By J. K. NESBITT

If You Like Searching for Buried Treasure Then Here Are a Few Clues, Gratis
—But You'll Need Plenty of Perseverance to Unlock the Secret of This Ghost

THERE BURIED treasure at Leech-
m—$40,000 worth of gold dust in a
e-high leather boot covered with an in-
ted frying pan, 18 inches below the
th’s surface.
Leechtown is not a town any more; it
1 collection of a few ancient shacks in
wilderness of Vancouver Island’s beau-
il Sooke district, about 20 miles from
storia, out where the Pacific washes and
hes rocky shores.
30 years ago Leechtown was the scene
feverish gold excitement — and where
there a gold rush town that hasn't its
ried treasure?
Unlike the story of the fabled treasure
Cocos Island, which keeps cropping into
- news, Leechtown’s buried treasure
sn’t been heard of for many years. W. T.
Lubbe, one of the few remaining
idents of Leechtown has recently been
king a study of the fascinating story.
ars and years ago, before he went off to
- 1914-18 war, Mr. Lubbe did more than
dy the story of the treasure—he went
‘ging for it the hard way. He and a pal
led Paddy Dineen nearly broke their
sks searching for the buried gold dust.
“We put in days looking for it and only
: tired, shoveling,” he says today. Still,
wever, he believes there might be treasure
ried in the earth at Leechtown. In any
ent, the story of the Leechtown treasure
of the stuff romance is made of.
Gold was first discovered at Leechtown
rly in 1864. Victoria was then filled with
*n who had searched, and found, gold in
lifornia and the Cariboo. Within a few
eks Leechtown was a boom town. The
sh attracted miners from California. In
ugust of 1864 the vessel Sierra Nevada
rived at Sooke with more than 100 miners.
The Victoria papers were filled with
ost stories of the great discoveries, how
n were picking up gold nuggets out of
e river. Here isan example. A Mr. James
sans wrote to The Colonist “on Thurs-
y last, with a pick and shovel, I took out
veral pieces which were worth a dollar
ch. On Friday I took out between three
d four dollars; on Saturday, after having
t the rocker to work, I made $14. A
inaka assured a Frenchman that he had
nugget worth from $40 to $50.”
This note was in a paper of Aug. 16,

DURTEENTH EDITION

Town Gold.

1864—“an assay of gold dust from the
Leech River mines, made by Mr. Molitor
for the Bank of British North America
showed the value to be $18.40 to the ounce.
The gold is of a rich yellow colour, re-
sembling that from Australia.”

By September, when 500 men were in
the camp, a paper said “a Mr. Hanley has
discovered a large vein of cinnabar, appar-
ently very rich, near Leech River.”

A SECOND KLONDIKE

Soon Kennedy’s Flats (named after
Governor Arthur Kennedy of the British
Crown Colony of Vancouver Island) was
teeming with the excited life of a gold rush.
Saloons and dance halls opened up;
merchants sold liquor in tents, there were
hotels with all-night roulette and poker
parties. By the late winter of 1864, so it is
said now, more than 5000 persons were
living in the rain-drenched camp.

The Leech River gold rush, however, was
largely a myth; a lot of money was taken
out, it is true, but the gold rush there can
never rank with California, the Cariboo and
the Klondyke. Yet, its story is a gripping
one, filled with colour and wild stories of
hectic frontier life.

But, with that background of Leechtown,
to return to the buried treasure. In the
early 70’s, a Wells-Fargo express or stage

Ie

A backwoods hotel, Leech River, 1865

was held up by a bandit in California and
about $40,000 in gold dust taken. This, of
course, was California gold and the bandit
did not dare sell it to a California bank, as
it would easily be recognized by any assayer
there. So the bandit conceived the idea
by no means an original one—of carrying
his gold to a distant gold camp, hiding it,
from time to time taking portions to the
bank or government office, letting on, of
course, that it was his find. Leech River
was then in the news, it was not far from
California, it was suitably isolated. To Van-
couver Island went the California bandit
with his ill-gotten gains.

Since work was started on this story,
Readers’ Digest in its June edition pub-
lished a condensation from Redbook, by
Fairfax Downey, of a story about buried
treasures. It said that once Rattlesnake
Dick Barter’s Gang attacked a Wells-Fargo
mule train in California and made off with
$80,000. “Stolen gold, buried by bandits
who did not live to retrieve it, lies buried
in the hills.” Mr. Downey said.

This all seems to tie together. Perhaps it
was the very gold stolen from the mule
train, as reported by Mr. Downey, that was
taken to Vancouver Island’s Leechtown.

According to Mr. Lubbe, the Leechtown
buried treasure story is that the bandit set
up a tent on the banks of the Leech River

Courtesy B. C. Archives.

—From an Original Photo.

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