Ellsworth American., 1906-08-15
AFTER KrDD,s HOARD.
Remarkable Story of Treasure Hunt
at Searsport Years Ago.

1t would be difficult to find strip OF
coastline about Penobscot bay which at
sometime or other has not been explored in
the hopes of finding the mythical treasures
OF that famous buccaneer, Capt. Kidd.
Nearly every fishing hamlet has its legend
of buried treasure at some point or other
on its shores, and the older inhabitants
can tell you stories by the hour OF the
hunts which have been made to locate it.
II you ask it they will give you minute
directions for searching for the treasure.
In most cases these rules require that at a
certain period of the moon, when its light
will cause the shadow OF some great tree,
usually an oak, to fall in certain direc-
tion, you shall visit the spot, and begin
ming at a given point on the shadow, pace
so many steps in given direction and
then dig.
| In the following OF these directions
many man has wasted valuable days and
hours and spent many good dollar, for
as yet no man has ever been able to locate,
search as he will, any of the buried treas
ure OF the pirate chief Of the Spanish
| main.
| In Searsport there are several spots
where it has always been claimed the
! treasures were buried, and many attempts
have been made to locate them. For this
reason it is believed that the following
story OF a search many years ago, which
was told recently by c. c. Gar
land, OF Old Town. relates to this sec
tion Of the bay. As the description OF
the place where the party made the search
fits one of the spots where it has always
been claimed the treasure was buried, this
! belief is strengthened.
| The story was told to Mr.. Garland more
than twenty years ago by Capt Samuei
Rogers, dead these many years. A promi-
nent resident of the town of Hampden
organized and was the leading member of
the party which had the adventure. and
the incident thus told occurred many
years prior to that time. The story is as
follows:
In some manner Capt. Sam Rogers as all
Hampden called him, came into possession
OF map which was alleged to be that of
the hiding place of the treasures OF Capt.
Kidd. From the manner in which it came
| to him Capt. Rogers was convinced of its
authenticity and determined to thoroughly
investigate it. He carefully examined this
map and the directions for reaching the
| spot where the treasure was said to be
hidden. Thoroughly acquainted with the
Penobscot river and bay, it required little
study on his part to locate the inlet, at the
| head of which was the place.
Mr.. Garland does not remember abso-
lutely where Capt. Rogers said the inlet
was situated, but feels quite certain it was
in the town OF Searsport. Old residents
and persons acquainted with the tradi-
tions of the place have always located one
OF the treasure grounds of the piratical
Kidd at the head OF little inlet in this
town, so it is reasonable to presume that
the adventure took place there.
Having located the place where the
golden dubloons were concealed, as told
by the map, the next thing to do was to
get them. This was no small task, as
( Cap'n Smith realized. 1t would be diff
/ ficult matter for one man to accomplish it,
( for the trip TO and from the place must be
made by water, and must be made with
as much secrecy as possible. fo go to the
place in the broad light OF day would be
7 absurd and useless, for did not the direc-
tions say that at night, when the north
I ern pine of the four which formed
square cast its shadow true TO the north,
I one must stand at the south side of the
tree, directly in line with the shadow,
pace ten steps east southeast, make a turn
and go thirty PAGES due east, and dig
down to big fiat rock, under which
would be found the riches.
| But the getting together of a suitable
party was difficult matter, for only men
who could be depended upon and who had
confidence in the plan for, even in those
early days, there were those who were
skeptical of the existence OF Kidd's treas
ures-was a difficult job.
Among his friends, whom he felt he
could trust, was one Herrick, merchant
in the town of Bradford. To him Capt.
Rogers confided the story of the plan and
displayed it to him. Herrick, like his
friend, the sea captain, had confidence in
its genuineness and agreed to take part in
the search. They found three or four
others-at the time he heard the story Mr..
Garland knew the names OF them all and
the exact number, but in the hustle and
hustle Of other things in score of years
they have slipped from his mind who
were anxious to have a hand in finding
and sharing the buried gold.
A small sailing craft was fitted out for
the trip, and the party, at the directed time
of year, early October, sailed from Hamp-
den down the river to the treasure ground
in Searsport. In due course of time they
arrived at the inlet, which the leader OF
the party had fixed upon as being the one
which was designated in the map. Arriv-
ing there accommodating expedition was
made and all were jubilsnt for there they
found the four great pines, which formed