Legend Says There’s a Lost Copper Mine in the Missouri Ozarks

More than 100 years ago, a man sold tons of copper, but would never divulge where his mine was located. Based on where we tried to lay his claim, we know it's somewhere in the Missouri Ozarks, but it's never been found.

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Legends of America shared the story of Joseph Slater. As they tell it, he was something of a copper baron selling tens of thousands of dollars over a 3 to 4 year period back in the late 1800's. When pressed about where his copper was coming from, he wouldn't tell. The only information that could be gleaned from him was a mining claim he made on land that was supposedly within 2 or 3 miles of the shaft to his copper mine. Based on that information, it should be somewhere near where the Jack's Fork and Current Rivers meet just to the northeast of Eminence, Missouri.

If you've ever floated the Jack's Fork, you no doubt are aware that there are many places off the river where you can see open areas in the rock.

The legend continues saying that Slater and his daughter hid the entrance to the mine and their digging with plans to return after a trip back east. Sadly, Joseph Slater died before he could return and his daughter married and gave up on the project. That means that there is a copper mine that would likely be worth millions in today's economy if ever found. There's so much copper that the belief was that it would change the Ozarks forever, but it's never been found. Yet.

What happened to Joseph Slater's mine? It's in the Ozarks somewhere waiting for someone to make the discovery of a lifetime.