Back to the North Wood: Buried treasure reveals little but questions

6:59 PM, Jan. 5, 2014  |  Comments
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In November 1900, slightly west of Marshfield, Andrew Oleson was out on his farm, cutting down a maple tree that grew in his pasture. While not the first tree he had ever taken down, this time he would find something far different than just roots under the old tree.

As he was working there, he discovered a cavity near the base of the maple, and subsequent investigation revealed a wooden box. It had been buried so long that the wood was thoroughly decayed. The 2-foot by 2-foot chest still had plenty to reveal, however.

Among the contents of the box were 120 silver dollars of both American and Mexican mintage, dating from 1836 to 1859. There was also $200 in gold coins, consisting of eagles and double eagles. Checking prices now, those gold coins are worth at least $200 each, and some, such as an 1849 double eagle like the one in the Smithsonian, would be worth $4.5 million.

But the treasure chest held even more bounty. There were several pounds of gold and silver watch cases and candlesticks, and, last but not least, there was a very large quantity of solid silver knives, forks and spoons.

Upon discovering the "plunder," as it was called by Grand Rapids Tribune, which reported the story, it was recalled that about 20 years earlier, a well-to-do farmer living nearby, disappeared at the same time that his home was found burned, a suspected case of arson. Back at that time, with no remains found in the house, it was thought he might have been robbed and murdered and the body buried elsewhere, and the fire set to cover the crimes committed.

The Stevens Point Daily Journal, when reporting the find that Oleson made, said that in 1899, just one year before this treasure was unearthed, a man's skeleton was found buried right beneath the surface of the ground along the roadside very near to the same maple tree. It was assumed at that time that it was the remains of the missing wealthy farmer.

A neighbor of the missing man was suspected of the crimes at the time, but sufficient evidence could not be obtained to allow for his arrest. Later however, the man was arrested while burglarizing a store in Pittsville. When this box was found, he would have been serving a 20-year-sentence in Waupun State Prison.

Hours of time searching old newspapers and other archives and records led to no further illumination of this strange story, so we are left with nothing but questions.

What happened to the stash? Did Oleson get to keep it?

But more importantly, if the skeleton found near the hidden cache was indeed the farmer, was it simply coincidence that he was buried close to it or did the murdered man lead his killer to that spot to give him the box, but was killed before he could do so, perhaps at the very last moment fighting with his assailant and dying before the mission was completed, leaving the murderer with no choice but to bury the man and move on without the expected treasure?

It is possible, but not plausible, that the killer was led to the buried box and after killing the farmer, decided to leave the plunder there until a later time, then found himself arrested and incarcerated for another crime, but normally criminals do not think that way. I think had the murderer found the treasure, he would have high-tailed it with the goods and had no reason to have to try burglarizing a store.

Alas, we probably never will have the answers we are seeking, but I at least hope the murderer, whoever he was, read the story of the found treasure in the newspapers, so he knew how close he came, and yet for him, crime certainly did not pay.

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