Buried treasure

Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, alongside Vikings, criminals, and outlaws in the Old West. According to popular conception, these people often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return to them later (often with the use of a pirate's treasure map).

Pirates burying treasure was a rare occurrence, with one of the best known legends being William Kidd, who was accused of burying some of his wealth on Gardiners Island. The myth of buried pirate treasure was popularized by such 19th-century fiction as "Wolfert Webber" by Washington Irving, "The Gold-Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe, and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. The idea of treasure maps leading to buried treasure is considered a fictional device.

There are cases of buried treasure from different historical periods, such as the Dacian king Decebalus and Visigoth king Alaric I, who both changed the course of rivers to hide their treasures. Legends of buried pirate treasure have existed for centuries, but authenticated discoveries are rare. For example, extensive excavations on Oak Island, Nova Scotia have not yielded any treasure.

Buried treasure is a cultural concept and not the same as a hoard, which is typically found by archaeologists and metal detectors. The Fenn treasure, reportedly buried by millionaire Forrest Fenn in 2010, was found in 2020 in Wyoming.

Pirates burying treasure was rare. The most well-known story of a pirate supposedly burying treasure was William Kidd, who is believed to have buried at least some of his wealth on Gardiners Island near Long Island before sailing into New York City. Kidd had originally been commissioned as a privateer for England, but his behavior had strayed into outright piracy, and he hoped that his treasure could serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations to avoid punishment. His bid was unsuccessful, however, and Kidd was hanged as a pirate. However, Kidd was not the only pirate thought to have done so.

In 1665 Governor Thomas Modyford of Jamaica wrote of returning buccaneers that "The Spanish prizes have been inventoried and sold, but the privateers plunder them and hide the goods in holes and creeks, so that the present orders [to return stolen Spanish goods] little avail the Spaniard."

Regarding a 1703 deposition about the loss of pirate Thomas Tew's sloop Amity, a pardoned pirate testified that "It was said when he was at Rhoad Island that the money they had for the part owners of the Amity was buried in the ground."

A 1709 report to Parliament notes in regards to "certain pyrates" (probably referring to the rumours circulating about Henry Every) that "[T]hough their treasure has been all got by robbery, yet since it can never be restored to the owners, having been taken (mostly, if not wholly) from the subjects of the Great Mogull, etc., and now lies buried or useless in or near Madagascar, it's much better they should be permitted to bring it to England with safety, where it may do good, etc."