THE AUCILLA RIVER PIRATES

Reports of pirate activity in and around the Aucilla River area have existed throughout recorded history, and there are good reasons for those stories. Numerous pirate incidents are documented in the River and in nearby areas in the Gulf of Mexico. During all of the 18th as well as the early 19th century, the Gulf coast around the Aucilla was known for being the haunt of pirates such as Blackbeard, Jean Lafitte and Billy Bowlegs, possibly due to the remoteness of the territory. As a result, various legends developed that the Aucilla River area had been used as a place to stash pirate’s loot.
Even as early as the Spanish mission era, pirates and privateers were known to frequent the region. As one example, Spanish records describe pirates sneaking up the nearby St. Marks River in 1661 to loot and burn the Spanish fort there. Shortly after that, the Spanish Governor sent a representative to the Tocobaga Native American village at the Wacissa headwaters, ordering them to close the channel of the Wacissa due to marauding English vessels and pirates with the further admonition to remain particularly alert to the pirate problem.
Another incident, in a story written by former Florida Secretary of State H. Clay Crawford, was published in the August 12th, 1906, edition of the Pensacola News Journal. That story involved a Spanish naval vessel assigned to transport five million dollars in gold which was paid to Spain by the United States in 1821. According to the story, the gold was taken from the U.S. mint in New Orleans and loaded aboard a Spanish vessel. Passing St. Marks, the vessel became disabled. In fear of pirates, the captain and two crewmen took the gold ashore to a location somewhere in the coastal marshes between the St. Marks and Aucilla Rivers and buried it, planning to return later for recovery. The ship drifted for days before being rescued by a ship bound for South America. Enroute, the scourge broke out resulting in the death of the officers and many of the crew. The few remaining crew members arrived in South America penniless and were not able to return to the treasure site. Nevertheless, years later, one of the sailors who had assisted with the burial managed to return to the area as an old and unwell man. He passed away before being able to search for the gold. However, before dying, he sketched a map of the gold’s location for a local resident who had befriended him in his last days. That person searched for the site and was able to locate a tree with a spike in it which had been established as a reference point. He then left planning to arrange for tools and assistance in digging for the gold. However, due to Civil War activity, he was unable to return to the site before he also died. Therefore, according to that legend, the gold, now worth as much as 400 million dollars, remains buried somewhere along the coast in the marshes now part of the St. Marks National Wildlife Reserve.
In another treasure story based on Spanish records, a Spanish ship, the Santa Ana Maria Juncal, part of a flotilla commanded by Captain General Marguis de Caderevata, ran aground off “Cabo de Apalachi” on June 2, 1611. According to the records, the ship carried other cargo as well as “treasure.” Given the description of the grounding site, the location is believed to have been in Apalachee Bay, which abounds with dangerous shoals. The ship was old and began taking on water due to dry rot. It had not sunk at the last sighting by the crew of the Juncal as they sailed away on other vessels of the flotilla to avoid pirates. As a result, the ship may have floated off as a ghost ship or sunk at the grounding site. One version of this story suggests the treasure was transferred to another vessel before sinking while another says the “treasure” stayed on the ship whose remains still sit along the now submerged prehistoric channel of the Aucilla River. Most of that channel, now submerged under the Gulf, has never been mapped in any detail for hydrographic charts due the shoals in the area. Yet, as new technologies such as airborne bathymetric LiDAR are used to map this sector, the vessel’s remains, along with any treasure remaining on the wreck, may yet be found.
Possibly the most well-known of pirate stories, passed on by early pioneer families of the Aucilla area, involves a pirate captain burying gold on an island up the Aucilla River, possibly Ward Island which is located about four miles up the Aucilla just south of the junction with the Wacissa. As that legend goes, crew members returned later to recover some of the loot. But, they died before recovering the treasure. They did, however, disclose the location to a family along the river who had befriended them. The story continues that after a member of the settler family attempted to find the treasure himself, he was reported to have been found shot. That story has resulted in numerous “hunting” trips over the years, searching for the treasure on Ward Island. Interestingly, one of the coauthors of this narrative has graphic memories, from fifty years ago, of hearing a tale, possibly related to this legend, while sitting on the porch of the Mandalay Lodge overlooking the river. Based on that account, an early settler had observed a heavy-laden boat being rowed up the river by a crew of men passing what is now the Mandalay area. Several hours later, it was seen going back toward the Gulf riding much higher in the water.
Various other stories of pirates and buried treasures have been passed along over the years. Even today, old timers talk about secret finds and occasionally, an old gold coin or two will be found in the river after an especially severe storm. So, these legends may be true!