This Journal Is The Property of 
William Akers 
1933 to 1942

[Page 01]
April 29, 1933

Today Mickey went to prison. But when they were walking him to the paddywagon, he told me to take care of his dogs, and when the time came, to do their tombstones like he’d told me. Then he whispered to me to look under the Victorola in the speakeasy at Moon Lake. He said I’d find a map to the gold he stole two years ago. 

 

[Page 02]
Then they shoved him into the wagon and that was that. Poor Mickey. How’s a guy who never spent one night in jail supposed to spend eight years in prison? He’ll never make it. I think he wants me to have the gold because deep down, he knows he’s never coming home.

 

[Page 03]
Anyway, I looked under the Victorola and found the map. The problem is, there’s nothing on it except a bunch of lines and the words “The dogs will lead the way.” There’s no X marking the spot or directions or nothing. But I need money bad. My wife and baby haven’t had anything decent to eat in months. So I’m gonna pack them up and move to Moon Lake permanently so I can spend all my time 

 

[Page 04]
looking for the gold. 
May 4, 1933
Mickey never told me outright that he was the guy who pulled off the Hole-In-The-Floor gold heist. He always said the less I knew, the healthier I’d stay. But according to the papers, a bunch of gold was stolen off a moving train right under the noses of about a dozen Pinkertons. Mickey must’ve greased somebody’s 

 

[Page 05]
palm real good and got him to cut a hole in the floor of the boxcar the gold was gonna be shipped in. After the gold was loaded, one of his boys crawled under the train and pulled himself into the boxcar. Then when the train was moving, he dropped the gold down the hole onto the tracks. Mickey’s boys picked it up and got away clean. Nobody ever suspected Mickey was behind it. 
[Page 06]
So what I’m looking for is 20 gold bars. The papers said that all together they weighed around six-hundred pounds. The question is, did Mickey hide them in one place, or did he spread them around? He must’ve buried them, but where? 

I just thought of something. Maybe Mickey trained his dogs to go to the gold if you say the right word. I’m going to try saying “gold” to them tomorrow and see 

 

[Page 07]
what happens. 
July 14, 1933
I’ve said every word I can think of to all the dogs, but they haven’t led me anywhere except around in circles! I spent the last month following them around, first Xander, then Vitus, then Lucy. I don’t have to follow Iggy, because all he does is sleep on the porch. 

So it looks like I’m gonna have to start digging. I’ll dig under the porch first, seeing as that’s where Iggy always is.

October 21, 1933
A month ago I started working as a handyman over in Lewistown to make ends meet, so even though I stop by Mickey’s every day to feed the dogs, I can only look for the gold at night. I dug all around under the porch but didn’t find nothing. I marked the porch

 

[Page 08]
on the map with a big I for Iggy because that’s the place he always leads me to. 
I was so busy digging last Tuesday night that I almost wasn’t there when my son was born. We’re calling him Joe. His big sister is real happy. She says Baby Joe is just like the dolly she’s wanted but we could never afford to get her. Truth is, we can’t really afford Joe, neither. 

 

[Page 09]
I keep writing to Mickey, asking him to please tell me straight out where the gold is, but he never writes back. I’ll just have to keep digging. 

Leavenworth Prison
Leavenworth 48, Kansas

[Page 10, ink changes from red ink to blue]
September 9, 1935
Now I spend all my free time digging in the woods. I dig around everything that could be a landmark – logs, rocks, tree stumps, but I never find nothing. Plus I keep getting lost. The paths look so much alike (especially at night) that I spend most of my time trying to figure out where I am. 

So last Sunday I memorized the way to the cemetery. 

 

[Page 11]
It’s L, R, R, L, L, R, R, L, R, L, L, R, L, L, R, R, L, R, R, L. 

February 11, 1939
Even though Mickey never allowed the dogs in the tunnels, I’ve been looking there for the gold, because I looked everywhere else I can think of and got nowhere.

Last week I found out tHat Mickey changed the passcode to the spigots in the speakeasy. This got my hopes up, because the 

 

[Page 12]
way I figured it, why would Mickey change the code without telling me unless he was hiding something? But when I finally figured out the new code, I didn’t find nothing in the tunnel that opened up that wasn’t there before. Why Mickey spent all that money on pictures of those dogs of his I’ll never understand. 

[Page 13, ink changes from blue to brown]
March 2, 1942
I give up. Mickey’s dead, and so are all his dogs. I’ll never find the gold. I got a good job offer over in Harrisburg and I’m gonna take it. Little Joe and Sarah deserve a better life than they’ve gotten so far, and it’s high time Callie got a nice house and a husband who doesn’t spend all his time chasing after something he can’t find. 
But I’m leaving this journal

 

[Page 14]
here, because who knows? Maybe someday I’ll suddenly remember something Mickey said, and it’ll finally hit me where he hid the gold. Maybe I’ll come back here and find it after all. But in the meantime, I got my family. They’re what’s important. They’re treasure enough.