The mysterious money pit has guarded its secret contents tenaciously despite two centuries of determined efforts to unearth it.

When the sidewheel steamer SS Republic left New York in October of 1865, she was carrying 62 passengers and a cargo of $400,000 (1865 face value) in gold and silver coins. She was headed for New Orleans where the money would be used to help pay for reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.