The Triskett Gang, Massacre, and Buried Gold

In 1852, Sheriff William H. Rogers of Shasta County, California, led a posse of 12 men after the outlaw gang that robbed a bank in Shasta City on July 31, 1852. The band of murderous men escaped with $80,000 in gold dust and coins and headed north toward Oregon. The sheriff's posse followed them for three days but lost their trail near the Oregon border.

The outlaws soon robbed and killed several people in Oregon's gold fields on August 3, 1852.

The Triskett gang comprised Jack and Henry Triskett, Fred Cooper, Miles Hearn, and Chris Stover. Wanted for crimes in California, they fled to Oregon, arriving in Sailor’s Diggings (later renamed Waldo).

After a night of heavy drinking and gambling at the saloon, they went on a shooting spree, killing 18 people, including women and children, and stealing another $75,000 worth of gold from the Assay office.

With two stolen pack horses, one weighed down with over 250 pounds of gold from the Assay office and the other with what was left from the California bank robbery; they desperately tried to escape through another mining camp nearby. However, a miners' posse quickly pursued them.

Slowed down by their heavy load, they dug in for a gunfight and buried the two treasures.

The posse caught up with them on a trail just a short distance up a hill past O'Brien on what is now called Lone Mountain Road.

A gunfight ensued, and four of the gang members were killed. The only survivor, Chris Stover, was returned to Sailor's Diggings but died before revealing where they had concealed the gold. Reportedly hidden not far from the resort.

The Assay gold, now worth an estimated $5.7 million, and the unknown amount of unspent gold from Shasta County has yet to be found and remains a mystery.