Posted 1/25/2009 02:33:00 PM by Douglas

I wonder if there was a big "X" in the sand where he dug this up.

Stories of buried chests full of treasure on Galveston Island are legendary, but Hurricane Ike recovery worker Michael Pate really found one.

Only it was in an old U.S. Army ammo box and not a treasure chest, and the owner isn’t a pirate but appears to be a Galveston man serving time in state jail for intoxication assault.

Pate, 43, of Atlanta, found the box crammed with jewelry, cash and keepsakes while clearing debris at Galveston Island State Park.

So was it buried on the beach at a state park, or did it wash up? It's not clear, but pretty cool that a guy that just wanted an ammo box didn't keep the treasures.

He was operating a rubber-tired Bobcat, scraping debris at the park on Jan. 7 when he saw a big snake slither out of a pile of debris. Right beside where the snake had been was an olive-green ammo box.

“I thought, man, I’d like to have that for myself,” Pate said, so he picked up the box.

And inside?

A pair of diamond rings, bracelets, a $50 Confederate bill from 1863 and several silver certificate $1, $2 and $5 bills with consecutive serial numbers were in the box. There was a football card picturing 1950s Hall of Famer Art Donovan and a Model A radiator cap with a thermometer built into it.

“It was so crammed full of stuff that you have to put it back just right or it won’t all fit,” Pate said.

There were also more personal items in the box, including military medals that seem to be from both World War II and Vietnam, along with dog tags from the same era. Pate found what looked like family photos and a wallet that included the driver’s license and Social Security card for a man named John Sidwell.

So who is he going to give the box back to? The owner is in jail, so who are you going to give it to?

Pate said the person reporting to have Sidwell’s power of attorney has said he wants to get the box and its contents.

Wait 'till he gets out of jail, and give it back to him.