The Mystery of Missouri’s Civil War Gold You Can’t Find

It has been a mystery for more than 140 years. Legends say that Civil War gold was almost certainly hidden in Missouri, but there are several good reasons why no one will ever find it.

I have friends that have spent several weekends looking for gold that was allegedly buried during the Civil War in Missouri and there's a good reason why those legends of buried loot are likely true. Missouri was one of the most chaotic border states during the Civil War. There were over 1,000 to 1,200 distinct military engagements if you include battles and skirmishes from 1861 through 1864. There was the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in 1861 and the Battle of Westport in 1864 which was considered the Gettysburg of the West.

When you factor in all of the guerilla warfare and smaller clashes that happened across Missouri during those years, there's good reason why many believe that gold which was regularly transported across Missouri was hidden away when the caravans were attacked. There's so much belief in this history that the History Channel devoted an entire series to the legend of Civil War gold being buried in the Midwest.

If it's so likely that gold was buried in Missouri during the Civil War, why can't it be found?

There are many factors involved, but one of the biggest hurdles is much of the land that were near the battles back in that era are now privately-owned land. You are extremely limited on where you can look and/or dig even if you have compelling information about a specific location. You need explicit permission to dig on any private property and it's illegal to dig on public, state or federal land.

There's a conspiracy about what happens if you ask the state or federal government for permission to dig, too

Treasure hunters Dennis and Kem Parada of Finders Keepers have accused the FBI of taking 7 to 9 tons of Union gold during an overnight dig. There are many in the Civil War gold search community that believe if you ask the feds for permission to dig at a site, they'll find the gold and keep it for themselves.

All of these factors don't make it impossible, but you'd have to believe that after all of these years the possibility of Civil War gold being legally found in Missouri without consequences is extremely unlikely. That's a shame as there's almost certainly truth behind all of the legends.