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Did a crooked sheriff hide a treasure of stolen gold near Bannack, Montana?  Sheriff Henry Plummer  Plummer secretly led a gang of robbers CASE DETAILS When gold was discovered in Alder Gulch, Montana, in 1863, hundreds of prospectors descended on the boomtown of Bannack. Among them were outlaws, eager to collect their share of the spoils  Plummer’s gang targeted miners transporting gold In the spring of that year, a group of such outlaws called the Road Agent Gang nearly wiped out the prospectors. It’s been said they stole more than a thousand pounds of gold in nuggets, coins, and gold dust. Henry Plummer, the town sheriff, was an ex-convict and secret leader of the gang. According to author and historian Dick Pace, Plummer had been released just four years earlier from a brand new California prison called San Quentin:
Plummer and his gang targeted miners trying to transport their gold to a major railhead. Finally, in December of 1863, the gang went too far. A well-liked young man was cruelly murdered by the Road Agent Gang. One of the local ranchers found the body and brought it into town. Dick Pace said it was the final straw:
When the outlaws were caught, they started pointing fingers. One Road Agent about to be hanged identified Henry Plummer as the gang’s leader. The vigilante posse raced to Plummer’s house.  The gang killed more than 100 miners Only seven months after the Road Agents had begun their reign of terror, Henry Plummer marched to a scaffold he himself had built in his role as sheriff. But before he was hanged, he made an unusual request; if given two hours on a horse, he would return with his weight in gold. The vigilantes had already heard enough. Henry Plummer hanged without telling anyone where his treasure was buried. Immediately after his death, prospectors started searching for Plummer’s booty. According to local historian Jim Edwards, two mysterious gold hunters may have found it in the early 1900s:
 A posse finally caught up with Henry Plummer Even if one box of Plummer’s gold was found, there’s probably a lot more out there. Two local men have been hunting for the treasure for years. Bill Jappe said he and his partner are confident that Plummer’s gold still lies buried somewhere in the area:
Perhaps the location of Plummer’s buried gold will never be found – if it was ever there in the first place. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season two with Robert Stack and season two with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
CR
My grandmother was born and raised in Bannack and her grandparents++ who were prominent pioneers of Montana lived there. My grandmother and I were besties. Anyway, she was the family historian and told me all the family stories, including those about the Plummer gang and the treasure.
I’ve known exactly what happened to Plummer’s treasure since I was a child. It’s interesting, funny, and sad, Ultimately, it very likely involved one last murder for a part of the treasure after it was discovered recovered.
BTW, I’ve been able to verify every detail my grandmother told me about 23 generations of family history. So, I am certain of the truth behind Plummer’s treasure.
CL
So spill it. If the treasure is long gone, then no need hiding the full story. Start typing…
Jacob
There are stories that my grandmother told me about Her Great Uncle Henry.
Rustin
You should call her
Otto Au
Maybe he spent it all on whiskey?
Fred
May be someone along time ago found the gold and didn’t tell anyone? May be there was more then one person that found the gold? Maybe it still there? You see it seems like to me that someone could already found it and not said nothing about it they wanted to keep a low profile or maybe there was more people in the gang then they thought they? Then they took the Gold you se all I am trying to say is there could of been someone back in then in that mob that hung them could of found the gold. It just a thought as i have heard the story’s and watch Josh Gates on his show I was just thinking about it.
Kevin
the vigilantes kept all the possessions of the so called outlaw gang for their own.
Now I ask, who were the REAL gangsters?
History is written by those who win or in this case those who murdered and call themselves Vigilantes.
John M.
no doubt the Vigilantes killed a lot of men without what we would call “due process” . they usually hung them right where they found them and rode away. But it’s very unlikely they hung very many truly innocent men. It’s funny how the robberies stopped so abruptly and Montana went was experiencing a Pax Vigilantis for many years after.
Reno
There sits a time and place of new age with which can expose the where abouts of the gold. due to the fact that people hear one thing and believe proof. Amitting your guilt by gold weight is proof he knew about it but wheres the proof he was the leader. Even sickly ill and knowing the viglianties were coming for him than why didnt he run? he had the oppertunity to run but chose to stay. theres more to the story than we all know! dont make acutatuations until physcial proof is presented.words of wisdom- the truth will revale the truth but rumors can turn a sweet peach in to a sour apple. Think about it before making a rational decision.
Brian
I clearly think that Henry Plummer had known all along that his actions to secretly be apart of this vigilante group came forward when he said that I can bring you gold in a couple hours by horse he was practically admitting that he was apart of this terrorizeing group. The only way to find this Gold you would of had to been apart of this Vigilante group. The course to learning the wherabouts of this Gold truely lies within the 2 hour horse trip “13 to 15 miles” from Bannack in any direction where there are mountain ranges and creeks to hide it. Soo the question that you ask yourself is how do you hide your Loot for noone to be able to find it? I clearly think that Henry hid it away in a rock cavity soo it would of not been disturbed instead of burying it in the ground for water to get to it. What you realize is at that time of era very few things was sturdy enough to hold alot of Gold if your going to hide it away in something. I would think that he put the Gold in a strong enough box to protect it like a wooden trunk. In my mind I would want a quick turn around hideing my Gold within arms length to me makeing it easily excessible and convienent to get to when I need it. He had soo much Gold hidden that he could of been his own Fort Knox stowing away more than a couple thousand pounds of it in secreted locations. The only way to find this Gold secreted location is to think like Henry Plummer would.
Cathy A Singleton
I think this would be an awesome movie,if it hasn’t already been done
Pecospete
Why is it that we hear one side of a story on tv shows but we know that there are two sides such as this tale of Sheriff Plummer? I know about the legend that he was the leader of the gang that stole gold and killed people,and I have heard the reporting of his guilt. From television stories I have never heard the other side although I have heard and read the other side from reading and listening to other accounts. The reason why is it probably is a BETTER STORY, maybe not truth but a better story.
Dennis
Since Sheriff Plummer preached “Due Process” and fair trials he would not have been a friend to the vigilante group. Get rid of the sheriff and the vigilantes could do as they wanted. The newspapers made a profit as well with exciting tales of murder and mayhem. Who was the actual leader of the vigilantes?
James K Ranger
Do some research before you broadcast a show! If you do a thorough research about Sheriff Plummer you will see that there is no evidence that he was this gang leader and murderer. The true murderers were the Vigilantes. A secret mafia that terrorized those communities.
Ron Less
Lol you think that because a man wears a badge that makes him incorruptible?
My brother was murdered by a county sherrif and his jailer, I had first cousin who was shot through his front door for not surrendering when his only crime was a loud argument with his wife. My next door neighbor for many years was a local police officer and he finally resigned his job due to other less honest officers trying to get him to lie under oath. A Dea agent who I had smoked pot with, back in the late 70s, since he was doing something illegal himself to catch dealer what’s the difference between you and the criminals? He responded, ” the badge” Plumbers story is not only well documented but was a theme repeated many times from the gold strikes in California to Alaska. Your very neive.