Traverse City Michigan Treasure.

G

Gold_Fever

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There is a tale of some loot buried near the Traverse City Michigan Area.
I have been researching it, and as of yet have not found any records.

It goes that 4 men robbed a Stage coach that was carrying gold and money from Chicago.
The Four men took the look and Buried it in a pot belly stove. There was over $50,000.00
in Gold and Money taken. This was about 1870-1890 time area.
Thats all I have on it however.
 

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Hey, let me know if you turn up any other information, OR if you want some help locating said information. I'm from Cadillac.

Phil
 

I've been to Traverse City. A beautifull spot. I love Charlevoix and Petoskey as well.
If it's still there, I hope you find it and post some photos for us.
 

Did they burry it along the route or did they take it from the stage and burry it in another location? If you know anything else I have a friend who lives in a house that was a stop and I think he knows where all the old stops used to be.
 

I believe that this story is from Newaygo county. The White Cloud, Michigan public library has a printout of the story. I suggest calling them for their information. I can't remember the name of the lake the treasure is said to have been buried on, but when I was there it was mostly marsh and the solid ground loooked like a WWI battlefield.
 

YES THIS STORY IS FAMILIAR, AND IT WAS A STAGE COACH ROBBERY THAT HAPPEN IN NEWAYGO AREA, JUST READ AN ARTICLE ON IT THE OTHER DAY , THE QUESTION IS WHY WOULD THEY TAKE THE TIME TO BURY THE GOLD IN A POT BELLY STOVE? AND YOU HAVE TO THINK THAT THE COACH WAS PRETTY RICKITY FROM THE TRAILS.. I DID SAVE THIS IN ONE OF MY RESEARCH FILES TO FOLLOW UP ON... AND ALSO I THINK IT WAS IN A TREASURE EAST & WEST MAGAZINE JUST RECENTLY ALSO... IN WHICH I READ, I HAVE TO GO AND LOOK.. JEFF
 

i now live in white cloud mich the lake is not far away i plan on diving it this spring some one found old tools
that marked a spot but they didn't put two and two together they cared more about old bottles
that they where finding and selling on ebay . people here do there spring cleaning buy putting there
trash on the ice in the spring the old stove was not very far out in the water and would be easy to find again
there is more then one treasure out there . there is also an old man that used to pan for gold around here
and he made a living at most people thought he was nuts but he paid all his bills in gold dust i find a flake in about every two pans in our stream in my back yard but not as much as he could find i know he would go all the way to stoney lake if anyone wants to drive up here and hit the water with me drop me a line
 

$74,000 in gold coins was stolen during a stagecoach robbery in 1874 near Traverse City. It was buried between two tree stumps on the north shore of Benton Lake in an old iron stove. The hoard was never recovered as the robbers feared arrest or possible lynching by the irate lumberjacks whose payroll they had stolen. The back country lake is closer to White Cloud (south of Baldwin) than TC. There is a Forest Service Campground nearby if you want to set up camp. Problem is if the story is true the tree stumps are long time gone. The location may even be under the water of the lake shore. Depending on which time of the year it was buried the water levels may have been low. I have not had a chance to research the trails in that area at that time period. I am sure they looked a lot different than they do today. Benton Lake is in the middle of present day nowhere. I hope to get down there later this summer if I can get a bit of back ground on the area. Good Luck.
 

michealwhelan said:
$74,000 in gold coins was stolen during a stagecoach robbery in 1874 near Traverse City. It was buried between two tree stumps on the north shore of Benton Lake in an old iron stove. The hoard was never recovered as the robbers feared arrest or possible lynching by the irate lumberjacks whose payroll they had stolen. The back country lake is closer to White Cloud (south of Baldwin) than TC. There is a Forest Service Campground nearby if you want to set up camp. Problem is if the story is true the tree stumps are long time gone. The location may even be under the water of the lake shore. Depending on which time of the year it was buried the water levels may have been low. I have not had a chance to research the trails in that area at that time period. I am sure they looked a lot different than they do today. Benton Lake is in the middle of present day nowhere. I hope to get down there later this summer if I can get a bit of back ground on the area. Good Luck.
Click to expand...
Here's where legends get mixed up.

Traverse city is quite a ways from Newago's Benton lake.
74,000 in gold coin is some serious weight.
That alone hints we're getting into thin gravy for evidence just based on logic.

How would lumberjacks or any camp members identify the thieves? IF they were allowed to leave camp for such an endeavor?
Time off wouldn't be spent on a wild goose chase even if a lynching might result.
Who wouldn't rather go home or visiting or shopping away from a company store or just see civilization again?

Benton Lake has plenty of adjacent swamp.
Humans were about.
Why expose yourselves as thieves to prying (for good reason) eyes on the lakeshore when so much secluded swamp was at hand?
And why a single cache so far from where the alleged gold was acquired?
All eggs in one basket without knowing what eyes were watching is a risk of 100% loss. Besides anyone tracking them , if anyone was.

But hey. Benton Lake got some attention out of the deal!






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