In the mid-1830s, Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, induced a group of investors to build cities along good harbors in Michigan. A partnership of New York and Philadelphia capitalists formed, and the Port Sheldon Land Co. was established, with aspirations of transforming the wilderness of Port Sheldon, in Ottawa County, into a city the size of Chicago.
A splendid hotel, called The Ottawa House, was built at a cost equivalent to about $1.14 million today. The hotel was constructed in the wilderness, off the beaten path.
A terrible commercial crisis that soon ensued, followed by the discovery — all too late — that the harbor could not be kept open obliterated the city.
Legend has it that, in 1839, a mob of investors planned a raid on the hotel to collect unpaid money from Nicholas Biddle. Fearful of the plot, it is said Biddle buried $250,000 in a well near the hotel. That's equal to stashing away more than $4.7 million today. The raid did not materialize, but Biddle was afraid to touch the buried money and died on Feb. 27, 1844, without revealing its hiding place. Historical investigators have reported the cache “hidden in a well” near the hotel has never been found.
Could this spot in the wilderness, off the beaten path, be the location of Biddle’s Treasure? Hit the road and the trail to find out!
—CACHE NOTES—
This cache is starting with a wooden “First to Find” (FTF) token. If you are the first to find this, it’s all yours!
This cache is also starting with a special travel bug. The travel bug ID is
TB7YRPW. The goal is to get this to "The Legend of Pot Rack Creek” cache (
GC6BQ47) near Blue Ridge, TX to visit our uncle. Please help out by moving it closer to this goal.
Once these items are picked up, we will unveil the next travel bug challenge (an international one) for this cache.