Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Spanish treasure cave is located between Gravette and Sulphur Springs
Tucked into the extreme northwest corner of Arkansas is a cave-riddled area. Some of the caves have a rich history and are known to have been used by outlaws and Indians. The caves provided shelter; a warm place in the winter and a cool place in the summer.
There is one legend that talks about Spanish gold being buried in one of these caves and maybe as much as $40 million worth of gold as calculated by today’s standards, as it is told.
The story goes that about 275 years ago, a band of Spanish conquistadors came through Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, then into Arkansas. As they traveled through various areas, they robbed churches, Aztec Indians, other American Indian groups and took anything they could find of value.
It is said that by the time they reached Northwest Arkansas, they had accumulated several chests of gold coins, gold bars and other valuable artifacts. As they entered our area, a blizzard came and the Spaniards took cover in a cave near Gravette. The Spanish conquistadors built a fire inside it to keep warm. The cave, however, had a natural chimney and the smoke from the fire was seen by local American Indians who, according to legend, had been brutalized by the Spaniards. The Natives attacked in retaliation and killed most of the Spaniards, though some must have escaped from the attack.
Much later, settlers talked about the arrival of an old Spaniard by stagecoach in October of 1885. He stayed in Nebo (Gravette) at McAllister’s boarding house. He began to inquire about caves in the area with special markings on them. With him, he brought three old parchment maps that pointed to a particular cave in that area.
The man had ridden in from Mexico and locals felt he was very hard to understand, but he managed to communicate that he planned to stay a while. He said his great-great-grandfather was one of the men who buried millions of dollars’ worth of gold here.
The word spread that he was looking for a cave with a big flat rock covering the opening and on that rock should be a marking carved into it. Some locals helped him look for the cave he described. It wasn’t long before someone reported that a rock with some funny markings on it had been found.
They took the old Spaniard to see the rock and when he saw it, he got very excited. He then asked the owner of the property, Wetzel, if he could dig at that location. The cave had been used as a milk house up until this time and only went back only about fifteen feet.
The old Spaniard hired a group of men to start excavating the cave. They found a large natural entrance and an angled passageway that appeared to have been covered up. The Spaniard looked at his maps, which only he could read, and then give the men direction where to dig each day.
Where he said there would be landmarks in the cave, they were usually right where he said they would be. The men dug the tunnel out for about 800 to 900 feet. The Spaniard stayed for about a year and as the fall weather set in, he decided to go further south where it was warmer because his health wasn’t good. He left enough money to pay the men to continue to dig.
Before he left, he shaved the bark off of a tree until he got to the smooth surface underneath. On the tree, he traced a map of everything they had already done and where he wanted the workers to continue that work inside the cave. Once they reached a certain point, they were to write to two addresses: one being in Madrid, Spain, and the other in Mexico.
They were told that once they wrote to those addresses, people would come and guide them on additional excavation. He took his charts and left, never to be seen in the area again. Once the excavation was done, no one contacted those in Spain because they didn’t know any Spanish.
It wasn’t until 35 years later that a story revealed a Spaniard died from pneumonia in Paul Valley, Okla. in 1886. It was believed to be this same man. The maps he had were handed down from person to person until they were eventually lost.
In 1896, the property was purchased by G. W. Dunbar, who had plans to begin excavating the cave once more. By now the cave had become known as “Black Bear Cave.” At one point during the digging, they found a gigantic tooth measuring 4 and three-quarters inches in height, 4 and a half inches wide and 3 inches thick.
Around 1906, Dunbar sold for a large consideration his 240 acres including the cave to some wealthy, influential people who incorporated it as “The Sulphur Spring Cave Company,” which was said to be a cover name to keep people from knowing his true intent of trying to find the buried treasure.
The name of the cave was changed to “Spanish Treasure Cave.” The plans were to convert the area into an electric park.
The group planned to get an electric train line extended from Joplin to Gravette. Dunbar, who was vice-president of this group, pressed the Gravette Commercial Club to give right of way for this line. They expended thousands of dollars to continue to excavate the cave and installed a railway to remove dirt and rock. The plans of the cave becoming a big attraction ended with Dunbar’s death in 1912.
Other than occasional groups who paid to go in the cave, the cave was locked up after Dunbar’s death.
We know there was extensive excavation done prior to that time thanks to a 1926 newspaper article. The new owner, W. W. Knight of Kansas City, employed scientists to do a survey of the cave and it has since changed hands many times over the years.
The cave was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Brun of Des Moines, Iowa and their search for treasure was abandoned in 1938. Next it was owned by Mr. And Mrs. J. R. McMillin who opened the cave to the general public.
The most recent owners are Paul and Tracy Linscott, who have owned the cave for the last 25 years. Although Linscott can’t confirm the stories of hidden Spanish treasure in the cave, he hopes to find more proof the Spaniards were in the cave a long time ago.
Under his ownership, a sword blade and a belt have been found. When the Linscotts purchased the property, the tree that was marked by the old Spaniard was still there. It was overgrown with bark by that time since it had been many years since the map had been carved on it.
The tree has since been destroyed by a lightning strike. Fortunately, Mr. Linscott said he had taken a good photo of the tree before it was destroyed. The cave is open to the general public between Gravette and Sulphur Springs.
Randy McCrory is part of a group called Vintage Bentonville.The group hosts an online museum for Bentonville/Benton County at vintagebentonville.com. They also host two Facebook pages called Historic Benton County and Vintage Bentonville. His column appears here monthly. Email him at rlmccro@hotmail.com.