Volume 11 , Issue 1

Fort Arbuckle's Lost Payroll

This little tidbit of history was found in the book, "Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales," page 244, concerning Fort Arbuckle's Lost Payroll.

"Early one morning in 1869 a heavily guarded caravan of wagons rumbled out of fort Leavenworth, Kansas, bound for Fort Arbuckle. The iron-rimmed wheels of one wagon left broad, deep ruts in the dirt. it carried a United Sates government gold payroll."

"The caravan safely journeyed through the Indian country and was approaching the designated outpost. A few miles more and the journey would be completed. But as the wagons rounded a bend in the trail near Mill Creek, a barrage of shots from a dozen or more rifles caught the soldiers by surprise. The military detail promptly returned a volley, instantly killing five outlaws who had dared show themselves. All the soldiers were killed in the ambush."

"The outlaws removed the gold from the wagon, fearing that more troops would be dispatched from the nearby fort when the caravan failed to show."

Check out this link for Lost Treasures of Oklahoma.
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