"Lost Silver Mine" Drama in Branson West

Urban exploration in Springfield, Missouri
paul06660
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RE: "Lost Silver Mine" Drama in Branson West

Post by paul06660 »

I have spent a long time researching the story of Bread Tray Mountain, and the legend of the lost silver mine. However what fascinates me the most, is how rumors claim that one old Yocum man, every time he needed money, would dissapear for a few days and return with pockets overflowing with the Yocum silver dollars. Also, the fact there are real Yocum silver dollars in existence, only adds fuel to the mystery.
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Nicotti
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Re: RE: "Lost Silver Mine" Drama in Branson West

Post by Nicotti »

deerwolf wrote:The story of the "Lost Silver Mine" is that there never was one. As the husband of a descendant of the Yochums, I've heard the real story many times. The Yochums sold whiskey to the Delaware Indians, which was illegal. The Delawares had an annuity with the US Government for the purchase of their original land in the state of Delaware. They were paid in silver dollars every year from it. It would look real suspicious if the indians had all this whiskey and the Yochums had all these uncirculated freshly minted silver dollars from the government. So, the Yochums melted down the US dollars and then recast them as Yochum dollars. In order to further distance themselves from the US dollars, they claimed they had a silver mine, and used the mined silver to make the Yochum dollars. This is the story from the family itself, so I don't see any reason to doubt it.
Page 6 has this same story.
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gimpface
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Re: "Lost Silver Mine" Drama in Branson West

Post by gimpface »

You know, a lot of the locals don't know anything at all about the legends of Breadtray Mountain. I was talking to someone who lives on Breadtray Mountain, and she had never heard any of the old stories, even though she claimed to have lived in Stone county her entire life. Anyway, I'm partial to Breadtray as well, even though the treasure tale bears a suspicious resemblance to every other Spanish Treasure story in the region. I've always liked the spookier aspects; ghost lights, disembodied screams, and other dark happenings up on the hill.
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darko80
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Re: "Lost Silver Mine" Drama in Branson West

Post by darko80 »

I lived in that area from 1995-2002 and never knew about ANY of this. I remember being confused by the "trestle" and I remember the "lost silver mine" logo on the gas station that sat across from Wal-Mart. It all makes sense now.
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