The Great Lakes State has a long history loaded with lost treasures.
Michigan has seen about 1,500 shipwrecks in the past few centuries, with plenty of precious items left behind.
Let’s take a look at some of the Mitten’s most mysterious missing treasure tales.
These are tales of forgotten fortunes – abandoned gold and silver mines, sunken gold bullion, and buried treasures from a bygone era.
Douglass Houghton’s Lost Gold Mine
State geologist Douglass Houghton was the first to strike gold in 1845. Houghton kept his discovery under wraps, yet tragedy would strike soon after.
He drowned in a canoe accident later that year, taking the mine’s location to his grave. For over a century, this tale would be a topic of great public interest.
Houghton’s lost mine is said to be by Log Lake in Marquette County.
Word is there’s a serious stockpile of gold right off Poverty Island. The Lost Gold Bullion of Lake Michigan is reportedly worth up to $400 million today:
The story goes back to 1863 during the Civil War, when the tide was turning in the Union’s favor.
The beleaguered South was strapped for cash and put out a desperate call for help to France.
According to the story, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III secretly dispatched a shipment of gold across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada.
It moved through the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Michigan. But some believed that, while traveling en route to Chicago, the ship got attacked and sank.
Others believed there was a shipwreck. In any event, those gold chests never arrived.
That long-lost fortune may just have the highest value of any stash in the state.
Another area alleged to hold pure gold is Alcona County. The Lost Gold Mine near Black River is reputed to be off the Sunrise Coast of Lake Huron.
In 1912, gold nuggets were found on a Haynes Township farm. A mine shaft was dug out, though the search got called off when prospectors’ steam equipment exploded.
The Northern Michigan explosion would leave locals with numerous questions and not many answers.
A Lost Native American Gold Mine has been rumored to sit by Silver City in Porcupine Mountain State Park. The site would be a short distance from Lake Superior, in Ontonagon County.
Jack Driscoll’s Lost Gold Mine is a legend that lives on. “Silver Jack” was a colorful character who kicked around Keweenaw in the late 1800s.
Legend has it the loquacious lumberjack had a secret gold mine in the Huron Mountains, not far from Yellowdog River.
West Michigan’s Buried Stagecoach Loot is supposedly by the banks of Benton Lake. The spot sits about 50 miles southeast of Ludington.
In August of 1874, a gang of bandits robbed a stagecoach carrying $74,000 in gold bound for a large lumber camp. The gold was meant to be used as payment for the lumberjacks.
Drummond Island’s Lost Treasure
Drummond Island is off the Upper Peninsula’s east coast near Ontario, Canada. Rumor has it a number of small stockpiles are still stashed there.
In January of 1895, the Steamer SS Chicora sunk in Lake Michigan between South Haven and Saugatuck.
First-hand accounts say The SS Chicora was stocked with silver ingots, whiskey bottles, and at least $50,000 in gold coins. Several searches have been conducted with no luck.
The Caches of Outlaw Doty
Silas “Sile” Doty was an outlaw in the mid-1800s who eventually made his way to Michigan.
Doty was reputedly a member of the Jesse James gang, hiding from the law in Hillsdale County.
Ol' Sile went to work around Blissfield, stealing from rich folks and giving his ill-gotten gains away to the needy.
Robbery and petty theft were only a couple of his myriad offenses. Doty wasn’t too keen on conformity.
As a consequence, he’d chalk up significant time at Jackson Prison for his countless crimes.
In his twilight years, Doty wrote an autobiography that would be released posthumously in 1880.
Many printed copies were tracked down and destroyed by his family. The manuscript was published again in 1948, but copies of the reprint are quite difficult to come by.
It could contain crucial clues as to where the supposed stockpile might be. Happy hunting!