Jesse James Treasures: Do They Likely Still Exist?

There is some local evidence and Cherokee stories that his and other gangs hid in the hills outside Tahlequah, OK. I have been there many times working with the Cherokee Nation and have been in one of these caves on Cherokee land. Even today, it is well-hidden and you'd never know it was there unless a local took you or you stumbled upon it. That being said, you're unlikely to stumble upon it as it is hidden away on private land. The cave is rather small and has the bottom filled in with small boulders that are not of the same make-up as the cave. It is up on a bluff above a small creek. Nobody has bothered excavating it as it and the creek below the entrance are both sacred to the Cherokee.
 

:thumbsup::coffee2:8-) deodar: Thank You Very Much For The Cool Story... And Sharing Interesting Info... Tahlequah has long been, and is definitely always one of my favorite haunts... Though I Do Have A lot Of Cherokee Blood...
Both Parents, (and a lot of Choctaw), My Ancestors Though Being Well Over 1/2 Or Better, Insisted On Mingling With The European Whites Of The Period ( After The Trail Of Tears, The Civil War, And The Brutal Plains Indians Wars Of The Late 1800's, etc.), And Left The Cherokee Lands Area, Then Went To Work And Living In The Remote S/E Mountain Local: Refusing To Sign The Dawes Rolls, And Residing In The Areas Including Some On The Chickasaw Creek, In The Choctaw Country Of S/E Indian Territory, And Those Areas Of The Jack Forks Of: The Winding Stair Mountains... Though Having No Legal Tie To The Cherokees, Certainly A lot Of Consideration... The Cave Sounds Super Cool... I've Always Wondered About Them Steep Bluffs All Along The Illinois River, Etc., And Just Enjoy What I Can When Visiting There, And The Baron Fork, The Foothills Of The Ozarks, Etc... In Those Excellent Sacred Areas, Where It Is Well Known Even The Ancient Paleolithic Peoples Had Visited (Maybe 8,000-11,000+ BC), And Seemingly All Of The Periods Since Known Of... It Seems Likely, Usually Where JJ Was Finding A Place Interesting To Him And Stopping, That Spot Had Previously Been Visited, Of Ancient Times... Then there is the Story Of Cherokee Indian Outlaw "Ned Christy", Somewhere In Those River Bluffs, About The Several Lawmen Who Discovered And Burned His Cabin, Shooting Him As He And A Friend Tried To Escape The Fire, Though His Loot Was Supposedly Never Found, As The Story Goes... A Mysterious And Intriguing Ancient Place For Sure... Thanks Again, Would Love To See A Picture, If Permitted, Of Course... ~: CDS :~


Great reply! This particular area is steeped both in history and legend. Often, the two seem married to one another. Due to the nature of the investigation, I cannot give away too much, but please the below images. I hope you enjoy!


IMG_0638.JPGIMG_0639.JPGIMG_0640.JPGIMG_0644.JPGIMG_0645.JPG

This image is too large to post here, but you may visit the link below to view or download it.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/74144/web pics/IMG_0637.JPG
 

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:coffee2:8-):thumbsup:Yes, Quite Interesting... Some Intriguing Familiar Shapes Going On There, A Pleasure To View Indeed... More Evidence Of How Much Time Was Apparently Spent In "The Nations", Nice Pics!!! Best Regards, ~: CDS :~

Agreed. Did you notice the tunnel in the floor of the cave that's been filled in, but there's a cavity below it? I wish the image was in focus, but it was getting dark and I didn't have my external light. I had left it back at camp. I was not thinking about it at the time, but my cohort was below me by the creek. I should've asked for his light.
 

:coffee2:8-)Yes... Just Curious, Do You Get A Little Spooky Feeling There? LOL... Would Be Fun To Run A Deep Seeker... At The Risk Of Being Annoying, Do You Recognize The Carvings?... Thanks, ~: CDS :~

I will PM you.
 

:coffee2:8-) Yes, your pictures could be better, like you say, losing light, getting dark, etc... Still, Very glad you got to take, and shared what you did... Still Enjoying!... The One Of The Entrance (Outside) Is Really Pretty Nice, I Think... If you run across any others in your work and travels, We Would Enjoy Seeing Any More That You Might Be Able To Share, I'm Sure... I Think It's Typical That Often One Is Not At Liberty To Share, Or Discuss, Much More In A Situation, Such As This... Just The Nature Of It... As Many Of Us Understand Quite Well... If That Cherokee Land Owner Ever Decides To Let You Do More Research, And You Need Another Assistant, Give A Shout! LOL!... Take Care, And Good Luck!... ~: CDS :~

I will certainly let you know!
 

I never believed that Jesse or frank james ever had much loot left over to stash. No matter what gang of outlaws you look at weather it was the james gang, the daltons or the dillinger gang. The gangs were generly made of of approx 5 to 7 members at any one time and to do any one job weather it be as bank or a train. If they did get away the first thing they had to do was to cover expenses, we don't usully think about it but they did have business expenses especially the james gang or they would not have lasted as long as they did. They had people to pay of, informants, silent helpers, people who would hide them. Then they had to split the money up, all these gang members who have just risk their lives wanted their share and then they also had expenses. They often had extended family members and friends they supported and they each had people that needed to be paid off and of course their was always the general gambleing and drinking, god forbid they wanted to get an honest job. I will agree that some money may have been stashed but not the massive treasures that we might like to believe, I think most of these guys lives from one robbery to the next.

Bill
 

That's something I've thought about as well. Ok...I was "Winging It" when I was typing last night, and I got one of the dates wrong. The 2-million Dollars in gold was taken in 1875. I have a book on Jesse James that lists the robberies that are suppose to be associated with him and his group/gang.
Liberty, Mo. Jan. 20, 1866..............................$72,000.00
Richmond, Mo. 1867...................................... $4000.00
Russellville, Ky. March 20, 1868.......................$14,000.00
Gallatin, Mo. December 7, 1869............................$700.00
Corydon, Iowa. June, 3, 1871............................$4000.00
Columbia, KY. April, 29, 1872............................$600.00
Kansas City Fair, Sept. 26, 1872........................$978.00
Ste. Genevieve, Mo. May 27, 1873.....................$3500.00
Iowa Train Robbery, July 21, 1873......................$2500.00
Hot Springs Stage, Jan. 15, 1874........................$2000.00
Gads Hill, Mo. Jan. 31, 1874.............................$5000.00
Corinth, Miss. ...............................................$10,000.00
Muncie, KS.....................................................$30,000.00
Huntington, W. VA. Sept. 1875...........................$10,000.00
Baxter Springs, KS. April 18, 1876.......................$3000.00
Otterville, MO. July 7, 1876................................$15,000.00
Northfield, MN. Sept. 7, 1876..............................$..........
Big Springs, WY. Sept. 18, 1877..........................$60,000.00
Glendale, MO. Oct. 8, 1879.................................$6000.00
Winston, MO. July, 15, 1881................................$4000.00
Blue Cut, Sept. 7, 1881........................................$16,000.00

TOTAL.............................................................$263,278.00

They took 260,000 split between 5 to 7 guys not to great of a haul for 15 years.They probably were boozing and gambling a lot away.Still interesting though be fun to m/t in any those areas they traveled.
 

They took 260,000 split between 5 to 7 guys not to great of a haul for 15 years.They probably were boozing and gambling a lot away.Still interesting though be fun to m/t in any those areas they traveled.

In today's dollars, based on the price of gold, this would be $16 million - about $175,000/year each for 15 years. I'd settle for those wages.
 

Ya so much of this type of conversation will always be guess work. When some treasure hunter finds a jar of gold coins he claims is from the old frank james farm, it's just a guess. Unless frank left a note in the jar saying it belonged to him there is no telling who buried it. I believe most of the outlaw gangs continued to rob because they needed to, they were running out of money and they needed more, robbing a bank or train was risky business. Look at all the famous outlaw gangs, James, Daltons, Dillinger, The Wild bunch even the greatest bank robbers of all time the Newton Boys, nobody robbed more banks than these guys and they never had enough and when they were caught they had nothing. On the other hand when a gang did make a good haul, often they did have a home and family to go back to or a place to hide out and rather than carry their money around they would bury it in their own "post hole bank" and I am sure there are many of these are still undiscovered and that thought is what keeps me going.

Bill
 

Hello everyone, new member here, I was wondering if anyone has any more information on the legend that JJ hid some of his loot near Dawson, AL? I have only seen the reference that he may have stashed some of his plunder there, but have been unsuccsessful in locating any more information. I have searched the forums and internet and have not been able to find any connection other than the vague reference, the reason I am asking for help is that I live just a few minutes from Dawson and one of my sons recalled seeing "JJ" carved in a rock where he used to Hike, we are planning to go hiking in the area again to see if he can remember where he seen it at. The hunt is on! :headbang:
 

We just inherited a coin that, according to my wife's family's oral tradition, was tossed to her great great grandfather by Jesse James after the Ocobock Brothers' Bank robbery in Corydon, Iowa.
 

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