Reynolds Gang treasure Options

[Lady_Rebecca]

Can any one give me hard facts that the Reynolds Gang treasure has NOT been found??? Anyone???
Lady Rebecca

[Wham]

Hello, My name is Chris & I'm new to the forum with this being my first post. I've spent many wide-eyed hours reading through these forums..!

I can't tell you the treasure has not been found & I do agree with some of the other posts, if the treasure were found, the finder would probably keep their mouths shut. (As would I).

What I do know, from research..... There are two stories about the treasure already being found.

From the Denver Republican, April 27, 1906 edition, a short article describes two Fairplay prospectors as having found a treasure of gold dust & old paperbacks in a rocked in prospectors hole somwhere near Horseshoe Mountain, west of Fairplay near present day 4 Mile Creek Rd. The treasure was valued at appx. $18,000 & fit the description of the loot stolen from the Buckskin Joe stagecoach. The article also mentions the descrepincy in the location of the found treasure & notes the possibility of there being two treasures. The article concludes with the two prospectors as having a map, purchasing supplies & planning on spending a few weeks up Deer Creek looking for the Remaining treasure.

The second story I found online at (http://historicjeffco.org/). In an article written by By Lee Heideman. It claims the treasure was found in 1927 by Mr. Al Bobbitt of Park County. The following is quoted from that article:

"Dwight also told of knowing
Al Bobbitt, who said that he was
thrown out of the Reynolds Gang
for being too mean. He said that
the Gang holed-up in Hall Valley.
One day Al gave Dwight two
dollars to take him and his gear to
the head of Geneva Creek in
Dwight’s l927 Chevrolet, and told
him to come back in two weeks
time to pick him up. He said he
wanted to do some prospecting.
When Dwight returned for Al, he
started loading Al’s gear in his car,
but one sack was too heavy to pick
up. When he left Al gave him an
octagon or hexagon gold piece.
Later Dwight went by Al’s
house on the way to Field’s
Trading Post to get his mail, and
saw a lot of cars around his house.
That was very unusual in those
days, so he stopped to see if Al
was sick. Al said, “Go away. I’ll
talk to you later.”
When Dwight went back, Al said
that government had found out
about the treasure he had dug up
and took 65 percent of it."

The August 13, 1864 edition of the Rocky Mountian news contains a roster captured from the Reynolds gang & lists a "J. Babbitt" as being a member of the gang. Is he the one & same....? I don't know. I also inquired with Colorado State Archives regarding Tax records from 1927, but they no longer exist...

So who know's, the treasure may still be out there & at the very least, I'll have fun up in the mountains looking for it..!

[tgregg]

I just started researching this after years of reading tidbits about it. I live in the area and was telling my grandson about it when he visited this Christmas. Over the past few days, I have begun to dig deeper and seen similar but sometimes conflicting reports.

I have to be honest, I want to believe that the treasure is still out there.

Looking at the reports, I have seen a John Babbitt listed as a member in some. However, he is not listed in the captures just days after the burying of the treasure. He also stayed in the area after everyone else fled.

Also, the time frames seem odd to me. Al Bobbit was born in 1850. This made him only 14 when with the gang. It is not inconceivable that a 14 year old would be running with the group. However, the account from John of where the treasure was buried says he and Jim buried it and I wouldn't think that all of the gang members would know its location especially one so young.

Also, if he knew where the treasure was, why did he wait so long to go get it. The guy that gave him a ride didn't know him until he was 17. He was born in 1914 making it 1931 at the earliest making Al 81 at that point. It is hard to believe that at 81 years old, Al was compelled to hike in the mountains and drag out enough gold that it took both of them to lift it into the car.

I would really like to find the treasure for its historical value and the quest itself. I would also like to find some old maps of the area and the trails plus find the campsite where the ambush was. Has anybody out there found the campsite? There should be very old shell casings all around.

[Wham]

Not long after my May 2008 post, I ran across the Vernon Crow story, originally published in 1940's.

Gene Lindberg of the Denver Post interviewed Park County resident and depression era prospector Vernon Crow for the "Rocky Mountain Empire Magazine". In this article, Mr. Crow claims to have found the "dagger in the tree" and gives a step by step walking tour up Handcart Gulch while pointing out locations and landmarks he believed were related to Reynolds activity, including the ambush site.

The locations in Mr. Crows story conflict with General David J. Cook's 1897 book "Hands Up". (the first publication to mention the Reynolds Gang treasure). General Cook's book and map locate the ambush site up Geneva Creek with the treasure located between the heads of Deer & Elk Creeks. (X marks the spot). I have read that General Cook made several unsuccessful trips to the area looking for the treasure. Perhaps the General was intentionally throwing off other treasure hunters of the time.

Nicely validating Mr. Crows story... The August 3, 1864 edition of the Rocky Mountain News describes the Summit County posse led by Jack Sparks as...

"Following up Snake River, they passed over the range and down the north branch of the north fork of the Platte (Webster Pass). When within about a mile and a quarter of the road, not far from Herrimans (Kenosha House), late Saturday evening they came suddenly in sight of a camp within the deep brushy canon down which they were traveling."

The Crow cabin is still shown on USGS maps of Hall Valley, and can be seen up Handcart using Google maps. His story, including the walking tour is now available online.
Rocky Mountain Empire (1946) PP. 159-165.

General David J. Cook's book, "Hands Up; Or, Thirty-Five Years of Detective Life In The Mountains and On The Plains" is finally availble to read online. Until now, the only place you could get your hands on this book was in the Denver Public Library Western History Collection. General Cook tells the Reynolds story in the first chapter of the book. (the other stories are good too..!)