Yocum Silver Dollar Continued from Page 22 impetus to his “Splitlog Line” railroad venture was the assay reports of gold and silver in the county. Splitlog felt he could bring prosperity to his people through the construction of a railroad from Joplin to Neosho, and on to Splitlog (just southwest of Goodman, MO). The dream was to continue the line on to Cuyuga, Oklahoma. But the gold and silver assay was a scheme bent on separating Mathias from his money and the final leg to Cuyuga never developed. A lot can be said, and has been said, of the Yocum Silver Dollar throughout the years. Every few years the story hits the message boards of numismatist societies and another round of debate ensues as to the history and truth of the legend. Of course, one of the bigger questions is always “where are the old coins now”? Not a single Yocum Dollar had been presented since Solomon and his brothers passed away. That supposedly changed in the 1920s. The Springfield Daily Leader published an article in 1923 that reported that a Yocum Dollar had been found. Another article in 1926 notes that a Yocum was being displayed at the Missouri capitol, but the whereabouts of the coin(s) are unknown today. Later, Artie Ayers of Reeds Spring reported that the find in 1923 was by his father and that five coins were found. Ayers ran with the story and operated the “Lost Silver Mine Outdoor Drama” that was based on the legend Ayres is worth noting as a military veteran and was mayor of Branson West and a civic leader in the community, as well as the first president of the Ozark Writers League and served as president of the White River Historical Society at one time. While drama is often greater than life, Ayers left his own trail of silver. A great theory was brought up by Lynn Morrow in a 1985 article for the White River Valley Historical Quarterly that could explain why a Yocum Dollar would have existed. But what about those dollars that have been found? A total of nine other coins have been reported over the years. One, known as the William Bradley specimen, was reportedly given to Mr. Brandley in 1921 by his great grandmother. Eight coins were reported as unearthed from beneath a bluff by Don Webb and Raymond Jones in 1982 and told to have been inside a “rotting leather bag with a crucifix”. Interestingly, all the reported coins are of the same die cast markings noting “United States of American” and “1 Dollar” to the one side, and on the reverse “Yoachum 1822” and 13 stars. In 1983, J.R. Blunk claimed the discovery of the original dies. So let us backtrack a bit…“you’re telling me there’s a chance, right?” The tales of lost Indian or Spanish silver mines are great tourist stories. But there is no credible evidence of their existence in the Ozarks. But there was Indian silver. When the Delaware tribe agreed to treaties with the United States, not only did they agree to move to areas along the James River of southwest Missouri, but they also agreed restitution in the form of annuities….yearly payments in silver and other goods and services. But why would the Yocum brothers need to remint that government silver if they had acquired it from the Delaware?
Back to Morrow’s theory. John Campbell was the Indian sub-agent for southwest Missouri during the Delaware tribe’s stay in the Ozarks. In 1822, he made reports noting “Solomon Yoachum has erected a distillery…and has made a quantity of peach brandy and has been selling it for some time in quantities to the Indians. There is a number of those outlaw characters all below him who are selling whiskey constantly to the Indians.” His reports included his orders to remove John Denton and Solomon Yoachum from the reservation. Yoachum merely moved a little farther down the James. While the trading posts along the James River were seeking trade in furs and pelts, silver was a welcome payment for any good or service. But if you are illegally trading alcohol to the natives, how better to disguise the government silver than to remint it as your own coin. Similar tales of silver mines and coin have been told throughout the Ozarks. Brown’s Cave in Douglas County, Missouri owes its name to Tom Brown. Isaac Fleetwood had lived in the cave while building his home around 1830, and in turn, Tom Brown would live in the cave next and build his own cabin on the surrounding land. Family stories revolve for both the Browns and Fleetwoods having secret silver mines and the minting of their own coin. Reports even surfaced of the molds being found later. The “Lost Huntsville Silver Mine” follows a similar vein in Arkansas. Two men supposedly found a silver mine in Bear Creek Hollow and using wooden molds, they cast silver dollars. They were later supposedly convicted of counterfeiting after refusing to divulge the location of the mine. On their release, others hoped that the location of the mine would be discovered, but the men disappeared to California. In Kentucky, there is the legend of the “Sprinkle Dollar”, the maker being one Josiah Sprinkle who claimed his silver for his coins came from a western mine. The “Lost Louisiana Mine” of Arkansas has made the legend circuit since the Victorian era and seems to wander in its potential location from the Quachita Mountains or even up into the Boston Mountains of the Ozarks. Listen to the tales and you would discover that there must be silver everywhere in the Ozarks. So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?
REEDS SPRING UPCOMING EVENTS Saturday, May 20 Cajun Days........Crawdad Boil and more! Saturdy, June 3rd 13th Annual Music Festival
Page 23 Our Ozarks Magazine