In August of 1860 a group of eight wagons led by Mark Vanorman left Fort Hall in what is now eastern Idaho under military escort. The fifty four immigrants were following the Oregon Trail west planning to make a new life in the Willamette Valley. They had brought what possessions they could carry and enough gold to buy land when they arrived. The gold had been entrusted to their wagonmaster and was kept in a strongbox. It is believed that there was more than $10,000 in gold coin within the chest. Meeting no resistance, the military escort decided that it was no longer needed and soon returned to the fort leaving only a handful of soldiers to guard the pioneers. All went well for two weeks until a band of Snake Indians attacked them just south of present day Adrian in eastern Oregon near the Snake River. Nineteen people were killed in the attack. The rest were forced to abandon their wagons and flee for their lives. While some of the men rode for help the other survivors, including Vanorman, made their way to the Snake River. What little food they had managed to secure was soon gone and they were starving as they worked their way along the Snake until they reached the mouth of the Owyhee River. Here they decided to make camp until help arrived. Initially an Indian hunting party provided the victims with food but an unfortunate comment turned the Indians against them and they raided the camp taking all the remaining guns and ammunition. Vanorman decided that they had better move on. Most of the remaining party were too weak and refused to go. Vanorman took his family and those able enough to travel and headed north up the Snake River. They made it as far as the mouth of the Burnt River where they were massacred. Forty five days after the first attack the soldiers finally arrived at the Owyhee camp. Twenty one people had died of starvation. The remainder had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Only fifteen of the original fifty four immigrants survived. Okay, so what happened to the gold? Well, months later, in Vanorman's belongings, a letter was found. In the letter, he described the events that had occured and also what had happened to the strongbox. Apparently he had managed to salvage the gold as they were forced from their wagons during the attack. The weak and starving survivors carried the cumbersome box with them until they reached the Owyhee River camp. When Vanorman and his family left the camp, he took the chest across the Owyhee and buried it on the north side of the river. He etched his initials into a nearby rock as a marker. The survivors at the camp must not have known what he had done. The lady who received the Vanorman's possessions simply filed the letter away. It was not rediscovered until her death many years later. This is not a well known story and there is no record of the gold ever being found. If you ever find yourself on the north side of the mouth of the Owyhee River it might pay to keep an eye open for the initials M. V. carved in a rock.