SAN ANTONIO – You could find buried treasure in the Texas Hill Country -- an estimated $340 million worth.
Texas is estimated to have $340 million in buried treasure, more than any other state in the U.S., according to TexasHillCountry.com.
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About 229 treasure sites are spread across the Lone Star State, and some are even accessible to the public with permission from the landowners.
Many of the alleged treasure locations below can be found in the Texas Hill Country if you’re looking for socially distant daycation from San Antonio or Austin. Other potential treasure troves require a longer drive but if you’re willing to camp out or find a hotel, AirBnb, etc., you could be in for a big payday.
One Texas legend says there’s a cache of Spanish silver buried somewhere outside Leander. Comanche Indians were said to be chasing a train of pack mules carrying hefty loads of silver in the early 1920s and the men in charge of the bounty buried the silver to keep it from being stolen. The silver has yet to be discovered, according to Lone Star Treasure, which says the story is based on a Spanish document from the conquistador era.
Legendary outlaw Sam Bass is said to have buried his bounty from stagecoach, train and bank robberies in several areas around the Texas Hill County. One such story, according to multiple sources, says Bass stashed loot in an old hollow tree around 2 miles west of Round Rock. It has never been found.
Bass is also tied to legends of treasure buried treasure in Burnet and Llano counties as well as Packsaddle Mountain, Lone Star Treasure reports.
According to legend, Bass used Longhorn Caverns in Burnet County as a hideout after some of his robberies although treasure seekers have yet to find any loot in the caverns.
Packsaddle Mountain in eastern Llano County is another alleged Bass treasure location. Rumor has it the outlaw hid gold in canvas sacks on Packsaddle Mountain and that some of it could still be there.
Roughly $60,000 in gold and silver coins is said to buried in a creek bed near Castell, a community in Llano County. Bass allegedly marked the spot “with a rock in the fork of a tree,” according to Lone Star Treasure.
If the rumors are true, Cove Hollow, near Denton is another Bass treasure location. Bass reportedly stole 3,000 gold bars from Union Pacific Railroad, some of which have been recovered, but there are gold bars that have still not been found, according to OnlyInYourState.com.
Ever seen an oak tree with a carving of two eagle wings on it? According to TexasHillCountry.com, legend says there’s close to $3 million buried near where Shoal Creek empties into the Colorado River. The stolen bounty was part of the Mexican payroll in 1836 and it’s allegedly buried 5 feet deep near the oak tree.
The Sabine River could potentially hold a $2 million fortune in stolen silver. “Oil workers actually picked up readings that metal was to be found at the bottom of the lake. They send a probe down and it hit metal just before a giant storm hit, destroying the raft and any other evidence,” according to OnlyInYourState.com. The fortune is said to have been stolen from the Spanish by Jean Lafitte.
Hispanic conquistadors reportedly hid a massive cache of gold and jewels in a mine shaft in the Franklin Mountains near El Paso’s Guadalupe Mission, OnlyInYourState.com reported. The conquistadors are said to have filled in the mine so nobody else could discover the hoard. Supposedly, it still lies buried beneath the dirt. “Legend has it that El Paso’s Guadalupe Mission was built in such a way that sends the noon sunlight shining straight on the mine.”
Have you ever heard of Money Hill near the southern tip of South Padre Island? It’s said that John Singer buried a chest in the mid-1800s containing $60,000-$80,000 in various Spanish coins, silver bars and jewelry which he acquired through salvaging shipwrecks.
Singer buried the chest after being forced to leave his home and returned several times in an effort to find his buried treasure but was never able to recover his fortune. Read the full story of Money Hill on LegendsOfAmerica.com.
California musician Nathan Smith might have actually found one of Texas’ hidden treasure troves. Smith believes he found a sunken ship on Google Earth in 2006 in Refugio, just north of Corpus Christi. There’s quite a bit of back story on this one which can be read on Texas Monthly. The treasure is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Treasure chest worth $1 million hidden in Rocky Mountains finally found
Think you can find some of the legendary hidden booty? May the odds be ever in your favor.
In related news - Art dealer Forrest Fenn revealed in June that a treasure chest he hid in the Rocky Mountains had been found. The chest was filled with gold, jewelry and other valuables, worth an estimated $1 million. The treasure was hidden in the Rocky Mountains and clues to its location were included in a 2010 poem penned by Fenn called “The Thrill of the Chase.”