State Treasures - Vermont

Spanish Treasure in Vermont?
WINDSOR – RUTLAND COUNTY LINE – There is an old, un-verified legend of buried Spanish treasure on Ludlow Mountain. The story claims that, around 1690, a party of Spaniards was traveling overland from Lake Champlain to trade with Indians. They carried supplies and “a large amount of gold.”
Eight men died on the journey of natural causes. Unable to carry the gold, the two survivors buried it somewhere on Ludlow Mountain near a landmark known as “Camel’s Hump.”
According to legend, one of the Spaniards returned around 1700 to reclaim the fortune buried in the rocky terrain. After several months without success the search was abandoned.
Though there are no documents or evidence to support this legend, there is some evidence that the Spanish were in the area, so perhaps there is some truth to this story.
One legend claims the Spanish were on the New England coast prior to the arrival of the French, Dutch and English. Research compiled by author Michael Paul Henson states anecdotal evidence to support this legend is the recovery of a Spanish helmet found along the shores of Lake Champlain, the recovery of an iron kettle containing Spanish gold, and five skeletons found in a Vermont cave.
There is also a story from Ticonderoga of an Indian spending Spanish specie to buy provisions. The Indian refused to say where he got the coins.
Collins’ History of Kentucky (1860) tells of two trips the Spanish made into the northeast during the 1600’s. It is claimed the Spanish were mining on the Hudson River before the arrival of the Dutch.
And in the 1980’s, Henson states a detector-user found 21 silver bars and 40 pounds of lead bars bearing Spanish markings under a flat stone, one foot deep, inside a cave west of Ticonderoga near Lost Pond.Terror in Waterbury
ORANGE COUNTY - The Great Flood of 1927 was one of the worst recorded. The hardest hit town was Waterbury, located in the gorge of the Winooski River along Interstate 89 about 10.5 miles northwest of Montpelier.
Entire towns and communities were cut off from the rest of the world. For many there was no escape; bridges were swept away, as were roads, highways, rails, homes and businesses.
There was no communication, no power, no radios and no phones. Weather pounded rescue efforts and for many time stood still.
News of the tragedy came in slow from the hardest hit and inundated towns. “Burlington, Vt., Nov. 5 (AP) – The names of 13 known victims of the flood at Waterbury were brought here tonight. Reports from refugees indicate a death list in the town of 26. Serious conditions in the town developed when the waters of the river were diverted to the Main Street.” Kingsport Times
“Attendants at the State Hospital for the Insane located there (Waterbury) were obliged to spend a night of terror, without lights, with the frantic inmates who were herded into the upper stories of the buildings when the waters usurped the ground floors. Water marks at nearly 18 feet on practically every building in town.” Lowell Sun
Damages exceeded $11 million, of which 12 iron safes were reported lost along with a quantity of personal valuables. Much treasure from this disaster is said to have been carried away into the nearby valley.Treasure of Carillon
STATELINE: GRAND ISLE COUNTY, VERMONT – CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK – It was July 6, 1758, during the French and Indian War. The Marquis General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, in command at Fort Carillon, later named Fort Ticonderoga, and the Chevalier de Levis were confident in their 4,000 men to withstand the impending British assault on their fort, though they were significantly outnumbered.
Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) sits on the shores of Lake Champlain, then the wilderness frontier separating the French colony of Canada from the British colony of New York. British troops under the command of General James Abercrombie and George Howe numbered 6,000 regulars and 12,000 Indians, rangers and militia.
Arrogantly, Abercrombie believed his troops would quickly take the fort so he ignored opportunities that would’ve insured his victory; most importantly he attacked before his artillery arrived.
The fort was low on supplies and would not stand long under siege and, with the British having overwhelming numbers, it should’ve been an easy win for Abercrombie.
Meanwhile inside the fort, Montcalm was waiting for a ship from Montréal that was four days overdue. The vessel carried troops, provisions and payroll for the men at Fort Carillon, which was already months in arrears. But the attack came before reinforcements arrived.
Ignoring the recommendations of his military engineer, Abercrombie decided to employ a direct frontal assault without artillery to clear the way.
When Abercrombie ordered the attack, Montcalm cut the red coats to pieces. The battle became the bloodiest of the war. Over 3,000 men died in two days as Abercrombie continued to ignore that his troops found it impossible to breach the French Works.
The kilted 42nd Highland Regiment, known as the Black Watch, made one charge after another, climbing over the corpses of fallen comrades and lost more than half its men.
Of those killed, 2,000 were British and 1,000 were French. Realizing his strategy had failed, Abercrombie ordered a disorganized retreat to regroup at Lake George.
Meanwhile, Montcalm was concerned about his exhausted troops facing a British counterattack. In typically French fashion, he ordered beer and wine brought to his front lines and his troops spent that night alternating between sleep and repairing their defenses, anticipating a second assault. But it never came.
It was about this time that tragic news arrived at the fort. The ship carrying additional troops, provisions and the payroll had capsized 52 miles north of the fort on Lake Champlain.
In spite of their victory, news that their pay was sitting on the bottom of the lake further demoralized the fatigued French troops. The chest was never found. The ship is reported to have capsized in the vicinity of Garden Island located just west of the New York – Vermont state line. Which side of the line the treasure came to rest on is unknown.Lost and Forgotten Sites
Chimney Point (ADDISON COUNTY) – Located on Lake Champlain at the junction of State Highways 125 and 17, Chimney Point was first settled in 1690 by the French. A small fort was built that was replaced in 1730 by a larger fort. The settlement was abandoned in 1759 and a year later Mohawk Indians burned it down.
The Lost Slayton Gold Mine & Smuggler’s Notch (CHITTENDEN – LAMOILLE COUNTY LINE) - Little is known of this lost gold mine. It is said to have been located somewhere on Mount Mansfield in the Green Mountains. Just over one mile northeast of Mt. Mansfield, in Lamoille County, you’ll find Smuggler’s Notch just off Highway 108, also known as Mountain Road. Legend claims several buried treasures were cached here.
Fort Dummer (WINDHAM COUNTY) – This wooden stockade, 180-foot square, was once garrisoned by 55 men with 12 guns. It survived an Indian attack in 1724 and was the State’s first permanent settlement.
Built by Massachusetts colonial militia, the fort was dismantled in 1908 when the Vernon Dam was built. Today the site is inundated. It was on the Connecticut River south of Battleboro and east of Guliford. Five small Revolutionary War era caches of gold and silver coins have been found here by treasure hunters.
Fort Cassin (ADDISON COUNTY) – Fort Cassin was a seven-gun earthwork that operated from 1813 – 1815 to protect the temporary U.S. Navy shipyard at Vergennes.
This American fortification was 4.75 miles northwest of Vergennes at the mouth of Otter Creek and Lake Champlain. No remains or marker exist.Sources:
Henson, Michael Paul, “VERMONT – The Spanish Have Landed,” August 1987, Lost Treasure magazine, p. 43
Terry, Thomas P., U.S. Treasure Atlas – Volume 10, 1985, La Crosse, WI, Specialty Publishing Company, p. 1033
Kingsport Times, “Thirteen Known Dead,” November 6, 1927, p. 4
Lowell Sun, “Green Mountain State Stages Great Comeback,” August 11, 1928, p. 21
Treasures in Vermont, http:// www.gwizit.com/treasures/vermont.php, p. 5
Battle of Carillon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_cari
llon
Marx, Robert F., Buried Treasure of the United States, 1978, New York, Bonanza Books, p. 347, 348
American Forts East – Vermont, http://www.northamericanforts.com/East/vt.html