Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills

An Arkansas man is searching for Confederate gold buried to finance a second Civil War that never happened. The Freemasons, John Wilkes Booth, and Jesse James were all involved.

Bob Brewer was 10 when his great-uncle, W.D. "Grandpa" Ashcraft, pointed it out on a logging trip 57 years ago.

"He said, 'Boy, you see that tree? That's a treasure tree,'" Brewer recalled on a recent visit to the site. "'You see that writing? If you can figure out what that is, you'll find some gold.'"

The old man didn't elaborate, but his words stuck with Brewer through childhood and two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Navy helicopter crewman. So did memories of Grandpa's frequent, unexplained horseback rides into the nearby Ouachita Mountains. [Link]

Jesse James: Bank Robber, Civil Rights Pioneer

James R. Ross, a former Superior Court judge and the great-grandson of Jesse James, died on Monday. He wrote a book about his outlaw ancestor called I, Jesse James.

Of all the cases he handled, his cousin said, Ross was most proud of one involving two men who were kicked out of Disneyland in 1980 for dancing together. In 1984, Ross ruled in favor of the couple.

"He felt that basically it was in the tradition of the James family to make sure civil rights are restored to citizens," Eric James said. [Link]