Treasure hunter thinks he’s found lost gold from Civil War

HARRISBURG (AP) — A treasure hunter wants permission to dig in a state forest in northern Pennsylvania for a cache of gold he believes was lost by a Union convoy transporting it to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia during the Civil War.

The legend has circulated for decades about the half-ton of lost gold — worth $20 million or more at today’s prices.

Dennis Parada believes he has found the site of the missing treasure in an Elk County state forest and is fighting to get state permission to dig it up.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said Parada needs to provide more proof before he starts tearing up state land. The department will not decide whether Parada can dig until he provides more information, spokeswoman Chris Novak said.

“There’s a lot of people that will say this story is not true, and you’ll have your share of people swearing that it is true,” said Parada, of Clearfield, who runs a treasure-hunting business called Finders Keepers. “You’ll get that with any treasure.”

According to the legend, a Union officer received orders in the summer of 1863 to lead a wagon train from Wheeling, W.Va., to Philadelphia through Harrisburg by way of northern Pennsylvania. The story claims that the route was chosen to avoid Confederate soldiers advancing into southern Pennsylvania for what would become the battle of Gettysburg.

As the story goes, the convoy — with two wagons, eight soldiers and 26 50-pound bars of gold — got lost in the wilderness, and the gold vanished.

Parada, who won’t reveal details of the location, said he and his partners made some initial digs in 2005 and found bones, a shattered bottle, a pocket knife, tin cans and two bullets.