Portal:Piracy/Selected article/1

A treasure map is a variation of a map to mark the location of buried treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret, or a hidden locale. More common in fiction than in reality, "Pirate treasure maps" are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn and containing arcane clues for the characters to follow. Regardless of the terms literary genesis, anything that meets the criteria of a "map" describing the location of a "treasure" could appropriately be called a treasure map. Although buried pirate treasure is a favorite literary theme, there are very few documented cases of pirates actually burying treasure, and no documented cases of a historical pirate treasure map.

One documented case of buried treasure involved Francis Drake who buried Spanish gold and silver after raiding the mule train at Nombre de Dios — after Drake went to find his ships, he returned six hours later and retrieved the loot and sailed for England. Another case in 1720 involved British Captain Stratton of the Prince Eugene who, after supposedly trading — rum with pirates in the Caribbean, buried his gold near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. One of his crew, Morgan Miles, turned him into the authorities, and it is assumed the loot was recovered. In any case, Captain Stratton was not a pirate, and made no map. (more...)