"Mystery of Civil War Army Gold Deepens with FBI Records" Topic

The court-ordered release of a trove of government photos, videos, maps and other documents involving the FBI's secretive search for Civil War-era gold has a treasure hunter more convinced than ever of a coverup — and just as determined to prove it…

Military: link

I watched this show. The gentleman that thought he was pretty sure he located stash of gold under some rocks.

Said the feds showed up and took over the dig and banned him from the site until they were done.

I've been following this story for a while. it's pretty strange.

What's really odd is that if it turned out to have actually been lost civil war gold, it's still owned by the govt, and the searchers had hoped to get a finder's fee. So if they found gold, why would the FBI want to keep it a secret?

The government stealing wealth is as old as government. There was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack featuring the story of a man who found a cave full of gold bars in New Mexico. Unfortunately for him it was located on White Sands Military Proving Grounds. Long story short, the Army allegedly hauled all the gold away in secret. The story ended with two interesting points. First the mountain was literally gone and all that was left was bulldozer tracks criss-crossing the site. Secondly was the solid gold bar that the original finder's friend still has as proof that the gold was there. Lots of possibilities where the gold came from. Confederate gold, Montezuma's gold, or Maximillian's gold. U.S. Army's now I guess.

The FBI is thoroughly corrupted.

The FBI is thoroughly corrupted.

That is not an accurate statement. That would have to be shown with evidence which has not been done.

The FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the world.

From the linked article:

'There is little evidence in the historical record to suggest that an Army detachment lost a gold shipment in the Pennsylvania wilderness — possibly the result of an ambush by Confederate sympathizers — but the legend has inspired generations of treasure hunters, Parada among them.'

Most US government agencies have a huge number of civil servants who do good things every day and ignore politics. The agencies are headed by people, often politicians who are appointed by the president and their diligence, competence and objectivity as administrators is entirely dependent on their integrity. The good ones do good work, the rest give their agency a bad name.

Why was the Army shipping any gold in 1863? The Army stopped paying its troops in gold almost as soon as the war started. It was greenbacks after 1861. I'm sure any payments for goods would also have been with paper money.

Excellent question!

The FBI is not thoroughly corrupted. People there have given their lives to protect us from all kinds of bad stuff. The majority of people at the Bureau are pros who do their jobs extremely well. Like every huge law enforcement agency or the military, there are occasional bad apples. This does not negate their performance.

Very well said. +1

payment in gold was probably for commercial large scale purchases as we all know the paper money of the looser is instantly worthless.

if we are talking 1863 how certain was the outcome?

the army would have little choice if the government only paid in paper as would small businesses but importers would have to use gold as other countries may not be prepared to accept paper.

out of idle interest when treasure is found who owns it? in the uk it is classed as treasure trove and is owned by the government (through the monarch) and the finder is usually paid a reward as a percentage of the value. It may involve the motive for hiding the treasure – and the intension of returning for it but im not legal expert.
whats the rule in the us?

State law would determine who has a claim to the property when it is discovered. U.S. law would determine whether the claimant would be entitled to keep the property in the face of a claim that it was stolen U.S. government property.

I remember the Feds sending in agents with automatic weapons over a T-Rex fossil found in the badlands. And last I heard a treasure hunter had been in prison for years for refusing to tell them where he'd found a galleon. If the law's on your side, you might win--after five or ten years in prison.

I don't believe I'd argue with the Feds over gold. Just walk away and let them try to find it. Safer that way.

Regarding the subject gold, wasn't it in the possession of the United States when it was lost? If so, then it was US government property…

Even Confederate gold would be categorized as US government property, I believe. So, even if the, possibly non-existent, Confederate gold from the last days of the government was found, (I think the guards were paid in gold and sent home in the end), it would belong t the Feds. Its why I really like the UK's treasure trove laws. People are far more willing to turn in finds because they're guaranteed to be compensated. If anyone here found the CS gold they'd immediately melt it down and destroy its historic value to avoid losing it.

Hmmm Confederate gold and ownership rights would be interesting.

what does this have to do with supposed Civil War gold that may or may not exist?

"Now, why did the Confederate sympathizers not figure out how to take the gold? It was buried and forgotten?"

How do we know they were Confederate sympathizers? Maybe the raiders were led by William Devane‘s great grandfather in league with the original founders of Rosland Capital. 😉🤣

Now we're getting somewhere!! Who forgets where they put the gold? Not William Devane!

So how about

Maybe the raiders were led by William Devane‘s great grandfather in league with the original founders of Rosland Capital.

A possibility?

Question may not be government's ownership but did FBI take it but not for the government but their own?

Arcane Steve

😉

And we still have not determined where that gold went to.

Still have not answered where the gold is.

Apparently you are very interested in this subject. That being the case, why don't you investigate the case.

You could contact the FBI…

"Apparently you are very interested in this subject. That being the case, why don't you investigate the case.

You could contact the FBI…"

It was the original subject of the this thread after all. 😉

But Tort and I are pretty sure the Civil War relatives of William Devane and the owners of Rosland Capital are who ambushed the Union gold carriers.

The gold may actually be in the possession of Clint Eastwood. There is some cinematic evidence that he became involved in a situation regarding stolen Confederate gold. I may have to look into this some rainy afternoon.