History of Reedsburg and the Upper Baraboo Valley, by Merton Edwin Krug, Publ. February 1929 by the author. Printed by Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis., Page 52-55

In the fall of 1856 Reedsburg became the scene of a gold fever excitement, which was none the less in intensity from the fact that it was confined to a few persons. A Beaver Dam banker by the name of WELLS found in the bush near the wayside, a short distance from his residence, a package of papers tied up with a bit of red tape. The package contained a letter, purporting to have been written by a man named BURLEIGH, of Cleveland, Ohio, to one Mr. BURTON of Cincinnati, and a timeworn sheet of paper, bearing a draft of a certain piece of land. The letter stated that in consideration of many services which Mr. BURTON had rendered the writer when sick, the latter had deemed it right to put his friend in possession of a secret, known only to himself and which might guarantee a fortune to both should they both work in union. The secret was this:

BURLEIGH (author of the letter) had been one of a band of robbers that had infested the upper Mississippi in 1840. This band, fearing detection, had divided into four parties, each one taking a fourth of the treasures. The one to which BURLEIGH had belonged appointed him one of a committee of four to bury their money, some $50,000 where it should be safe until the danger was over. The committee landed at the mouth of the Bad Ax river and proceeded into the interior, by means of horses, until they struck the Baraboo river, where they found a suitable place to bury the treasure; which they did, making an accurate drawing of the location and marking the place so that it would not be lost to them at any future time. The gold was confined in coffee sacks, and above these they placed a charred stick, fastened to the sacks by a gold chain.

The letter went on to say that the committee, on returning to the rendezvous of the robbers, found no one there, and they came to the conclusion that the band had been forced to separate. They then took passage to New Orleans, but, on the trip two of the party died of yellow fever. At New Orleans a third party was taken sick. At this time business called the other (BURLEIGH) to England, and he departed, leaving his companion in a dangerous state. BURLEIGH remained abroad some fifteen years, at the end of which time he determined to return and obtain the buried treasure. While journeying with this intent he was taken sick. He was befriended by BURTON, to whom he was now revealing the secret. He ended by telling BURTON to meet him at such a time at Beaver Dam, from which place they would proceed to the point designated by the chart.

It was quite evident to WELLS' mind that the letter had been lost by BURTON while on the way to meet his friend, and the banker's heart began to beat in eager anticipation of a great fortune waiting within reach of his very hands. The register of a certain hotel confirmed his opinion that BURTON had been in town, as such a person, haling from Cincinnati, had registered there only a few days previous. Believing that he was in possession of a great secret, WELLS sought legal counsel of Judge WHEELER, who, for a share of the booty, promised his assistance in obtaining the gold.

Following the directions of the chart, the pair found that the spot indicated was in the village of Reedsburg, on a lot owned by L. Gay SPERRY, who lived there in a small house which he had erected recently. The place was worth about three hundred dollars, but on asking the price, SPERRY informed WELLS that he had been offered three thousand dollars for it by a Cincinnati man to whom he had promised it. This confirmed the suspicion that BURTON had been looking up the treasure, and had lost the description which WELLS had found. The banker grew desperate, and he immediately offered SPERRY a hundred dollars more for the place. SPERRY, after much demur, accepted the offer, and a sale was made, WELLS giving some property in Beaver Dam and several hundred dollars in money for the one lot and small cabin.

The SPERRYs made instant preparations to move. They had suffered greatly because of hard times, and on occasion had actually been in want. Now they had plenty. While they were getting ready to leave the place, however, the impatient WELLS was making preparations to dig for the treasure. He took into his confidence the Hon. Sam BURCHARD of Beaver Dam, and some others whose names we are enable to give; and on a starry night at the click of twelve o'clock, our gold-hunters sallied forth with their spades, and several brand-new coffee sacks, to unearth the hidden treasure. They had taken the precaution to bring new sacks, thinking that the old ones would probably be in a decayed condition, and they did not want to run the risk of scattering the precious gold over the ground while on their way to their night quarters.

Leaving the sacks at the gate they went into the yard, where they readily found the exact spot, and the digging began. A light night-wind stirred the leaves of the trees as the spades touched the earth, and it brought weakness and terror to the hearts of gold-hunters.

"I've heard," whispered one, "that the devil always puts a charm on buried money so as to make it impossible for those who did not bury it to obtain it."

"He is a pretty smart fellow if he beats us out of this haul," returned WELLS, his teeth chattering with terror, as he spoke.

A minute later the digger stuck the charred stick of which the letter had spoken. A paper bearing the date of the period when the digging occurred says that the banker upon seeing the stick uttered an exclamation, and fainted away. He, however, soon came to, and feared that BURCHARD, who was digging, would get the first sight of the treasure, kept him thereafter on the alert.

"You come out of there, and let the Judge and me dig awhile!" he exclaimed.

BURCHARD handed the banker the spade, and the latter continued the digging with hearty good-will, and with an energy that would certainly have discouraged Satan, had he been trying to prevent the finding of gold at that spot, as the superstitious affirm he does.

"Be careful," cautioned Judge WHEELER, "not to strike the bags with the spades. You might scatter the gold and break the chain."

A short time sufficed to convince the two who had the spades that no treasure was there, for they had struck a stratum of earth nearly allied to stone. As the two paused from sheer despair, BURCHARD leaned over the hole.

"Judge, shall I bring the coffee-sacks now?"

The Judge's reply is not on record from the fact that it would not look well in print. So great was the rage and disappointment of the banker that on his return to Beaver Dam, where SPERRY was at that time, he managed with the aid of some friends, to get that individual shut up in a room where a stormy interview ensued, which cause SPERRY to tremble in his boots, through fear of the probable results of his deeply-laid scheme. The latter was finally induced to return the greater part of the money that had been paid him, and take back the property. But he did not long continue to reside in Reedsburg, nor did he attempt further to dispose of his place, which he valued so little that he allowed it to be sold for taxes not long after his departure. (This episode is from the Bella French Sketch Book.)
Submitted by Carol