FIVE LOST OUTLAW TREASURES OF THE OLD WEST

In just two days this year’s Frontierado Holiday Season will be over, unfortunately. Here is another seasonal post in the meantime. 

HENRY SEYMOUR LOOT – In 1879 Henry Seymour led his outlaw gang in robbing a stagecoach just out of Brigham City, Arizona and outside the Pine Spring Stage Station. The gang had targeted this particular stage because it carried a shipment of newly minted gold coins supposedly worth over $200,000. (If true that would be $6,429,000 here in 2025)

A posse arrived before the Henry Seymour Gang could leave the area. Amid a furious exchange of gunfire, the robbers retreated inside the station. The posse besieged the outlaws for a day, then set part of the stage station on fire to drive them out. Henry and his gang went down with guns blazing and were killed to the last man. Somehow the gold coins disappeared during all this and have never been found.

THE MUSGROVE GANG – During the late 1860s the Musgrove Gang preyed on stagecoaches and banks plus rustled cattle. They buried loot consisting of several thousand dollars in gold and silver coins somewhere in Larimer County, Colorado.

Colorado Lawman Dave Cook whittled down the outlaw band one by one. He finally arrested the gang’s leader Lee Musgrove and jailed him in Denver. On the night of November 23rd, 1868 a lynch mob dragged Musgrove from his cell and hanged him. None of the Musgrove Gang members ever revealed exactly where their treasure was buried. 

ENIGMATIC ELLIS TREASURE – In 1870 an unknown gang robbed the Wells Fargo office in Ellis, Kansas of a $22,000 payroll. (That would be worth around $540,000 here in 2025)

No one was ever arrested for the robbery but rumors in the area claimed that the bandits buried the loot along the banks of Big Creek.

THE RAID OF KINGSTON – On December 26th of 1873 the outlaw gang led by Tiburcio Vasquez raided the town of Kingston, California. The pickings were not great and despite all the effort the gang only managed to steal $2,500 ($66,600 in 2025) from the town’s two stores.

Armed citizens shot it out with the criminals, killing three members of the gang. Tiburcio was among the bandits who escaped. The man carrying the loot was wounded as he fled and died after crossing the Kings River. His remains were later found but the plunder was never recovered.

BROCKIE JACK STAGECOACH ROBBERY – On July 26th, 1865 the recently escaped Oregon outlaw Brockie Jack led corrupt Sheriff “Big Dave” Updyke, trigger-happy Willy Whitmore and Fred Williams in robbing the Virginia City, Nevada to Pocatello, Idaho stagecoach.

The stage was carrying gold from the Montana mines and the bandits robbed the stagecoach in Idaho’s Portneuf Canyon. The men got away with $80,000 in gold – worth $1,577,000 here in 2025 – and buried it somewhere in Idaho. The criminals were shot to death or lynched before anyone could learn where the gold was located.