Two treasures Two miles apart

The Town of Golden is right next to Miller Creek!                                                                                                                                            Josephine County - Fifty thousand dollars in gold nuggets was said to have been buried by a miner within three hundred yards of the ghost town of Golden.

Josephine County - In 1878, a German prospector named Karl Meyer took shelter under a rock ledge during a storm along Miller Creek. While waiting out the rain, he spied a badger disappear into a large hole in the nearby rocks. When the rain stopped, he widened the hole and crawled through into a cave. There, he was excited to find a large vein of gold. Breaking off several pieces he soon had it assayed and found it would be worth $415,000 per ton. He then returned to his camp on Miller Creek but was unable to find the cave. He continued to search for the elusive cavern for the next six months, without success. He later died of tuberculosis, having never found the cave                                                                                        

                                                     

Another clew

Right down the road from Miller Gulch was one of the richest mining town in Oregon, the same gold could have came from the vane in the cave!

The secrete

I have had this same story told to me before but the treasure was not on miller creek that is explained    in the story, it is the creek that flows threw Miller Gulch right above the town of Golden.

LOST CAVE WITH VEIN OF GOLD ORE!

Somewhere on or near Miller Creek, in Josephine County, Oregon, is a lost cave that contains a vein of gold ore which assayed a fantastic $415,000 to the ton in 1878. The discovery of this underground vein was made because a mule loved huckleberries. In the summer of 1878, Karl Meyer, a German mineralogist was prospecting in southern Oregon.  When his mule was missing one morning, Karl headed for the nearest huckleberry patch, a few miles from his camp.  After trailing the mule along Miller Creek, he found where it had turned off.  At this point in his tracking, it started to rain, really rain, the type Oregon is noted for. The mule tracks were quickly obliterated by the downpour, and Karl was looking for shelter when he spotted a cave under a rock overhand, located up a small ravine from Miller Creek.  While waiting out the storm, Karl saw a badger enter the cave and then disappear deeper underground. Lighting some timber, he followed to see where the badger had gone.  Reaching the end of the cave, he discovered in the side of the wall a vein heavy with gold.  Filling his hat with ore he had broken off, Karl later washed it in a stream.  He later sold this hat-full of gold for $4,984.  At this price the ore would assay an incredible $415,000 to the ton.  Meyer realized he had what could be a very rich gold mine.  He was sure he'd have no trouble returning to the cave, and, as a consequence, he did not make a map of the area.  All he could think of was hurrying back to camp, where he could write out a location notice.  Then the cave of gold would be his. When Karl returned to camp, he found the mule waiting for him.  It was mid-afternoon so Karl decided it would be wise to wait until the following morning to return to the cave. That night, as tired as he was, he had trouble getting to sleep.  He was too excited and keyed up.  Finally he dozed off, only to be awakened some time during the early hours of the remaining by a savage blow to his head.  Apparently he had been walking in his sleep and had fallen headlong into a boulder.  Karl guessed he had suffered a concussion from the injury, as it was the next afternoon before he felt well enough to return to the cave. Saddling the mule, he rode up Miller Creek to the point where he had turned off.  Here he tied the mule to a tree and struck out on foot.  He found--or thought he found - the ridge he was on when the rain drove him to seek shelter.  But after looking around, Karl realized that he was thoroughly confused.  Evidently the blow to the head had jumbled his sense of direction and therefore could not find the cave. Back in camp, Karl became violently ill.  He had a blinding headache that lasted for days.  He kept hoping that his head would clear, though the realization finally hit him that it wouldn't.  He would have to see a doctor.  Karl struck camp and headed out for Grant's Pass, where a doctor had hung out his shingle. Karl was told that he must have complete rest.  Instead of resting in Grant's Pass, he was foolish enough to return to his camp in the mountains.  In time, Karl's head cleared to the point where he could once again search for the fabulous lost cave of gold, but he could not find it.  He could never trace the route he had taken on that fateful day.  Karl kept hunting, however, through what was left of the summer and then into the fall. Karl built a cabin and prepared to stay and search as long as was necessary to rediscover his lost bonanza, but fate intervened.  The prospector came down with tuberculosis and wound up in a rest home in California, where he died. Over the years other men have searched for Karl Meyer's lost cave of gold.  So far as is known, no one has ever found it. The search area is Miller Creek, where the small washes entering the creek could be worked.  If an area is found rich in color, work up each side of this tributary until the source of the gold is found, which could be the location of Karl Meyer's cave of gold.  At today's prices, it could very well pay to spend a vacation searching for this lost bonanza