Buried Treasure

by Paul Birkhead  Rowan Public Library
     
    Rowan County has such a long and interesting past that it’s hard not to wonder what relics we might be walking over every day.  From Revolutionary War campsites to Civil War skirmishes, the local area has seen its share of history.  While I personally haven’t heard any local tales of buried gold, Rowan Public Library has many items in its collection that are sure to spark an interest in treasure hunting.
    It seems I’ve always been fascinated by history, archaeology, and buried treasure.  One of the first books I ever remember reading was a Hardy Boys mystery titled The Secret of the Lost Tunnel.  In the book, the Hardy brothers follow clues and elude the bad guys in a search for gold buried during the Civil War.  This title is #29 in the series, so if you (or a reluctant young reader you know) like it, there are plenty more where that came from.  Another book from my childhood, available at Rowan Public Library, is Treasure Under Your Feet.  My grandfather knew the authors, Roy Volker and Dick Richmond, and I read his autographed copy many times.  The book talks about the hobby of metal detecting and instructs the reader where the best places are to look for treasure on land and under water.  Another book to consider is Treasure Hunting for Fun and Profit by Charles Garrett.  Mr. Garrett pioneered the development of the modern- day metal detector and founded Garrett Electronics, which became the world’s largest manufacturer of the devices.
    Sometimes the story behind a particular treasure is so fascinating it almost doesn’t matter that it might not be true.  One such legend is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and it is called the Beale Treasure.  The story goes that in the early 1800’s, a man named Thomas Jefferson Beale entrusted a box to his friend and told him to open it in ten years if he didn’t return.  Well, after Beale did not return and more than twenty years had passed, his friend opened the box and found three letters inside written in code.  Without a key, this man had no luck decoding the letters, and shortly before his death he gave them to an acquaintance.  That man, James Ward, was actually able to decipher one of the letters using the Declaration of Independence as a key.  The letter explained how the hoard of gold and jewels came to be acquired.  However, the other two letters that explained where to find the treasure could not be deciphered.  When Ward published a pamphlet about his efforts, a treasure mystery was born.  A book that tells about the treasure and efforts to find it, including how the Declaration of Independence was used, is Gold in the Blue Ridge, by P.B. and Walter Innis.
    Another popular treasure story is the Oak Island Money Pit.  This place is a lot farther from Rowan County as it is on the southern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada.  A discovery of a pit on the island by some young boys in the 1790’s started a two-hundred year quest to find out what treasure lies at the bottom.  Most theorize that pirate loot is buried there, while others speculate that Templar treasure or a literary cache from some ancient civilization awaits the finder.  Whether a treasure exists or not, more than a few lives and several fortunes have been lost over the years while attempting to find it.  The dig even managed to captivate a famous United States President.  To learn more, read The Secret Treasure of Oak Island by D’Arcy O’Connor.  It can be checked out from the library as well as DVD sets of Seasons One and Two of the popular History Channel Series The Curse of Oak Island.
    Whether the treasure you seek includes diamonds, gold or just a good story, don’t forget Rowan Public Library is the best place to start your search.