A chest full of Spanish gold was pulled from Lake Taneycomo this morning. Joe Beeghly, the owner of Mid River Marina, says he was raking weeds in the fog when his rake stuck on something heavy. He reversed the boat and pulled the rake out of the water, finding pieces of wood stuck to the tines.
“I could tell the wood was much older than anything else I had pulled out of the lake,” said Joe. “I have been raking around my dock, which is good hard work. When I examined the piece I could reach, there was Spanish words engraved in it. I got so excited I jumped out of the boat to find the rest of whatever it was. Even though I sunk three feet into the mud, I could feel what I knew it was: A chest.”
“Once I located it I tied a rope from it to the rake lift and pulled it out of the mud. I worked to remain calm as I slowly tuned the work boat around and headed to the shore so I could put the chest on land. After lowering the chest to the shore, I held it in place with the tines of the rake, and managed to get to it.”
“I grabbed the water hose and started rinsing off the mud. As the mud came off, it was clear that this was a well-built wooden chest, probably from the 1600’s. I knew that the Ozarks were explored as far back as DeSoto, and that Spanish gold passed through here in the 1600’s. While none of the stories match up with Rockaway Beach, which wasn’t incorporated until 1917, I knew there was a real possibility of gold being in this chest.”
“As the mud came off, I realized I was a bit exposed, Mid-River Marina being right there on Beach Drive. I moved my backhoe to block the view from the street and finished washing off the mud. The chest had a hole in the top, and I could see something shining inside.”
“Once I realized what I had, I used the backhoe to load the chest on my boat, and I headed down to my buddy's dock to get some gas. From there I headed straight to the Historical Society in Forsyth, down lake from Rockaway Beach. Yep, they confirmed I found a chest!”
While Spanish explorers and teams of mules carrying chests of gold and silver passed through our area in the 1600’s, this is the first find. Ever.
Copyright Willis Montgomery.
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