Sitting out in Lake Michigan, south of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and located between St. Martin Island and Summer Island is a windswept, storm-kissed slash of rock called Poverty Island. At the time, one of the favorite routes of vessels making their runs was to take the Poverty Island Passage, between Poverty and the Gull Islands, as it was considered to be a sort of short cut, although this was balanced out by the dangers caused by the many shoals of the area. Or how many times they dived on each trip there. . An estimated 500 to 1,000 vessels fell victim to its whims, mostly in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Paul Paul Heersink has also been collecting data on sunken ships during World War II for seven years. Likewise, they claim a bowsprit discovered a few miles away in 2001 is another part of the vessel. Hahahahahaha Scientists stunned at 'perfect' Ice Age discovery: 'Could have died Mary Rose breakthrough: Ship was 'six minutes from being saved', Archaeology: Shipwreck so well preserved you could walk down steps, 'Ship swallower' off British coast has claimed '50,000 lives', Bermuda Triangle bombshell as probe uncovered 80-year-old shipwreck. Above in this page talked about the sea stories he heard as a young man. The Griffin, a large vessel built by French explorer Ren-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, disappeared on its maiden voyage some 343 years ago. The ship was built in Ireland and was considered to be "unsinkable.". Steve Libert, a well-known Great Lakes shipwreck hunter and president of Great Lakes Exploration Group LLC, claimed he found the Griffon in 2001 in Northern Lake Michigan near Poverty Island. I grew up two blocks away from you, I think I may have been your paperboy in the late sixties. The Griffin, Mr Libert believes, was caught in a four-day storm. Because the odds are always against you. In 2001, a famous Great Lakes shipwreck hunter, Steve Libert, claimed her wreck in Northern Lake Michigan near Poverty Island. Unfortunately for the crew, the anchor chain snapped to send it all tumbling back down into the murk, after which it evaded being found again. SSI Platinum 5000 Diving Award 1993, 518 Water Street Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085, Second Saturdays - Journeys Into Local History, The Sunken Treasure of Poverty Island with Richard Bennett. Door County is also known for are shipwrecks, Death's Door and legends It wasthe first big ship to sail the Great Lakes. While tug boats draggedthe ship off the rocks, the tug boats' anchors snagged some wooden boxes and the chains that held them together. Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. Extra Notes: This case originally ran on the November 11, 1994 episode. April 30, 2019. In Gytheio, you can find 'Dimitrios', a 67-meter-long ship, sunk and rusty, quite near the shore, easy to explore up close and swim nearby. The Riches of Poverty Island: With Matty Blake, Robert Clotworthy, Robert C. Kreipke, Rick Lagina. The nonprofit group operates the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in tiny Paradise, Michigan, near the shore of Lake Superior, as well as the oldest working lighthouse on the Great Lakes, Adkins said. According to Mr Libert, the state feels we are encroaching upon their sovereignty and feels we are nothing more than treasure hunters intruding on the rights of academia and archaeologists. To answer Joe from the 8-30-16 comment: Your right Joe, that was the point, to be odd. The leader of our scuba diving club dove many times looking for the gold with no luck. The book is in 8 1/2" X 11" manuscript form and follows somewhat of a sequence of events. OFF POVERTY ISLAND, Mich. Ever since the Griffin, a 40-foot-long ship built by the French explorer Ren-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in his quest to find the mouth of the Mississippi . Funny, as I was just thinking about this wreckI have to get Richard's info this week so I can research it. Youll find many pieces of ships from the same era, but alas matey, wrong wreck. He's been searching the waters of Lake Michigan near tiny Poverty Island for decades, and now shipwreck hunter Steve Libert thinks he has found the remains of the Griffin, used by a 17th-century . According to Richard Bennett, a young boy named Karly Jesson, whose father was the local lighthouse keeper, was said to have watched the salvage operation for three consecutive summers: One day, he was sitting on the rocks watching this operation, and there was a lot of rejoicing, revelryobviously a real congratulatory party that was going on, on the ship.. It is believed to be the location of a treasure of five chests filled with gold bullion and coins worth today around $400 million. Brent Swancer is an author and crypto expert living in Japan. Shipwrecks [1982/1996] - . Although a lighthouse was eventually built on Poverty Island and put into operation in 1885, for a long time ships were forced to travel during the days and brave treacherous rocks and shoals. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was used in the lantern room to produce a flashing red light at a focal plane of seventy-eight feet above the lake. "Adventures on Forty-one Islands: Island No. Acouple in Charlevoix think they've found it. Dimitrios Shipwreck. Will the underwater sled find the treasure? The crew members chained the chests together and threw them overboard rather than risk the chance of being caught. Is a sunken fortune hidden in the bottom of Lake Michigan? Dimitrios Shipwreck, Mani peninsula, Peloponnese. Exposed timbers of the Twelvemile Island wreck (NPS Photo) SEAC and the Submerged Resources Center (SRC), in conjunction with the Slave Wrecks Project, were part of a federal, state, university, and private sector team assessing a reporter's claim that the wreck of the Clotilda - the last known ship to bring enslaved people to the U.S. from Africa -had been discovered near Mobile. Its museum has extensive displays of numerous shipwreck artifacts and other lore of the lakes, scale models of every conceivable type of vessel that sank, and even the restored bell of the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald. The wooden and steel vessels didnt sink, they floated onto the rocks, were smashed to pieces, and distributed by currents and waves all around the bays half under water until they became waterlogged and sunk. During its voyage, the ship was discovered and chased. Rick Lagina and the team set out on a highly anticipated dive operation to find evidence of a shipwreck, in this clip from Season 9, "The Hedden Truth."Tuesd. Again, no Griffin. Aerial shots were taken by helicopter and the acting took place on Cana Island. You know the house big and very old on Lisbon Do you really think it s there? Download our app for the latest, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The wreckage, however, suggests the storm was the most feasible theory. Thegroup's search team has discoveredseveral shipwrecks, including that of the 172-foot schooner-barge Atlanta, found just last yearand deemed "still beautiful after 130 years on the bottom of Lake Superior" by society Executive Director Bruce Lynn. Weve not been able to find any evidence that any of these vessels that were recorded to have been lost were sunk in the vicinity of Poverty Island or that they were French vessels, as the legend would have it to be.. Its an individual achievement. The Mystery of New York's Renegade Subway Psychic, Forget About What We Know About Roswell: It's What's Missing About the Case That We Need to Look For, Archeologists Discover Another Secret Corridor Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, Why and How John Keels The Mothman Prophecies Got its Name, "What's the Creepiest Thing You've Ever Seen or Heard?" So you spent 35 years looking for this treasure, are you any closer to finding it? At 4.30am on Monday 4 August 1845 in stormy weather, the Cataraqui struck a reef on the west coast of King Island less than 100 metres from shore. I wish you good luck in your endeavor. The island is within Delta County in Lake Michigan and is home to the Poverty Island Light . I have read alot about this. Various seasons available now on Hulu. The Owen's sinking took the akes freighter that sank near Outer Island in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, in the Mataafa Storm on 28 November 1905. Hauling it by boat to the island was to dangerous, making the boat seem like towing a rock, so the lil craft never made it down to the bottom. Ever since, it has remained one of Americas most notorious maritime mysteries. More Controversy on the Roswell Affair: An Alien Accident? However I believe it to be factual regardless of what the naysayers say. It wouldn't be the only supposed lost treasure said to lurk down in the depths of the Great lakes and it surely makes one wonder. Fact; The chests were not hooked by the salvage crew that were searching in the 1930's no matter what you may have seen on NBC's Unsolved Mystries. That sounds a little like maybe he found it and just sort of slipped away. The Griffin shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan. In most versions of the tale, the chests, usually said to be five of them, were chained together, making it likely that if one is to find one, they will find all of them. Description: Poverty Island is an island in Lake Michigan between St. Martin Island and Summer Island just south of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. . Sunday, 5th March 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. After a few days, filming was concluded. looking for the lost gold of Poverty Island. Often considered the first ship lost on the Great Lakes, little was known about it until shipwreck hunters Stevie and Kathie Libert set to work. Very interesting story. Poverty Islandis currently owned by the federal government. The Poverty Island Treasure story has been arranged and rearranged with the same slim two sentences or at most a few paragraphs. In the early 1920s,a freighter ran aground on Poverty Island. VIRTUAL MUSEUM Shipwrecks: A Deep Look Lost & Found Unsolved Mysteries Artifact Collection. ON LAKE MICHIGAN NEAR POVERTY ISLAND, Mich. - In a remote part of northern Lake Michigan, divers have started looking at an underwater pit, hoping to find the resting place of the Griffin, a . Only time will tell. One could hardly walk into a bank with hundreds of pounds of gold and cash it in. Shipwreck Island starts out promisingly, with the mostly authentic voices of Sarah and Marco alternating chapters. In 1984 he found an anchor. Charlevoix diver Steve Libert says he's 99.99% sure he has found the wreckage of a French ship that sank in 1679 in Lake Michigan. 15 metres (49 ft 3 in) deep, but has been ruled out as the Plymouth and is most likely the Erastus Corning. Even with modern search equipment it took wreck hunters many years to find the Captain Lawrence and she was a schooner length ship. Many theories and speculations arose and while the date is often wrong (some sources state that the event . Le Griffon. I'd be more than happy to help. The heartless tides of Lake Michigan had once again reclaimed the Poverty Island treasure. Only the daring apply. More info. and the expenses needed for this type of endeavor.l would welcome a discussion. What about one of those small manned submarines?? You are correct, people did believe the earth was flat. The treasure plummeted back to its watery grave. You are now leaving Unsolved.com and heading to our shop at. Over the decades, others have ventured into the waters and searched for the sunken treasure. In 1994, when countyresidents heard that a television crew was on its way to document a mystery, it seemed like the best of these worlds were coming together within the county. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. French archeologists who visited the site at the Liberts' invitation have said they believe the couple is on to something; they even staked a claim for France for whatever wreckage turns up, Steve and Kathie Libert say in their 2021 book, "Le Griffon and the Huron Islands," published by Traverse City's Mission Point Press (about $26in softcover and$35in newly released hardcover). It looked like a ship sitting upright on the lake bottom. Stozicki said she contacted the Liberts after a patron left her a program from the Charlevoix Public Library, where Steve Libert spoke in November. Thisship was the first decked vessel to sail the upper Great Lakes of a scale and design in keeping with 17th Century shipbuilding.". The distance of 3.8 miles between the bowsprit and main sections highly suggests the Indians did not sink it either, nor did La Salles men mutiny and sink the ship. The beleaguered South, strapped for capital, put out a desperate call for relief to France. Covid microchip developer says there's no stopping roll-out, Covid warning as another new variant with '46 mutations' infects 12. In order to aid his driven search, he has enlisted the best equipment he can get his hands on, including a fiberglass homemade mini-sub to comb the gloomy depths at the bottom. Investigations: None The show would be dramatic enough, but in the end, it came down to the same question: is the legend true? I almost came over to your house, to get your papers on the treasure. This wreck has been mentioned in newspapers since 1945, and I wasn`t around to write those stories. The Poverty Island Wildfire ignited June 26, 2016 by a lighting strike on a 200 square-acre island off Michigan's Garden Peninsula in Lake Michigan. It sank in the North Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City on April 14th, 1912. The Griffin is believed to be the first ship of European design to sail the upper Great Lakes. Looks like Marty Lagina has gotten wind of the story and is searching for it! People believed the earth was flat for longer than that. The Light was permanently deactivated and abandoned in 1995 and the old discarded lantern room laying on the ground was retrieved and used to restore the Sand Point Lighthouse ( you can see my post HERE). In 1863 she grounded on Middle Island, near Thunder Bay, MI and was declared a total loss, but later recovered. After La Salle's exploits in the Great Lakes, he led his followers down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming all he'd seen for France. I think it was cases of rifles, now they would be contraband. The ship was constructed and launched on Cayuga Creek on the Niagara River as a seven-cannon, 45-ton barque. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. so i thak people shood stop triying and this is my apinyin, i dont beleve this trezer reley egzists and i havint senn iny thing to shaing my mind. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Despite that belief, there is a story that a group of sailors might have accidentally snagged one of the trunks in 1929. But, while delivering a valuable cargo of furs, it vanished amid rumours that she had been cursed by a prophet from the indigenous Iroquois tribe. The town has been Libert's year-round home since his retirement two years ago, and sits 70 miles across Lake Michigan from Poverty Island. Today, Richard Bennett feels confident that he will succeed where others have failed. Pounded to pieces, the ship eventually sank. The content is about the subject and little else. History. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Traveling up the seaway to the Great Lakes seems to me a very odd way to reach Richmond VA. The wreckage lies approx. A 400-year-old silk dress discovered in a shipwreck off the Dutch coast has shed new light on a daring top-secret mission to pawn the crown jewels on the eve of the English civil war. Bring anything up remotely resembling an item from a shipwreck and they'll seize everything. Dreamers are also doers, thats also how inventions are born. Eduard Bohlen, Namibia. They just sat there (on gun carriages). I've been itching to get into wreck diving and searching, and up here in Minnesota, I was hoping to start soon. 1,517 people lost their lives. The lighthouse was located on the southern end of Poverty Island and consisted of a circular brick tower connected to a brick dwelling by a covered passageway. In 1994, a TV program investigated the Door County legend that $400 million in gold lies submerged near Poverty Island. poverty island shipwreck. The bowsprit is believed to have broken off before the rest of the ship sank. All Rights Reserved. Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. The PADI 50 year Contributions Award 2016 Door County has long been a magnet for famous people who have sought itsnatural beauty and long, lovely coastline. The wreck was found near Poverty Island on Lake Michigan, almost 350 years after it vanished. Some is better than none, and you sleep well at night. True or not, the legend lives on for those who believe it and are brave enough to attempt the search in the cold and often stormy weather. Spending years building long running, fast boats he could outrun the storm in, once getting to the island from Traverse City area. It is available here. Location: near Poverty Island, . Richard Bennett, a professional diver and author, has spent more than 20 years and $100,000 of his own money searching for the sunken fortune: Any story that survives 100 years has to have some validity to it. More than 14,400 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat this year so far, compared to 5,470 in the same period last . I would love to be there when this particular treasure is found and recovered. Now, the program was on its way toDoor County. The sunken salvage ship Captain Lawrence from 1933 was discovered in 1993 and found not to contain the gold. Remarkable images show the remainder of the ship detached from the bowsprit. Travel with Bennett from the Civil War days to Lake Michigans cold and frigid depths in his decade long quest for the reported $300,000,000 in lost gold. An update on the Poverty Island Treasure legend. In the storm, the salvage boat was lost. Never forget, mother Michigan can be an unforgiving, raging b*#ch, and they dont call it Poverty Island for nothing Safe journeys, Captain. As the book states, "In 1678, La Salle led the first party of Europeans to Niagara Falls"; and that Hennepin "was the first to publicize the grandeur of the falls in his 1679 manuscript, 'A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America.' Did they, the people from "Unsolved Mysteries," believe it to be true? History: Richard Bennett, a professional diver and author of 'The Poverty Island Sunken Treasure Brief', has spent over forty-five years and $100,000 of his own money searching for a Civil War treasure in Lake Michigan. Le Griffon was the first full-sized European style sailing ship on the upper Great Lakes that was built and commanded by the French explorer Ren-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1679. When a Union ship began attacking, the captain had the crew throw the treasure chests overboard in the waters off poverty island, so the gold could not be . After the discovery of the bowsprit, a 10-year legal battle with the State of Michigan prevented explorers from excavating the rest of the ship. I doubt the Poverty Treasure has been found. The treasure is believed to rest deep beneath the cold waters of Lake Michigan. The director, Michael Palazzolo, arrived and scouted out the county for filming locations. Beat of luck be safe and careful. Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. Travel the Great Lakes on a floating mansion with new Viking cruise ships, Report: Recycling in Michigan reaches 19.3%, up 35.4% in 3 years, Want more news like this? Despite that belief, there is a story that a group of sailors might have accidentally snagged one of the trunks in 1929. I Often Hear That: I'll Share Some With You, TikTok and Its Strange Proliferation of Mysterious Accounts of Skinwalkers, Shamans, Psychedelics, and One Man's mystical Journey in the Amazon to Find a Miracle Cure. sure some funds would help with equipment. Aug 13, 2007. Is there a fortune worth of gold lying out there just waiting to be found? still it would be great to find them since they are civil war era. "I'm an independent historian, and I thought our patrons would be interested," said Stozicki, who is president of the Rochester-Avon Historical Society. The SS Ira H. Owen was a Great Lakes freighter that sank near Outer Island in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, in the Mataafa Storm on 28 November 1905.She was loaded with 116,000 bushels of barley which was considered a "light load". But Im a dreamer, and Im a gambler. They want what theyve found preserved. This Delta County, Michigan location article is a stub. said a Chicago man named Frank Pea spent three summers in the late 1930s and early 1940s exploring the depths around Poverty Island with a ship named the St. Lawrence and a diving bell. He has said of his search: I am sincere; this is not a hoax. The Griffon had seven cannons, according to old French records, Kathie said. According to Mr and Mrs Libert, The Griffin is a good match for wreckage found in 2018 near Poverty Island, Lake Michigan. I wrote a screenplay about a scuba accident and it was the thing sleepless nights are made of. It disappeared with a crew of six on its maiden voyage in 1679 after La Salle had disembarked near the mouth of Wisconsin's Green Bay. 37: Poverty Island", "Feature Detail Report for: Poverty Island", Seeing The Light Poverty Island Lighthouse, Inventory of Historic Light Stations-Michigan-Poverty Island Light, Le Griffon: The Great Lakes' greatest mystery, "Divers begin Lake Michigan search for Griffin ship - Yahoo! You can unsubscribe at any time. Richard T. Bennett, Master Scuba Diver Trainer presents the legendary story The Sunken Treasure of Poverty Island, a treasure that has haunted diving treasure hunters since the first documented report in 1904. That in itself is rewarding. Now that he believes he has found the clue to the location of the fabled Poverty Island treasure - five chests of French gold reputedly lost when pirates sank the vessel carrying the cargo in the 1860s - Libert finds himself in court attempting to prove he is the rightful owner of another shipwreck he says holds the key to the treasure's . He has spent many years in the Great Lakes searching for shipwrecks. It tells a story of one village in rural medieval Japan, following one boy Isaku, as his family struggles to get food essential for their survival. The production of cotton made the Confederacy's success of prime importance to the French leader. Location: Michigan Reports by French explorers and missionaries said Native Americans told them they saw the ship go down with all hands. They discovered the trunks while pulling up anchor, but before they could get it aboard, the anchor chain snapped and treasure and anchor were lost in the water. Whether the Liberts found the Griffonor merely stumbled on the watery wreckage of some unidentified old ship, their book and the saga of their search open a door to the fascinating earliest days of European exploration inthe Great Lakes, before the founding of Detroit in 1701. . By some accounts the ship was discovered by Union forces and sunk near Poverty Island, while others say it was dashed upon the rocks while attempting to make a misguided night run, and yet another version says they were attacked by French pirates. of that ship will never leat that trezer leave the merky deps of the water Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com, Diving couple say they've found Great Lakes' oldest shipwreck, but doubters abound. Legend says the Island is the final resting place of four chests of gold once sent by the French to the Confederate Army during the Civil War. However, Richard believes that there would be no record because the treasure was brought during a clandestine operation. The sunken salvage ship Captain Lawrence from 1933 was discovered in 1993 and found not to contain the gold. The big questions is has anyone else found it and recovered it and kept there mouth shut. "Kids should know, this is the guy who claimed all the land that became the Louisiana Purchase. The Old abandoned Lighthouse, thats on my Bucket List of places to photograph, looks over the waters where treasure chests full of gold were tossed overboard into Lake Michigan. There are several theories of where the chests came from, one of them being, Jesse Strang the King of Beaver Island and the leader of a Mormoncolony on Beaver Island with the gold was collected from his followers. Maybe somebody will find that ship someday,'and he touched me on the shoulder.". We are only talking about adding weeks to delivery time. The Coronado shipwreck is located south of Hotel del Coronado, a historic hotel in San Diego, in front of the El Camino Tower of the Coronado Shores condos. Thanks for the good wishes. Beacons in the Night, Michigan Lighthouse Chronology, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. At the Rochester Hills Public Library, which also serves the neighboring city of Rochester and Oakland Township, Community Relations Manager Tiffany Stozicki said she hoped that Steve Libert's talkwill pique interest not only in shipwrecksbut in the broader subjectsof what this region was like, and who lived here, a century and a half before Michigan became a state. Better to make it known and use the courts to reap a reward. #1. In the end, America learned about the legend of Poverty Island, yet nothing except the excitement of celebrity really changed. And dont even get me started on the whole God thing, singular or plural. The Lagina brothers, Rick and Marty . No new facts were discovered during filming,nor was any gold. The database currently has a location of 14,672 ships. As a result, Libert has been diving intermittently in the Poverty Island vicinity since 1983. One day, Karl would claim that he had seen a salvage ship out in the water, allegedly excitedly working on dredging something up from the depths, after which the crews could be heard loudly rejoicing, but a storm would come in and sink the ship to send them and whatever they had found back to the bottom. Distribution of shipwrecks globally North Atlantic - 3002 South Atlantic - 198 Mediterranean - 305 Indian - 313 Arctic - 124 Pacific - 3276. Wisconsin. I live on the garden peninsula a few miles north of poverty island and have always been intrigued by the story. Feltner believes that the legend of the treasure is a good story, but holds no truth: Records of shipwrecks on the great lakes in the year 1863 are extremely good. He had dreams of becoming a basketball star on the very street he just visited. RELATED: Traveling Back: Witnesses watch bridge lift car, police search for driver, RELATED: Traveling Back: WWI vets honored fellow doughboys to the last man. It was then spirited down the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Michigan. This video by Steve and Kathie Libert is from the location where they found the wreckage from the Le Griffon. Many people dream about winning the lottery or being a great sports figure. David Bagdon Prominent historians and shipwreck experts in Michigan doubt the Liberts' claim. "That's when I learned about his attachment to the Griffon, and really to the Great Lakes and all shipwrecks," she said. They were true, now add the problem finding a few small chests in a mile square area. Even people with the means to dispose of some of the gold would find it hard the move any large amount. What if more than $400 million in gold is still sitting in the cold water just off Poverty Island waiting for a brave soul to discover it? If any of the latter was true the ship would rest in deeper water instead of shallow waters.. "Kevin got suited up," said Monroe. The Liberts' book, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands - 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery, is . . Ive heard this story many times. One crew braved overcast skies and choppy waters to venture out to Poverty Island and film underwater terrain while another film crew worked just north of Cana Island. More: Travel the Great Lakes on a floating mansion with new Viking cruise ships, More: Report: Recycling in Michigan reaches 19.3%, up 35.4% in 3 years. Mr Libert will continue to search the bed of Lake Michigan using non-intrusive techniques, with the ultimate aim of finding a cannon with the date stamped on it. According to the boy, a storm hit that night, and the salvage ship sank with all the men on board. That's a lot of our country," Steve Libert said. Libert discovered what he believes to be remains of the vessel during dives off Poverty Island in 1984 and 1985. They say that big things come in small packages. Learn how your comment data is processed. Ive always wanted to pull my sidescan around there a bit as it has phenomenal definition. Join MU Plus+ and get exclusive shows and extensions & much more! Thanks for the offer, however I have never taken any money for our search for the Poverty Island Treasure search and after 50 years of being involved I dont think its in the future. Bennett, a professional diver and author of The Poverty Island Sunken Treasure Brief, has spent over forty-five years and $100,000 of his own money searching for the Civil War treasure. Background: In 1863, as the tide of the Civil War was turning in favor for the Union, the Confederate States of America appealed to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III for a secret shipment of gold to bolster their economy.