There are a few things that we are pretty certain about pirates. They all had one wooden leg. They all had one eye. They all had a parrot for a pet. Finally, we are certain that they all said ‘Arrrr’ a lot! Of course, all of these assumptions are based on cartoons, tv shows, and movies. The reality was likely very different. For example, the shows seem to suggest that most pirates are either burying treasure or in search of some buried treasure. Is this in any way true?
It turns out, not really. The majority of what we see and read about pirates is false. That is simply because pirates weren’t particularly fun. They were often doing terrible things at sea and didn’t have the refining characteristics to make them seem more loveable or fun. When it came to burying treasure, that just would not have made a lot of sense for pirates as they usually needed that gold.
They spent their gold quickly and used it to buy supplies for their next trip. Very few pirates had a bounty saved up that they wanted to hide as a nest egg. Even if they did burying it wasn’t the best idea as someone else could very easily find it. Trade routes were common and simply sailing off to the unknown to bury your most valuable items was a dubious decision.
Some of the most famous pirates did bury treasure but only for very short amounts of time. Francis Drake is one famous pirate. He robbed a train once and stole a lot of gold and silver. He buried it off the coast of Panama but returned shortly and collected it all.
Captain William Kidd (not Billy the kid, no) was another pirate who stole a lot of money. He buried millions worth of jewels in Boston. He realized the police were out to catch him and his plan was to bury the treasure, escape and then return. However, the police caught him and found his treasure. A pity.
The reason you don’t find a lot of evidence of pirates burying their treasure is that in most cases they didn’t steal gold or silver. The average convoy wasn’t carrying a large amount of gold or silver, that was rare. Instead, they stole supplies, alcohol, food, and other perishable items. Burying that would have been silly.
Of course, the other item that was highly traded at the time and that pirates often stole was slaves. Burying living people is clearly a bad idea and the pirates would work quickly to try and sell the slaves for valuable goods or some money.
The question remains, where did this idea come from? Most people credit the legend to Robert Louise Stevenson. He wrote the book Treasure Island in 1883 and since then the fiction surrounding pirates has only grown. In that book, there is a map with buried treasure marked by an X. This is the first time such an idea was heard and it has become incredibly popular ever since.
Of course, there will always be the occasional legend that persists and it is possible that somewhere around the world some buried treasure remains. In Costa Rica for example it is said that one pirate buried treasure that could be worth over $200 million today. It has never been found, reported, or declared. If you are ever near the beach of Coco Island it is probably worth a scuba diving expedition or renting a metal detector to see if you are luckier than the thousands of others that have tried. If that doesn’t work please bury some bottle caps on the beach for the next explorers that come along.
Did pirates really bury treasure and where to find it
