Friday, May 9, 2008

Harmon County

This is a story told to me years ago by a good friend. Sometime during the 1950's an aged Comanche and his grandson stopped by my friends shop. The old man only spoke his native tongue and the grandson did the translating. After some small talk the old man got down to business. They had come to my friend since he was the unofficial local historian. His family had lived in the area long before statehood.

The old Comanche told my friend a story of how two braves many years before had attacked a stage coach as it had crossed one of the forks of the Red River. The coach was carrying a payroll which the braves took. They then hid the loot near a tree in a small graveyard somewhere in what is now known as Harmon County. The two men where later killed.

My friend was familiar with the stage crossing but didn't know of the graveyard for which they were searching. He did know of the area the Comanche men would spend their time racing horses and gambling while the women would go mine salt. This was part of the clues as well. As far as anyone knows this money was never recovered.

Now for some clues for you. The crossing was on the Salt Fork of the Red River right at the state line. The camp area is not far from there. There was stone cairns that marked out the race track, but these were knocked down years ago. The salt mines were near Erick further north. There are numerous old graveyards in the area and the one the old Comanche was seeking may not be visible today.

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