Growing up, who wasn’t fascinated by the idea of finding buried treasure? Here in Minnesota, unbeknownst to many, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that! From the banks of the Mississippi to the side of state highways, Minnesota has accumulated a variety of buried riches. Here are a few interesting ones that we dug up information about:

1. In Minneapolis, a settler during the Civil War was said to have buried $5,000 of gold coins on the Mississippi's west bank.
Wikimedia/Elkman
Supposedly, he could never find it again, and it's somewhere on the grounds of the Minnesota Old Soldiers Home.
2. In La Crescent, the property once owned by H. Lilly is said to have $60,000 of buried treasure on the grounds.
City of La Crescent
3. In the 1930s, Ma Barker and the Alvin Karpis gang buried $150,000 in $5 and $10 bills along Highway 52 between Chatfield and Rochester.
Google Maps
They had the money from a $200,000 ransom. It was supposed to be under a fence post in a metal box, and as they were killed in a Florida shootout, the money was never recovered.

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4. East of Mentor, a large pile of cash is supposedly buried on the farm previously owned by Thomas Fontaine.
Google Maps
Fontaine was a wealthy member of the community who was murdered in 1904.
Google Maps
5. In Henderson, a brewery owner named Charles Ney supposedly never deposited money in the bank, and kept his entire fortune in or under the brewery property.
Facebook/Henderson, MN

What stories about Minnesota treasures have you heard? Share them with us on the Only in Minnesota page!

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