The Story Of Treasure-Seeking Explorers And Thievery

Chad Somers was on all fours, digging earth with his bare hands. He had something in his sights and was determined to get it. What was it, you ask? 

Chad Somers, a 44-year-old with straight brown hair, a creased face, and tattooed arms, had dropped out of school in the ninth grade. He left school partly because he had undiagnosed ADHD and could not follow the lessons. 

In his late teens, he attended the rodeo and became fascinated with bull riding. From there, he earned a membership in the International Pro Rodeo Association, showing naysayers his strong determination. 

As Chad was going about his excavating business, he knew how it would look if anybody had been there to see him. He imagined people laughing at him, saying he had lost his mind. And he was not wrong; anyone would think just that. 

It was a beautiful day in the summer of 2018, and Chad was alone in the quiet woods. He walked around for a while and then took a break to smoke cigarettes on a slender fence that was put up against a big old birch tree.

Chad relaxed at this tree spot. He later explained that he was not asleep but had some kind of dream, like a trance or a daydream. In that state, he saw Jesse James sitting beside him—the Jesse James of Old West lore, a notorious bank and train robber. 

In Chad’s daydream, Jesse said, “This is where I’m going to bury the biggest treasure I ever had in my life.” Then he got up, walked away, and Chad was released from his trance. And just like that, Chad said, “This is where I’ll dig.” 

After about thirty minutes of digging a three-foot hole in the ground, Chad decided two things. The first was that he was onto something big that could define the trajectory of his life. The second was that it was time to use a shovel. 

The place Chad was digging was on the Bowser family property. This incredible place covered over 300 acres in east central Ohio, housing a farm with hayfields, a home, a barn, and a bunkhouse. 

As their inheritance, the land was divided between Hope and one of her brothers. They both inherited more than twenty acres. Hope and Chad eventually became a couple, and neither outgrew their attachment to their land, especially Chad.

Chad discovered that Jesse James was a high-ranking member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a quasi-military secret society. Legend holds that its leaders gathered a fortune in gold and precious metals. Some historians say most of the loot remains hidden around the country. 

During his dig, Chad remembered something he learned about the gold mine when he was a kid. A woman had told him to keep his eyes open for the treasure Jesse James had buried in the 1800s right across the road from Bowser’s property—a treasure no one had found.  

Chad returned to the woods with his shovel, and within a day or so, the hole was more than six feet deep. He brought in an extension ladder and a generator for light to continue the excavation. At 10 feet, when he was too deep to toss out dirt, he fetched a five-gallon bucket that he tied to a root at the tree’s base with a rope. 

During his slow excavation he kept finding intriguing clues. He found artifacts, including an old harmonica reed, a tobacco leaf, and a cigar butt, suggesting that someone had been there perhaps decades ago.

Chad found out that the landscape on the map formed a J shape. Some of the map’s symbols even aligned with what he had seen on the trees, including a turtle, a wolf, and the letters “JJ.”

He was 30 feet down in the hole when his shovel hit metal. Chad had struck a smooth, hard, bluish-gray surface. It appeared to be the top of a vault, but he couldn’t open it. 

Warren Getler, a journalist, geophysics enthusiast, and a KGC history student who co-authored Rebel Gold, eventually came to the site. Chad had told him about it after returning from the job that took him away. Getler had investigated many sites that were connected to the Confederate organization.

Getler summoned his friend, Brad Richards, a history teacher who knew much about James Jesse. The three of them, along with Richards’s son, Bradley, walked around the woods. They observed marks on trees and other hints they all agreed could have been left by Jesse James. 

The result showed a rectangular image that appeared to be 10-12 feet below the surface. Richards estimated the object to be about eight feet wide and three feet deep, a stash that could weigh seven to nine tons.

To probe further, Chad attached a camera to a device and tried to manipulate it. Images showed what appeared to be artificial walls and a glimpse of something bright, yellow, and reflective. After many delays, they got to a chamber containing items like an old bullet, a bone fragment, and a photo in which six gold bars could be seen.