Florence Miners Missouri River Massacre Gold

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Florence Miners Missouri River Massacre Gold

Lost Treasure MT • Chouteau County County
Description
1863 Missouri River legend of thirteen Florence miners massacred by Sioux with $25,000 in buckskin gold sacks — dust spilled on a sandbar and never fully recovered after the boat sank under cannon recoil.
Historical Notes
Granville Stuart recorded Florence miners ignoring warnings before boating from Fort Benton; warriors killed the party and emptied sacks onto a sandbar below Rocky Point. William Keyes later married a Sioux woman who kept one bag; searches with cattleman John Lepley found little after spring floods reshaped the bar. The tale intertwines with the later Charlie Keyes lost-mine legend in the same river corridor.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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