Dave Rishar
Silver Member
Ah Fong's Gold
It seems that every community has some sort of a hidden treasure legend. Even Kitsap County is no exception. The following excerpt is quoted from "Kitsap County, a History," published by the Kitsap County Historical Society under fair use:
"Ah Fong's memory lingers on long after the children of Seabeck forget about Blinn and Adams and Clayson. For Ah Fong was a thrifty Chinese cook for the mill company and probably arrived with his pockets bulging with $20 gold pieces. For when a ship didn't arrive in time from San Francisco to pay the mill workers, Ah Fong was always ready to loan the mill owners the cash they needed to meet payroll.
"When asked, he'd always tell Blinn that he would come back later with the money. He'd disappear into the woods and always return with the gold. But on one of these trips, Ah Fong disappeared. If he was killed by a wild cat or bear, or fell in an abandoned hole, the gold is still in the woods. But if, like most now conjecture, he was followed into the woods, the gold is long gone."
There are a few different versions of this story but they mostly agree that Ah Fong came to Seabeck as a mill cook sometime in the 1850's and disappeared in the 1870's. They all agree that he'd cover the mill's bankroll if necessary and that he paid in gold. Some versions flesh this out a bit, claiming that Ah Fong got his start in San Francisco as a hotel cook (he'd been a cook by trade when he left China) and that he made a significant amount of money there by helping other Chinese get to America, which may very well be a nice way of saying that he was a coyote on the side; he would have been in a somewhat unique position to have frequent contact with wealthy and powerful patrons, and many of them would have had use for a connected fixer. This version of the story explains his trip north as basically a favor to one or more of the mill owners, who he'd befriended during his day job and who had offered him a job cooking for them at the mill in Seabeck.
Plausible? I think so. While no source goes right out and claims this, when I read between the lines I get the distinct impression that Ah Fong was a somewhat shady and possibly even downright unsavory character. If we assume that things played out the way that the stories say, he had no obvious reason to leave San Francisco or even to cook - he was making all his money on the side, and he'd already made plenty of it. He was either cooking because he enjoyed it or because he needed a cover for other activities. Why go north? It may have been out of a sense of duty and/or friendship as claimed, or it might have been that he needed to get out of town in a hurry and could look forward to friends and shelter in what was essentially another country back then. Perhaps he just wanted a change of pace. If his reasons were ever known, they appear to be lost to history.
At least one version of the story states that Ah Fong wasn't just loaning the mill money out of the kindness of his heart, but that he set terms and collected interest on these loans. That's only reasonable after all, and the mill owners would probably have been forced to agree to this, particularly if his terms were in line with those of banks. (And he was a lot closer than any bank at the time.) As for burying his money in the woods? People didn't trust banks back then. People don't trust banks today. Folks are still burying valuables. Completely believable.
So, if we accept that Ah Fong and his gold were real, where are they now? Seabeck is far more developed than it was in 1870 but even today, it's a fairly rural area and there are a whole lot of wooded areas in "the hills above the mill," where his hiding spot was thought to be. Most or all of this would have been logged out at some point between then and now, but even the third growth forests that remain make for some unpleasant trekking and he wouldn't have wanted to go very far - perhaps a mile or two at most. That leaves a lot of forest, most of it trackless. That also leaves some parking lots, driveways, and a subdivision or two. If that gold is still there, it may very well be completely inaccessible.
My personal feeling is that there was an Ah Fong, he did have a good quantity of gold, and his remains are probably buried fairly close to where his gold used to be. Seabeck was a bit livelier during its time as a mill town than it is today, and it's quite easy to believe that a sailor passing through (or even a racist or greedy local) would have successfully followed him to his stash and killed him for it before leaving the area. He was an important man around town, but he was also a wealthy Chinese man; that would have made him a target during that period of time. For all the good that he reportedly did, he likely would have made a lot of enemies in the process, and that's before you factor in his money.
I don't think that we'll ever know. But there you are - a Kitsap treasure legend. If any of you go looking for this and prove me wrong, consider kicking one of those coins my way as a finder's fee.
It seems that every community has some sort of a hidden treasure legend. Even Kitsap County is no exception. The following excerpt is quoted from "Kitsap County, a History," published by the Kitsap County Historical Society under fair use:
"Ah Fong's memory lingers on long after the children of Seabeck forget about Blinn and Adams and Clayson. For Ah Fong was a thrifty Chinese cook for the mill company and probably arrived with his pockets bulging with $20 gold pieces. For when a ship didn't arrive in time from San Francisco to pay the mill workers, Ah Fong was always ready to loan the mill owners the cash they needed to meet payroll.
"When asked, he'd always tell Blinn that he would come back later with the money. He'd disappear into the woods and always return with the gold. But on one of these trips, Ah Fong disappeared. If he was killed by a wild cat or bear, or fell in an abandoned hole, the gold is still in the woods. But if, like most now conjecture, he was followed into the woods, the gold is long gone."
There are a few different versions of this story but they mostly agree that Ah Fong came to Seabeck as a mill cook sometime in the 1850's and disappeared in the 1870's. They all agree that he'd cover the mill's bankroll if necessary and that he paid in gold. Some versions flesh this out a bit, claiming that Ah Fong got his start in San Francisco as a hotel cook (he'd been a cook by trade when he left China) and that he made a significant amount of money there by helping other Chinese get to America, which may very well be a nice way of saying that he was a coyote on the side; he would have been in a somewhat unique position to have frequent contact with wealthy and powerful patrons, and many of them would have had use for a connected fixer. This version of the story explains his trip north as basically a favor to one or more of the mill owners, who he'd befriended during his day job and who had offered him a job cooking for them at the mill in Seabeck.
Plausible? I think so. While no source goes right out and claims this, when I read between the lines I get the distinct impression that Ah Fong was a somewhat shady and possibly even downright unsavory character. If we assume that things played out the way that the stories say, he had no obvious reason to leave San Francisco or even to cook - he was making all his money on the side, and he'd already made plenty of it. He was either cooking because he enjoyed it or because he needed a cover for other activities. Why go north? It may have been out of a sense of duty and/or friendship as claimed, or it might have been that he needed to get out of town in a hurry and could look forward to friends and shelter in what was essentially another country back then. Perhaps he just wanted a change of pace. If his reasons were ever known, they appear to be lost to history.
At least one version of the story states that Ah Fong wasn't just loaning the mill money out of the kindness of his heart, but that he set terms and collected interest on these loans. That's only reasonable after all, and the mill owners would probably have been forced to agree to this, particularly if his terms were in line with those of banks. (And he was a lot closer than any bank at the time.) As for burying his money in the woods? People didn't trust banks back then. People don't trust banks today. Folks are still burying valuables. Completely believable.
So, if we accept that Ah Fong and his gold were real, where are they now? Seabeck is far more developed than it was in 1870 but even today, it's a fairly rural area and there are a whole lot of wooded areas in "the hills above the mill," where his hiding spot was thought to be. Most or all of this would have been logged out at some point between then and now, but even the third growth forests that remain make for some unpleasant trekking and he wouldn't have wanted to go very far - perhaps a mile or two at most. That leaves a lot of forest, most of it trackless. That also leaves some parking lots, driveways, and a subdivision or two. If that gold is still there, it may very well be completely inaccessible.
My personal feeling is that there was an Ah Fong, he did have a good quantity of gold, and his remains are probably buried fairly close to where his gold used to be. Seabeck was a bit livelier during its time as a mill town than it is today, and it's quite easy to believe that a sailor passing through (or even a racist or greedy local) would have successfully followed him to his stash and killed him for it before leaving the area. He was an important man around town, but he was also a wealthy Chinese man; that would have made him a target during that period of time. For all the good that he reportedly did, he likely would have made a lot of enemies in the process, and that's before you factor in his money.
I don't think that we'll ever know. But there you are - a Kitsap treasure legend. If any of you go looking for this and prove me wrong, consider kicking one of those coins my way as a finder's fee.
