On the Border

You’re thinking about Mexican food right now, aren’t you?

This article isn’t about Mexican food, although a cerveza and some nachos sound pretty good, it’s about treasure, and the border I am talking about is the one between Kansas and Oklahoma.

Back in the 1890’s there were two brothers, Chester and Alexander Morgan, who raised cattle and grew wheat just on the Kansas side of the border near Liberal, KS. It is said the brothers were more than just a little unscrupulous in their dealings with people and amassed a fortune in gold coins, which was hidden by the brothers somewhere.

The two brothers didn’t trust banks and they had screwed over so many people in the area that they didn’t want anybody to know exactly how much money they had or where it was kept. Over the years their list of enemies continued to grow until they had pretty much alienated everybody in the area. As the two brothers continued with their shady deals the locals finally got to the point where they just weren’t going to take it anymore.

Chester and Alexander Morgan were dragged from their home on their farm, shot and killed and then their house was burned to the ground. What did I tell you about Karma?

It is estimated that the two brothers had between $100,000 and $150,000 in gold coins buried somewhere on their farm but none of this money was ever found. The location of what used to be their farm is along the current day Highway 54 near Liberal, KS. Their land was supposed to border along the Oklahoma line. A check of the old records at the Seward County Assessors office would give you the exact location. I’m sure this farm is broken into several pieces by now with more than one person owning parts of the old farm.

While you are in the area you might want to talk to some of the old locals about a treasure legend that deals with the downtown area of Liberal, KS. There is a story that there is a treasure of gold and silver coins hidden under one of the old downtown buildings. It seems that know one really knows the origin of this story, only that it has been around for a very long time.

According to the different stories this treasure doesn’t seem to be buried but hidden. Stories say that the treasure is under the floor of the building in a trap door or false bottom type set up that no one can seem to find and others say the treasure is hidden in a wall on the bottom floor of the building. None of the stories mention which building or who may have put this treasure where it is.

If I had to guess, it would make logical sense that the treasure probably belonged to a merchant who had a store in downtown Liberal during the late 1800’s. A little research on the old buildings still existing would tell you which ones were used for what during that time and might just narrow down the search a little.