W. Craig Gaines

W. “Craig” Gaines was born in St. Louis, Missouri and has spent many years in both Oklahoma and California. He has lived in more than 17 states and traveled throughout the Americas and Europe. Craig attended Colorado School of Mines, has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa, and also attended law school at the University of Tulsa. He has worked in a wide variety of engineering and management positions for private and public energy companies, his own consulting firm, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Department of the Army awarded Craig the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for fighting the 1997-1998 floods in California.

Craig’s interest in the American Civil War began in 1960, when he lived in Charleston, South Carolina, where antebellum homes, old cannons, forts, and shipwrecks seemed to be everywhere. While at the University of Tulsa he continued his interest in the Civil War by writing a paper on "The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War," which won a writing award from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. President Richard M. Nixon presented this award to Craig in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. in February 1974 during the aftermath of Watergate. Nixon greeted Craig with, “Hello, congratulations, smile” as the cameras clicked. President Nixon sent Craig an autographed picture of the two of them at the podium, with a business card inscribed simply, “The President.”

Based on his research on "The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War," Craig wrote his first book, "The Confederate Cherokees, John Drew’s Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles." It was published in 1988 by Louisiana State University Press and picked up by the History Book Club. Louisiana State University Press published a new updated edition of "The Confederate Cherokees, John Drew’s Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles" in 2017.

Craig has been interested in lost treasure since seeing the film “Treasure Island” when he was very young. He has written lost treasure stories for a variety of treasure hunting magazines over the years. From his lost treasure research and interest in American Civil War history, Craig wrote "Civil War Gold and Other Lost Treasures," which was published by Combined Books in 1999. A new 2017 edition called "Civil War Gold and Other Lost Treasure, Revised Edition," is now available on Amazon.

In the sixth grade, Craig read Fletcher Pratt’s "Civil War on Western Waters" and decided to gather information on Civil War shipwrecks. He furthered his shipwreck research while working on navigation and water resource projects while at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Louisiana State University Press published his third book, "Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks," in 2008 based on Craig’s extensive research.

Due to his studies on Native Americans during the American Civil War, Craig wrote a chapter on Native Americans in "Civil War America, A Social and Cultural History," which was published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis in 2013.

Based on Craig's interest in treasure and mystery, Craig and A. Doss completed their first novel "Nostradamus' Curse," which is available on Amazon Kindle and paperback and published in 2017. In 2017 "Hispanic Treasures of the Western United States" was published based on Craig's research and interest in lost mines and lost treasures in the West. "Success In Life, 401 Encouraging Thoughts," which Craig co-wrote with his friend Dr. Ram Singh, was published in 2017 on Amazon Kindle with the paperback edition published in 2019. In 2019 Craig published "Hispanic Treasures in the Eastern United States" and "California Treasure and Treasure Tales" based on his research and interest in lost treasure. In 2020 Craig published "Great Lost Treasure Never Found." "Lost Oklahoma Treasure" was published by The History Press in March 2021. "Lost Texas Treasure" was published 2022 by The History Press. "Lost California Treasure” and “Lost Missouri Treasure” were published by The History Press in 2023. "Lost Arizona Treasure" by The History Press is now available. Craig is currently finishing up "Lost New Mexico Treasure" and "Traveling Through History” as well as his novel "Cherokee Vengeance."

Craig has more than 100 published articles in national magazines (Lost Treasure, Treasure Cache, Treasure Facts, Treasure Search, Treasure Diver, America’s Civil War, Gold & Treasure Hunter, Wild West, and the Oil & Gas Journal). He has made presentations before the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Military Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Civil War groups, and other organizations. Craig has also appeared on The History Channel’s “America’s Book of Secrets” series, talking about Civil War treasure.

Craig has screenwriting experience. He placed second at a University of California, Davis, screenwriting contest with his script "Hurricane Season." Craig continues his writing projects, which include several novels, scripts, and history books.

Over the years Craig has acquired an interest in spiritual and spirituality based on his life experience and travels.

Craig married his high school sweetheart, Arla, and has three adult children and six grandchildren. Craig and Arla live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.