The Lost Treasures of California

I haven’t done a lost treasures post in a while (since Arkansas), so let’s discuss the Lost Treasures of California!

We all know about the California Gold Rush and the stories of enormous wealth generated by the Miner 49ers. But California has stories of lost treasures (many of which involve gold from the gold rush days) that add to the lore of The Golden State! Here are a few of my favorites.

Carl Hause (Marin County California):

Let’s start with the story of Carl Hause. Carl wasn’t a gold rush-era character. He was a German whiskey smuggler during Prohibition. The legend claims that Carl, who successfully smuggled whiskey in the Marin County area, buried $500,000 in gold-backed currency somewhere between Inverness, California and the old Heims Ranch on what is now the Point Reyes National Seashore. Carl was shot to death in his car, and the money was never recovered. Maybe whoever shot him found it and spirited it away, but it still could be out there waiting to be found!

Holden Dick:

One of the wildest stories to come out of northern California is the tale of Holden Dick and his missing gold. Before we get to that, I have to give you background on Holden Dick. Holden Dick was a member of the Pit River tribe, but by all accounts, was a bad man who took every possible shortcut to get rich. For example, rumor says he started his gold prospecting career by hijacking a gold shipment and killing two of the guards. To be fair, he also allegedly let a third guard and the wagon driver go. Holden then took the wagon, drove to the South Warner Mountains, and hid the gold.

Occasionally. Holden visited Susanville, California, to trade gold ore for supplies and brag about his “mine.” Many suspected him of the hijacking, but with no evidence, he remained free. However, his freedom wasn’t to last. He was arrested for the gruesome murder of Samuel Shaw. He was convicted and sentenced to death. As he waited in jail, so one story goes, vigilantes broke him out and beat him to discover his gold stash. He refused to reveal its location, and they hanged him.

Is it possible that his ill-gotten gold remains in a cave in the South Warner Mountains? Who knows? But if you are hiking in the mountains, keep your eyes open!

John Winters and the Selby Smelter (Contra Costa County, California):

The Selby Smelter was the West Coast’s largest refiner of gold, silver, and lead. In 1901, a former Selby employee heard that a shipment of over half a ton of gold bullion had arrived at the smelter. The shipment was larger than the gold vault could hold, so a portion of the gold was stored in the lead vault. Winters took advantage of this storage solution by tunneling through the dirt and brick foundation to reach the vault. It took him over six weeks to complete the tunnel and another night to drill through the vault and make a hole. Once through the hole, Winters removed almost 900 pounds of gold and dropped the bars into the bay, planning to recover them later. At the time, the theft totaled $283,000 or $17,000,000 in today’s money!

Alas, Mr. Winters’ luck didn’t last. He was arrested a couple of days later and, after three days of interrogation, confessed to the robbery and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He served seven years and was paroled. Divers searched for the gold bars, and some reports say they recovered all of them. Other reports indicate that some of the bars remain under the muck of the bay. Which story is true, and are there gold bars just waiting to be discovered?

This is just a sampling of the stories of the lost treasures of California. There are many more, and they seem to cover the entire state! As I mentioned earlier, keep your eyes open. You never know what you might find!

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