When Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry marched down the Washita River in 1868, the soldiers stopped to rest on Panther Creek near modern Clinton. The soldiers began to gamble. One soldier won most of it and decided to bury his winnings. Legend says it was buried next to an old oak tree. The man made a map showing where he buried the money. Later, when the soldier returned, he could not locate the site.

Early in the 20th century a man named Redman and a friend were riding in the area recalling the legend of the treasure. Redman jokingly said, “If I thought there was a buried treasure buried by the oak tree, I’d take a rod and run it down there.”

Redman’s friend later tried the experiment and apparently found the treasure. The only proof, however, is that Redman’s friend soon bought a farm and paid for it with cash.

Another legend is set in eastern Oklahoma in the Cherokee Nation. In the early 1830s a renegade Seminole, Chief Blackface, robbed and stole. At one point he attacked and killed a party of Mexican traders carrying much gold.

Chief Blackface supposedly hid his plunder in a cave located in the hills around Tahlequah. No one has ever admitted finding the treasure. Many old-timers in the area believe it is still there.

There are countless other treasure legends set in Oklahoma. Many have some basis in fact, but whether they are true is another matter. Other legends, however, are probably little more than dreaming by those who passed them down from generation to generation. Many have undoubtedly been embellished along the way to make the story more appealing. Still they are part of Oklahoma’s colorful history.

(Note: “Oklahoma Reflections” is researched and written by David Dary, emeritus professor of journalism, at the University of Oklahoma and the author of 20 books on the American West. The art was produced specifically for this series by Carolyn Chandler, an artist and illustrator of 45 years, who now resides in Norman and specializes in oil painting.)