Gold Treasure Tales in
Calaveras County

Lost treasures are something people are always interested in hearing about as they most likely fantasize finding it. There are two tales of lost treasures that had to do with black miners, one such tale was of a man whose name was Buster.

It is said that Buster had a big and rich claim close to Murphys out of which he obtained more than $50,000 dollars worth in gold. People were aware of the amount Murphy had because the man who ran the local store said he had weighed it for the miner. Supposedly Buster was a slave that had escaped and that when he handed over some money to his white lawyer in order to buy his freedom, the lawyer cheated him. People in the town liked him and it is said that he was always willing to lend out money and help people and most of the time people paid him back the money he lent them.

After Busters death in 1863 the people in the town tore down his cabin and dug everywhere they could in order to find his stash of gold, however, the gold was never found. During the time that Buster lived he stated “Ain’t no white man ever gonna find it” and right he was, right he was.

Another interesting story involved a black miner who was working in a rich placer close to Calaveritas. It is said that this man had built up a good amount of gold as the years went by.

Then one night it is said he was attacked and tortured to death by two men in his cabin. When the other men heard the man was screaming in his cabin they ran over to see what was happening. The two criminals were caught and were hung. However, the gold was never found.

There are a number of tales that have been told about the rich ledges that have been found and that were then lost in Calaveras County.

Another interesting tale involves a man in the Blue Mountains. It is said that this man found a rich ledge of quartz that bore gold and that he broke off his gun barrel when he was trying to pry off some of the rich ore. This man was not able to find the spot again though.

Another tale is about a man that ran into a rich ledge when he was walking between Douglas Flat and Sheep Ranch. He decided to get a couple samples of the ledge assayed and upon discovering that it was rich he decided to go back to make a claim. Unfortunately he was not able to find the ledge ever again. He looked for the place for years afterwards and became old in his unsuccessful search. This man even hired other people to look for him but to no avail.