Money Well Santa Anna Gold Shaft — Appleby

In 1907 a Mexican traveler calling himself Hoppin' Bell arrived in Appleby northeast of Nacogdoches with a parchment map to a Spanish mine on the T. J. Greening farm. He claimed Santa Anna hid $75,000 in mined gold in a central air shaft covered by a two-ton boulder before the Texas Revolution. Bell and Greening found marker trees (coiled-snake oak, pistol in hollow tree, Bennington rifle stock, inscribed creek rock) and opened the shaft on Turkey Creek (Guatholope). Bell died digging at the bottom; the shaft was later abandoned. The original Greening home stood near the "money well." A 2021 TreasureNet reply from a Greening descendant confirmed the family connection. Locals noted the area may be affected by Lake Naconiche. Coordinates approximate Appleby in northeastern Nacogdoches County.