Treasure Map

There is little evidence to support the tales of pirate buried treasure. Few real “finds” have ever been reported.

Pirate customs lend little support to the popular picture of captains burying their wealth, nor do records support it. Booty was soon expended and another prize sought. Kidd’s “treasure,” Lafitte’s gold-packed cannon mouths, and many other legends are unfounded. (Encyclopedia Americana, Pirate)

Since pirates did not bury their treasure, they did not need maps to find it. Maps with bizarre, misleading markings became part of stories about Captain Kidd. Drawing on these popular legends, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe (in “The Gold Bug”) developed the mysterious map theme, which was perfected in Treasure Island. (Rogozinski, Maps, Treasure)

A pirate’s treasure map is the substance of legends and literary fiction – of motion pictures, television programs, cartoons, novels, operas, plays, musicals and tall tales – but it makes for a good story. It also makes a nice conversation piece, so if you are interested in carrying one, in spite of historical facts, the map that I present here is a good one. This is probably the closest thing that you will ever see to a bona-fide pirate’s treasure map. It is a real map, of a real island, made by a real Spanish cartographer in 1883, that I myself personally pirated (from the internet). Because the map was made in 1883 though, it is in the public domain, so you can copy it to your heart’s content. Also, because it was made in 1883, it is not entirely accurate. If you compare it to a modern map of the island, you will see that the overall shape is slightly distorted, but probably no one at your event will know. It has an authentic look to it, so it can be an interesting prop, tucked under your waistbelt. I have deciphered the Spanish text and translated it into English, in case you are interested in knowing what it says (see below). There is additional material describing the island on the internet as well. There are even a few legends that some pirates actually did bury their treasure there, but they have not been substantiated.

http://www.costarica-discover-it.com/images/costa-rica-vacation_lima-treasure-map.jpg Plano de la Isla del Coco. The best choice overall for a pirate treasure map. Can be printed at FedEx/Kinko’s, on large 24" x 24" format, in color, but is rather expensive. You may be able to save quite a lot if your business has free printing.

http://www.costarica-discover-it.com/Costa-rica-vacation_lima-treasure.html Home site for the map above.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2728/did-pirates-bury-their-treasure Did pirates bury their treasure? This article mentions the island in the map above.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Central_america_%28cia%29.png Map of Central America showing the location in the Pacific Ocean of La Isla del Coco. For the home site for this map, see the Wikipedia article, “Piracy in the Caribbean.”

http://www.isladelcoco.go.cr Área de Conservación Marina, Isla del Coco (mostly in Spanish). The history page expands greatly upon the text in the map.

See also the Wikipedia entry for “Cocos Island,” which links to the web site above, and shows a modern, accurate map of the island.

The text from the map follows.

Plano de la Isla del Coco, Costa-Rica

El 18 de Septiembre del año de 1859 tomó posesión de esta isla la expedición exploradora que comandaba Don Rafael Oreamuno, enarbolando la bandera nacional costarricense por orden del Gobierno en la administración Jiménez. Después fue presidio para los reos políticos. Han arribado aun más de 20 expediciones para descubrir los tesoros enterrados por los piratas en diversas épocas.

Map of Coconut Island, Costa Rica

On September 18, 1859, the exploring expedition commanded by Don Rafael Oreamuno took possession of this island, waving the national flag of Costa Rica by order of the government in the Jiménez administration. Later, it was a prison for political prisoners. Even more than 20 expeditions have put into port to discover the treasures buried by pirates at different times.