Searching for Lost Gold
In 1870, a shipment of gold coins from the Royal Mint of England vanished without a trace. Intended to crush the Red River Resistance led by Louis Riel and the Métis, the treasure never reached its destination. No one knows what happened. Whispers of betrayal, buried fortunes, and lost legacies echo through time. Now, over 150 years later, a team dares to uncover the truth.
“We must cherish our inheritance. We must preserve our nationality for the youth of our future. The story should be written down to pass on.”
Explore Métis history and culture, treasure hunting, metal detecting, amateur archaeology tips and more from Red River Gold. Or jump into the new interactive map to trace key locations from the series, connect with related articles, and follow the hunt for lost gold.
The gold is missing. The trail is cold. But the hunt has just begun…
Ross “Memphis” Pambrun, a Métis musician, podcast host and owner and operator of a satellite/aerial imagery and data company, along with Laurie “Goldie” Gagne, a genuine treasure hunter, historian and self-proclaimed explorer, and local Métis guide Bill “Moose” Marsh travel the Old Dawson Trail on the search for the missing gold.
This trail is a historic and abandoned “highway” that once connected the Canadian East with the West. Armed with metal detectors, trowels, backhoes, and the latest technology in radar and topographic imagery, theses treasure hunters travel through the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, discovering and analyzing clues to the lost gold’s location. Along the way, the team meets with knowledge-keepers and Elders, gathering oral and written historical knowledge to aid in their search. Ultimately, the team uncovers more than a gold bounty; they unearth truths, both storied and physical, about the culture and history of the area, from a Métis and Anishinaabe perspective. Each story, and physical piece that they find, leads them further down the abandoned trail…and one step closer to the gold.
