Told Locally - History & Mystery

By Bradley Towle

UPSTATE, NEW YORK — The Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain Region encompass an area of rich and seemingly bottomless history. Tales, both factual and fictional, lurk around every river bend, stone structure, and mountainside that dapple the landscape. To tackle any of the stories alone can be a daunting (but rewarding) research task; to tackle many all at once is somewhat herculean. Yet that is what Michael Adamovic has done with his 2020 book, Hudson Valley: History and Mystery. "From every untimely death can rise a ghost," he writes in his introduction. "Behind the veil of a shadowy, uncertain past, grand tales of fancy flight may or may not contain a hint of the truth." Adamovic plunges headlong into many of the area's lingering mysteries, including the legend of Depression-era bootlegger Dutch Schultz and his buried treasure. In the case of Schultz, Adamovic does not offer answers—how could he? Instead, he gives clues based on facts, rumors, and theories to entice and excite the reader into exploring the area equipped with a knowledge of its history and potential. "It's my hope that the reader will take advantage of the directions listed in this book," he writes. In doing so, Adomivic believes the reader may have a chance to crack a code that others have not and "perhaps figure out where the cutthroat gangster Dutch Schultz hid his loot."

Other topics explored by Adamovic include the 18th-century spy intrigue tale of Major John Andre, the history of Huguenot Street in New Paltz, The Legend of Bish Bash Falls, vampires on Overlook Mountain, and more specifically to our Mountain Eagle readership area, Kaaterskill Falls, and a chapter entitled "Devil in the Catskills." Each chapter concludes with a "Getting There" section with directions and relevant landmarks to facilitate the reader's exploration. Folklore, petroglyphs, and a famously picturesque region await the adventurous, and Adamovic wants to help you. "The Devil in the Catskills" chapter includes the legend of Dutch Schultz's hidden treasure, but Adamovic can't quite get you to the location.

With the FBI on his tail after busting his underground Pine Plains distillery and the New York Attorney General eager to bust him for tax evasion, Schultz and his bodyguard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz hastened their way up to the Catskills in to bury somewhere between five to nine million dollars. Schultz felt his luck was close to running out. J. Edgar Hoover had declared him public enemy number one, and by burying the loot, he could protect his money from government seizure and use it as a nest egg following a likely prison sentence. His luck was indeed about to run out, but not how he envisioned it. On October 23, 1935, hitmen shot Schultz and Rosenkrantz at the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey. Schultz and Rosenkrantz died from their injuries within days. They were truly tough humans and held on much longer than some may have. With that, the only two people who knew the treasure's location were gone. In his fever-induced delirium, a stream-of-consciousness rambling recorded by a stenographer left what some feel was Schultz giving a clue about where he buried his fortune. "Don't let Satan draw you too fast" has been interpreted as a reference to the Devil's Tombstone in Greene County. Others believe Schultz buried his retirement fund in Phoenicia near railroad tracks or at the base of a poplar tree marked with an "X" on private land. Many have searched, and if any have been found, they kept it quiet. "If it does exist," writes Adamovic of the fortune, "the treasure might just be under the protection of the Devil and not likely to be discovered until a bargain is struck."

However, one does not have to strike a Faustian deal to explore the Catskills. In Hudson Valley: History and Mystery, Michael Adamovic provides an informative and fun guide to exploring the area. And who knows? Maybe you'll make off with the loot.