Tom Kelly's Bluff Unfound Gold

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Tom Kelly's Bluff Unfound Gold

Lost Treasure IA • Dubuque County County
Description
Dubuque legend of miner Thomas Kelly burying a fortune on Kelly's Bluff — searchers recovered tin cans and an iron chest with thousands in coins, yet lore insists more remains above the Mississippi.
Historical Notes
Peter Fortune found $1,800 in gold coins in 1869; George Ellis found another $1,800; in 1900 boys discovered $10,000 in a chest for Kelly's sister Elizabeth. Kelly's lead-pig molds turned up during 1898 seminary foundation work, keeping the bluff active in Dubuque folklore. Encyclopedia Dubuque notes unverified late-twentieth-century reports of additional finds sold quietly by a factory employee.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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