pcolaboy
Hero Member
TREASURE LEGEND: Founder and lifelong owner of the Nunez Ferry buried nearly $100k somewhere on his estate or adjacent ferry site.
Today I spent hours at our local library in Pensacola, FL researching the Nunez Ferry that crossed the Perdido River from 1815-1919.
Besides the EXACT location of the ferry crossing, I discovered many facts about this location from an abstract written by a local historian in 1928. These facts are below:
Nunez Ferry was established by Henry Allen Nunez in 1815.
Mr. Nunez helped to construct a road from Blakely, AL to Pensacola, FL that joined the Old Spanish Trail and eventually crossed the Perdido River at his ferry crossing (how convenient!)
This road was primarily intended as a route for stage-coaches for those wishing to travel quickly from Pensacola to Mobile. Once passengers arrived in Blakely, they would board boats for the short trip down the river to Mobile. The travel time started at 6 A.M. and ended at 6 P.M. - 12 hours to travel 60 miles was not a bad deal in those days considering the terrain.
Henry Nunez began serving on the Florida Legislature in 1840 while still maintaining ownership of the Ferry.
In 1849, Henry Nunez was awarded ownership of the land surrounding the ferry crossing by way of a US Land Grant program started by President Zachary Taylor.
One day in 1861, Henry Nunez was accosted by several bandits while at his ferry site. These bandits had heard on good authority that Mr. Nunez had a vast sum of money hidden on near his ferry and estate. Mr. Nunez denied this money existed repeatedly. The bandits then tied a rope around Mr. Nunez's neck and hung him slowly from an Oak Tree in an effort to force his disclosure of the loot. As Mr. Nunez began to lose consciousness, his wife finally showed the bandits where it was buried under a rose bush. Mr. Nunez was cut free of the rope and regained consciousness but apparently died from unrelated health problems not long after this ordeal (no date yet). The local historian wrote that Mr. Nunez long feared such encounters such as this and may have created a small cache separate from his primary cache in order to convince would-be bandits that they scored his loot.
A ferry service remained in operation at this location until 1919 when a newly constructed bridge was implemented on US Hwy 90 (Old Spanish Trail).
Once winter sets in and the brush, snakes, and 'skeeters' start to retreat from the cold (most likely in January), I will be going to this location (15 miles from my home) to do some ground-truthing. Anyone interested is welcome to join me.
Pcolaboy
Today I spent hours at our local library in Pensacola, FL researching the Nunez Ferry that crossed the Perdido River from 1815-1919.
Besides the EXACT location of the ferry crossing, I discovered many facts about this location from an abstract written by a local historian in 1928. These facts are below:
Nunez Ferry was established by Henry Allen Nunez in 1815.
Mr. Nunez helped to construct a road from Blakely, AL to Pensacola, FL that joined the Old Spanish Trail and eventually crossed the Perdido River at his ferry crossing (how convenient!)
This road was primarily intended as a route for stage-coaches for those wishing to travel quickly from Pensacola to Mobile. Once passengers arrived in Blakely, they would board boats for the short trip down the river to Mobile. The travel time started at 6 A.M. and ended at 6 P.M. - 12 hours to travel 60 miles was not a bad deal in those days considering the terrain.
Henry Nunez began serving on the Florida Legislature in 1840 while still maintaining ownership of the Ferry.
In 1849, Henry Nunez was awarded ownership of the land surrounding the ferry crossing by way of a US Land Grant program started by President Zachary Taylor.
One day in 1861, Henry Nunez was accosted by several bandits while at his ferry site. These bandits had heard on good authority that Mr. Nunez had a vast sum of money hidden on near his ferry and estate. Mr. Nunez denied this money existed repeatedly. The bandits then tied a rope around Mr. Nunez's neck and hung him slowly from an Oak Tree in an effort to force his disclosure of the loot. As Mr. Nunez began to lose consciousness, his wife finally showed the bandits where it was buried under a rose bush. Mr. Nunez was cut free of the rope and regained consciousness but apparently died from unrelated health problems not long after this ordeal (no date yet). The local historian wrote that Mr. Nunez long feared such encounters such as this and may have created a small cache separate from his primary cache in order to convince would-be bandits that they scored his loot.
A ferry service remained in operation at this location until 1919 when a newly constructed bridge was implemented on US Hwy 90 (Old Spanish Trail).
Once winter sets in and the brush, snakes, and 'skeeters' start to retreat from the cold (most likely in January), I will be going to this location (15 miles from my home) to do some ground-truthing. Anyone interested is welcome to join me.
Pcolaboy