It seems that almost all of the people in the rural districts of Bell,
Falls, and Williamson counties must know something of Steinheimer’s ten
jack loads of hidden treasure, for it is continually being searched for
and has been searched for over a long period of years. The search has
extended to many places, the locations varying as much as seven miles.
Some claim that the treasure is buried at Reed’s Lake; others, at
Bugess Lake; but the general opinion is that it is buried at what is
known as the Three Forks. All of these places are in Bell County. The
Steinheimer map is believed to be in the hands of persons residing in
old Mexico, but how it got to Mexico no one seems to know. However,
Mexicans searching for the treasure have claimed to have the map or a
duplicate of it. Various white men have worked with these maps; others
have used “gold rods” and similar instruments.
My own version of the story I secured from a man named Frank Ellis. He
secured his information from a man named Nalley Jones, who, in turn,
got his account from three Mexicans who spent three months searching
for the treasure. There are forty other versions in and around Bell
County. Some people will give you the exact amount of the treasure in
dollars, but the consensus of opinion is that it was what could be
carried on ten Mexican jacks. I have termed the treasure “millions” and
consider my version of the story as nearly correct as any.
According to legendary information, Karl Steinheimer was born near
Speyer, Germany, in 1793. At the age of eleven he ran away from home,
became a sailor, and, in spite of his limited school attendance,
acquired the fluent use of seven languages and a fair knowledge of
three other languages. While yet in his teens he took a prominent part
in several piratical expeditions, and by the time he had reached the
age of twenty-one, captains commanding pirate vessels frequently sought
his advice, for which he was liberally paid.
Among the pirate captains who came to Steinheimer was Louis Aury, [80]
who sought counsel relative to traffic in negro slaves between Cuba and
America. Steinheimer gave his advice and ended by furnishing a
considerable amount of capital to the enterprise. Later, when Aury
visited the Island of Galveston, which Steinheimer had recommended as a
rendezvous, he was so well pleased with Steinheimer’s ability that he
and others concerned unanimously made him dictator over the gang of
slave dealers and sea terrors. However, on account of a broken leg,
Steinheimer left the island but once during his dictatorship. That was
when he made a run to Cuba in 1817. This hugging of a land berth by
Steinheimer brought about a break with Aury, which resulted in a
dissolution of partnership and the abandonment of the island by the
slave smugglers.
Soon after the break, Steinheimer went far into the mountainous
interior of Mexico and became interested in mining operations. In
March, 1827, news reached him that Hayden Edwards, the noted Texas
empresario, had started a revolution for the purpose of freeing Texas
from Mexico, and had established the Republic of Fredonia. [81]
Thereupon Steinheimer, in the hope of becoming dictator to a new
country, decided to make his way to Edwards’ forces and to offer his
assistance in person and in money. However, when he reached Monterrey
he learned that the revolt had been put down and that Edwards and his
followers had fled to the United States. Thus disappointed in his
plans, Steinheimer returned to his mines in Mexico. Here he was
prosperous and contented until the latter part of 1838, when he
suddenly learned something that turned all his plans upside down and
eventually brought about his death.
He learned that a sweetheart of his boyhood days in Europe was living
in St. Louis, and was as yet unmarried. Immediately he arranged to
leave for St. Louis. His affairs closed, he found that his fortune
amounted to ten jack loads of silver and gold. His purpose was to carry
the entire fortune with him, and he picked two men to aid him.
When Steinheimer got to Matamoros, he found that, notwithstanding Santa
Anna’s defeat nearly three years before, Mexico still hoped to
repossess Texas. As a preliminary to conquest, one Manuel Flores with a
few warriors was preparing to start from Matamoros early in 1839 for
Nacogdoches, his mission being to instigate an Indian uprising in
Texas. Learning further that the Apaches were both numerous and hostile
north of the San Antonio road, Steinheimer decided to wait for Flores
and his party. He waited until early spring and then the entire company
set out. When they reached the Colorado River, they were dismayed to
learn that General Burleson was advancing on them and that an
engagement was only a matter of hours. Here we may safely presume that
there was a secret compact between Flores and Steinheimer. At any rate,
the adventurer was permitted to slightly out-distance Flores and to
switch his men and burros some miles north. Consequently, when Flores
met his doom, [82] Steinheimer was unknown to the Texans.
After a complete rest for his men and animals, he cautiously picked his
way across prairies and canyons, avoiding all trails, until he reached
a place where three streams intersect and combine into one. Here he
decided to bury all of his fortune but one small package of gold that
might be needed for immediate use. Accordingly, he unpacked the burros
and concealed their freight. The only mark made to designate the spot
of concealment was a large brass spike driven into an oak tree some
forty or sixty feet away, the spike being of the type used to take the
place of bolts in early boat construction. The animals that had so
faithfully borne the treasure over mountains and deserts were now
liberated, and with his two trusted men Steinheimer took a southeastern
direction.
When they had traveled, as he judged, some twelve or fourteen miles,
they came to what, in his meager descriptions that have come down to
us, he terms “a bunch of knobs on the prairie,” from the tops of which
they could see a great valley skirted with timber some ten miles east.
While they were getting their bearings from these knobs, the party was
attacked by the Indians. Steinheimer’s two aides were both killed
outright, and he escaped badly wounded. He hid himself on the center
hill of the group, and here it was that he buried his remaining gold,
with the exception of six Spanish coins, the place of deposit not
marked. In the encounter he had lost his mount and supplies, though he
still had gun and some ammunition.
He set out afoot, choosing a northern direction, subsisting as best he
could off roots and water, for he was afraid to shoot at game until he
was out of the vicinity of the Indians. Finally he got to where he
could kill meat. But now his wounds were growing more painful, and at
the juncture when he thought that gangrene was setting up in them, he
fell into the hands of some travelers.
Realizing the threat of immediate death, he made a crude map as best he
could of the region of his buried millions and wrote to his early
sweetheart a concise account of his fortunes and misfortunes, informing
her of the critical condition in which he was writing. He explained
that the strangers to whom he was entrusting this message knew nothing
of his name or history and would get nothing of his but the six Spanish
coins. Finally, he requested that she keep his message secret for three
months. If he recovered, he would, he explained, reach St. Louis by the
expiration of that time; if he did not arrive, she was to understand
that he was dead and that his fortune was hers. These are the last
tidings of Steinheimer; it is, therefore, to be presumed that death was
quite as near as he had supposed.
In the course of time the letter reached its destination, but a number
of years passed before conditions in Texas were such that the relatives
of the lady felt that they could look for the treasure with any degree
of safety. Then after months of search and inquiry they were convinced
that the three streams referred to in the directions were the Nolan,
the Lampasas, and the Leon, which unite not far from the present town
of Belton to form what is now called Little River. Here must lie the
vast fortune. In consequence, it is deduced that the small parcel of
gold could not be over two or three miles from the town of Rogers, in
Bell County also, as near it are what are, indeed, still called the
Knobs, a small bunch of hills lying between the Santa Fe and “Katy”
railroads, at about the charted distance from the Three Forks.
While, as I said in the beginning, the history of Steinheimer’s buried
wealth is at present known to many persons, there is no evidence that
any part of it has ever been found, despite the great amount of time
and money that have been spent in quest of it. Alike unknown is the
place of the death and burial of the man Steinheimer, though he was
once notorious both on land and sea. Unknown is he, too, to the
histories of the several countries in which he lived. The relatives who
came to Texas in search of the vast fortune bequeathed to the lady in
such a strange manner were careful never to reveal her name. And this
is perhaps the first time that the name of Steinheimer has appeared
before the general public. [83]