Treasure Everywhere

Recently discovered clues may indicate that Captain Cook? lost ship, H.M.S. Endeavor, could be resting at the bottom of Newport Harbor.

1. Miscellaneous treasure leads

There is treasure everywhere. Here? a sampling of miscellaneous Rhode Island treasure leads.

In 1975, treasure hunters digging at the old Thomas fields near Pawtucket discovered an old copper box containing pearls, coins, jewelry, silverware, and an old map of Providence circa 1798. This is thought to be just one of many caches hidden in the Pawtucket area. A little further south at Providence a chest containing numerous old coins and artifacts was located and recovered on the outskirts of Roger Williams Park, and other caches are thought to be hidden in this area as well.

During the American Revolution, British soldiers occupied a farm belonging to the wealthy Overing family near Union Street in Portsmouth on Highway 114. Local legend says that the British commander buried a substantial amount of gold coins on the grounds before being captured by a band of patriots for use in prisoner exchange.

In 1957 the hurricane that washed ten houses on Quonochontaug Island into the Quonochontaug Pond took with it a very valuable coin collection which was locked in a steel chest at the time. The coins were never recovered and presumably are still resting in the chest at the bottom of the pond in Newport County.

Sakonnet and Sakonnet Point in Newport County have both been identified as the hiding place of a pirate treasure of unknown origins. Beaver Tail, also in Newport County, is the home of a similarly nebulous pirate treasure story.

In Washington County, a cache of gold coins hidden in the vicinity of Liberty was reportedly buried by one Jack Kafke. Also in Washington County, the area on Highway 2 near Wickford Junction is said to be the hiding place of numerous caches from the many stagecoach holdups that occurred in the region when it was known as Robber? Corner.

An old waybill says: ?he S.E. side of the Bay there is a Creek, and on the South side of the bay; 50 yards from the water side there is a Large hollow oake Tree with one Limbe cut off 11 yds. from the tree there is a Rock and from the tree: 14 yds. the within sum is his.·

The within sum referred to is ·0 Barrs of gould, 20 Wedges of Gould, Jacobesus 11 Plain Rings, 4 DublD Loons, 1 Brasel, 1 Silver Plat, 1 Silver Candlestick, 2200 Pieces of 8, Silver, 3 Diamonds, and 1 Ruby.·

The name of the bay where there is a creek is not given. It could be anywhere on the east coast or anywhere in the world, for that matter. However, since the directions are thought to be meant for members of either the Greene or the Arnold families of East Greenwich, R.I., the prime suspect is usually thought to be in the Naragansett Bay.

2. Wreck of the ?alatine·

I have at least four versions of the wreck of the Princess Augusta, also known as the Palatine. This is the one favored by New England writer, Lewis A. Taft. In August, 1738, 650 German Palatines left Rotterdam in a pair of ships bound for Virginia. One of the ships got lost, and all but four of the passengers and crew died of exposure. The other was commanded by a larcenous captain who exploited the simple immigrants. He impounded their food and sold it back to them at exorbitant prices, charged for every service, and otherwise extorted all their funds. It was his own undoing. Aware of the bulging strong box full of gold in the master? cabin, the crew mutinied as soon as they sighted the coast of Massachusetts. The mutineers first beat and robbed the ship? officers, tossing some over the side. Then they turned on the wives and daughters of the helpless passengers below decks.

While the mutineers were thus occupied, a fierce gale blew up lashing the decks with sleet and snow, but the ship continued to drift unmanned while the drunken orgy proceeded below. In the early morning hours the Palatine crashed on the rocky ledges of Block Island. Most of the mutineers were killed, but a small party maintained control of the hatches for two more days, keeping the Palatines prisoners below deck. Rescue parties had to subdue the mutineers before saving what was left of the immigrants. Of the 640 wealthy immigrants who left Rotterdam, 90 penniless wretches survived. The strong box full of gold so artlessly stolen from them during the trip was lost in the wreck.

Another version of this story (the one John Greenleaf Whittier based his poem Palatine upon) has the Palatine being lured to the shore and half-looted by wreckers who were surprised in the act.

A third version, based on affidavits of the captain and the mate, state that extreme cold and scant provisions had killed off half the crew and rendered the rest incapable before the storm struck, and that the entire affair was nothing more than a terrible natural disaster in which the captain and crew struggled vainly to save both ship and passengers. In this version, over $100,000 worth of gold and silver were lost along with the lives of most of the passengers and crew. The numerous coins and artifacts that have been found along the beaches at Sandy Point where the wreck takes places in this version would tend to lend some credence to it were it not for the numerous other wrecks in the region. No one really knows what ship is feeding the beaches or if there is more than one.

3. Other ship wrecks

When the steamer Portland sank off Providence, it was reportedly carrying over $3,000,000 which was never recovered. Several miles below Providence is Gaspee Point where the British schooner Gaspee ran aground in 1772. A fire deliberately set after the grounding caused an explosion which scattered debris and artifacts all over the beach. Also in 1772, the British merchant man London sank near Newport harbor. Somewhere along the beach at present day Misquamicut State Park are the unsalvaged remains of the American merchant man Minerva, which wrecked there in 1779. Two years prior, a pair of British warships, the H.M.S. Triton, 16 guns, and the H.M.S. Syren, 20 guns, were wrecked near Point Judith during a gale on November 10. The following year, on April 1, the American privateer Columbus was driven ashore at Point Judith and burned.

However, the really big treasure off Point Judith is said to be hidden in the wreck of the German submarine ?-853,·which sank there May 5, 1945. The Boston Sea Rovers Dive Club has placed the wreck in 125 feet of water at 41 degrees, 13 minutes north and 71 degrees, 27 minutes west, 8 1/2 miles off the Point. The wreck is said to contain the personal fortunes of several high-ranking Nazi officials who were attempting to escape from Germany. The value of the treasure is said to run to several millions of dollars. The Irish merchant man Golden Glove wrecked during a winter gale in 1765 at Southwest Point on Block Island. Coins found on the beaches nearby are thought to be coming from this wreck.

4. Swamp fight

During King Philip? War (1675-76), King Philip? Wampanoag Indians and their allies captured a large number of colonists (mostly women and children) which they ransomed back to their enemies for hard currency that was then used to purchase powder and shot from the Mohawks. For instance, when Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and her three children were captured during an attack on Lancaster, Mass., her six year old daughter died of wounds received in the battle and her eldest daughter escaped, but Mary and her son were sold back to her husband, Rev. Joseph Rowlandson, for the combined sum of 27 pounds sterling.

Rhode Island at first stayed out of the war, but the colonists in Massachusetts and Connecticut began to suspect that Philip? Wampanoags were being secretly harbored by the supposedly peaceful Narragansett Indians at Kingston; so they attacked the Indian village and killed 500 Wampanoags and Narragansett warriors along with a large number of women and children that nobody bothered to count.

The battle, fought during a terrible blizzard, was called the Great Swamp Fight because the Indians had situated their fortress-village in the middle of a swamp. The battle began at one o?lock on Sunday afternoon. The colonists overran the village, chased the retreating Indians through the freezing swamps from three in the afternoon until nightfall.

In addition to numerous relics, many caches of ransom money are thought to have been lost in the swamps outside of Kingston.

SOURCES:

Lippincott, Bertram. Indians, Privateers, and High Society. J.B. Lippincott, 1961.

Snow, Edward Rowe. True Tales of Pirates and Their Gold. Dodd, Mead Co., 1962.

Taft, Louis A. True Tales of Old New England. Dodd, Mead Co., 1965.