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The FBI searched cave for Civil War gold, fearing Pa. officials would seize it ... [View all]
Retropolis
The FBI searched cave for Civil War gold, fearing Pa. officials would seize it, new court documents show
By Gillian Brockell
June 28, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. EDT
It was the summer of 1863, and Union Lieutenant Castleton and his men were lost. They were transporting a large quantity of gold bars, hidden in false-bottomed wagons, from Wheeling, W.Va., to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and had paid a local to guide them through the hills. Now they were going around in circles, the guide had taken off with two horses, and Castleton was ill. They decided to separate; a small party would go find help while Castleton and Sergeant Mike O’Rourke stayed behind with the gold.
Neither the gold nor the men were ever seen again.
That’s the story two treasure hunters told FBI special agent Jacob B. Archer, according to recently released court records. Archer had gathered evidence both of the gold’s location in a cave on state-owned land in Elk County, and that state officials might be trying to seize the gold for themselves, prompting his application for a federal warrant to seize the alleged gold without the state’s permission.
[Legend says a load of Union gold went missing during the Civil War. Did the FBI just find it?]
The warrant application, recently released after a petition by the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer, is just the latest twist in a bizarre 158-year-old story that the two treasure hunters, father-and-son duo Dennis and Kem Parada, say is far from over.
{snip}
By Gillian Brockell
Gillian Brockell is a staff writer for The Washington Post's history blog, Retropolis. She has been at The Post since 2013 and previously worked as a video editor. Twitter https://twitter.com/gbrockell
The FBI searched cave for Civil War gold, fearing Pa. officials would seize it, new court documents show
By Gillian Brockell
June 28, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. EDT
It was the summer of 1863, and Union Lieutenant Castleton and his men were lost. They were transporting a large quantity of gold bars, hidden in false-bottomed wagons, from Wheeling, W.Va., to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and had paid a local to guide them through the hills. Now they were going around in circles, the guide had taken off with two horses, and Castleton was ill. They decided to separate; a small party would go find help while Castleton and Sergeant Mike O’Rourke stayed behind with the gold.
Neither the gold nor the men were ever seen again.
That’s the story two treasure hunters told FBI special agent Jacob B. Archer, according to recently released court records. Archer had gathered evidence both of the gold’s location in a cave on state-owned land in Elk County, and that state officials might be trying to seize the gold for themselves, prompting his application for a federal warrant to seize the alleged gold without the state’s permission.
[Legend says a load of Union gold went missing during the Civil War. Did the FBI just find it?]
The warrant application, recently released after a petition by the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer, is just the latest twist in a bizarre 158-year-old story that the two treasure hunters, father-and-son duo Dennis and Kem Parada, say is far from over.
{snip}
By Gillian Brockell
Gillian Brockell is a staff writer for The Washington Post's history blog, Retropolis. She has been at The Post since 2013 and previously worked as a video editor. Twitter https://twitter.com/gbrockell
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