French Treasure Ship Yet To Be Found

French Treasure Ship Yet To Be Found
In September 1724, a French merchant ship was located off the coast of present-day Alabama near present-day Dauphin Island.  The vessel was “La Bellone.” In her hold was stored a cargo of beaver skins, deer hides, tobacco, indigo and coins and bullion valued at 40,000 crowns. She was on her way to Dauphin Island to collect the yearly production of goods by the French colonials in Louisiana, and transport them to France. While trying to enter Pelican Bay, the Bellone ran aground.

Alabama-Treasure-Legends

ALABAMA TREASURE LEGENDS

Some sites listed here may have prohibitions against prospecting. Always seek permission from property owners and obtain any necessary permits prior to treasure hunting, panning, dredging, or metal detecting.

Louina Alabama Ghost Town in Randolph County Alabama

Louina Alabama

Louina Alabama was settled by the Indians, pushed to Alabama by the white settlers from the overcrowded east in the 1830s. Louina’s trading post quickly became the metropolis of its day with the area producing quantities of gold. Today Louina is a ghost town.

This image of Constable J. L. McGowan standing, rifle in hand, over the corpse of ?Railroad Bill? strapped to a wooden plank, sold for 50 cents in the days following the notorious outlaw's death in March 1896.

The Legend of Railroad Bill

There is a legend in south Alabama, associated with the spirit of a man known as, “Railroad Bill”. This story, from slave cultures, during the post-Civil War era, during the reconstruction of the South, documents a “Robin Hood” type character who stole from food trains and sold the items to poor, rural southern families for less than they could buy them in general stores.

Legend-of-The-Confederate-Gold

Confederate Gold

Legend of
The Lost Confederate Gold
Legend tells of two crates, each sized about 2’x3’x4′ were filled with gold and silver coins said to be around $100,000 in value and buried by Confederate forces. Some stories say the crates were made of wood, some say metal. The crates were buried when Union forces were approaching as the wagon transporting the treasure became stuck in a bog-hole near Athens Alabama. The cache was made at an 1865 era steam crossing about 4 miles North of of Athens and about 1/2 mile West of the crossing. More Alabama Gold Stories and Treasure Legends.

Paintrock Alabama early 20th Century

Yuchi Gold Of Paint Rock Alabama

One of Alabama’s most famous lost gold stories is the Yuchi Gold of Paint Rock Valley.

Legend says that somewhere just southeast of Huntsville, Alabama there is a fortune in gold hidden in a cave. According to the legend, the cave has gold ingots stacked within. This Alabama Treasure Legend speculates that the gold came from Spanish soldiers who were killed near Tuscaloosa Alabama by the Yuchi tribe around 1699.