Cherokee Treasure Tunnel — Dahlonega Gold Country

After the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, Cherokee leader Rising Fawn reportedly directed construction of a secret tunnel through solid rock in the north Georgia hills. Families of the Long Swamp and Big Savannah bands stored gold brought overland and down the Etowah River. Jacob Scudder, a white ally, was named caretaker. The entrance was sealed before the Trail of Tears. Scudder's late-life writings and the Diana's Chapel cemetery overlook fueled speculation the tunnel lies in a steep hillside never plowed or built upon. Despite generations of searches, the tunnel has not been verified — but the 1932 Red Bank petroglyph discovery lends credence to organized Cherokee gold concealment in the same region.