by Pam Uher

Created on: October 11, 2008

The Mystery of Captain Kidd's PirateTreasure

"Al'o Mates..aye, my tale is about Captain Kidd the Pirate and his buried treasure. Aye, you have to find the right island first, me mates. If you find the island you may find the treasure." Skulldigger Jonas

During "The Golden Age" of pirates many flew the skull and crossbones flag, as they looted, pillaged and plundered the seas from Newfoundland to the Caribbean Islands.

None were probably as "unlucky" as the Scotsman named Captain Kidd.

He was born William Kidd in Scotland
sometime around 1645 in the year of our Lord. Interestingly he went to New Amsterdam (New York City) as a child and was a founding member of the famous Trinity
Church, which still exists today near the heart of Wall Street and the seat of world fortune. Kidd was always an adventurer at heart and as an adult he became a man of renown on the high seas.

British naval authorities appointed him to hunt pirates that were plaguing their merchant vessels on their runs from the colonies to England. He became a successful privateer racing down pirates and French ships up and down the Atlantic
Coast and throughout the waterways traversed by the British East India Company. After capturing them he would claim their cargo and split it with his backers and British authorities who had granted him a license to troll the seas for booty.

After the seizure, of the extremely wealthy and full to its brim with booty Indian vessel the "Quedagh Merchant", stories began to abound about Captain Kidd as a bloody ruthless pirate, not just a privateer working at the beckon call of British shipping interests. He split the gold, silk, spices and other loot of the "Quedagh" with his crew then scuttled his own ship the
"Adventure Galley", and sailed for the Caribbean
on the captured Indian vessel, he renamed the "Adventure Prize". When he arrived at a safe haven port, Kidd learned he was wanted by the British government. He then scuttled the "Adventure Prize" ("Quedagh Merchant") and purchased a small sloop. Kidd then set out for Boston with a small crew and hoped to clear his name.

Unfortunately he didn't clear his name and was hung in1701, as a pirate. The end of the so called notorious Captain Kidd was the beginning of the legend that has given rise to a century's long hunt for his buried treasure.

After Captain Kidd's arrest, gold and other treasure worth about $20,000 was dug up on Gardiners Island off the coast of Long Island. Kidd left it there in the care of John Gardiner (whose

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