It's been said that where there is smoke, you'll most of the time find fire. The same can be said of legends. Even among the tallest tales, there is often some truth behind it all. That's the case with a steamboat that sank in Missouri which was said to be carrying tons of gold. The truth is that there have been gold coins found near where it sank near Mound City, Missouri.

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There are many sites that tell the tale of the W. R. Caruthers steamboat. Detecting School and Metal Detecting Ghost Towns of the East are only a couple of them. When the W. R. Caruthers sank in the mid-1800's, it was carrying $30,000 in gold. For reference, $30,000 in 1865 would be worth more than a half million dollars in 2023.

When it comes to lost treasure, I rarely take the stories seriously since I figure that if the treasure were true, someone would have found it by now. In the case of the W. R. Caruthers, gold coins have been found near the site of its sinking which is located west of Mound City, Missouri near Big Lake next to the Missouri River.

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If some gold coins have indeed been found between Big Lake and the Missouri River, that means the rest of that fortune exists somewhere in that area.

Could it be that the waters of the Missouri River have carried much of that gold southward? Or, has some settled into the rough shoreline on the east side of the Missouri?

So far I've only heard reports of found gold coins, I've not actually seen them. Since I was born in Missouri, SHOW ME. Until my eyes see them, the gold from the sunken W. R. Caruthers will remain in the realm of legend.

See These 22 Pirate Treasures Still Hiding in Louisiana

Louisiana was long inhabited by internationally known pirates including Jean and Pierre Lafitte. And long has been the legend that these pirates buried untold fortunes in unfound treasure all over the state. Just look at where some of those treasures are still rumored to be buried to this day.

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