic searches via dives doing grid patterns and things of that sort to try to get those up.. Connecting the legend to peoples minds now so it doesnt die out, I think is important, Pinkerton asserted. A pharmacist. 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. 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. 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. A Book by Gary L. Pinkerton, author of "Trammel's Trace". George Heye's Legacy: An Unparalleled Collection Kuna, ID hosted by Treasure Valley Disc Golf. Singer & Co., which was renamed the Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. So read this, get up, and go after your pot of gold. . (Courtesy of Andy Swanger) As far as more. Snavely of Taylor, who had hunted treasure for 60 years, found a ruby arrowhead weighing 15 karats, along with many other gemstones. 2018 Sunken Silver. The story goes that wagon loads of silver Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) They did their research and, with dredging equipment and electronics gear, made multiple trips to Hendricks Lake but had no success. . Gary L. Pinkerton is an author and independent researcher. s f a s u . On the trail of East Texas' buried treasure Numerous springs within and around the lake keep it filled. To the north of Tatum, in the middle of the forest, lies Lake Hendrix. Treasures revealed as California drought drains lakes Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). In 2005, Agent Hendricks was a young FBI agent who was aware . Lost Treasure In Texas Is All Over The State - OnlyInYourState (In English documents, his last name was often spelled Lafitte, but Laffite was the spelling used by Jean and his brother Pierre.). There are two legends in particular that seem to have found purchase in the minds of East Texas treasure hunters. It is now thought that the money is on the southernmost tip of Padre Island. A nearby lake fed by the Sabine River also caught their attention, since the silver might have been transported there by the current. 15 Hidden Treasures Rumored to Be Somewhere in the United States 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.