5 Amazing Treasures Never Found
Like a good percent of the worlds population I to love treasure and the stories and legends behind them. I tried to find 5 of the most amazing treasures that have never been found to this day. Most of these treasures actually have some kind of record in history or paper trail proving they might actually exist. So if you love treasure and the hunt then feel free to read on and enjoy.
1. Gasparilla's Lost Treasure
Jose Gaspar also known as "Gasparilla" was a Spanish pirate who was born in 1756 and died in 1821. Legend has it that the Spanish pirate had raided hundreds of boats on the west coast of Florida in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. With the many years of raiding and looting ships around Florida, the pirate had manage to accumulate a hoard of treasure and jewels worth an amazing $30,000,000 which him and his brother buried in 13 chests around Charlotte Harbor.
In 1821, Gasparilla and his crew had decided to retire from the pirate business and where heading back to Charlotte Harbor to dig up the treasure he buried so him and the crew could divide it up, when they seen a ship with a British flag and decided to pull off one more looting. As the pirates ship approached the vessel that's when all of the sudden the ships British flag was lowered and an American flag was raised. Turns out it was an American ship that had been hunting Gasparilla and his crew for all the looting and raiding ships they have done through out the years.
A fierce battle broke out between the 2 ships, with Gasparilla's ship taking heavy cannon fire it was doomed. Soon after it is said that the pirate wrapped himself with a chain and anchor and as he jumped overboard he shouted "Gasparilla Dies by His Own Hand, Not His Enemies!" and down he went. Soon after most of the remaining pirates where either killed or captured after the ship was sunk. One surviving pirate went on to tell this incredible tale of treasure to who ever would listen. It's also said the pirate ship that went down that day also contained another $1,000,000 in gold. To this day the treasure has never been found and is said to still be buried along Charlotte Harbor.
To this day the residents of Florida celebrate the legend of the pirate with the "Gasparilla Festival" which they have been doing for 104 years now.
2. John Singer's Lost Treasure
John Singer brother to the famous Issac Singer, who invented the sewing machine, was a treasure hunter in all forms. He spent days and weeks searching the shores of surrounding Islands and caves looking for treasure he was always hoping to find. Sometime around the summer of 1847, Singer and his family and one helper set sail to explore a few of the surrounding Islands when later on that night the ship had encountered a bad storm and became shipwrecked on Padre Island.
Time period for this isn't clear but its said that it was at least a couple of weeks before a rescue ship had finally located the family and helper, but by that time the family had grown to love the island and had decided to stay and build a life. After a short period John's wife had a routine of tending to the garden and house while the kids were free to run about all day in paradise.
One day the boys were returning from the beach screaming and yelling something but the parents could hear them until they got up close to the house. Once the boys arrived at the front door to where their mother stood, they opened their little hands to show what they had found along the beach. There in those tiny hands where numerous gold coins which they had found laying all about the beach. John presumed it was treasure from other ships that had met the same faith as their ship did and eventually their cargo would wash ashore.
Story goes the whole family headed down to the beach where they kept finding gold and jewels, one after another all day long. John's wife was even said to have found a small chest on the beach containing $80,000 in coins. John went on to tell very few people of his find but the ones he did claimed that John had found so much treasure that he was burying it in a sand dune he nicked named the "Money Hill" between two palm tree's for safe keeping. Whenever he needed supplies he would just go back to the dune and dig a little out.
John's luck changed the year the Civil War began. One day while standing out on the crudely made front porch, he seen a Yankee gun boat appear of the coast and this is when he decided it would be safer for his family on the main land so with that they moved back. John waited patiently for his opportunity to return to his island home and recover his treasure when finally four years after leaving, John had the chance to return to Padre Island.
When he arrived on the island John was horrified to see that the Yankee soldiers had torn down his house for firewood and also the landscape had totally changed including the sand dune and tree's which where now both gone along with his treasure. John would spend the rest of his life searching for his lost treasure but never did find it again and he died flat broke 1877.
To this day the treasure has never been found.
3. Tahiti's Lost Treasure
In 1859, four men named Diego Alvarez, Luke Barrett, Brown and a Irishman named Killorain pulled off a plan they had come up with and got away with over 14 tons of gold and many other priceless jewels and gems from Pisco Church In Peru.
They were supposed to be escorting the treasure for safe keeping for the Church but once they were close enough to what at the time were an unmanned island; they killed everyone aboard the ship and then buried the majority of the treasure they had just stolen. Once they completed unloading and burying everything the four men turned and set sail for Australia.
Once close enough to the shore, the four men scuttled the ship and returned home and told of a great journey which ended in a violent storm and the ship sinking with only the four men surviving. As far fetched as the story sounds the men were believed and cleared to go about their ways. Soon after, the 4 men started to plan a return trip to the island to recover the rest of their treasure but realized while they were in port they had pretty much spent every dime they had and needed to make some more money before they could return for the treasure.
The four men had decided to do some prospecting in "Palmers Gold Field" which back in those days had mass quantities of gold to find. Within the first month of working the gold fields, Alvarez and Barrett were killed after an altercation with natives. It's said Alvarez had shot a native and their deaths were in retaliation of that. Brown and Killorain had also gotten into a brawl which another man was killed and the both of them were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Killorain would be the only one left at the end of the prison term and was released. By this time he was a fragile old man with nowhere to go. One night wanting to get out of the rain, Killorain went and knocked on the first door he seen. A man named Charles Howe opened the door to the frail old man and let him in to dry. Howe also feed and gave Killorain a place to sleep that night but in the morning the old man had disappeared.
In September 1912, Charles Howe received a message that summoned him to the local hospital. Charles quickly rushed over fearing the worst and was surprised to see the old man lying their in the hospital bed. He curiously bent over and asked the old man "Why Did You Summon Me?" So the old man went on to tell Charles the story on how him and his friends robbed a church and buried the treasure. He also provided Charles with a map and everything to the treasure site and asked him to go retrieve it. Charles by this time has no idea what to think or believe so he heads back home to do some research.
Howe did his research and found that everything the old man had claimed was accurate so he decided to head back to the hospital to talk again with Killorain but it was already too late because he had died the night before. Armed with this map and information Charles had no idea what to do but shortly after he sold everything he owned and started his treasure hunt. It wasn't long to his amazement that he actually did find the treasure right were Killorain said it would be. Charles only being one man and by himself had decided to re-bury the majority of the treasure except for a few items to prove he had actually found it. His plan was to go back home and get a few investors to back a salvage trip and some helpers and come back to recover all of it.
Once back in his hometown it was easy for Charles to get investors. Once the investors where in place all that was left to do was to work out the details and get all the necessary supplies together for the trip.
Its now 1932, and while details were being worked out for the recovery trip, Charles had decided to go do some prospecting in the famous gold fields. He kept in contact for the first little bit he was there but then all of the sudden, no one ever heard from him again nor has his body ever been found.
It is said he had the only map to the treasure so it's pretty safe to say it still lies where Charles Howe buried it to this day.
4. Lost Gold Mine of Pitt Lake
The oldest accounts of this legend of a lost gold mine are entangled with that of an old native named "Slumach". This old native was well known in his time and area but was also known for having found some of the biggest gold nuggets people in New West Minister have ever seen but also for about 6 murders he committed in cold blood they say.
Slumach use to hobble into New West Minister every couple of days to spend what other though to be a fortune in gold on booze and women. It's even said that he used to do this a few times a day and once he ran out of gold he would simply hike back into the mountain and get more. A few prospectors tried more then once to follow Slumach but they would always end up losing him in the steep ruff trails.
Then one day a young woman named "Molly Tynan" had bumped into Slumach at one of the local saloons after hearing stories about the gold mine he knows about. She charmed Slumach long and hard and he eventually agreed to take her with him to the lost mine. Off they went hiking through the forest until they came to another part of Pitt Lake where a canoe sat on the edge of the lake bed.
Once seated in the canoe Slumach started to paddle away from shore all the while Molly was probably thinking what she would do with all the money she would make after she knew the location of the mine but Slumach had other ideas. Out of nowhere the old native reached to his waist ban and pulled a knife out which he plunged into the back of Molly before throwing her overboard. Needless to say the girl died and shortly after someone found her body floating down the lake. Royal Canadian Mounted Police was now on the hunt for Slumach for the murder of Molly and a few other men. Eventually the law caught up with the old native and justice was swift. They hung Slumach for this murder is what I read, but there are other accounts claiming he was hung for a whole different murder but either way he took the secret of the lost mine to the grave with him.
There are a few other stories even one as recent as 1978 claiming this lost gold mine really does exists but most who go look for it never return. It's said that over 30 prospectors through out the years have gone missing while searching never to be heard from again.
To this day the gold mine of Pitt Lake still remains a lost secret.
5. Oak Island Treasure
Anyone who knows anything about treasure or history, at one time has heard about the famous Treasure Island known as "Oak Island". It also lays claim to be the site of the world's oldest running treasure myth. The story began in 1795 when 3 boys found what they though was a hole that had been backed filled under an oak tree with pulley markings on the branch that hung over the spot. They assumed someone had buried something really heavy in that spot and that would explain the pulley markings. Well having no tools or supplies the boys went on with life forgetting about the mysterious spot under the oak tree.
It was only after 9 years had passed when the boys remember the spot and decided to return. Not exactly sure how far they managed to dig but I do know they found nothing. Later on other treasure hunters showed up to try their luck with the famous pit. When the hole reached a depth of 27.4 meters was when a stone slab was found with an inscription on it. Later on in 1987, an IBM cryptologist deciphered the code which read "Forty Feet Below, 2 Million Pounds Are Buried".
The stone vanished shortly after being discovered which many people think it was probably a hoax to draw in more funds from investors who were backing the project. Other then the stone, back in 1849 after treasure hunters sunk a drill to 98 feet they discovered when they pulled it back out that the drill bit had 3 gold links of chain on it. Again many believe this was another hoax to bring in more funds. Even the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1909 had treasure fever and supervised a dig.
Finally in 1977 Triton Alliance LTD, a Montreal based company decided to purchase the whole island for $125,000 and to this date has spent over 3 million dollars drilling. The only thing the company has found in the hole so far is wood, charcoal, concrete and even bits and pieces of glass and china which were probably left over from other previous digs.
Treasure hunters and experts say if there is a treasure down there, it could be easily worth over $100,000,000 in today's currency. The only thing I don't understand is how do you put a value on something you have no idea that exists?
So these are the 5 lost treasures that could actually be true and still out there waiting to be found. All the stories expect for "Oak Island" actually have documents proving that the articles claimed buried did exists at one time. You feel lucky?
Gold rings are very different than gold nuggets since they're usually alloyed with other forms of metal. They're usually close to the surface area and usually cannot be tuned out or selected for having a notch filter even with the very best metal detector. By far the perfect place to find gold rings is at the beach. Particularly in the shallows of an dropping tide at a common resort place. The explanation is because many vacationers do not realize that the cooler watercan make their fingers shrink and unsuspectingly drop their extremely valuable ring jewelry.
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