Eli Klotz and his Salina, KS treasure

In 1875 Eli Klotz settled in on his 160 acre ranch just a few miles north of Salina, KS. Over the years he amassed a “huge fortune” from working his ranch and only spent what was absolutely necessary.

Being the penny pincher that he was, Eli hid his fortune somewhere on the 160 acre property for safe keeping. It was thought that over the years he had stashed away between $50,000 and $250,000 dollars, all in gold and silver coins.

One day a neighbor stopped by looking for Mr. Klotz but couldn’t find him. This neighbor and others began to search for Mr. Klotz but he was nowhere to be found. It seems Eli had just disappeared and left no trace. He had left all of his belongings behind as if he had stepped out to run an errand and never returned.

It is said that a search of the property did not turn up any evidence of foul play but the local area residents suspected the rancher may have been killed by Indians or even outlaws. Some even speculated that he could have been killed by “grizzly bears”!

Far be it from me to rain on someone’s parade but I don’t ever recall seeing any grizzly bears in Kansas, maybe that was an 1800’s thing?

Suffice to say, a search was made for his money but no one has ever reported finding any of it. The rumor at the time was that Mr. Klotz probably buried the majority of his money in an orchard that was located near the home or somewhere in the Ottawa Hills which were on his property.

It would be my guess that since this treasure was amassed over several years you would be looking for more than one cache. It’s even possible there are caches in the area of the orchard and in the Ottawa Hills. You know what they used to say, never keep all of your eggs in one basket.

Watch out for the grizzly bears if you go looking for this one!