State & Local, Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths, United States, Historical 

A cedar chest that had been packed with gold coins robbed from a bank just south of Lexington, Kentucky, in 1860 was recovered 50 years later by a fishing guide in King's Mill Pond. Only a handful of coins was left in the chest, which had mostly rotted away. Is the rest settled beneath the silt of the pond today? The Appalachian Mountains have witnessed untold fortunes gained and lost. The confluence and clashes of a number of cultures—Indian, French, Spanish, pioneer, and Union and Confederatte forces—often resulted in struggles over mineral resources, and stashes of gold and silver were frequently hidden for later retrieval. W.C. Jameson gathered his material from journals, maps, on-site research in the Southern Appalachians, and from interviews with people whose lives have been entwined with the search for particular treasures. His book contains 40 legends: accounts of caves stacked with gold ingots from floor to ceiling; of caches guarded by skeletons and curses; and of union payrolls scattered to the four winds. READING LEVELS: Lexile Level: 1230L; Guided Reading: Z - from Amzon