spotz
Bronze Member
Over the last 45 or so years, I have heard numerous renditions of the two or three caches of gold in the Stage Gulch area. This is a 22 mile long normally dry gully in the bottom of a big draw that goes between Pendleton & Stanfield, Oregon. It was the part of the Overland Stage Route that served the forts at Walla Walla,Fort Henrietta in Echo, Fort The Dalles, the John Day River & Sumpter Gold mining communities, Baker City & all connections to the Columbia River in Umatilla, OR.
In about 1880 & again in 1900, there were two stage robberies in which the missing gold shipments were not recovered. One of them resulted in the arrest of the two suspects in Stanfield the day after the robbery. They stated that the gold was buried in stage gulch. The unlucky guys then kept an abrupt appointment with a big tree & a rope. Sudden justice prevailed, even though the gold remained lost. It was searched for & never found.
There is an article in a Aug. 1966 issue of True West Magazine that states that the Branstitter Ranch ( in Stage Gulch ) found several butchered chickens to have gold dust in their craws. This was verified at the time & numerous searches failed to turn up the cache. Same info
to date. The ranch is still there.
The story of the other stage robbery is similar other than it was supposed to be a shipment of gold coin for a payroll. It also was hidden in Stage Gulch & has never been recovered.
There is also a documented story of an Army shipment of gold coins ( supposedly $15,000.00 ) that was lost about 1878 as the result of an Indian Battle. This gold was buried under the corner of a large boulder or rock pile & the one surviving soldier was gravely injured. He walked & crawled for several days to near the vicinity of Ft. Henrietta in Echo where he was found & told his story with his dying breaths. The shipment was never recovered. There are several large boulders or rock piles within a few miles of the old fort site. Sat photos show them well. It's just a big job & area to search.
I grew up in Stanfield & in my younger years, I spent uncountable hours hunting & shooting in the lower end of Stage Gulch. Now I am 53 & I am retiring this year. I have been MDing for two years now ( when I could steal the time ) & it has become a passion. I fully intend to swing my DFX over the entire length of Stage Gulch over the next couple of years. If I recover something good, that will be great. If I don't, I still have a good time. Just work my way up one side then back down the other one section at a time until I get it done. I have plans to walk a lot of miles & hunt a lot of sites.
If you have any in-site or information to share about any of these " Treasure Legends " please post it or email me. Spotz
In about 1880 & again in 1900, there were two stage robberies in which the missing gold shipments were not recovered. One of them resulted in the arrest of the two suspects in Stanfield the day after the robbery. They stated that the gold was buried in stage gulch. The unlucky guys then kept an abrupt appointment with a big tree & a rope. Sudden justice prevailed, even though the gold remained lost. It was searched for & never found.
There is an article in a Aug. 1966 issue of True West Magazine that states that the Branstitter Ranch ( in Stage Gulch ) found several butchered chickens to have gold dust in their craws. This was verified at the time & numerous searches failed to turn up the cache. Same info
to date. The ranch is still there.
The story of the other stage robbery is similar other than it was supposed to be a shipment of gold coin for a payroll. It also was hidden in Stage Gulch & has never been recovered.
There is also a documented story of an Army shipment of gold coins ( supposedly $15,000.00 ) that was lost about 1878 as the result of an Indian Battle. This gold was buried under the corner of a large boulder or rock pile & the one surviving soldier was gravely injured. He walked & crawled for several days to near the vicinity of Ft. Henrietta in Echo where he was found & told his story with his dying breaths. The shipment was never recovered. There are several large boulders or rock piles within a few miles of the old fort site. Sat photos show them well. It's just a big job & area to search.
I grew up in Stanfield & in my younger years, I spent uncountable hours hunting & shooting in the lower end of Stage Gulch. Now I am 53 & I am retiring this year. I have been MDing for two years now ( when I could steal the time ) & it has become a passion. I fully intend to swing my DFX over the entire length of Stage Gulch over the next couple of years. If I recover something good, that will be great. If I don't, I still have a good time. Just work my way up one side then back down the other one section at a time until I get it done. I have plans to walk a lot of miles & hunt a lot of sites.
If you have any in-site or information to share about any of these " Treasure Legends " please post it or email me. Spotz
