History of Augusta Township
by Taylor C. Woodward


THE BURIED TREASURE

No history of Augusta Township would be complete without the legend of the buried treasure, which is said to have taken place two hundred years ago or more.

One hundred years ago, more or less, a man mounted on a fine riding horse with an expensive saddle and equipment, came following the Tuscarora Trail, inquiring if anyone knew of three springs in a group nearby.

There is a farm of which a part of is in the northwest 1/4 of Sec. No. 4, Augusta Township, and near the old Tuscarora Trail, which at that time had several springs in a group, which had been called Water Town by the early settlers.  It must have been an Indian name, and an important meeting place of the Indians, as many Indian relics have been found nearby.

  Buried Treasure
This was the stranger's story:  When his great uncle was a French soldier at Fort Duquesne just before the French destroyed it in 1758, before the British moved in, he was one of a party of ten sent with sixteen pack mules loaded with gold and silver, which the French had accumulated in their raids on the British about the time and prior to Braddock's defeat.

They were following the Tuscarora Trail enroute to Detroit, and had passed through Painted Post, "the crossroads of the Moravian and the Tuscarora Trails, a landmark known to most all Indians and pioneers," and near the present town of Dungannon, when shortly after, their scouts reported the signs of an Indian ambush.

They buried the loot and left several clues identifying the location and made a map of it.  The stranger's great uncle was the only survivor of the incident.  The Indians killed all of the others soon after the treasure was buried.

His great uncle had the map and went south to North Carolina to make his home.  He had heard him tell the story, and in the papers of the old Frenchman's estate, he found the treasure map.  After an extensive research with no success, he gave up the search, and went back to North Carolina, never to be heard from again.

This story cleared up several mysteries which had occurred in the past, such as the finding of the old rusty musket barrels, also the two old French type shovels under old logs, and the finding of a tree with a deer's head carved on it, also a tree with a stone in the fork of it, all in the near vicinity.

This treasure has been searched for by many different persons at different times and places, some digging by hand and a few using power shovels, running into many difficulties, a few going to a fortune teller for help.

  Buried Treasure
A few historians have the theory that the washes and gullies of this locality were much deeper at the time the treasure was buried, and that one or more of the men may have known of these gullies, and knowing they would likely have to fight the Indians soon, and no good place to hide the treasure after they got to the flat lands in the Sandy Valley, they decided to hide it here.  Not having much time, they hurriedly placed the loot in one of these deep gullies or washes, covering it with dirt and then brush, and were soon outnumbered by the Indians, with the known results.

As some of these gullies are known to have leveled off and many feet of dirt are in them now, who knows what 200 years of aging of the land has put on top of the treasure by this time.

Many years ago the owner of the farm where the treasure was thought to be and his neighbor were digging for it when a thunderstorm came up, and they went into an old log cabin (which had been built near the spring in pioneer times) to get out of the rain.  A bolt of lightning struck nearby, running into the cabin, striking the neighbor, knocking out one eye and making him unconscious for a time.

This is the legend of the buried treasure as related by G. E. Robbins, a third generation owner, and lifetime resident of the farm.

Also by J. G. Pim, son of the man who was struck by lightning, who in his 92nd year, remembers well the Decoration Day many years ago when his father was struck by lightning, it following a draft of air through a broken window pane into the cabin, and the neighbors bringing his father home.

Who knows, a fortune may be buried there yet, as no one has ever admitted finding it.