A chilling Iowa legend involving an alleged 1878 murder, a mysterious letter and a burned skull discovered decades later
The history of southern Iowa is filled with stories of forgotten crimes, mysterious discoveries and legends passed down through generations. One particularly chilling tale associated with Eddyville involves an alleged murder in 1878, a poker game among men returning from the Black Hills gold fields, and a burned human skull reportedly discovered more than 40 years later.
At the center of the mystery is William Gunton, a man who, according to the story, was killed during a confrontation over gold. The account claims his head was burned to conceal his identity and his body was buried. But despite the disturbing details, no reliable evidence has established that the murder happened as described or that the skull belonged to Gunton.
The story reportedly surfaced in 1903, when a letter addressed to Eddyville’s postmaster, W. W. DeLong, described a killing that supposedly occurred about 25 years earlier. DeLong was also a newspaper editor, and the letter reportedly was signed by a man using the name Le Barge.
According to the account, three men were traveling home to Illinois after visiting the Black Hills gold fields in the summer of 1878. Each man supposedly carried a jug containing gold dust and nuggets. During their journey, they stopped at a campsite approximately a mile north of Eddyville.
What began as a poker game allegedly turned deadly when William Gunton won a substantial amount of money. The letter reportedly claimed that Le Barge accused Gunton of cheating, leading to an argument and a physical confrontation. Gunton was allegedly stabbed to death, and the other men supposedly burned his head in a campfire before burying his body.
The account further claimed that the men hid their gold in three separate locations, using the alleged grave as a reference point. The promise of buried treasure added another layer of intrigue to the story.
After receiving the letter, DeLong reportedly enlisted Sid Crossan and Arthur Beamer to help search for the alleged grave and hidden gold. However, the search reportedly ended amid public scrutiny and suspicions that the story might have been fabricated.
The mystery took another turn in 1920, when a burned human skull was reportedly discovered by a road crew along an old wagon trail north of Eddyville. Because the skull was said to have been found in the general area described in the letter, some people connected the discovery to Gunton’s alleged murder.
However, a reported discovery does not establish a person’s identity or prove a crime occurred. The available accounts do not provide reliable forensic evidence identifying the skull as Gunton’s, nor do they establish a verified connection between the remains and the alleged 1878 killing.
Could the entire story have been a hoax?
That remains one possible explanation. The letter may have described a real crime, but it could also have been an attempt to create excitement around a treasure hunt or a newspaper story. DeLong’s involvement as a newspaper editor makes contemporary newspaper coverage an important place to begin investigating, but it does not prove that he created or knowingly promoted a false account.
Researchers could look for original reports in historical editions of the Eddyville Signal and the Eddyville Tribune, along with any surviving coverage of the reported skull discovery in 1920. The University of Northern Iowa’s historical newspaper research guide provides information about digitized Eddyville newspapers that may help establish what was reported at the time.
Until those records or other reliable evidence provide stronger answers, important questions remain unanswered: Was William Gunton a real victim of a murder in 1878? Did the alleged poker game take place? Was the skull actually discovered in 1920, and, if so, who did it belong to? And what happened to the gold described in the letter?
Eddyville’s headless murder story has all the ingredients of a chilling Halloween mystery: a disputed fortune, an alleged killing, a secret grave, hidden treasure and a burned skull discovered decades later.
Yet the distinction between folklore and documented history remains essential. The letter, the alleged murder and the skull discovery have not been reliably connected through evidence establishing what happened.
For now, Eddyville’s headless murder remains an unverified southern Iowa mystery — a story that continues to capture the imagination while leaving its most important questions unanswered.
Editor’s note: The alleged murder, the letter attributed to Le Barge and the reported skull discovery should be treated as unverified claims unless corroborating primary-source documentation is located. No reliable identification linking the skull to William Gunton has been established.
