A Likely Spot to find Gold Coins!
Jan 5, 2023 11:10:32 #
You probably think I’m kidding. Well, get out your history books and read up on the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, and pay particular attention to the U.S. Navy’s blockade of the Confederacy’s ports.
Toward the end of the war, the only port left open wasn’t in the U.S., but just across the Rio Grande River from Brownsville, Texas at a place called Bagdad! It is recorded there would be masts of foreign sailing ships in such numbers as they looked like a forest of trees.
England and France still traded with the Confederacy, buying cotton and selling the Confederate government critical supplies to help continue the war effort. In fact, both countries favored the Confederacy because it meant a weaker Union of the United States.
All this trade was done in gold. No one country’s currency was adequate or strong enough to allow it to be the currency of exchange. Therefore, under heavily armed guards, the transactions were done with gold coins on the barrel head.
It is reported that there were wagon trains loaded with cotton being hauled not just from Texas, but other southern states. There was no longer any other port open due to the effective blockage of the U.S. Navy.
So, here is a hypothetical question. Where did the citizens of Bagdad keep their gold? It would really be too heavy to tote around all the time. The bartenders, gamblers, and ladies of the evening all would have accumulated a rather heavy bag of gold in one or another form.
Now, the U.S. Navy was completely aware of the trade that was going on in Bagdad and finally decided to cut off this last port. Now starting a conflict with Mexico was out of the question. They landed an expeditionary force at the end of Padre Island which intended to march into Brownsville and cut off this last supply source for the Confederacy by preventing any trade across the border with Mexico. Unfortunately, they did not anticipate the fierceness of the Texas Rangers, Confederate troops that they met in combat soon after landing.
The U.S. Naval forces were forced back after two days of combat to stay under the range of the Navy’s ship cannon. After about a week of this stalemate, they got word that Lee had surrendered and the war was over.
Now, back to Bagdad. It died almost immediately when the demand for war materials and supplies no longer existed. There were some reports that there was at least one killing a night in Bagdad. Were the only victims who were penniless killed? I doubt that. So not only were there frequent murders there had to be some who had hidden their gold and never lived to reclaim their loot when they departed.
I visited this area where Bagdad once thrived back in the 1960’s and it was just a barren beach. So it would have been easy to search with a metal detector for buried gold that was never recovered. But, if you Google this now, Bagdad, which is considered part of Matamoros, it is completely different today. If there was ever any hidden loot, it has either been found or is still buried in the sand under modern hotels and other developments. I doubt that anyone who visited Bagdad today could differentiate it from South Padre Island on the Texas side. Just Sayin…RJS
Toward the end of the war, the only port left open wasn’t in the U.S., but just across the Rio Grande River from Brownsville, Texas at a place called Bagdad! It is recorded there would be masts of foreign sailing ships in such numbers as they looked like a forest of trees.
England and France still traded with the Confederacy, buying cotton and selling the Confederate government critical supplies to help continue the war effort. In fact, both countries favored the Confederacy because it meant a weaker Union of the United States.
All this trade was done in gold. No one country’s currency was adequate or strong enough to allow it to be the currency of exchange. Therefore, under heavily armed guards, the transactions were done with gold coins on the barrel head.
It is reported that there were wagon trains loaded with cotton being hauled not just from Texas, but other southern states. There was no longer any other port open due to the effective blockage of the U.S. Navy.
So, here is a hypothetical question. Where did the citizens of Bagdad keep their gold? It would really be too heavy to tote around all the time. The bartenders, gamblers, and ladies of the evening all would have accumulated a rather heavy bag of gold in one or another form.
Now, the U.S. Navy was completely aware of the trade that was going on in Bagdad and finally decided to cut off this last port. Now starting a conflict with Mexico was out of the question. They landed an expeditionary force at the end of Padre Island which intended to march into Brownsville and cut off this last supply source for the Confederacy by preventing any trade across the border with Mexico. Unfortunately, they did not anticipate the fierceness of the Texas Rangers, Confederate troops that they met in combat soon after landing.
The U.S. Naval forces were forced back after two days of combat to stay under the range of the Navy’s ship cannon. After about a week of this stalemate, they got word that Lee had surrendered and the war was over.
Now, back to Bagdad. It died almost immediately when the demand for war materials and supplies no longer existed. There were some reports that there was at least one killing a night in Bagdad. Were the only victims who were penniless killed? I doubt that. So not only were there frequent murders there had to be some who had hidden their gold and never lived to reclaim their loot when they departed.
I visited this area where Bagdad once thrived back in the 1960’s and it was just a barren beach. So it would have been easy to search with a metal detector for buried gold that was never recovered. But, if you Google this now, Bagdad, which is considered part of Matamoros, it is completely different today. If there was ever any hidden loot, it has either been found or is still buried in the sand under modern hotels and other developments. I doubt that anyone who visited Bagdad today could differentiate it from South Padre Island on the Texas side. Just Sayin…RJS
Jan 5, 2023 11:55:10 #
This is very fascinating! If I had to place a guess, I would imagine that there are also other regions of the Country that have hidden treasures lurking around...and it sure would be exciting to be the "lucky one" to stumble upon it!
Jan 5, 2023 15:15:16 #
fishyaker: You are undoubtedly right! There was a lot of these type of towns, such as where the Texas Longhorn cattle were driven up in Kansas, and the gold mining towns in California and elsewhere. Any place that attracted professional gamblers and prostitutes would have been a very likely spot.
There doesn't have to be a long-term business, it can be just a weekend. For instance, when the Shamrock Hotel opened in Houston, It was rumored there wasn't a prostitute anywhere else in four or five states, since they all flocked to Houston, knowing it would be a great opportunity for making a buck (both kinds)! Just Sayin...RJS
There doesn't have to be a long-term business, it can be just a weekend. For instance, when the Shamrock Hotel opened in Houston, It was rumored there wasn't a prostitute anywhere else in four or five states, since they all flocked to Houston, knowing it would be a great opportunity for making a buck (both kinds)! Just Sayin...RJS
Jan 5, 2023 18:35:29 #
I have heard that when old sidewalks are being removed and replaced in historic cities/towns, that a good place to find coins is right in the underlying soil. I do not own a metal detector, but I have observed folks right where I live in Traverse City Michigan do just that. Our town would probably not be a great candidate for gold coins...but definitely silver stuff!
Again...your stories are always an interesting topic and fun to learn and digest....
Again...your stories are always an interesting topic and fun to learn and digest....
Jan 5, 2023 21:24:53 #
Possibly that is similar to scanning school playgrounds for children's lunch money. It has to be the thrill of the find rather than the value of what one finds. Just Sayin...RJS
Jan 5, 2023 22:01:06 #
Robert J Samples wrote:
Possibly that is similar to scanning school playgrounds for children's lunch money. It has to be the thrill of the find rather than the value of what one finds. Just Sayin...RJS
I found a $5 bill in front of an elementary school once. Probably a fat kid’s lunch money.
Jan 7, 2023 09:42:42 #
Jan 7, 2023 09:43:16 #
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