The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country, a sprawling panorama of rugged terrain, rolling hills, and verdant oak forests, holds secrets whispered on the wind. These tales, passed down through generations, speak not just of pioneers and settlers, but of fortunes lost and hidden, of bandits and buried loot. The lure of The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country has captivated treasure hunters for decades, promising riches beneath the sun-baked earth.
Imagine a scene etched in sepia tones: a lone figure, clad in worn clothes, toiling under the relentless Texas sun. Sweat beads on his brow as he feverishly shovels dirt, his ears straining for the telltale sound of approaching hoofbeats. He’s concealing something, something valuable, something he desperately doesn’t want anyone else to discover. This image, or variations of it, embodies the spirit of the many legends surrounding The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country.
Texas, renowned for its vastness and rich history, is said to harbor more buried treasure than any other state in the United States. Estimates suggest that over 200 sites across the state conceal fortunes totaling a staggering $340 million. A significant portion of this potential wealth lies hidden within the heart of the Texas Hill Country, its secrets guarded by the very landscape itself. The allure of The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country is undeniable, promising untold riches to those willing to seek them out.
The search for The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country often begins in Round Rock, a community on the eastern edge of the region. This town is inextricably linked to the infamous outlaw Sam Bass. Bass, a notorious train robber, met his end in a dramatic shootout with the Texas Rangers in Round Rock on July 19, 1878. Before his demise, however, legend has it that Bass secreted away a significant portion of his ill-gotten gains somewhere in the surrounding area.
One of the most persistent stories centers around a cache of loot supposedly concealed within a hollow tree. Years after Bass’s death, maps purportedly leading to this treasure began to surface, fueling the dreams of countless treasure hunters. The map’s description pointed to a distinctive tree located along what is now known as Sam Bass Road, approximately two miles west of Round Rock. Driven by hope, treasure seekers identified a tree matching the description and promptly chopped it down, only to find nothing. Despite this disappointment, the legend persists, with some still wondering if the wrong tree was felled in the fervor of the hunt. The mystery surrounding Sam Bass’s hidden loot is just one piece of the larger puzzle that is The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country.
Williamson County, the location of Round Rock, is steeped in tales of hidden riches beyond the legend of Sam Bass. An intriguing narrative traces back to an ancient Spanish document detailing the location of an old Spanish mine situated near Burnet. According to a report published in the Austin American newspaper in the early 1920s, a pack train laden with silver, consisting of 40 burros, was ambushed by a band of Comanche warriors. To prevent the silver from falling into the hands of the Native Americans, the men in charge of the pack train allegedly buried the precious cargo near the present-day town of Leander.
While the Spanish silver cache remains undiscovered, the area has yielded other treasures. In 1925, W.E. Snavely of Taylor, a seasoned treasure hunter with 60 years of experience, unearthed a remarkable ruby arrowhead weighing 15 karats, along with a collection of other valuable gemstones. This discovery offers a tantalizing glimpse into the potential rewards awaiting those who dare to search for The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country.
Venture westward into the heart of the Hill Country, and you’ll encounter a multitude of potential treasure sites. Longhorn Caverns, a natural wonder located outside Burnet, is rumored to hold not just one, but several hidden troves. Unsurprisingly, Sam Bass features prominently in one of these tales. According to the legend, Bass utilized the caverns as a hideout after committing robberies in the surrounding area. Today, the main entrance to the cave is even named the Sam Bass entrance. While no Bass treasure has ever been recovered from the caverns, exploration of the extensive 11-mile cave system continues, holding the possibility that riches may still be waiting to be discovered.
Another Longhorn Cavern story involves a treasure believed to be buried on Woods Ranch near Burnet. After an extended and fruitless search, one of the treasure hunters sought the counsel of a palm reader. The palmist offered a cryptic piece of advice: dig "under the footprint." This led to speculation that the "footprint" referred to a foot-shaped impression on the ceiling of one of the caverns’ rooms. A team diligently dug beneath this formation, only to uncover a hole shaped like a container. The hole was lined with rust, indicating that a metal container, and perhaps a treasure, had once occupied the space.
Further west, in Llano, the legend of Sam Bass resurfaces. He is said to have hidden canvas sacks marked "U.S." and filled with gold in a cave on Packsaddle Mountain. One version of the story claims that a Mexican laborer, employed by a local rancher to cut fence posts on the mountain, stumbled upon the treasure. When the laborer failed to return to the ranch, the rancher went in search of him and discovered a cave containing a piece of canvas sack bearing the "U.S." marking. However, another version of the tale suggests that the gold remains hidden within the mountain, waiting to be found.
Packsaddle Mountain is also associated with the Blanco Mine, named after a Spaniard who discovered it long ago. According to J. Frank Dobie’s book Coronado’s Children, the mine was rediscovered in the 1800s by a Llano settler named Larimore. While hunting, Larimore stumbled upon the old mine, which contained lead with a high percentage of silver.
In 1860, Larimore embarked on a final trip to the mine with a man named Jim Rowland. Together, they extracted several hundred pounds of the metal, shaping it into bullets. As Larimore prepared to leave the country, he declared that he would conceal the mine so effectively that no one would ever find it again. He supposedly diverted a gully directly into the mine, filling it with silt. Rowland carved his initials on a large stone marking the mine’s entrance and then covered it with earth, where it is believed to remain to this day.
Llano County is also said to be the location of another Sam Bass treasure: $60,000 in gold and silver coins buried near the community of Castell. Bass supposedly buried the loot on a creek bed, marking the spot with a rock placed in the fork of a tree.
The trail of Sam Bass continues eastward, nearing the state capital, Austin. Legend claims that he buried $30,000 in the community of McNeil, located in the northern part of Travis County near Round Rock. However, no treasure has ever been recovered, and little remains of the original town of McNeil.
The most significant treasure of all, valued at an estimated $3 million, is said to be buried in Austin itself. According to one account, this money was part of the Mexican payroll in 1836. It was allegedly stolen by the paymaster, a general, and seven privates. The men took the loot near the confluence of Shoal Creek and the Colorado River.
Greed soon consumed the group. Two of the privates murdered their co-conspirators, and then one of the privates killed the other. The remaining outlaw returned to Mexico but was unable to return to Texas. Before his death, he created a map indicating that the treasure was buried five feet underground near an oak tree with two eagle wings carved on it.
Another version of the story suggests that the treasure was considerably smaller, amounting to approximately $80,000 in gold coins. Instead of a Mexican payroll, this version claims that the treasure consisted of Confederate money belonging to soldiers who feared that the Capitol would be overrun towards the end of the Civil War. According to The Rising Star Record (May 12, 1927), the treasure was purportedly discovered by workers on April 13, 1927. A crew of eight men labored for over eight months, constructing a forty-foot tunnel on the banks of Shoal Creek. When questioned, they claimed to be working on "the foundation for a new bridge" and, later, "the foundation of a fine house." A guard was stationed at the tunnel at night.
On the night of April 13, "a box was lifted from the square cut chamber between the rocks, for the next day the workmen were gone and the blasting has ceased. Curious throngs soon found the dark tunnel and with lights discovered traces of the large wooden box that had laid beneath the dirt for more than 60 years."
The treasure was gone.
While the Shoal Creek treasure may have been recovered, countless other treasures are believed to lie beneath the surface of the Texas Hill Country. With the permission of private landowners, anyone is free to grab a pick and shovel and, like generations before them, embark on a quest for gold. The captivating stories of The Buried Treasure of Texas Hill Country continue to inspire dreams of untold riches, beckoning adventurers to explore its rugged landscapes and uncover the secrets hidden beneath the earth.