Buried or sunken treasure near Peekskill along the Hudson? Many vacationers hear stories of the buried treasure of Captain William Kidd (circa 1645-1701) all along the eastern seaboard. I remember Captain Kidds Rock in Weekapaug, RI. I never knew about the tales of his sunken ship and buried treasure on the Hudson River. Turning Caldwells Landing or Jones Point ( north of Tompkins Cove), but south of Bear Mountain and Iona Island, formerly known as Kidds Point, almost at right angles, (one) enters the southern gate of the Highlands. (It is directly across from Peekskill, on the west side of the Hudson at the foot of Dunderberg Mountain.) At the water edge will be seen some upright planks or caissons marking the spot where Kidds ship was supposed to have been scuttled. Here is the story in brief: The Story of Captain Kidd.—My name was Captain Kidd as I sailed, are famous lines of an old ballad which was once familiar to our grandfathers. The hapless hero of the same was born about the middle of the seventeenth century, and it is thought, near Greenock, Scotland. He resided at one time in New York, near the corner of William and Cedar Streets, and was there married. In April, 1696, he sailed from England in command of the Adventure Galley, with full armament and eighty men. He captured a French ship, and, on arrival at New York, put up articles for volunteers; remained in New York three or four months, increasing his crew to one hundred and fifty-five men, and sailed thence to Madras, thence to Bonavista and St. Jago, Madagascar, then to Calicut, then to Madagascar again, then sailed[page 81] and took the Quedah Merchant. Kidd kept forty shares of the spoils, and divided the rest with his crew. He then burned the Adventure Galley, went on board the Quedah Merchant, and steered for the West Indies. Here he left the Merchant, with part of his crew, under one Bolton, as commander. Then manned a sloop, and taking part of his spoils, went to Boston via Long Island Sound, and is said to have set goods on shore at different places. In the meantime, in August, 1698, the East Indian Company informed the Lords Justice that Kidd had committed several acts of piracy, particularly in seizing a Moors ship called the Quedah Merchant. When Kidd landed at Boston he was therefore arrested by the Earl of Bellamont, and sent to England for trial, 1699, where he was found guilty and executed. Now it is supposed that the crew of the Quedah Merchant, which Kidd left at Hispaniola, sailed for their homes, as the crew was mostly gathered from the Highlands and above. It is said that they passed New York in the night, en route to the manor of Livingston; but encountering a gale in the Highlands, and thinking they were pursued, ran her near the shore, now known as Kidds Point, and here scuttled her, the crew fleeing to the woods with such treasure as they could carry. Whether this circumstance was true or not, it was at least a current story in the neighborhood, and an enterprising individual, about fifty years ago, caused an old cannon to be discovered in the river, and perpetrated the first Cardiff Giant Hoax. A New York Stock Company was organized to prosecute the work. It was said that the ship could be seen in clear days, with her masts still standing, many fathoms below the surface. One thing is certain—the company did not see it or the treasurer either, in whose hands were deposited about $30,000. (From, The Hudson River by Wallace Bruce ,1907, and map, and The Book of Buried Treasure by Ralph D. Paine, 1911) Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, made him famous along the Hudson, in his short story, Kidd, the Pirate.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 16:20:02 +0000
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