Florida's Fabulous Treasures
March 30, 2001 at 09:50:41
Florida's Fabulous Treasures*
By Jeffrey Kramer
Many researchers and historians claim that Florida contains more buried and sunken treasures than any other state. They have also put a price tag on these treasures which amounts to a cool $165 million. Florida, like all other states, has a fascinating an romantic history. Seven different flags have flown over her, not to mention the black flag of the pirates. Florida became the haven of many notorious pirates, including Blackbeard, Lafitte, Casparilla, Kidd, Rackham, Bowlegs, Bonnett, and possibly even Morgan himself. They roamed the waters of the Caribbean Sea, and captured every ship in sight. Often, they brought their loot back to Florida, and buried it on some lonely shore. When they finally died, the location of their hidden wealth died with them. The majority of all buried treasure in Florida is the work of pirates.
Many wars have been fought in Florida and upon the waters around her. Men hastily buried their wealth when being pursued by the enemy. Valuables were lost or misplaced when the fighting started and were never found again. Naval battles accounted for the sinking of many ships with valuable cargoes, their resting place to be forgotten in time. Very valuable treasures were lost during the many wars in Florida.
Florida has survived through dozens of hurricanes in the past four centuries, but many ships around her have not. From the year 1500 to 1960, hurricanes have sunk their quota of treasure laden ships. These wrecked ships represent all nations, but the majority of them are Spanish galleons. They carried gold and silver from the New World to the Old, only to have their contents deposited on some jagged reef off Florida. Many gold doubloons and pieces-of-eight are awaiting a lucky finder on the Florida reefs.
Actually, there are two types of treasure hunting; buried treasure merely requires a shovel, but it is advisable to use a metal detector if success is to be achieved. Hunting sunken treasure becomes more expensive arid complicated. Diving gear is needed and of course a boat is required. Only an experienced diver should go after sunken treasure. Luckily, Florida contains both types of treasures, thus enabling the prospective hunter to choose from a larger variety.
Florida has already yielded hundreds of lost treasures to many happy people. Among these are: A chest containing $25,000 in Mexican gold was found on Grassy Key. Miami has yielded some buried treasure. Thirteen chests of treasure were found by a road crew while building a new road near Cocoa. $70,000 was discovered on Lower Matecumbe Key, plus another 61 gold pieces which were found by fishermen there. Dozens of pirate caches have been found on the west coast of Florida. Millions of dollars have already been salvaged from the Spanish galleons off Florida. Some of these sunken treasures can be seen at Art McKee’s Sunken Treasure Museum on Plantation Key. This is only a small sample of what has been unearthed and salvaged in Florida.
Below, are listed some major treasure locations in Florida.
The most notorious and successful pirate was Jose Gaspar, better known as Gasparilla. His methods were black and bloody, and he stands out among all the pirates who used Florida to bury their wealth. Leaving Spain at an early age, he sailed to the west coast of Florida. He soon picked a good spot in Charlotte Harbor, and began to build his pirate kingdom. His headquarters were at Boca Grande, on what is today known as Gasparilla Island. In the following years, he accumulated a board estimated at $30,000,000. It is said that he and his brother buried all of his money on the islands in and around Charlotte Harbor. In all, he buried 13 casks and chests of treasure in the vicinity of his headquarters. His men, who numbered in the hundreds, also buried their smaller caches on these islands.
All had been going along fine for Gasparilla until the year 1821. The American Government then decided to get into the act and sent a Navy squadron to end his career. One day Gasparilla prepared to attack a merchantman, but to his surprise, it turned out to be a United States man-of-war. When he finally realized that it was a warship, it was too late. The notorious pirate then committed suicide by wrapping a heavy chain around himself and jumping over the side. His ship soon followed him to the watery depths. The ship contained $1,000,000 in assorted treasure, and should be there today. Charlotte Harbor is an ideal spot to go treasure hunting. Just pick any island and start digging, because Gasparilla’s loot is buried on many of them.
For many years, there lived in a cabin on Shell Creek an old Spaniard named Juan Gonzalez. He claimed that he had pirated with Gasparilla and knew where the famous pirate had buried one of his treasure casks. He said, "that it was buried near the shore of Lettuce Lake," (this is near Ft. Ogden, Florida) and "that it is worth several million dollars". Shortly after the Civil War Gonzalez made a deal with two men to dig up the cask. When the two men went to Gonzalez’ cabin to meet him they found him laying on the floor, dead. After he was buried, they searched his cabin. All they found was a jar full of gold coins and a copper chart. This chart is the key to the buried treasure, but nobody has ever been able to decipher it. (I have seen the chart myself, and it seems to be authentic.) Engraved on the copper chart is the following:
O-X-NXW 1/4 W - VER-VAR
LEGUA 1/10
O-X-SWXW - VER-VAR
HASTA X
Whoever deciphers this chart correctly will be a few million dollars richer. This is one of the most interesting pirate treasures in Florida.
Another pirate who made his headquarters near Charlotte Harbor was Black Caesar. He was a former slave who escaped to the west coast of Florida. Soon afterwards he became leader of the pirates and built his base on Sanibel Island. It is said that he captured a Spanish galleon off Cuba, and brought it back to his stronghold. Among other things on the galleon were 26 tons of silver, which he quickly buried. This enormous hoard is supposedly on or near Sanibel Island.
Calico Jack Rackham was another buccaneer who sailed the waters off Florida. Headquartering first in Cuba, he moved to the west coast of Florida. Here, he buried his $2,000,000 treasure on an island some ten miles up either the Shark or Lostman’s River. (This treasure cache lies buried within the boundaries of the Everglades National Park and it is illegal to do any digging here.)
On the northwestern coast of Florida is the site of Billy Bowlegs’ hoard. He was believed to be one of Lafitte’s top men and for some time lived near New Orleans. After the Battle of New Orleans, he cut his ties with Lafitte and set out on his own. Moving to Santa Rosa Island near Pensecola, he started his own pirate kingdom. After accumulating much treasure, he decided to bury it. Thus, on a small island in Santa Rosa Sound, he buried most of his gold and silver bars. Nearby on the mainland, he deposited the bulk of his coins. In the hold of his ship was another million dollars in miscellaneous loot. This ship was later sunk, and has never been recovered. Billy Bowlegs’ treasure awaits discovery by some very lucky finder.
Amelia Island lies on the northeastern coast of Florida and pirate treasure almost grows on trees there. Blackbeard, Kidd, Lafitte and Aury have at one time or another used this island as their center of operations. Approximately $170,000 in treasures have already been found, but this is only a small portion compared to what is still buried. This is a very attractive island for the treasure hunter.
Ex-pirate Juan Gomez lived on Panther Key, until the ripe old age of 120. On numerous occasions he claimed that lumps of melted gold were hidden under the roots of a tree on the island. (This island is also in the Everglades National Park.)
Another of Gasparilla’s undiscovered treasures, amounting to several thousand dollars, was buried on Anastasia Island, south of Matanzas Inlet. The site was recorded as being a three hour walk south of St. Augustine. It has been stated that he never returned for the chest.
Boca Raton, located south of Palm Beach, is the site of two separate treasures. Blackbeard buried $2,000 in casks near the Boca Raton Inlet. These casks may be in submerged caverns. When a Spanish galleon was wrecked near here, the surviving seamen saved a large chest and buried it on the beach at Boca Raton.
The members of the Ashley gang were notorious bank robbers who terrorized the citizens of Florida, during the early part of the 20th century. They succeeded in stealing over $100,000 in cash and it is believed buried near their headquarters. This was near Canal Point at the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee. All the members of the gang were shot to death, but their loot has never been found.
DeLeon Springs is the location of a treasure chest lost by unknown persons. In the 1890’s, a chest was seen on the bottom of Ponce deLeon Springs. It soon fell into one of the submerged caves and could not be recovered. The chest has eluded divers ever since.
During the Civil War, the Confederacy transported $500,000 in gold bullion to Havana, Cuba. Captain Riley was in charge of the soldiers transporting the half-ton of gold. When Union soldiers caught up with the Rebels, Riley ordered the bullion to be buried. It is buried deep in the Everglades, about 40 miles west of Ft. Lauderdale.
Down in Key West, there lived in the 1870’s a middle-aged man of German extraction. His name was Homer Ludwig, and while most of his younger years had been spent at sea, it is said that he "jumped ship" at Key West, and became one of the twon’s handymen. For the next 20 years he eked out a bare living, by doing odd jobs, and spent his spare time studying the history of the Island City. One day in early 1890’s Homer bought a small and decrepit sail boat and began to spend his spare time patching it up. To those who took the trouble to ask why he wanted a boat, he would explain that he intended to go treasure hunting. He claimed to have learned the location of a money chest removed from a vessel wrecked on a reef. He would talk at length about how the captain of the doomed ship had carried the money ashore, and buried it in the sand for safe keeping, intending to return with another vessel and reclaim the treasure. The captain never returned. Several weeks later, Homer set sail in his little catboat and was never seen at Key West again. A fisherman had seen the old fellow on the beach of Big Pine Key, and a little later a yacht had sighted a man of Homer’s description at Matecumbe Key. A year later a couple of Key Westers met Homer on the beach at Key Largo. The old man had build himself a shack of driftwood and palm fronds, and he seemed fit and hard as nails. The old man was living on Key Largo about five years when it was discovered how he was getting money. A fellow who ran a general store in Miami said that Homer was selling old gold and silver coins, a few at a time, to a coin dealer on Flagler Street. He’d get maybe 50 or 100 dollars for the coins and then go buy what he needed. Then he would sail back to Key Largo. One day in September 1909, old Homer got into his boat and started hoisting the sail. A couple of fishermen told him he’d better stay ashore, because a bad storm was building up. The old fellow wouldn’t listen, and he shoved off and headed north. He was probably making another trip to Miami, but he never got there. That night the storm came howling up the Keys, and Homer was never heard of again. The secret of where the treasure was hidden went with him. Somewhere on Key Largo the rest of that old Spanish treasure is waiting for a second finder.
One of the richest men in the state, Redding B. Parker, made his money mostly from cattle ranching. Parker's large ranch was located near Keansville in Osceola County. He is known to have kept large amounts of cash at his headquarters. This was secreted in several different places. Parker's major cache was a large trunk full of valuables buried somewhere near his house. He had been adding to this each year. Local stories say that just before Parker's death he had filled the trunk completely. For about ten years, Parker drove his herds each year to Ft. Myers to sell. He always returned home with his saddlebags loaded with Spanish gold coins. In 1891, Parker suffered a stroke on one of his trips and died a short time after reaching home, taking the secret of his buried trunk with him. Almost immediately ranch hands and neighbors who had known or heard of Parker's different caches began searching for them. A short time later, Kyle Landingson found a small cache of gold and silver coins which Parker had buried near the ranch house. A few years later, another small amount of coins were found, but as far as it is known, the trunk still waits to be discovered.
Spain was the first nation to benefit from the discovery of the New World. The Spanish conquered Mexico, Central America and South America, and their investment is these newly acquired countries began to pay off with interest. Silver and gold were discovered, and shipments of these precious metals were soon on their way back to Spain. In a few short years, Spain became the richest country in the world.
Each year, large fleets of Spanish galleons were seen voyaging back and forth between Spain and America. These treasure ships carried millions of dollars in gold, silver, platinum and precious stones. Often, hurricanes cut the voyages short and left the galleons on the ocean bottom. In many cases, everything was lost including men, galleons, and treasure. Although the men and galleons have long since disappeared, the treasure may still remain.
Two fleets sailed every year from Mexico and South America, and were accompanied by two warships. The two war galleons were called the Capitana and Almiranta, and each carried about $2,000,000 in treasure. The fleet that sailed from Mexico was called the New Spain Armada, and the other one that sailed from South America was known as the Tierra Firme Armada. Each Armada would first sail to Havana, and then on to Spain. Sometimes, both armadas would combine at Havana before leaving for Spain.
After leaving Havana, the treasure fleets would sail along the coast of Florida before turning eastward. At this point in the journey, many of the galleons were sunk by hurricanes. Today, the remains of these galleons are being found regularly, and their treasures are gradually coming up to the surface. Although many of these galleons have already been discovered, there are dozens that have not. Below are listed both discovered and undiscovered shipwrecks off the Florida coast. Among them are:
In the year 1733, a terrible disaster struck the Spanish Armadea. In July of that year, the New Spanish Armada was hit by a hurricane of such force that 20 galleons were sunk in the Florida Keys. The Spaniards wasted no time in getting up salvage operations, and they succeeded in raising $12,000,000 in treasure. After three years of work, only $4,000,000 in gold and silver remained in the wrecks. Many of these galleons have recently been found by Scuba divers, but only a small portion of the treasure has come to light. The following are wrecked galleons of the 1733 Armada: 1. "El Aviso," was a dispatch boat and is located on the south end of Pacific Reef. 2. "El Infante," was a 60 gun galleon and the position is on Little Conch Reef. 3. "San Jose," is thought to be the Capitana and is on Crocker Reef. 4. Seven merchantmen were sunk between Upper Matecumbe and Long Key. 5. "Almiranta" was a 58 gun galleon and is off Long Key Point. 6. "San Fernando," another merchantmen, and is somewhere off Grassy Key in 40 feet of water. These are most of the 1733 shipwrecks, and all are in comparatively shallow water (10 to 40 feet.) Any one of them could hold a large amount of treasure.
In 1622, another hurricane sank 10 ships of the combined New Spain Armada and Tierra Firme Armada. The wrecks are located in the Florida Keys, but unlike the 1733 galleons, they have not been found by scuba divers. Listed below are some of the major wrecks of the combined armada. 1. "Almiranta," sank off Key West with $2,000,000 aboard. She is reported in 60 feet of water, and was not salvaged by the Spaniards. (This is an excellent prospect.) 2. "Santa Margarita," is located off Key West with $1,000,000 aboard. 3. Six merchantmen also went down during this hurricane.
A third treasure fleet was struck by a hurricane off Cape Canaveral in 1715. Over $20,000,000 went down with the 14 vessels of the combined armadas. Most of these galleons sank in deep water and could not he salvaged by the Spanish. A large quantity of gold and silver lies off our rocket pads at Cape Canaveral.
In the year 1683, the 700 ton galleon, "Santissima Concepcion", alias "El Grande", commanded by Admiral Manual Ortiz Arosemena, heading for Spain after taking on treasures at Porto Bello, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Veracruz, Mexico; and making a stop at Havana, was totally destroyed after striking a shallow during a hurricane somewhere below the "Cape". Of the 500 or more souls aboard her only four reached the coast on debris and made it to St. Augustine with great hardships. She was carrying over 1,800,000 pesos in treasure, the majority of which was silver bullion and specie. Her total gold consisting of bullion, specie and worked gold only weighed at around 1,500 pounds. However, gold was the most common object being smuggled and she probably carried ten times this amount as contraband. She also carried 77 chests of pearls, 49 chests of emeralds, 217 chests of "goods from the Orient", and other valuables belonging to private persons (passengers). Repeated attempts to locate her were made almost yearly up until 1701. The only treasure ever found was a chest of clothes which washed ashore right after the disaster in which "some 1,500 pesos in unregistered gold jewelry" was discovered by soldiers sent down from St. Augustine. All her cannon were bronze.
As can be seen, Florida is a potential millionaires’ breeding ground. All that is needed is a shovel and an imagination. Of course, a great deal of luck is necessary also. It’s there, just waiting for someone to dig it up.
* Since this article was written in 1964, some of the sunken treasure has been found and recovered.
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