The Bristol Money Diggings

In 1800 an old man named De Grau appeared in Bristol (then called Popock) in Addison County and spent several months digging in a nearby rocky area, known locally as “Hell’s Half Acre.” He finally revealed that he had many years before been a member of a party of Spaniards who had found and mined a rich vein of silver which they smelted into bars. Then, forced to leave the area for some unknown reason and unable to transport all the silver bars, they concealed the ones left behind in a cave.

Of the party only De Grau lived to return, but his search for the silver bars proved fruitless and he finally concluded that the cave had been covered by a rockslide. Many years later a crude crucible, evidently of Spanish origin, gave credence to the story.