The image to your right contains the mapping to a treasure site. Can you identify the symbols in the image. To see an example simply move your mouse over it. To better understand signs and symbols click here.

The following is a story from our library about a Treasure Story from NH, US.

The Lost Silver Madonna

MICHAEL PAUL HENSON
AMERICA'S LOST TREASURES (click here to view all books)

The loss of a silver statue of the Madonna in the White Hills of New England in the 1750s is quite a mystery. The monetary worth of the silver statue is not particularly great, as treasures go, but it has extremely high intrinsic value.

The story of the silver Madonna began in the days of the French and Indian war, when the border conflict between the French Canadians and the British colonists was at its highest pitch. Raids by the French and their Indian allies against small settlements in New York and New England had aroused the ire of Lord Jeffrey Amherst, commander of the British forces at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Determined to put a halt to these border attacks, he summoned Major Rogers with orders to field an expedition of his famous rangers against the Indian village of St. Francis in Quebec, a well known jumping-off place for raids against the Colonies.

Rogers' band of 200 picked men first rowed by whaleboats to the northern end of Lake Champlain, moving only under cover of darkness to successfully evade patrolling French vessels. Finally, Major Rogers called a halt one evening 22 days out of Crown Point. Their destination, the Indian village of St. Francis was only a few miles distant. After a battle a group of rangers rushed into a chapel, stripping the altar of its gold chalice, two heavy gold candlesticks, a cross, and a large silver statue of the virgin.

Rogers ordered his men to march southward for home. They had been on the trail only a short time when the rear guard reported that a strong force of French and Indians were coming at them. Many of the stragglers were caught and killed immediately by their pursuers.

The group carrying the silver statue of the Madonna made its way past Lake Memphramagog to the Connecticut River. They were pursued so closely that they had no opportunity to stop and hunt for food. By the time they gained the banks of the Connecticut, the group was reduced to four.

One of the four, professing to know something of this wilderness country, led the little band through the Great Notch of the White Hills. Here they crawled into the meager shelter of some overhanging rocks on a precipice near the Israel River. One of the Rangers suddenly seized the silver Madonna and hurled it over the edge of the precipice.

Years later, woodsmen in the region of the Israel River discovered remnants of the lost detachment, but all efforts to locate the silver Madonna were fruitless.

There is sufficient historical documentation to affirm that the silver Madonna was carried by that part of Rogers' band which fled toward the Connecticut River. Also it is certain that the treasure was never found.