Tuesday, June 04, 2019 12:04:23 AM
Twelve and Two Idaho Lost Treasure Tales
MMGYS*Lost treasure by state series
Lost Idaho Treasure waiting for you to find it
Bannock County – In 1865, 300 pounds of gold was stolen during a stagecoach robbery. The bandits were said to have buried the loot about ¾ mile north of McCammon at a spot now called Robber’s Roost. With the posse hot on their trail, the robbers fled but were quickly caught up with and in the ensuing gunfight, they were killed. The stolen gold has never been recovered.
Boise County – Close to 3,000,000 troy ounces of gold have been removed from the gravels of the Bose Basin and according to treasure hunters, there is plenty more to be found. Hotspots would include the many watercourses through the area and gravel arroyos northeast of Boise, near Idaho City.
Boise County – Near the Nevada state line at Rye Flats, a shipment of newly-minted gold coins, still in their original wrappers is said to have been hidden in a metal box. Inside an above ground cave, the coins were worth $40,000 at the time they were stolen. Allegedly, the bandits never returned for the stolen loot.
Bonner County – In 1888, after successfully prospecting in the area of Priest Lake, a prospector named Zak Stoneman was headed to cash in his gold when his mules died after eating poisoned weeds. Burying three burro loads of gold in the area north of the Priest River and 3-4 miles below Priest Lake, he continued his journey. However, when he returned to recover his buried cache he was never able to find the right location. According to the legend it is still buried somewhere in this area.
Cassia County – In the 1890s a range war erupted between cattleman and sheepherders in the vast lands of Cassia County. Not to be deterred, the richer cattlemen brought in hired gunslingers, including Jackson Lee Davis, better known as Diamondfield Jack. Before it was over, two sheepherders had been shot and Diamondfield Jack was sentenced to hang for murder. Later a man by the name of James E. Bower confessed to the killing and Jack was let go, moving onto Nevada where he made his fortune in gold mining. Today, it is said that during the range war, both cattlemen and sheepherders alike, cached their valuables in the area around Deep Creek and Shoshone Creek.
Custer County – Near the mouth of the Yankee Fork River, a man named Isaac T. Swim discovered gold-bearing quartz in the late summer of 1881. He quickly made his way to Challis, the Custer County seat, to file a claim. He returned to his claim to take some samples in the Fall but didn’t stay long as winter was quickly setting in. The following June, he and several other miners, set out for the quartz cropping. When they came upon the Salmon River; however, they found it running extremely high from the spring run-off. Though Swim thought they should wait until the river had tamed down a little, the other miners were impatient. Swim then agreed to cross first and then return for the other men. When he didn’t come back, the other miners began to search for him and soon found his drowned horse a short distance downstream. Swim’s body was found later in the summer. He had died with the specific location of the rich quartz with him. Though his partners tried to find the gold, and one did find a claim marker, across the river from the mouth of the Yankee Fork, the gold was never found.
Idaho County – About five miles southwest of White Bird, along the Salmon River, is a place called Robber’s Gulch. More than a century ago, outlaws held up a freight wagon carry some $75,000 in miner’s gold and hid it here among the rocks before heading toward the rough Seven Devils area. But the unlucky robbers would not live to return for their stolen cache, as a posse caught up with them in the mountains and every last one of them was shot before anyone thought to ask about the whereabouts of the stolen loot. To date, the gold has never been found.
Kootenai County – In November, 1889 a prospector named Jack Breen found gold near Coeur D’Alene. Breen; however, didn’t have the funds to work the claim so soon went into Coeur D’Alene to find someone to grubstake him. Two men named N. R. Palmeter and Jack Osier agreed to be his partners, but Breen did not reveal the exact location, only that it was somewhere near Hayden Lake. Breen then went to get a drink at a local saloon and bragging about his find, a number of customers began to buy him more drinks, hoping that he would reveal the location of the gold. Fearing Breen would give away the information, they persuaded the local marshal to put him in jail for “his own protection.” This proved to be a “deadly” mistake, as early the next morning, the jail caught on fire, and before Breen could be released he died from smoke inhalation.
Lewis & Clark Trail – During the years of 1805 and 1806, the Lewis and Clark traveled through Idaho documenting the territory and meeting with Native Americans along the trail. Along the way, they distributed some 55 Washington Season medals to the Indian Chiefs as peace offerings. Due to the lack of tools and artisans in this country, these medals were actually made in Birmingham, England. In July of 1798, some 326 medals were received by the presidency, each individually engraved in solid silver. Very rare and worth a fortune, only a few of these are accounted for today. Many believe that several of these medals can be found along the Idaho expedition path through present-day cities of Lewiston, Spaulding, Orofino, and others.
Shoshone County – Sometime around the year 1900, a bank was robbed in the Wallace-Kellogg area and the bandits made off with some $80,000. Hiding out from the authorities overnight, they were said to have buried their cache somewhere in the four-mile stretch between Huettner and Post Falls. However, with the posse on their tails, they were captured the next morning. The authorities could not find the stolen loot and presumably, the bandits were hanged. To this day, it has never been recovered.
Shoshone County – Butch Cassidy and his outlaw gang allegedly buried some of their loot north of the old stage road between Spokane Falls, Washington, and Wallace, Idaho. The cache was said to have bee buried along a creek on the wedge of a beaver dam.
Twin Falls County – In 1888, an outlaw acting alone robbed the Jarbidge-Idaho stage near the site of present-day Salmon Dam. The bandit was quickly overtaken and killed by a posse but the gold was not found. Many believe that the outlaw buried the strongbox somewhere on the east side of Brown’s Bench, a large flat mesa, about 15 miles west of Rogerson, Idaho.
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City of Rocks Treasures in Idaho
Numerous treasures are said to be hidden along the granite spires, sculptured boulders, and canyons of the City of Rocks National Reserve. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through here on their way westward, especially after the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California.
Among these hardy pioneers were travelers of the Oregon and California Trails, and later thousands of prospectors when gold was discovered in northern Idaho and Montana. Though the City of Rocks Reserve is off the beaten path and rather isolated today, it was once a busy crossroads of the northern trails from the 1840’s through the 1890’s.
One treasure tale that is often told is that of a massacre that occurred at Almo Creek. Though the site is depicted by a historical marker, this tale is now thought by many to be untrue. As the legend goes, an emigrant caravan of about 60 wagons took the Sublette Cutoff for the California Road and was attacked by Indians.
Allegedly, the 300 some pioneers held off the attack for days, but in the end all were massacred with the exception of five who escaped. Massacre sites are often found to contain numerous relics and hidden caches. However, historians today believe the massacre is nothing more than campfire folklore. Because there are no military records, nor newspaper reports that even briefly mention what would have been the second largest Indian massacre in the 19th century, it is now believed the historical marker, erected in 1938, was done so purely to attract tourists to the area.
However, numerous other treasures are said to be hidden here, primarily along the roadways and trails that led from the gold camps of northern Idaho and Montana to Salt Lake City.
Gold was first discovered on the Clearwater River in northern Idaho in 1860, then the Salmon River in 1861, the Boise River in 1862 and, both silver and gold, near the Owyhee River in 1863. In nearby Montana Territory, richer veins were found along Grasshopper Creek in 1860 and still richer placers at Alder Gulch in 1861. Before long, word spread and prospectors flooded the area as the boomtowns of Idaho City, Silver City, and Florence, Idaho, as well as Virginia City, Nevada City, and Bannack, Montana sprang up to accommodate the many men.
However, the gold strikes brought not only miners and businessmen to the area; it also attracted numerous outlaws, with their minds set upon making an easier living than those toiling in the mines. In no time, the boomtown cities that were built during these strikes were known to have been rough and lawless places where gold dust was the primary monetary exchange. By 1863, a substantial number of outlaws had arrived and organized themselves in groups for the sole purpose of robbing stages, freight wagons and individuals. Leader of one of these notorious bands was said to have been non other than Henry Plummer, duly elected sheriff of Virginia City and Bannack, Montana in 1863. Though Plummer was hanged by vigilantes in January, 1864, he claimed to have hidden more than $100,000 in stolen loot somewhere along the trail from Virginia City through Idaho.
In 1863, a man named Ed Long, along with a partner, stole almost $100,000 in gold dust and nuggets from a stagecoach in Portneuf Canyon in eastern Idaho. The stage, headed from the gold camps of Montana, was bound for Salt Lake City when it was waylaid between Pocatello and McCammon, Idaho. Though Long, who had formerly been a stage driver in the area, had spent the previous month attempting to learn about planned gold shipments, he and his partner were amazed to find so many gold filled leather pouches in the stagecoach strong box.
Stagecoach with guard sitting on top, protecting whatever wealth it might have been carrying.
Knowing that a posse would be quickly in pursuit, the outlaws headed west towards the City of Rocks near the Idaho–Utah border. Planning to bury their cache and then blend in with many travelers along the trail. However, after burying the stolen gold, a Brigham City posse caught up with them at Birch Creek near the City of Rocks. As the posse grew close, Long threw down his gun, trying to surrender. However, his partner opened fire and naturally, the posse fired back, killing Ed Long in the process.
After a long gunfight, Long’s wounded partner was finally captured and taken to a nearby stage station where his wounds were dressed. Though thoroughly questioned, he refused to divulge where they had hidden the stolen gold.
He was then transported to Utah, where it was found that he was a wanted man in Texas. Turning him over to the Texas authorities, the nameless man maintained his silence and there is no record of the treasure ever having been found.
Two years later, the Portneuf Canyon Stage Robbery took place in nearly the same place as had Ed Long’s. Many believe that the gold taken from the robbery was also hidden in or near the City of Rocks. Valued at some $86,000 at the time, it would be worth more than $1.6 million today.
Though the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, stage and freight lines continued to run from the northern goldmines to the depot at Kelton, Utah , some 40 miles southeast of the City of Rocks.
In 1878, a stage bound for a U.S. military camp in Boise was robbed along the near Goose Creek, a few miles north of the City of Rocks. The treasure, valued between $90,000-200,000 at the time, was so heavy with gold bullion, it had to be dragged. A posse was soon on the trail following the tracks made by the laden strongbox, which led to the City of Rocks before disappearing. One of the outlaws was killed in the inevitable confrontation and the other was captured days later. Thought to have buried the cache at the base of what is now known as Treasure Rock, he later died in prison without ever having revealed the exact location of the stolen loot.
There are other records of a holdup that occurred near Oakley, Idaho that netted five outlaws about $100,000 in gold. Followed by a posse, they were trailed to a box canyon in the City of Rocks, where all five were killed in the ensuring gunfight. The stolen loot was never found.
Other tales abound of more stage robbery loot and even treasure from a couple of train robberies being hidden in the rocky crags and among the giant granite boulders of the City of Rocks.
Over the years, the Portneuf Canyon area became so notorious for its many hold-ups; it was variously described as Robber’s Roost and Hell’s Half Acre. The local lore of these many hidden treasures have been the discussion of many for well over a century and numerous accounts have been recorded of those who have attempted to retrieve the treasures over the years.
On one such occasion, a man named Leander Whittaker, a resident of Newton, Idaho, was approached by a stranger from Texas who claimed to have met Ed Long in a prison there. Whittaker was an old acquaintance of Long, having been the horse tender at the Woodland Stage Station when Long was a stage driver. The Texan asked Whittaker to help him find the hidden treasure which, he alleged Long had told him the location before he died. Though the pair spent many days in the City of Rocks looking for the hidden cache, they came away empty handed. After returning to Newton, Whittaker found out the stranger was a wanted in Texas on seven counts of murder and was much relieved when he finally left the area.
Another man known as Glovemaker Jim who had been a Rocky Mountain Trapper since the 1830’s also tried to find the Ed Long cache. Spending the entire summer of 1873 looking for the stolen gold near the Twin Sister Boulders, he found nothing.
By the 1930’s dozens of men had dug for the hidden treasures at the City of Rocks. However, if anyone ever discovered anything, they kept it a secret.
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MMGYS**
Portneuf Canyon, Idaho Stage Robbery
Before the railroad barreled through Idaho Territory, freight and stage lines provided transportation and movement of trade goods, as well as gold, along the routes leading from Montana to Utah.
In 1864, Ben Holladay expanded his stage line through Idaho, and though it provided a much needed service, the paths were fraught with danger. The Portneuf Road, leading from Virginia City, Montana to Pocatello, Idaho often carried gold from the rich Montana mines and soon became the target of thieves hiding out in the forested areas along the trail.
Such was the case on July 26, 1865.
Carefully planned, four outlaws met in a saloon in Boise City, Idaho during May, 1865. Leading the “gang” was a man named Brockie Jack who had recently broke out of a jail in Oregon and had been hiding out on a nearby ranch. The next main member of the group was Big Dave Updyke, who had been elected Ada County Sheriff just a few months previous. Parading as a descent citizen, he was known to have consorted with felons and was watched closely by the Payette Vigilance Committee. The third member was a man named Willy Whittmore, who was known for his quick temper and deadly aim. The fourth man was a little known player that went by the name of Fred Williams.
On May 31, 1865, the four outlaws left Boise City headed toward the Portneuf Stage Route in eastern Idaho, more than 200 miles away. Making camp at Ross Fork Creek near Fort Hall, the men worked out the details of the hold-up. Fred Williams was sent to Virginia City, Montana to gain information about the gold shipments. Once he was sure that the stage line would be carrying the precious cargo, he was to purchase a ticket and ride along as a passenger.
In the meantime, the other three bandits traveled south along the stage road, looking for the perfect place for the hold-up. A few miles south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho, the trio found a narrow canyon that was heavily timbered, rocky, and filled with brush. Determining that the location provided everything that was needed, the bandits began to work out the details of the robbery. They soon gathered a number of large boulders that would be utilized to block the stage road, hiding them out of sight until they were needed. Additionally, they decided that Willy Whittmore, armed with a new Henry repeating rifle, was to shoot the lead horses if the driver found a way around the roadblock.
With the details worked out, the three bandits returned to Ross Fork Creek to wait for their accomplice, Fred Williams. It would be nearly two weeks before they received any word.
Stagecoach with guard sitting on top, protecting whatever wealth it might have been carrying.
On July 21, 1865, the stagecoach left Virginia City with seasoned driver, Charlie Parks, and seven passengers, including one calling himself Fred Williams.
Crossing the Ruby Mountains, the stage spent its first night at the Corral Station near present-day Dillon, Montana. For the next three days, the stagecoach traveled along the route, where the Union Pacific Railroad would later be built, to Pocatello.
On the fourth evening of their journey, the stagecoach stopped at the Sodhouse Station to overnight. After the passengers had completed their evening meal, Williams excused himself and headed toward the Ross Fork Camp. The other outlaws were ecstatic to hear the news that two large strongboxes, laden with gold, were being transported on the stage. After a celebratory drink or two of whiskey, Williams headed back. No one had even noticed he was gone.
On July 26, 1865, the coach set out once again. Around midday, it reached the stream near the place that the three outlaws were hidden in the brush. Slowing down to cross the water, the coach traveled through, went up the bank, and stopped. There, across the road were the boulders the bandits had placed to stop the coach. Suddenly, the outlaws appeared from their hiding places with guns raised.
From the coach, one of the passengers, a professional gambler named Sam Martin, poked his head out of the side door with a revolver in his hand. Aiming at Whittmore, he pulled the trigger and shot off Whittmore’s left index finger.
Enraged, Whittmore shouted, “It’s a trap!” and began to empty his rifle into the side of the stagecoach. In a desperate attempt to escape, Charlie Parks tried to break through the brush but Brockie Jack shot both of the lead horses and the stage stopped dead in its tracks.
Hit by some of the buckshot, the injured Parks scrambled down from the coach and made a mad dash towards the woods. In the meantime, Fred Williams, the outlaw accomplice, and James B. Brown, a Virginia City saloon-keeper, were also able to escape into the nearby timbers.
Finally, Brockie Jack grabbed the rifle out of Whittmore’s hands and the sounds of gunfire ceased. Cautiously, Jack approached the stagecoach while Whittmore and Updyke covered him. “Come out of there with your hands up,” he called, but was met only by silence. He then opened the door of the stage and shouted, “My God, they’re all dead.”
Inside were the five broken bodies of Sam Martin, the professional gambler who had shot Whittmore; Mr. and Mrs. Andy Ditmar, a Mormon couple who had been visiting relatives in Bannock, Montana; Jess Harper, an ex-Confederate soldier who was on his way to visit his parents in Sacramento, California; and a man named L. F. Carpenter, who was headed for San Francisco to catch a steamship to New Orleans. All were dead except Carpenter, who was injured and feigned his death in order to survive.
As the bandits began to loot the stagecoach and its dead passengers, accomplice Fred Williams staggered from the woods with a shattered arm from one of Whittmore’s deadly bullets. The three other outlaws barely noticed as they were too busy with their frenzied plundering.
Whittmore and Brockie Jack soon hauled the two heavy strongboxes from the stage and cracked the large iron locks with an ax. Inside were 15 heavy gold bars and two large pouches filled with gold dust and nuggets. Two more pounds of gold dust and nuggets were found in the passenger compartment. Pleased with their stolen cache, the four outlaws packed up and rode out of the canyon.
After they were out of sight, Charlie Parks, the stage driver, and James B. Brown, the Virginia City saloon-keeper, cautiously emerged from the timbers. Brown pulled the still breathing Carpenter from beneath the dead bodies and made him and the injured Parks as comfortable as possible inside the coach. He then cut the stage loose from the two dead horses and drove it to Miller Ranch Station.
As the survivors told their story, Parks recognized Brockie Jack and David Updyke, while James Brown positively identified Fred Williams and Willy Whittmore. The insurance company, in an attempt to reclaim its $86,000 loss, immediately offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the gold and the capture of the robbers. In the meantime, the ever active vigilance committee issued orders to hang the criminals once they were captured.
Willy Whittmore, the hot-tempered gunman who had killed all the passengers, was the first to be caught. While on a drinking binge in Arizona, he resisted arrest when lawmen tried to take him in and was subsequently shot. Just a week later, Fred Williams, was captured in Colorado and hanged by the local vigilance committee. Both men were nearly penniless when they were killed.
David Updyke was a different story. Having been duly elected as Ada County Sheriff in March, 1865, the vigilantes were more cautious and waited until the opportune time to punish him for his suspected wrongdoings. On September 28, 1865, the Payette River Vigilance Committee arrested him on a charge of defrauding the revenue and failing to arrest a hard case outlaw named West Jenkins.
However, Updyke made bail and knowing the reputation of the Vigilance Committee, he immediately left town, fleeing to Boise City where he had more influence. However, the citizens there too, were fed up with the criminal elements and began to form groups for the purpose cleaning up the county. By the next spring, Updyke feared for his own safety and accompanied by another outlaw by the name of John Dixon, the two departed Boise on the Rocky Bar Road on April 12, 1866. Unaware that a vigilante party was following them, the two overnighted at an abandoned cabin some thirty miles out of town.
During the night, the vigilantes captured the unsuspecting pair and lead them some ten miles farther down the road to Sirup Creek. The next morning as the vigilantes prepared to hang the men, they questioned Updyke about the whereabouts of the stolen cache. The crooked sheriff only glared at them in contempt, refusing to respond. The vigilantes then hanged both men under a shed between two vacant cabins. Updyke had only $50.00 on his person at the time of his death.
On April 14th, the bodies were found with a note pinned to Updyke’s chest accusing him of being “an aider of murderers and thieves.” The next day an anonymous note appeared in Boise that further explained the committee’s actions. “Dave Updyke: Accessory after the fact to the Portneuf stage robbery, accessory and accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boise City in 1864, chief conspirator in burning property on the overland stage line, guilty of aiding and assisting escape of West Jenkins, and the murderer of others while sheriff, and threatening the lives and property of an already outraged and long suffering community.”
As to the last outlaw — Brockie Jack, he seemingly disappeared into oblivion.
There is no record of the gold bars as having ever been sold. This, coupled with the weight of the bars and the destitute state of the three men killed, has led to much speculation that the gold was buried somewhere near the site of the robbery. The gold, valued at $86,000 at the time of the theft, would now be worth about $1.6 million. The robbery site was in the canyons around the Portneuf River a few miles south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho.
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MMGYS
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MMGYS*Lost treasure by state series
Lost Idaho Treasure waiting for you to find it
Bannock County – In 1865, 300 pounds of gold was stolen during a stagecoach robbery. The bandits were said to have buried the loot about ¾ mile north of McCammon at a spot now called Robber’s Roost. With the posse hot on their trail, the robbers fled but were quickly caught up with and in the ensuing gunfight, they were killed. The stolen gold has never been recovered.
Boise County – Close to 3,000,000 troy ounces of gold have been removed from the gravels of the Bose Basin and according to treasure hunters, there is plenty more to be found. Hotspots would include the many watercourses through the area and gravel arroyos northeast of Boise, near Idaho City.
Boise County – Near the Nevada state line at Rye Flats, a shipment of newly-minted gold coins, still in their original wrappers is said to have been hidden in a metal box. Inside an above ground cave, the coins were worth $40,000 at the time they were stolen. Allegedly, the bandits never returned for the stolen loot.
Bonner County – In 1888, after successfully prospecting in the area of Priest Lake, a prospector named Zak Stoneman was headed to cash in his gold when his mules died after eating poisoned weeds. Burying three burro loads of gold in the area north of the Priest River and 3-4 miles below Priest Lake, he continued his journey. However, when he returned to recover his buried cache he was never able to find the right location. According to the legend it is still buried somewhere in this area.
Cassia County – In the 1890s a range war erupted between cattleman and sheepherders in the vast lands of Cassia County. Not to be deterred, the richer cattlemen brought in hired gunslingers, including Jackson Lee Davis, better known as Diamondfield Jack. Before it was over, two sheepherders had been shot and Diamondfield Jack was sentenced to hang for murder. Later a man by the name of James E. Bower confessed to the killing and Jack was let go, moving onto Nevada where he made his fortune in gold mining. Today, it is said that during the range war, both cattlemen and sheepherders alike, cached their valuables in the area around Deep Creek and Shoshone Creek.
Custer County – Near the mouth of the Yankee Fork River, a man named Isaac T. Swim discovered gold-bearing quartz in the late summer of 1881. He quickly made his way to Challis, the Custer County seat, to file a claim. He returned to his claim to take some samples in the Fall but didn’t stay long as winter was quickly setting in. The following June, he and several other miners, set out for the quartz cropping. When they came upon the Salmon River; however, they found it running extremely high from the spring run-off. Though Swim thought they should wait until the river had tamed down a little, the other miners were impatient. Swim then agreed to cross first and then return for the other men. When he didn’t come back, the other miners began to search for him and soon found his drowned horse a short distance downstream. Swim’s body was found later in the summer. He had died with the specific location of the rich quartz with him. Though his partners tried to find the gold, and one did find a claim marker, across the river from the mouth of the Yankee Fork, the gold was never found.
Idaho County – About five miles southwest of White Bird, along the Salmon River, is a place called Robber’s Gulch. More than a century ago, outlaws held up a freight wagon carry some $75,000 in miner’s gold and hid it here among the rocks before heading toward the rough Seven Devils area. But the unlucky robbers would not live to return for their stolen cache, as a posse caught up with them in the mountains and every last one of them was shot before anyone thought to ask about the whereabouts of the stolen loot. To date, the gold has never been found.
Kootenai County – In November, 1889 a prospector named Jack Breen found gold near Coeur D’Alene. Breen; however, didn’t have the funds to work the claim so soon went into Coeur D’Alene to find someone to grubstake him. Two men named N. R. Palmeter and Jack Osier agreed to be his partners, but Breen did not reveal the exact location, only that it was somewhere near Hayden Lake. Breen then went to get a drink at a local saloon and bragging about his find, a number of customers began to buy him more drinks, hoping that he would reveal the location of the gold. Fearing Breen would give away the information, they persuaded the local marshal to put him in jail for “his own protection.” This proved to be a “deadly” mistake, as early the next morning, the jail caught on fire, and before Breen could be released he died from smoke inhalation.
Lewis & Clark Trail – During the years of 1805 and 1806, the Lewis and Clark traveled through Idaho documenting the territory and meeting with Native Americans along the trail. Along the way, they distributed some 55 Washington Season medals to the Indian Chiefs as peace offerings. Due to the lack of tools and artisans in this country, these medals were actually made in Birmingham, England. In July of 1798, some 326 medals were received by the presidency, each individually engraved in solid silver. Very rare and worth a fortune, only a few of these are accounted for today. Many believe that several of these medals can be found along the Idaho expedition path through present-day cities of Lewiston, Spaulding, Orofino, and others.
Shoshone County – Sometime around the year 1900, a bank was robbed in the Wallace-Kellogg area and the bandits made off with some $80,000. Hiding out from the authorities overnight, they were said to have buried their cache somewhere in the four-mile stretch between Huettner and Post Falls. However, with the posse on their tails, they were captured the next morning. The authorities could not find the stolen loot and presumably, the bandits were hanged. To this day, it has never been recovered.
Shoshone County – Butch Cassidy and his outlaw gang allegedly buried some of their loot north of the old stage road between Spokane Falls, Washington, and Wallace, Idaho. The cache was said to have bee buried along a creek on the wedge of a beaver dam.
Twin Falls County – In 1888, an outlaw acting alone robbed the Jarbidge-Idaho stage near the site of present-day Salmon Dam. The bandit was quickly overtaken and killed by a posse but the gold was not found. Many believe that the outlaw buried the strongbox somewhere on the east side of Brown’s Bench, a large flat mesa, about 15 miles west of Rogerson, Idaho.
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City of Rocks Treasures in Idaho
Numerous treasures are said to be hidden along the granite spires, sculptured boulders, and canyons of the City of Rocks National Reserve. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through here on their way westward, especially after the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California.
Among these hardy pioneers were travelers of the Oregon and California Trails, and later thousands of prospectors when gold was discovered in northern Idaho and Montana. Though the City of Rocks Reserve is off the beaten path and rather isolated today, it was once a busy crossroads of the northern trails from the 1840’s through the 1890’s.
One treasure tale that is often told is that of a massacre that occurred at Almo Creek. Though the site is depicted by a historical marker, this tale is now thought by many to be untrue. As the legend goes, an emigrant caravan of about 60 wagons took the Sublette Cutoff for the California Road and was attacked by Indians.
Allegedly, the 300 some pioneers held off the attack for days, but in the end all were massacred with the exception of five who escaped. Massacre sites are often found to contain numerous relics and hidden caches. However, historians today believe the massacre is nothing more than campfire folklore. Because there are no military records, nor newspaper reports that even briefly mention what would have been the second largest Indian massacre in the 19th century, it is now believed the historical marker, erected in 1938, was done so purely to attract tourists to the area.
However, numerous other treasures are said to be hidden here, primarily along the roadways and trails that led from the gold camps of northern Idaho and Montana to Salt Lake City.
Gold was first discovered on the Clearwater River in northern Idaho in 1860, then the Salmon River in 1861, the Boise River in 1862 and, both silver and gold, near the Owyhee River in 1863. In nearby Montana Territory, richer veins were found along Grasshopper Creek in 1860 and still richer placers at Alder Gulch in 1861. Before long, word spread and prospectors flooded the area as the boomtowns of Idaho City, Silver City, and Florence, Idaho, as well as Virginia City, Nevada City, and Bannack, Montana sprang up to accommodate the many men.
However, the gold strikes brought not only miners and businessmen to the area; it also attracted numerous outlaws, with their minds set upon making an easier living than those toiling in the mines. In no time, the boomtown cities that were built during these strikes were known to have been rough and lawless places where gold dust was the primary monetary exchange. By 1863, a substantial number of outlaws had arrived and organized themselves in groups for the sole purpose of robbing stages, freight wagons and individuals. Leader of one of these notorious bands was said to have been non other than Henry Plummer, duly elected sheriff of Virginia City and Bannack, Montana in 1863. Though Plummer was hanged by vigilantes in January, 1864, he claimed to have hidden more than $100,000 in stolen loot somewhere along the trail from Virginia City through Idaho.
In 1863, a man named Ed Long, along with a partner, stole almost $100,000 in gold dust and nuggets from a stagecoach in Portneuf Canyon in eastern Idaho. The stage, headed from the gold camps of Montana, was bound for Salt Lake City when it was waylaid between Pocatello and McCammon, Idaho. Though Long, who had formerly been a stage driver in the area, had spent the previous month attempting to learn about planned gold shipments, he and his partner were amazed to find so many gold filled leather pouches in the stagecoach strong box.
Stagecoach with guard sitting on top, protecting whatever wealth it might have been carrying.
Knowing that a posse would be quickly in pursuit, the outlaws headed west towards the City of Rocks near the Idaho–Utah border. Planning to bury their cache and then blend in with many travelers along the trail. However, after burying the stolen gold, a Brigham City posse caught up with them at Birch Creek near the City of Rocks. As the posse grew close, Long threw down his gun, trying to surrender. However, his partner opened fire and naturally, the posse fired back, killing Ed Long in the process.
After a long gunfight, Long’s wounded partner was finally captured and taken to a nearby stage station where his wounds were dressed. Though thoroughly questioned, he refused to divulge where they had hidden the stolen gold.
He was then transported to Utah, where it was found that he was a wanted man in Texas. Turning him over to the Texas authorities, the nameless man maintained his silence and there is no record of the treasure ever having been found.
Two years later, the Portneuf Canyon Stage Robbery took place in nearly the same place as had Ed Long’s. Many believe that the gold taken from the robbery was also hidden in or near the City of Rocks. Valued at some $86,000 at the time, it would be worth more than $1.6 million today.
Though the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, stage and freight lines continued to run from the northern goldmines to the depot at Kelton, Utah , some 40 miles southeast of the City of Rocks.
In 1878, a stage bound for a U.S. military camp in Boise was robbed along the near Goose Creek, a few miles north of the City of Rocks. The treasure, valued between $90,000-200,000 at the time, was so heavy with gold bullion, it had to be dragged. A posse was soon on the trail following the tracks made by the laden strongbox, which led to the City of Rocks before disappearing. One of the outlaws was killed in the inevitable confrontation and the other was captured days later. Thought to have buried the cache at the base of what is now known as Treasure Rock, he later died in prison without ever having revealed the exact location of the stolen loot.
There are other records of a holdup that occurred near Oakley, Idaho that netted five outlaws about $100,000 in gold. Followed by a posse, they were trailed to a box canyon in the City of Rocks, where all five were killed in the ensuring gunfight. The stolen loot was never found.
Other tales abound of more stage robbery loot and even treasure from a couple of train robberies being hidden in the rocky crags and among the giant granite boulders of the City of Rocks.
Over the years, the Portneuf Canyon area became so notorious for its many hold-ups; it was variously described as Robber’s Roost and Hell’s Half Acre. The local lore of these many hidden treasures have been the discussion of many for well over a century and numerous accounts have been recorded of those who have attempted to retrieve the treasures over the years.
On one such occasion, a man named Leander Whittaker, a resident of Newton, Idaho, was approached by a stranger from Texas who claimed to have met Ed Long in a prison there. Whittaker was an old acquaintance of Long, having been the horse tender at the Woodland Stage Station when Long was a stage driver. The Texan asked Whittaker to help him find the hidden treasure which, he alleged Long had told him the location before he died. Though the pair spent many days in the City of Rocks looking for the hidden cache, they came away empty handed. After returning to Newton, Whittaker found out the stranger was a wanted in Texas on seven counts of murder and was much relieved when he finally left the area.
Another man known as Glovemaker Jim who had been a Rocky Mountain Trapper since the 1830’s also tried to find the Ed Long cache. Spending the entire summer of 1873 looking for the stolen gold near the Twin Sister Boulders, he found nothing.
By the 1930’s dozens of men had dug for the hidden treasures at the City of Rocks. However, if anyone ever discovered anything, they kept it a secret.
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Portneuf Canyon, Idaho Stage Robbery
Before the railroad barreled through Idaho Territory, freight and stage lines provided transportation and movement of trade goods, as well as gold, along the routes leading from Montana to Utah.
In 1864, Ben Holladay expanded his stage line through Idaho, and though it provided a much needed service, the paths were fraught with danger. The Portneuf Road, leading from Virginia City, Montana to Pocatello, Idaho often carried gold from the rich Montana mines and soon became the target of thieves hiding out in the forested areas along the trail.
Such was the case on July 26, 1865.
Carefully planned, four outlaws met in a saloon in Boise City, Idaho during May, 1865. Leading the “gang” was a man named Brockie Jack who had recently broke out of a jail in Oregon and had been hiding out on a nearby ranch. The next main member of the group was Big Dave Updyke, who had been elected Ada County Sheriff just a few months previous. Parading as a descent citizen, he was known to have consorted with felons and was watched closely by the Payette Vigilance Committee. The third member was a man named Willy Whittmore, who was known for his quick temper and deadly aim. The fourth man was a little known player that went by the name of Fred Williams.
On May 31, 1865, the four outlaws left Boise City headed toward the Portneuf Stage Route in eastern Idaho, more than 200 miles away. Making camp at Ross Fork Creek near Fort Hall, the men worked out the details of the hold-up. Fred Williams was sent to Virginia City, Montana to gain information about the gold shipments. Once he was sure that the stage line would be carrying the precious cargo, he was to purchase a ticket and ride along as a passenger.
In the meantime, the other three bandits traveled south along the stage road, looking for the perfect place for the hold-up. A few miles south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho, the trio found a narrow canyon that was heavily timbered, rocky, and filled with brush. Determining that the location provided everything that was needed, the bandits began to work out the details of the robbery. They soon gathered a number of large boulders that would be utilized to block the stage road, hiding them out of sight until they were needed. Additionally, they decided that Willy Whittmore, armed with a new Henry repeating rifle, was to shoot the lead horses if the driver found a way around the roadblock.
With the details worked out, the three bandits returned to Ross Fork Creek to wait for their accomplice, Fred Williams. It would be nearly two weeks before they received any word.
Stagecoach with guard sitting on top, protecting whatever wealth it might have been carrying.
On July 21, 1865, the stagecoach left Virginia City with seasoned driver, Charlie Parks, and seven passengers, including one calling himself Fred Williams.
Crossing the Ruby Mountains, the stage spent its first night at the Corral Station near present-day Dillon, Montana. For the next three days, the stagecoach traveled along the route, where the Union Pacific Railroad would later be built, to Pocatello.
On the fourth evening of their journey, the stagecoach stopped at the Sodhouse Station to overnight. After the passengers had completed their evening meal, Williams excused himself and headed toward the Ross Fork Camp. The other outlaws were ecstatic to hear the news that two large strongboxes, laden with gold, were being transported on the stage. After a celebratory drink or two of whiskey, Williams headed back. No one had even noticed he was gone.
On July 26, 1865, the coach set out once again. Around midday, it reached the stream near the place that the three outlaws were hidden in the brush. Slowing down to cross the water, the coach traveled through, went up the bank, and stopped. There, across the road were the boulders the bandits had placed to stop the coach. Suddenly, the outlaws appeared from their hiding places with guns raised.
From the coach, one of the passengers, a professional gambler named Sam Martin, poked his head out of the side door with a revolver in his hand. Aiming at Whittmore, he pulled the trigger and shot off Whittmore’s left index finger.
Enraged, Whittmore shouted, “It’s a trap!” and began to empty his rifle into the side of the stagecoach. In a desperate attempt to escape, Charlie Parks tried to break through the brush but Brockie Jack shot both of the lead horses and the stage stopped dead in its tracks.
Hit by some of the buckshot, the injured Parks scrambled down from the coach and made a mad dash towards the woods. In the meantime, Fred Williams, the outlaw accomplice, and James B. Brown, a Virginia City saloon-keeper, were also able to escape into the nearby timbers.
Finally, Brockie Jack grabbed the rifle out of Whittmore’s hands and the sounds of gunfire ceased. Cautiously, Jack approached the stagecoach while Whittmore and Updyke covered him. “Come out of there with your hands up,” he called, but was met only by silence. He then opened the door of the stage and shouted, “My God, they’re all dead.”
Inside were the five broken bodies of Sam Martin, the professional gambler who had shot Whittmore; Mr. and Mrs. Andy Ditmar, a Mormon couple who had been visiting relatives in Bannock, Montana; Jess Harper, an ex-Confederate soldier who was on his way to visit his parents in Sacramento, California; and a man named L. F. Carpenter, who was headed for San Francisco to catch a steamship to New Orleans. All were dead except Carpenter, who was injured and feigned his death in order to survive.
As the bandits began to loot the stagecoach and its dead passengers, accomplice Fred Williams staggered from the woods with a shattered arm from one of Whittmore’s deadly bullets. The three other outlaws barely noticed as they were too busy with their frenzied plundering.
Whittmore and Brockie Jack soon hauled the two heavy strongboxes from the stage and cracked the large iron locks with an ax. Inside were 15 heavy gold bars and two large pouches filled with gold dust and nuggets. Two more pounds of gold dust and nuggets were found in the passenger compartment. Pleased with their stolen cache, the four outlaws packed up and rode out of the canyon.
After they were out of sight, Charlie Parks, the stage driver, and James B. Brown, the Virginia City saloon-keeper, cautiously emerged from the timbers. Brown pulled the still breathing Carpenter from beneath the dead bodies and made him and the injured Parks as comfortable as possible inside the coach. He then cut the stage loose from the two dead horses and drove it to Miller Ranch Station.
As the survivors told their story, Parks recognized Brockie Jack and David Updyke, while James Brown positively identified Fred Williams and Willy Whittmore. The insurance company, in an attempt to reclaim its $86,000 loss, immediately offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the gold and the capture of the robbers. In the meantime, the ever active vigilance committee issued orders to hang the criminals once they were captured.
Willy Whittmore, the hot-tempered gunman who had killed all the passengers, was the first to be caught. While on a drinking binge in Arizona, he resisted arrest when lawmen tried to take him in and was subsequently shot. Just a week later, Fred Williams, was captured in Colorado and hanged by the local vigilance committee. Both men were nearly penniless when they were killed.
David Updyke was a different story. Having been duly elected as Ada County Sheriff in March, 1865, the vigilantes were more cautious and waited until the opportune time to punish him for his suspected wrongdoings. On September 28, 1865, the Payette River Vigilance Committee arrested him on a charge of defrauding the revenue and failing to arrest a hard case outlaw named West Jenkins.
However, Updyke made bail and knowing the reputation of the Vigilance Committee, he immediately left town, fleeing to Boise City where he had more influence. However, the citizens there too, were fed up with the criminal elements and began to form groups for the purpose cleaning up the county. By the next spring, Updyke feared for his own safety and accompanied by another outlaw by the name of John Dixon, the two departed Boise on the Rocky Bar Road on April 12, 1866. Unaware that a vigilante party was following them, the two overnighted at an abandoned cabin some thirty miles out of town.
During the night, the vigilantes captured the unsuspecting pair and lead them some ten miles farther down the road to Sirup Creek. The next morning as the vigilantes prepared to hang the men, they questioned Updyke about the whereabouts of the stolen cache. The crooked sheriff only glared at them in contempt, refusing to respond. The vigilantes then hanged both men under a shed between two vacant cabins. Updyke had only $50.00 on his person at the time of his death.
On April 14th, the bodies were found with a note pinned to Updyke’s chest accusing him of being “an aider of murderers and thieves.” The next day an anonymous note appeared in Boise that further explained the committee’s actions. “Dave Updyke: Accessory after the fact to the Portneuf stage robbery, accessory and accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boise City in 1864, chief conspirator in burning property on the overland stage line, guilty of aiding and assisting escape of West Jenkins, and the murderer of others while sheriff, and threatening the lives and property of an already outraged and long suffering community.”
As to the last outlaw — Brockie Jack, he seemingly disappeared into oblivion.
There is no record of the gold bars as having ever been sold. This, coupled with the weight of the bars and the destitute state of the three men killed, has led to much speculation that the gold was buried somewhere near the site of the robbery. The gold, valued at $86,000 at the time of the theft, would now be worth about $1.6 million. The robbery site was in the canyons around the Portneuf River a few miles south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho.
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