Henry Gordier was one of the many who built himself a
fortune by looking for gold in California during the middle of the nineteenth
century. He retired in 1857, choosing to buy an acreage on Baxter Creek, which
is just north of Honey Lake. Today the area is known as Lassen County and his
property was south of the east end of Bald Mountain. Gordier decided that he
wanted to spend the rest of his days as a rancher and so he and one of his
prospecting partners, Isaac Coulthurst purchased a large amount of cattle from a
group of Mormons in Carson Valley, who were returning to Salt Lake. Gordier
purchased most of the cattle and was ready to settle on his new land.
Gordier’s home was closely located to the home of
two other men, who were known for their bad deeds. These two men, John Mullen
and Asa Snow, lived in a cabin near Lassen Creek. Snow was under suspicion for
killing a man before his move to Honey Valley and Mullen was a known cattle
rustler. But these two men weren’t the only bad people in the area as soon
enough, William Combs Edwards, also came to the area in 1857. Edwards had
recently killed the postman, Mr. Snelling, in Merced County. Edwards had a
$1,500 reward placed on his head for anyone that could find him and turn him
into the authorities. After he was found out for his crimes, Edwards escaped to
Genoa, Nevada where he befriended William B. Thorrington, also known as “Lucky
Bill.” Thorrington had received this nickname because he was a very suspicious
gambler and wasn’t anymore well-liked than any other of the men.
After meeting Thorrington, Edwards took shelter
with Snow and Mullen in the two men’s cabin. From here, they would prospect a
placer mine that was closely located to the cabin. In 1858, Thorrington decided
to visit the three men in their cabin. He soon found out about the large amount
of cattle that Gordier had and told the other men he would see if Gordier wanted
to sell some of the cattle to him. He left however, without ever speaking to
Gordier. Once he was gone, Mullen and Edwards approached Gordier to see if they
could purchase some of the cattle but Gordier did not want to part with any.
By March of that same year, Snow moved into
Gordier’s ranch although Gordier was no longer there. Gordier was a very good
neighbor to those that lived around him and so when he seemed to disappear, they
began asking questions. Snow, Mullen and Edwards told everyone that Gordier had
returned to France and that they had purchased the property from him before he
left. The neighbors thought it strange that this friendly man would suddenly
leave for France with their having no knowledge about it. Suspicion rose when
Gordier’s brother sent a letter from France only to hear that his brother had
moved back to his home country. Gordier’s brother knew that this could not be
true because Henry would not move back without visiting, or at least telling his
brother, that he was doing so. The neighbors grew even more suspicious and
decided that they would question Edwards and Mullen. The men soon heard about
this however and left the area immediately.
This made suspicion grow even more and so the
neighbors decided to search around the area. They found a fire that had burned
not too long ago with metal buttons lying near it as well as dried blood on the
ground. Moving their search to the nearby Susan River, they found Gordier’s body
that had been placed in a sack, tied to a large rock, and sunk to the bottom of
the river. Because Snow was now the only one who remained living in the cabin,
he was questioned. Snow appeared to not have any knowledge of what they were
talking about but because he was the only one still around, he was taken
prisoner. Snow was placed on trial and was found guilty, along with Lucky Bill
who still couldn’t be found, as accomplices to the murders committed by Mullen
and Edwards. Snow was taken to a pine tree on the shore of Honey Lake and was
hanged then buried underneath the tree. Wanting to also find the other men, the
authorities travelled to Genoa, Nevada and found Edwards and Thorrington. They
were both hanged in the same week. John Mullen was the only one who managed to
escape and was never heard of again.
Once all trials and punishments had been given, the
locals began to look around Gordier’s property. They were mainly searching for
the gold nuggets and money that Gordier was known for burying in and around his
property. Their search however, left them empty-handed.
Almost twenty years later, the cabin no longer stood on the property and a woman
by the name of Mary L. Dunn began searching the property that was now abandoned.
She found one gold nugget and in hopes of finding more, returned the next day
with two other men. The three found many small pieces of gold nuggets but not
all of them, as it was believed that there was a fortune on the land. It’s
thought that because the remaining gold and money were never found, that
Gordier’s treasure is still on his property today.
