✥ SHIPWRECKS AND TREASURES ✥
Copyright © 2000 Heinle & Heinle
W
hen you think of shipwrecks, treasure, and pirates do you automatically think of
Florida? Well, you should! The Florida coastline is loaded with the remains of
shipwrecks. Some of those ships were once full of gold and silver, and much of that wealth
still lies on the bottom of the ocean.
One of the finest and richest ships to sink off the Florida coast was the Nuestra Señora de
Atocha. A fleet of ships was loaded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. This so-called treasure fleet
was comprised of 8 galleons and 20 merchant ships. The Atocha was the flagship. It carried
a crew of 115 men, 118 soldiers and 48 wealthy passengers on their way back to Spain. In the
bottom of the ship, known as the hold, were 47 tons of gold and silver. This made the Atocha
a very large floating treasure chest. The gold and silver came from Perú and México where
the Spanish had large mines. From Havana it was all shipped to Spain on the treasure fleet
which made two trips a year. The fleet would leave Cuba, sail near the Florida Keys and the
Gulf Stream would push it up the Florida coast. Then the ships would head east across the
Atlantic Ocean for Spain.
In the autumn of 1622, the fleet was delayed in Cuba and didn’t leave port until
September 5th, in the height of the hurricane season. The Spaniards knew the dangers of
hurricanes. By 1622 they had been sailing in the Caribbean and the South Atlantic for over a
hundred years. A storm hit just as the fleet left Havana harbor and forced the ships 40 miles
west of Key West. Some of the ships survived and returned to Havana, but the Atocha and her
sister ship the Santa Magarita sank to the bottom. Spanish officials sent salvage crews to
recover the treasure. They retrieved some of it, but not the mother lode. Most of the treasure
remained hidden. Later, other storms hit the area and the wrecks were dragged across the
ocean floor, spreading the treasure across a wide area.
The treasure of the Atocha stayed on the bottom of the ocean until July 20, 1985 when
Mel Fisher, a former chicken farmer, found the wreck. His search lasted 20 years. Using
computer technology, old records from Spain, and persistence, he found $400 million worth
of treasure. Some of the treasure is on display at Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum on Key West
where you can also learn more about Mel’s search.
Fisher was not the only one to discover lost treasure off the Florida coast. In the 1940s
and 1950s, two Floridians named Kip Wagner and Kip Kelso found gold and silver Spanish
coins on the beaches around Sebastian Inlet. After doing some research they discovered that
in 1715 10 Spanish ships bound for Spain had been lost in a hurricane near the Sebastian
River. Convinced that they could discover more than just a few coins, the two friends set up a
company called Real Eight Salvage and set out to discover more.
Wagner and Kelso learned that while all the ships in the fleet had sunk, 1,500 people had
managed to survive. The survivors had tried to salvage what they could of the treasure from
the 10 ships, and later an English pirate tried to find more. Still, the majority of the treasure
had remained on the bottom. After much searching, Wagner and Kelso salvaged $4 million
worth of gold and silver in the area around Sebastian Inlet. They even found a $50,000 gold
chain that had probably belonged to one of the passengers. However, there was still more
Copyright © 2000 Heinle & Heinle
2
¡Ya veras! Gold
Readings and Activities for Florida Students
treasure to be found. In 1986, after a major storm hit the same area, over $100,000 worth of
gold was uncovered and washed ashore, picked up by people walking the beaches.
Weather was not the only thing that the Spanish treasure fleet had to worry about. There
were also plenty of pirates about. One of the most infamous, and most dangerous, was
Gasparilla. José Gaspar, also known as Gasparilla, lived from 1756 to 1821. Gaspar was born
in Spain and grew up to become a naval officer. He was publicly accused of stealing jewels
and managed to escape on a ship before being arrested. Later, he pulled a crew together and
in response to the false charges, vowed to capture and burn any Spanish vessels he found.
According to the legend, he captured over 36 ships in 11 years. He was certainly not a
gentleman and was known for mistreating his captives. He once cut off a lady’s ears because
she spit in his face when he tried to take her earrings.
Gaspar attacked so many ships and stole so much treasure that he soon needed a base
on land. After sailing around Florida, Gaspar established his base on an island near what is
today Fort Myers. He named the island and its village Boca Grande and another island
Gasparilla, after himself. His end came in 1821 when Florida became part of the United States.
He had decided to leave Gasparilla Island and was headed out to sea with his treasure when
a British merchant ship was spotted. Gasparilla could not resist the temptation and went to
attack it. When he arrived he saw that the ship was really a fully armed American warship
camouflaged to look like a British ship. The pirates were fired on and disabled. Unwilling to
be arrested, Gaspar tied the anchor rope around his body and threw himself over the side.
Many have searched the area, but no one has ever found Gaspar’s treasure.
Gasparilla wasn’t the only pirate to patrol the waters around Florida. Another Spanish
pirate was Francisco Menéndez and he was a great pain to the British Navy. Menéndez was
a Mandingo from West Africa. When he was young, he was enslaved by the British and
brought to the Carolinas. He eventually escaped and fought the British with the help of the
Native Americans there. Later he and many other ex-slaves went south to St. Augustine. The
Spanish had set up a settlement for these ex-slaves called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de
Mose. Today it is called Fort Mose.
Menéndez was appointed by the Spanish governor in St. Augustine to command a group
of ex-slaves against a British invasion. Menéndez and his men had hoped for immediate
freedom from the Spanish in return for helping them against the British. The Spaniards refused
and wanted them to wait for four years. The ex-slaves petitioned the government and were
given their freedom and continued to fight against the British, who cut the city off from
supplies. In order to make money and help out the Spaniards, Menéndez became a pirate. He
attacked foreign vessels and captured their supplies. Unfortunately, the British soon captured
Menéndez. He was whipped and had salt and vinegar rubbed into his wounds as part of his
punishment. Eventually, he escaped from prison in the Bahamas and fled to Cuba where he
remained for the rest of his life.
Often, since many ships wrecked near the coastline, there were survivors who escaped
the sinking ship only to meet greater horrors once they reached land. The Spanish explorers
and the Florida natives were often very violent toward each other. When they came in contact
with each other, they would usually fight. Sometimes they would try to enslave each other, as
was the case with most shipwreck survivors.
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Level A, Section 1
Shipwrecks and Treasures
Thirteen-year-old Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda was returning to school in Spain
when he was shipwrecked off the Florida Keys in 1545. Most of the survivors of the shipwreck
were killed by the natives, but Escalante survived to live with the Native Americans for 17
years.
When Escalante managed to escape and return to Spain at the age of 30, he wrote a long
narrative about his life. This book is a great record of the Florida native’s language and
lifestyle. It also describes the animals and geography of the area. Escalante became
accustomed to living with the Native Americans and traveled with them. He learned their
languages and customs and discovered they had neither gold nor silver. His records tell us
that they ate fish, turtles, snails, crayfish and even manatees.
Often, shipwreck survivors who were captured by Native Americans learned their
language and were able to translate for the Spanish when they were released. That was the
case with Juan Ortiz. He had been part of Pánfilo de Narvaéz’s expedition and had been a
captive for eleven years when Hernando de Soto arrived in Tampa Bay. After landing near
Bradenton, de Soto sent his men to look for natives and their towns. They found Juan Ortiz.
Ortiz had never been allowed to wander past the village where his captors kept him.
Although he knew very little about his surroundings, he was able to learn the native language.
De Soto’s men rescued Ortiz and his translations were very helpful while de Soto’s expedition
traveled around Florida and then back to Spain.
Questions
Answer using a complete sentence.
1. What were some of the problems that shipwreck survivors faced?
2. Who was Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda?
3. How old was he when he was captured and how long was he a captive?
4. How did Juan Ortiz help de Soto?
5. According to Escalante, what food did the native Floridians eat?
6. What was the Nuestra Señora de Atocha?
7.
When and where did the Atocha sink?
8. What was the route the fleet took to go back to Spain?
9. Where did the gold and silver come from?
Copyright © 2000 Heinle & Heinle
10. Who finally found the treasure of the Atocha?
11.
Where did 10 ships from the treasure fleet sink in 1715?
Activities
1. Using the Internet or books from your library find out more about the pirates that sailed around
Florida.
2. Make a poster looking for men to sail to Florida to be part of an expedition. Use the phrase “Se
buscan…” which means, “we are looking for…” and then add the adjectives that a person would
need to be part of an expedition.