Before I begin this story, let me give a little background. Where my carport now stands, there was a super old house. This house was put together with square nails. Even the shingles were installed using square nails. I still find square nails in my driveway from time to time. When grandpa Keele moved to Menard somewhere around 1908, he bought this place and moved into this old house. At that time, there were no other house’s around, except the old Napier house where Dr. Nixon now lives. Grandpa Keele was living in Llano before he moved to Menard. His wife passed away suddenly when she was about thirty seven years old. So, he moved to Menard. He had several kids still at home. The youngest was Floyd. He was about four years old when they moved to Menard. Grandpa Keele also had a younger daughter named Zeller. She was an infant when her mother passed away. So, Grandpa let some of his kinfolks take Zeller to raise. Therefore, she grew up without a relationship with her siblings. They only met her once when she was grown. She was very successful and had a nice family. But, she died pretty young. She was the only one of the Keele siblings that didn’t live to be at least eighty years old. Floyd was only about four years old when they moved to Menard. The Napier family lived in the house where Dr. Nixon now lives. They did not have any children. They took a liking to Floyd. Grandpa Keele was trying to work and he had all of these small kids to take care of. So, the Napier's offered to keep Floyd some while Grandpa Keele was working. They fell in love with Floyd and they wanted to adopt Floyd. Grandpa Keele felt like it would be in the best interest of Floyd. So, he agreed to allow them to adopt Floyd. My grandmother, Lydia, was next to the oldest child. She was already out on her own. She had recently married John Garvin from Eldorado, Texas. She had already taken my aunt Mary or “Mamie”, as we called her, to raise. She was probably about eight years old at the time. So, grandma came to Menard to get Floyd. But, it was too late. The Napier's had already adopted Floyd. Grandma was so sad. She tried her best to get Floyd back. But, the Napier's wouldn’t give him up. Floyd grew up to be a big strong young man and was successful in life. He was probably the longest living Menard resident ever. He was one hundred and six years old when he died. His family always thought he was born in 1904. My grandmother always said that he was born in 1903, which would have made him a hundred and seven years old when he died. He was always bitter that Grandpa gave him up for adoption. He told us, later in life, that the Napier couple that adopted him, were mean to him and that he would go to sleep crying many nights. That bitterness he carried all of his life. He virtually had nothing to do with us. I don’t think his children ever knew we were kin to each other. We did not develop any kind of relationship with his children, until a few years back after Floyd had been dead several years.
So, back to Uncle Dude and the Barrels of silver. After Floyd was adopted by the Napier's, he still had Uncle Dude and Uncle Paul living here with him. Uncle Dude was probably about eleven years old and Uncle Paul was about thirteen years old. Uncle Dude said Uncle Paul and him were always running all over the hill where the old water tank is. They were always hunting for something to kill and eat, like cottontail rabbits. He said that Uncle Paul was so accurate throwing a rock that he could kill a rabbit with a rock, virtually every time. So, one day they were chasing a rabbit and he got separated from Uncle Paul. He said he kept chasing the rabbit until it disappeared in a hole. He was looking for the rabbit and he found a cave. He went into the cave and there were three big wooden barrels full of silver. Now, he did not say whether it was silver coins or silver ore. I wish now I had asked him. He said the barrels were made out of wood and he could smell the wood. But, he felt like someone was watching him. He said he felt the presence of danger. He felt frightened. So, he decided that he would go and find Uncle Paul, and show him the barrels of silver. When he found Uncle Paul, he told him about the silver. They proceeded to try to find the cave again so Paul could see the silver. They looked for hours and hours. But, they were never able to find that cave again. Uncle Dude said the large lot across from their house. This would be the huge lot directly across from the house where I presently live. Uncle Dude said this was the place wagons would camp for the night when they were just traveling through Menard. He said that night there was a wagon camped on that lot. He always wondered if that wagon was camped there to pick up those three barrels of silver. He kept roaming that hill looking for that cave and could never find it. Almost fifty years later, he was working for Willy Wilkinson as gardener. Uncle Dude’s wife, Aunt Nancy, was cooking and keeping house. They lived above the garage in a one bedroom apartment. This is the beautiful rock house on Mears Circle that most of you would remember as the house where Ed L. Mears lived. So, Uncle Dude was just messing around one day and he decided he would look for that cave. Sure enough, he found it. He said it was such a strange feeling. He said it looked just like it did that day he saw the barrels of silver. But, there was no silver. He said it still gave him a creepy feeling to go back there. He said he would always believe that someone was watching him that day and that he was in danger. He said he was glad that Uncle Paul and he were not able to find that cave that day. He believed God was watching over them that day. I have always wondered if this had something to do with the lost Bowie Mine.. I guess we will never know.
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