Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

In my life, I’ve been both a bartender and a writer. And in both careers, albeit in different ways, the question of proof came up a lot.

“Proof” is important in bartending for obvious reasons. A different kind of proof is important in journalism, no matter what the topic. I’ll grant that I cover a lot of crazy topics: Bigfoot, UFOs, haunted places, weird historical incidents….But no matter what, when I write a column, I’m able to prove what I say.

I’ve been thinking about the concept of proof a lot as I research a story of lost Civil War gold up on the border of Elk and Cameron Counties.

Let me back up and fill you in here. The story is this: In 1863, gold was being shipped across Pennsylvania by the Union Army. Lieutenant James Castleton lost most of his men to snakes, disease, and rough terrain as they traveled through the state. The last guy standing was a private named Connors, who buried the gold somewhere near the border of Elk and Cameron Counties. He traveled to Lock Haven, claiming when he was drinking to know exactly where the gold was. The army shipped him to a remote outpost where they could keep an eye on him, and the gold still remains.

Today, the legend persists, and various interested parties have been out looking for the gold. Some people claim that a professional treasure-hunting agency found the gold, and the FBI stole it from them. This has been the topic of a recent court case.

Here’s the thing: It all comes down to proof.

As far as the evidence shows, the treasure probably doesn’t exist.

About half of you just ran to your computers to send me hate mail, claiming that the treasure is definitely real, and the FBI stole it. Before you hit Send, I’m going to ask you one thing: Give me proof. Not rumors, not baseless accusations, but actual, documented proof that the treasure was found and stolen. Give me irrefutable proof, and I’ll write a retraction tomorrow.

Hear me out. The story supposedly dates back to the 1860s, what with the Civil War unit and all. So, you’d think there are old records, right? Documents showing that these people existed, newspaper articles mentioning this.

There’s nothing like that. You want to know what the earliest source is for this story? 1973. That’s right, this legend was never written down until it appeared over a hundred years after the Civil War, in an issue of Treasure Magazine.

There are no documents to show that Lieutenant Castleton ever existed, or Connors. No soldiers by that name have records from the Civil War.

In the story, Connors staggered into Lock Haven, and spent considerable time there being treated for his injuries. The book “History of Cameron County” says that he was joined a few days later by two of his fellow soldiers. But the local newspapers at the time reflect none of this—I’ve studied the newspapers for the entire summer of 1863, and there is no mention of a lost Civil War solider anywhere. There’s all sorts of other Civil War news, but nothing about this particular guy.

Some sources have claimed that he was taken into an army outpost, a fort that stood in Lock Haven. Except there wasn’t one. During the Civil War, there was no kind of fort in Lock Haven. Most recruits had to leave town by train to sign up.

All of this very strongly suggests that the story isn’t true. If anyone has any proof otherwise, I’d love to see it. Until that turns up, this one has to be considered just an old rumor. Hey, don’t worry about it. Let me make you a drink.