The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-09-28

concerned, but it is said that the Als-
ton family plate was buried in old San
Carlos, along with three million dol
lars worth Of other treasure. One
thing is matter Of history, and
that when Aston sent a picked spy
to enquire the fate of his dear wife
and the family silver. Manrequez, gov
ernor- general of Spanish Florida,
with headquarters at San Carlos de
Barrancas, wined him and dined him
among the Spanish-French creoles of
Pensacola, and he was then entrusted
to "Steed Bonnet" who put him off
minus one ear.
The Spaniards in Florida had formed
an alliance with England and the In
dams of the Creek nation against our
flag, borne avengingly about that time
by "Old Hickork''-Gen. Andrew Jack
son. Before him the British ships had
sailed away, and the Indians had most
of them gone over to the enemy.
When the Spaniards found that
surrender was inevitable, their first
thought was of the treasure, and how
to hide 1t from the enemy.
The treasure had been stored in a
bomb proof OF the fort, but 1t was nee
place, and 1t was taken from this
treasure house and placed in numerous
earthen crooks, and buried in a we'll
In the fort, and it is said that here
the vast treasure remains to this day.
At least eighteen crooks are be-
lieved to have been buried in the old
fort. before the Spaniards SURRENDERED
to Gen. Jackson, and the story goes
that the key to the location of the old
well and the buried treasure was left
engraven on a bomb proof in San Car
los de Barrancas. Amid the hard An
ish Of one carefully prepared wall 1t
is said was engraven, while cement
was soft, whimsical outlines Of arches,
circles, and an abnormal number of
steps. a key to the buried treasure.
The outlines drawn here were evil
IDENTIFY intended to be ineligible alone
to those already acquainted with the
treasures secret disposition, and rep
resented, in a vague way, the north
east angle Of San Carlos and the exact
location Of the well.
wildrick, the author of The Zea1ot
In Tulle, which story is probably the
most exact and complete story Of the
Spanish treasure at San Carlos, tells
in her story Of mysterious man from
Mobile, who appeared some years ago
at Fort BarrAncas with q document
which he claimed belonged to his wife.
1t had been found among her grand
fathers papers when he died. The
old man had been very feeble for years
and no one had listened to him, for
this reason, when he had so often
limited at knowledge Of treasure bur-
led somewhere on the shore of PEN
sacola bay. The old Spaniard de-
scribed himself as a Basque, from the
mountain village of Avigora gna He
had been a soldier under Manrequez,
the governor general, and was with
him when he had taken refuge in Bar
rancas when Pensacola fell into Gen.
Jackson's hands.
After the fort finally capitulated, in
stead of taking ship to Spain with his
excellency, as he was wound
ed, he remained in Florida. The YES
sci in which his comrades sailed away
never touched Spain. 1t is thought
they foundered in a.cyclone that about
that time swept the Antilles.
1t is history that the governor gen.
eral, his officers and men, were never
seen alive after setting sail from
Florida. 1t is also history that Jack
son was provoked to wrath, upon
capturing Barrancas, TO find no treas
ure at his mercy. He had reason for
expecting to find plumber there, for
this was the most pretentious strong
hold on all the southern coast
Instead of being buff, according to
Wildrtck, as all other Spanish forts
are along the gulf, "of shell -congloin-
crate (native material and good
enough for ordinary building) the
Barrancas was of bricks brought care
fully in ships from Spain, first by De
la Riola and later by de Galvez."
The wall facing the sea was twenty
feet thick, at least; stanch brick ma
sonFy, inside and out, and filed in
with sand. Old Hickory, with his US
ual cunning, attacked from the rear.
The Spaniards had never anticipated
q land attack, and had neglected to
strengthen that face Of the fort as
they had its seward front-and Bar
rancas fell.
The cul-de-sac formed by the en-
shores of Mexico. Louisiana
and Florida was the pirates favorite
haunt. They looted these seas nm
hindered, intercepting vessels bound tn
ana from the Spanish ports. The
commerce of the Indies was at their
mercy. They had made Pensacola bav
their chosen refuge. and Barrancas the
bank for their ill-gotten gains-so the
story goes
jackson knew this, and came TO
plumber them in turn. And the Mobii-
ian, who came with the paper which
had been in his wife's family for years
came to search for this same treas
ure that jackson had failed to find.
Taking Mrs. WiIdrick again as au-
thority, we find that the Mobilian. on
q second visit to Rarrancas, was ac-
companied by two friends, one of whom