1) Hidden Gold

John Baxter was a speculator and a leader in the community of Baxter Springs, in Cherokee County. He owned an inn and a general store referred to as Baxter? Place.

His land included the springs that used to flow from the side of a hill near the military road. And upon his death, what happened to the wealth he was known to have, no one knows.

Baxter? son-in-law had a claim on the east side of Spring River. In January 1858, the son-in-law died, and Baxter? daughter leased the claim to John Commons. After the lease had expired, Baxter told Commons to vacate his daughter? claim. Commons refused and Baxter said he would have to take the consequence.

On Jan. 26, 1859, Baxter, his son (Tom) and another son-in law (Pink Killebrew) went to force Commons to vacate. Both Baxters were unarmed, but Killebrew carried a shotgun. When they approached the cabin a shotgun was shoved between the logs. In the blast that erupted from it, Baxter was wounded. Before he died, he told his son, "Tom, they?e killed me. Shoot them." Tom grabbed Killebrew? gun, knocked the door of the cabin open, and fired twice, killing two of the three men inside. Commons escaped by a back door.

After Baxter? death, his widow and children moved to Bonham, Texas. John Baxter has not been forgotten in Baxter Springs, and neither has his hidden gold. It is believed that he buried it near his cabin on the hill by the Military Road.

Several searches have been made for this hidden cache, but no known success can be learned.

2) Learn the Law

The laws governing the use of metal detectors on Kansas state property are as follows:

No specific regulation against metal detecting on property owned by the department has been imposed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Commission. However, regulations governing use of our parks and wildlife areas forbid the digging of holes or defacing, destroying or degrading of geological formations, historical sites and archeological relics or ruins.

Additionally, some department properties are wildlife refuges or may have special rules or regulations which are established by posted notice. Therefore, any persons desiring to use metal detectors should always contact the local park or area manager before engaging in the activity.

The above was effective as of July 28, 1992.

3) Indian Gold and Silver

This story of buried treasure in Johnson County concerns an Indian who lived in the area.

Charles Tooley received his allotment of land and built a home on what is now Lake Quivira? picnic grounds. His log house stood about 100 yards southeast of Coronado Springs. He was occasionally called upon by the Reverend Thomas Johnson, director of the Shawnee Mission at the time, to deal with the Indians in the immediate area.

According to records, Tooley locked his wife and children in the house so they could not see him hide a fourth-bushel (a peck) measure filled with silver and gold money. Shortly after that, Tooley died, and as far as anyone knows, the money was never found.

The story goes that the treasure amounted to several hundred dollars, and some digging was done after Tooley? death by individuals, but nothing is known to have been found. This treasure story was written in a book about the early history of Lake Quivira by Vic Clark many years ago.

Permission to search must be obtained on this site.

4) Gangster Loot

During the Depression a man with a suitcase talked to a farmer buying supplies in Mound Valley in Labette County about giving him a job on his farm. The farmer had a boy whom the hired hand took a liking to. When not busy he often made kites for the lad.

At one time the farmer put up a long row of fences, the hired hand digging post holes and stringing the fence. Soon after, the hired hand disappeared.

Shortly before the farmhand showed up, there had been a rash of bank robberies and kidnappings in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. One kidnap victim had been ransomed for several thousand dollars, which was never accounted for. A number of years after this, one of the kidnappers was released from prison. Newspapers carried pictures of him, and the Mound Valley farmer? son recognized him as the hired hand.

He went to considerable effort to track down the convict, and later arranged a visit with him. The outlaw was, by this time, well in his 80s. When the son asked if he had ever worked for his dad, the outlaw replied, "Well, that name sounds familiar all right. But no, I was never in that area." He then plied the farmer? son with questions about the farm, as if searching out changed landmarks.

Had the farm worker come to Mound Valley carrying something besides clothes in his suitcases such as ransom or stolen money? And had it been buried in a posthole? The few who know of the story believe the old farm may hold a gangster cache.

5) Bullion Burial

A story of buried treasure in Ford County involves a wagon train from Santa Fe to Independence carrying $100,000 in gold bullion. The wagon train was attacked by Indians (some believe they were attacked by renegade whites dressed as Indians) near the town of Ensign in Gray County. A heated running battle followed and continued eastward into Ford County, toward Dodge City.

The battle ended at nightfall and the Mexicans buried their treasure because they felt the attack would continue in the morning. Having eluded the Indians, the Mexicans waited four days and returned to dig up their treasure. They did not live to do so, for the Indians launched a successful attack and wiped out the entire crew. According to historical accounts, the treasure is buried along U.S. 56, about 12 miles southeast of Dodge City.

6) Vigilante Justice

Town records could help a treasure hunter locate the following old saloon site.

Leavenworth, in Leavenworth County, was one of the wildest towns in Kansas Territory during the 1850s. Lawlessness reigned. John James Ingalls, later a famed U.S. senator, visited the town as a young man and wrote, "Since Christmas, a week yesterday, there have been five murders in the city limits, all of the worst description, in the worst places."

Easterners going west arrived at the steamboat landing on the Missouri River and went up town to have a spree before leaving civilization.

It was from these travelers that a large number vanished. They were robbed, then murdered. A pair of saloon owners, Ike Clinton and Elias Brown, accounted for many of the victims.

Due to a mistake on the part of the hanging party, the caches the two robbers made were not found. Accounts of the affair are brief.

The way the pair operated was simple. One ran the saloon and would size up the eastern patrons. If one was carrying a large amount of money, he would be plied with whiskey. The other man would then go over to the victim and suggest other places to visit.

The easterner was guided through town to the bluff on the upper part of the Leavenworth river bank. Here the outlaw pulled a gun and robbed the unfortunate man. The robber then shot the man, dragged the body to the edge of the cliff and dumped it over.

In what must have been a miracle, one easterner was not killed by the shots or the fall, although he died later. But he lived long enough to describe his killers.

A vigilante committee captured the first robber within an hour and hanged him. When they went after the saloon keeper, they learned he had been jailed for his protection. They forced their way into the jail and dragged him out. He was hustled to a nearby tree and hung. The mob dispersed and went to a saloon to celebrate.

There the question came up as to how many persons the pair had robbed and murdered. No one knew. Then the question as to where the victims·valuables had been hidden arose. The saloon was searched, as was an area around the bluff. Not a single coin was found.

Gold Shortage

For those interested in searching for gold in Kansas, their chances of finding any are slim. The following comes from the Annual Bulletin on Mineral Resources of Kansas, 1897.

"So far as is known, no conditions obtained anywhere in Kansas would warrant a hope that any of the precious metals can be found in paying quantities. For the last five years, particularly, great effort has been made to examine with care all reported discoveries of gold or silver, and, as far as it is known, typical samples from fever locality where such finds have been reported have been carefully and systematically examined, with results as above stated."

No modern day discovery of gold has been made in Kansas.

SOURCES:

Inman, Henry. The Old Santa Fe Trail.

Federated Writers Guide for Kansas.

Holder, Jack. Kansas Buried Treasure.

The Artiface. A treasure publication. April 1968.

Western Treasure magazine. August 1973.