Clark County Silver

In 1877 two unnamed brothers accompanied by a mule skinner drove a wagon from Utah with supplies for the Mormons remaining in the area. They also brought two chests containing $20,000 in minted silver to invest in the Colorado Mining Company. At Mountain Springs, the three men were attacked by Indians. One brother was killed, and the other two men, both wounded, were left for dead. Some days later the two survivors were found near death from loss of blood and exposure. Taken to the Colorado Mining Company camp, they were placed in the care of the cook, a Paiute Indian woman. The brother told the woman that just before the attack he and the mule skinner ad taken the two chests of silver coins from the wagon and hidden them behind a large rock. After the attack, when they had regained sufficient strength, they had dug a shallow hole and buried the chests.

The two men died a few days after confiding their secret to the Indian woman. She immediately made a search of the battle site and found the charred remains of the brothers’ wagon. Alone and concealing her movements, she dug around the largest rocks in the vicinity but failed to locate the two chests of coins. After revealing the information to others she was aided in her search, but no treasure is known to have been found.