Buried Treasure in the Tri-State?

In July 2023, a remarkable hoard of 700 Civil War-era gold coins was unearthed in a Kentucky cornfield. Could this discovery be an isolated incident, or might southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky hold more buried treasures waiting to be found? Join me as I explore the possibilities of hidden fortunes that could be lying just beneath our feet.

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This is more than just a
discovery of rare coins.

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It is a compelling mystery from
desperate times over a century

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and a half ago.

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There are more than seven

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hundred rare U.S. gold coins

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dating from eighteen forty to

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eighteen sixty two, and they’ve

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become one of the greatest coin

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collecting finds of the twenty

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first century, unearthed

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recently in a Kentucky

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cornfield.

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These coins are estimated at a

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value exceeding two million

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dollars.

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An extremely rare find as buried
treasures go rarer still to find

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them in such good condition.

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You’re listening to River City

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Mystery Podcast, the show that

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delves into the Evansville and

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surrounding Tri-State area’s

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mysteries, including unsolved

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crimes, murders, and

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disappearances.

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A show that isn’t afraid to jump

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down the rabbit hole to

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investigate reports of local

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hauntings, sightings of UFOs and

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cryptids, among other paranormal

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phenomena.

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With your host, co-founder of

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the Humans of Evansville

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Facebook page.

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Law office worker by day.

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Insomniac researcher of the
unknown.

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By night.

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Matt.

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Deig.

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Welcome to episode twelve.

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We’re going to be talking about

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buried treasure in the

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Tri-State.

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I don’t typically think of
buried treasure when I think of

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southern Illinois, southern
Indiana, Western Kentucky.

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I think of more out west, you
know, prospectors going out west

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digging for gold or pirates on a
beach, pulling out treasure

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chests or whatever.

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But it wasn’t that long ago that

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we didn’t have the FDIC insuring

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banks.

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So people didn’t always trust
banks with all of their money.

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Say there was a robbery at a
bank prior to the FDIC.

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You lost your money.

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If the bank had everything was

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taken out of the bank, you’d

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lose everything Unless you had a

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wealthy banker who wanted to,

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you know, make up for everyone

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who had lost all of their

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deposits.

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So that was it wasn’t uncommon

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for people to put everything

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under a mattress or to bury it

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in a field or somewhere safe, or

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somewhere where they thought was

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safe versus depositing it into a

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bank.

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And if people did that and they

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passed away without telling

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anyone where they buried it,

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it’s possible there are tons of

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valuables buried all over the

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place.

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And in the intro, you heard

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David Mattingly at a Wave News

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in Louisville.

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His report on the hoard that was
found in a Kentucky cornfield in

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July of twenty twenty three.

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So very recently, as of well as
of this recording, these things

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are being found.

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It’s just a matter of where are
they?

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And, you know, doing a little
research to figure out where

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they are and obviously having
permission to dig or to, to

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search on people’s private
property, if that’s where you

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think things are.

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And I’m not sure if that
particular hoard was found

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locally because the the article
went on or his story went on to

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say that the person has not come
forward, so they’ve remained

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anonymous and also the location
has remained undisclosed.

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So we just know that it’s a

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Kentucky cornfield, which is

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pretty vague.

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But I mean, who knows, maybe
it’s a local cornfield that this

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was found in.

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And so this got me thinking.

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I was wondering, you know, are

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there stories of local buried

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treasure that, you know, maybe,

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maybe not very far from where we

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are.

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There’s buried gold or coins or
silver or whatever.

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And as it turns out, there are
quite a few stories of hidden

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treasure all over the tri state.

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It’s there’s too many stories to
actually go into each one, but

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there, there are tons.

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The Indiana State University
website has a folklore archive

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that was started in the sixties,
and basically they would take

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voice recordings of people
telling stories or talking about

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family legends or things that
they had heard throughout the

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generations that had been passed
down to them.

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And these were transcribed and
put on this archive on the

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website, which you can kind of
search and look for various

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topics and things like that.

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So I came across a report or a

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transcription from a Lauren

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Drake who was seventy years old

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from Farmersburg, Indiana, and

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this was dated November

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fifteenth, nineteen eighty

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seven.

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And his report goes on to say a
long time ago.

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No one is sure of exactly when a
group of soldiers were moving

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across the Farmersburg area.

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They were moving a variety of
items, one of which was gold.

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In fact, they had a whole wagon
full of it.

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Well, as they were moving this

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gold, a report came to the head

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officer that there would be

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trouble ahead.

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The officer figured that bandits
wanted the gold.

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The officer decided to hide the

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gold and come back for it later,

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after taking care of the

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bandits.

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The soldiers then buried the

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gold in a hidden place near the

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wagon trail.

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Then they left.

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When they finally reached the

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bandits, all the soldiers were

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killed and didn’t tell where the

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gold was.

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Now no one knows where it’s
hidden.

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It’s hidden somewhere in the
area near channel thirty eight

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TV tower, because there used to
be an old dirt road running east

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and west there.

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And that’s the end of the
report.

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The skeptic in me immediately
jumps in and says, well, how?

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If all of the soldiers were
killed, how do they know that?

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How do they know that they
buried the treasure before

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finding the bandits?

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Because they were all dead and

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no one was alive to tell that

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story.

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Unless you have a ridiculously

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long death scene where the

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soldier spills his guts as he’s

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being killed by a bandit and

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saying, oh, we buried the

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treasure and you’re never gonna

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find it.

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And the bandits, of course,
again, the skeptic in me knows

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that the bandits, if they
actually were told that,

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probably would not have stopped
searching for the gold until

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they found it.

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So I don’t know.

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That’s how my head works, but
you never know.

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Maybe they looked for it and
couldn’t find it.

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Maybe it was buried so well that
the bandits never did find it.

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So I did some searching and the

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channel thirty eight TV tower is

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still there, actually off

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highway forty one near

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Farmersburg.

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And I found a map from the
eighteen seventies.

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And that area where the TV tower
now is did have some dirt roads

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or I guess all the roads at that
time were dirt paths.

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So there were dirt paths in that
area going east to west.

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So it does make you wonder if
maybe there’s some truth to

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this, that maybe there is some
buried gold or coins or

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something along the way in, uh,
just south of Farmersburg.

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Now in southern Illinois, we
have a little village called

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Cave-in-rock, and that area has
quite a history.

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There’s all kinds of lore of

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pirates and robbers and serial

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killers.

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Actually, the The first serial

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killers in the United States,

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the Harpe brothers and one of

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the more infamous outlaws that

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was tied to Cave-in-rock was a

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Revolutionary War soldier named

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Samuel Mason.

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He formed a gang of river

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pirates and made the cave at

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Cave-in-rock.

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His.

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Actually, it used to be called
Rock and cave, but now it’s

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called cave in Rock.

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But he made that cave his base
of operations, and that cave was

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a tavern and kind of a hideout,
and basically just full of

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lawless lawlessness and kind of
bad people, notorious figures.

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And legend has it that there is
two hundred thousand dollars in

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gold and silver coins somewhere
in that area.

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It’s said to have been buried by
stagecoach outlaws.

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It was reported that the

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treasure was hidden inside a

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cave located near the western

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bank of the Ohio River, close to

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the town.

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Staying in southern Illinois, we

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have stories of treasure in

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Golconda, Illinois.

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It’s believed that along the
western banks of the Ohio River

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near Golconda, there are
hundreds of American silver

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dollars from the eighteen
hundreds, and it’s believed that

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these coins might be from a
wrecked riverboat that went down

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in the Ohio River.

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But that’s an unconfirmed story.

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Speaker:
That’s another story that, you
know, it’s lore, legend or

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Speaker:
whatever, and not confirmed.

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Speaker:
But these stories are out there.

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Speaker:
And a lot of times stories might

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get embellished over the years,

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Speaker:
but sometimes there’s often some

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Speaker:
sort of element of truth to

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Speaker:
these stories.

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Speaker:
Like something might have

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happened a long time ago and

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Speaker:
it’s turned into this massive,

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Speaker:
you know, treasure trove that’s

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Speaker:
hidden somewhere.

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Speaker:
But maybe there was a boat that
went down that had some money on

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Speaker:
it or whatever.

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Speaker:
And over the years, it just kind

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of developed into this, this

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Speaker:
law.

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Speaker:
I had mentioned the Harpe
brothers earlier, the America’s

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Speaker:
first serial killers.

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Speaker:
They hung out in cave in Rock

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Speaker:
for a while, but at towards the

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Speaker:
end of their serial killing

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Speaker:
spree, they ended up just

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Speaker:
outside of Henderson, Kentucky,

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Speaker:
And the Dixon, Kentucky, area,

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Speaker:
which is about ten miles south

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Speaker:
of Henderson.

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Speaker:
And they were actually Micah
Harp and Wiley Harp.

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Speaker:
The.

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Speaker:
They were known as the serial

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Speaker:
killing brothers, but they were

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Speaker:
more likely first cousins,

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Speaker:
according to whatever they were

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Speaker:
known as Big Harpe and Little

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Speaker:
Harp.

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Speaker:
And over the course of nine
years, they supposedly killed

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Speaker:
thirty nine people.

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Speaker:
But maybe up to fifty.

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Speaker:
Just depends on what report
you’re reading.

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Speaker:
And they also not only murdered

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Speaker:
people, but they stole from

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Speaker:
them.

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Speaker:
So they kind of amassed a small

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Speaker:
fortune over that nine year

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Speaker:
period.

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Speaker:
And towards the end of their
murder spree, they left Illinois

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Speaker:
and they ended up near
Henderson, Kentucky, and they

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Speaker:
killed a mother and child
outside of Henderson.

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The people of Henderson ended up
chasing Big Harp and shot and

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Speaker:
killed him, and they cut his
head off and displayed it as a

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Speaker:
warning to other outlaws.

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Speaker:
And apparently little harp met
the same fate.

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Speaker:
And apparently just north of a
couple miles north of Dixon,

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Speaker:
Kentucky, there’s a road still
known as Harpe’s Head Road,

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Speaker:
which is kind of morbid, but I’m
guessing that kind of left an

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Speaker:
imprint on those people.

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Speaker:
And it’s rumored that they had

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Speaker:
amassed gold coins amounting to

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Speaker:
about three hundred thousand

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Speaker:
dollars, and no one really knows

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Speaker:
where they might have hidden

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00:10:38.789 –> 00:10:40.029
Speaker:
that.

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Speaker:
Some maybe near Cave-in-rock,

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Speaker:
Illinois, but they ended up

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Speaker:
outside of Kentucky, near Dixon,

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Speaker:
Kentucky.

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00:10:47.029 –> 00:10:50.669
Speaker:
So it might make sense that they
brought that with them.

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00:10:50.669 –> 00:10:55.330
Speaker:
So there are rumors that the
hoard was buried in a cave near

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Speaker:
Dixon, Kentucky, about ten miles
south of Henderson, like I said.

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Speaker:
And it’s said that the cave
rests above a stream near

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Speaker:
Harpe’s Head Road.

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00:11:04.830 –> 00:11:07.070
Speaker:
Who knows, maybe someday
somebody’s going to be metal

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00:11:07.070 –> 00:11:11.950
Speaker:
detecting and will come across a
giant hoard of gold coins from

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Speaker:
America’s first serial killers.

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00:11:15.269 –> 00:11:18.529
Speaker:
And I know I haven’t gone into
every single report of buried

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Speaker:
treasure in the Tri-State.

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00:11:19.509 –> 00:11:22.669
Speaker:
I just hit on the stories that
piqued my interest.

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00:11:22.669 –> 00:11:24.110
Speaker:
There are tons of stories of

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00:11:24.110 –> 00:11:25.634
Speaker:
riverboats sinking in the Ohio

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00:11:25.634 –> 00:11:26.960
Speaker:
River along Henderson or

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00:11:26.960 –> 00:11:28.039
Speaker:
Evansville and southern

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00:11:28.039 –> 00:11:30.080
Speaker:
Illinois, and every time it

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00:11:30.080 –> 00:11:32.220
Speaker:
floods they say that coins wash

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00:11:32.220 –> 00:11:32.840
Speaker:
ashore.

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00:11:32.840 –> 00:11:34.080
Speaker:
Kind of sparking more interest

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00:11:34.080 –> 00:11:36.200
Speaker:
in these legends, and I have no

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00:11:36.200 –> 00:11:38.379
Speaker:
doubt that there’s buried

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00:11:38.379 –> 00:11:40.639
Speaker:
treasure in the Tri-State and

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00:11:40.639 –> 00:11:42.039
Speaker:
sunken treasure in the Ohio

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00:11:42.039 –> 00:11:44.600
Speaker:
River and creeks and just

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00:11:44.600 –> 00:11:45.120
Speaker:
everywhere.

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00:11:45.120 –> 00:11:47.000
Speaker:
It’s just a matter of finding
it.

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00:11:47.000 –> 00:11:50.539
Speaker:
Look, last the last month alone,
in July of twenty twenty three,

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00:11:50.539 –> 00:11:54.480
Speaker:
they found seven hundred gold
coins in a Kentucky cornfield.

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00:11:54.480 –> 00:11:58.320
Speaker:
So I have no doubt at all that
there’s something out there in

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00:11:58.320 –> 00:12:01.960
Speaker:
the Tri-State area just waiting
to be found.

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00:12:01.960 –> 00:12:03.159
Speaker:
Just please be sure to get

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00:12:03.159 –> 00:12:04.240
Speaker:
permission if you’re going to be

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00:12:04.240 –> 00:12:06.480
Speaker:
searching on people’s private

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00:12:06.480 –> 00:12:07.480
Speaker:
property.

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00:12:07.480 –> 00:12:10.539
Speaker:
You don’t want to get yourself
shot or beheaded and end up

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00:12:10.539 –> 00:12:13.200
Speaker:
having a road named after you.

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00:12:13.200 –> 00:12:15.159
Speaker:
So anyway, hope you all enjoyed

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Speaker:
this episode and thank you for

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00:12:16.759 –> 00:12:17.240
Speaker:
joining me.

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Speaker:
And until next time, take care.

https://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/folklore/id/3872/rec/10

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/03/cave-in-rock-and-americas-river-pirates/146392#:~:text=From%20the%20late%201700s%20to,cave%20(although%20there%20is%20no

https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/12/millions-rare-gold-coins-unearthed-kentucky-cornfield/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kentucky_Hoard#:~:text=The%20Great%20Kentucky%20Hoard%20is,the%20hoard%20has%20remained%20anonymous.&text=The%20coins%20found%20are%20U.S.%20Civil%20War%2Dera%20coins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpe_brothers

Here’s a map of Sullivan County, Indiana in 1876 (Farmersburg can be found at the top of the map – right of center)


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