British Columbia Treasure Leads

Northern British Columbia Treasure Leads

  • 1943 Douglas C-49 (DC-3) Crash near Fort Nelson: USAAF plane vanished February 6, 1943, with 11 aboard and reported $200,000 US currency payroll + 400 lbs gold bullion. Wreckage found in September 1948 near Tuchodi Lake on a high mountainside; bodies recovered, but no cargo traced amid scattered/buried debris.
  • Ancient Chilcotin Indian gold from heated rocks in the Bella Coola Valley.
  • Derailment at Thompson-Fraser Rivers confluence: Lost railroad cars with gold bullion; $1,000,000 reward offered for serial number plates.

Vancouver Island Treasure Leads

  • Arthur Wilson (Brother XII) caches on DeCourcy Island: 1920s cult leader hid cedar boxes of gold (each ~$10,000); fled to Europe without retrieving all, much reportedly still hidden.
  • Cumberland Chinatown ghost town (near Royston): Relics and minor treasures from the era of 3,000+ Asian miners.
  • 1,200 cases of Prohibition-era liquor hidden in salmon crates near Long Beach (west coast).
  • A rich gold ledge (almost pure) was lost in the 1880s near the headwaters of the San Juan River.
  • Lost Spanish mine (raw gold + crude ingots) between Leechtown and Jordan Meadows: Horizontal opening, heavy undergrowth, high country overlooking Jordan Meadows or along a shorter/less steep route.
  • $10,000 gold coins in a knee-high leather boot under an inverted frying pan, buried ~18 inches deep (distances vary: 150/25 yards/feet northwest of the largest house in Leechtown).
  • “Rattlesnake” Jack Barter’s 1872 mule train robbery: $80,000 stolen; half buried near salal-covered Leechtown ruins (20 miles NW of Victoria).
  • Shipwrecks at Race Rocks near Victoria: Occasional gold coins recovered.
  • Bill Irvine’s silver mine (~1908): Abandoned shaft with near-solid silver walls, lost along the Koksilah River (within a 1-hour drive of Victoria).

Southern British Columbia Treasure & Prospecting Leads

  • Lost Mine of Pitt Lake (Slumach’s Gold / Lost Creek Mine): Legendary rich source (potentially worth millions/billions in lore) north of Pitt Lake, tied to Katzie man Slumach (executed 1891 for murder; cursed seekers before hanging). No direct 1890s evidence links him to gold—legend grew later via prospectors like Wilbur Armstrong, Volcanic Brown, Stu Brown, and others who vanished or failed in the rugged Pitt Range/Garibaldi area. Modern seekers include Daryl Friesen and Adam Palmer (longtime hunter, author, filmmaker via spindlequest.com and YouTube; explored sites, interviewed survivors, featured in Curse of the Frozen Gold and Deadman’s Curse), Adam Palmer (multi-year expeditions claiming close finds), and teams from shows/podcasts chasing the “curse” and motherlode. Related: Crashed WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber west of Pitt Lake (1953; rumored Nazi-recovered gold cargo; protected site).
  • Lost Lytton Gold Mine: High-altitude (>8,000 ft) across Fraser River from Lytton.
  • Granite Creek mother lode: Undiscovered source ~12 miles west of Princeton.
  • Lost Edmunds Quartz Deposit: High-grade (41 oz gold + 101 oz silver/ton) on Penticton Creek near Okanagan.
  • $4,000,000 unrecovered gold in water-filled pit (80-100 ft deep, fed by springs): Cariboo District, ~¼ mile past Barkerville intersection on Quesnel-Bowron Lake Road near Willow-Williams Creek confluence.
  • Matt Roderick’s 1896 robbery: 3 gold bars (~$100,000 today) buried ~1 hour from Camp McKinney (Cariboo Mining District).
  • Placer gold/platinum areas: Glacier Creek & Tingle Creek near Stave Lake; North Alouette River; Tuwasus Creek (platinum claims); Ashnola-Similkameen confluence; Tulameen River (since 1860); Granite, Lawless (Bear), Lockie (Boulder), Lambly (Bear), Cherry, Harris, Jolly, Boundary, and Rock Creeks.
  • Old mine dumps on Mt. Crickmer: Gold via detectors; artifacts in trail dumps.
  • Steamboat Mountain old mining town south of Hope: Mining relics.
  • Old Spanish mine east of Harrison Lake: Pre-contact “ships with white wings” legends; related Spanish wreck in Bute Inlet.
  • Hunter Jack’s gold caches: Near Bridge River behind Bralorne Mine; lost valley near Taughton Creek (sacred burial ground—approach with caution).
  • Prospectors’ theft caches from Pioneer Mine: Around Gold Bridge; rich Eldorado Creek placer.
  • Jack Rowland’s 1889 stagecoach robbery: $15,000 gold bars cached along Scott/Scottie Creek near Clinton (20 miles N of Ashcroft).
  • $300,000 gold dust/nuggets bandit (post-robbery death): Skeleton + pouches possibly between Cache Creek-Ashcroft near 150 Mile House.
  • Cave of gold along Shuswap Lake’s 700-mile shoreline: Indian legends of a long cavern with “blind river,” hidden by silt.
  • Lost Lemon Diggings: Vicinity of Finlay Creek near Canal Flats (variants tie to Alberta Rockies legend).