Treasure

Sparta, in Gallatin County, has a sensation.

During the civil war a certain Confederate soldier was wounded on the battlefield and died soon afterwards. Among the last words from his lips was a statement made to his comrades that some time previously he had buried a considerable sum of money near a large oak on or near a hill called Bald Knob in the vicinity of Sparta.

With this interesting legend attached to Bald Knob, it became a piece of some notoriety in that section of the country. Time and again since the war, efforts have been made by a number of persons to find the treasures, but all were fruitless, and still the interesting romance hung about the place.

Week before last, two strangers, from where none can tell, halted their buggy in Sparta. They ascertained the location of the old tree called the eagle’s nest in such an adroit manner such as not to arouse suspicion. Procuring a spade, ostensibly to dig fish bait, they were seen soon afterward digging near the aforesaid tree, and within a short time they had left the neighborhood.

An examination of the hole they made showed clearly that cans or jars had there been secreted and the supposition is that they contained the wealth which gives rise to this little story. The people up there are satisfied that the two men mentioned got the money and that it is part of that taken from the Bank of Carrollton, Kentucky, when it was robbed some sixteen years ago.

The Carrollton Democrat, May 15, 1880