Wyoming’s Weirdest Funeral and The Buried Treasure It Left Behind
By all accounts, John Winchester wasn't very popular. Luckily for him, the few people he did know had a good reason to attend his funeral...or so they thought.
In the early 1960s, Winchester purchased the property surrounding Sister's Hill, several miles west of Buffalo, Wyoming, in the Bighorn National Forest.
Winchester soon broke with local tradition and began charging a toll for neighboring ranchers to transport their cattle across his land to and from the nearby Elgin Park Trailhead.
The reclusive rancher was rarely seen in public, except to visit the bank in Buffalo, where he was known to convert his savings into silver dollars.
When the grumpy old man died, many of his business associates were convinced he had buried a cashe of silver and valuable coins somewhere on the property.
Winchester's will called for him to be buried on top of a ridge near the summit of Sister's Hill. Hoping they might discover the buried treasure, a few local bankers and his insurance agent volunteered to be pall bearers at the funeral.
According to legend, the funeral director didn't bring enough dynamite to blow a hole into the rocky outcrop. After hauling his heavy casket up the steep slope, the pall bearers certainly weren't going to carry the old man back down the hill.
Instead, they allegedly began stomping on the casket. With some little help from the local minister, they were finally able to cram Winchester's remains into a small cavern and cover him with stones.
Sister's Hill has since become a popular escavation site for archaeologists. All these years later, Winchester's buried treasure has yet to be found.