Quanah Parker Mountain

"Thar's gold in them thar hills!" At least, that's what some people thought.  People have looked for gold and silver in the Wichita Mountains for a long time.  Some people have looked for buried treasure there, too.  These are the oldest mountains in North America.  They rise from the prairie just north of Lawton, Oklahoma. White people have tried to mine the Wichitas for over 200 years.  At times, people began to believe that the stories of gold and buried treasure were false. But sooner or later, the stories started up again.

Congress made promises to the Indians.  The Indians believed the promises.  They signed the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867.  The treaty promised that no one would hunt for gold or silver on Indian lands.  The Wichita Mountains were in the heart of the reservation.  They were sacred to the Indians.  Medicine men went there to pray.  Many treasure hunters felt that the Indians had secret mines there.  They thought that the mines were full of gold and silver.  They heard stories of Spanish treasure buried in the mountains.  They heard outlaws had buried their stolen loot in the hills.

The miners wanted to look for the gold and silver.  They wanted to look for treasure.  They waited until they thought no one was watching.  Then they sneaked by the soldiers from Fort Sill.  They panned for gold.  They tunneled into the rocks.  The U. S. Army soldiers and the Indian police kept a sharp eye out for these miners.  When they caught them, the miners were thrown off the reservation.  Their property was taken away.

But the very next day, the miners would return.  They were really sure that there was gold and silver hidden in the mountains.  Otherwise, why would the soldiers and Indian police guard the mountains?
 

In July 1881, Daniel Snyder started a gold rush.  He was an old prospector from Kansas.  Daniel and a group of men wanted to dig a mine in the mountains.  Daniel showed up at Fort Sill at the post trader's store.  He asked everyone there about the mountains.  He asked questions about the quartz people had found.  If there is quartz, he said, there must be gold and silver.

Daniel visited the post surgeon, Major Williams.  He spent a long time talking with him.  Later, the major told his commanding officer an exciting story.  Daniel had brought a piece of ore from the reservation to the fort.  He wanted Major Williams to test it for him.  The surgeon said that the ore was almost solid silver.

The two Army officers began planning to dig a mine.  They checked all of the rules made by Congress for prospecting on government lands.  They decided it was okay to form a mining company.  The company was a secret.  Only a few of their friends knew about it.  They all wanted to stake their claims before word of the discovery leaked out.

The soldiers kept a close eye on what was going on in the fort.  They noticed the old prospector come into the fort.  They noticed that he spent a long time talking to the surgeon.  Before nightfall, everyone on base knew about the silver.  By sunrise, the hills were filled with small groups of men.  They rode out to seek their fortunes.

Work at the fort practically stopped.  Soldiers turned into prospectors.  Before the week was out, claims had been pushed west as far as Mount Scott.  But these were soldiers, not prospectors.  They did not know much about how to mine for gold or silver.  If they did not find gold or silver lying on top of the ground, they rode away to look somewhere else.

News of the silver strike soon spread over the country.  Before long, thousands of people were out digging in the hills.  The soldiers forgot to do their job.  They forgot that they were supposed to protect the Indian lands.  They forgot that they were supposed to keep white people off the reservation.  No one cared.  The silver was all that mattered.

The Indians were very angry about the whites trespassing on the reservation.  The whites did a lot of damage.  They tore down fences.  Cattle strayed.  Pastures were dug up.  The Indians complained to the commandant at Fort Sill.  They were surprised and unhappy when he said that he was going to dig on Indian land, too.  He said it was legal to dig for gold and silver on the reservation.

The Indians complained to the Indian agent.  The Indian agent wired General Pope at department headquarters.  The agent told the general all about the problem.  General Pope ordered the commandant of Fort Sill to stop his activities.  He was ordered to remove all unauthorized people from both the military and Indian reservations.

This ended the first of many gold and silver rushes in the Wichitas.  No gold or silver has ever been found except for what Daniel brought in.  No one knows what happened to Daniel.  He was forgotten in the rush for riches. 

Even today, people talk about gold and silver in the Wichita Mountains.  They talk about treasure buried by the Spanish.  They talk about stolen loot buried by Jesse and Frank James and Belle Star. 

The Wichita Mountains are a federal wildlife refuge now.  It is illegal to hunt for gold or silver or buried treasure there.  But people still tell the stories.  They still want to become rich the easy way.