Lost Treasures #2 Spain, Portugal and Latin-America

In the 4500 years of civilization, people take care of things they see as value. These artifacts tell us stories about the past and can nowadays be found in museums around the world. But not every artifact was lucky to end up that way. Some of those are lost because of wars, miscommunications or thefts. These blogs will take us on a ride around the world and through the years of humanity to show us the lost treasures, who are missing for over fifty years. Last time we talked about the British Isles. I recommend it, if you haven’t read it yet. We will continue today with the gold loving Iberian countries of Spain and Portugal, their colonies and the Mesoamerican empires of the Aztecs and the Incas.

The only treasure in this blog that is not related to the New World. When the Bishop of Lisbon died in 1357, his ‘treasure’ was brought by Thibaud de Castillon in Avignon. He had acquired gold, silver, rings, tapestries, jewels, fine plates and even portable altars. The treasure was transported on the São Vicente, until it was attacked by pirates near Cartagena, Spain. After the attack, the treasure has not been seen again. 

With the king dead and a shortage of supply, Cortés knew he had to leave Tenochtitlan as fast as they could. He told his crew to take as much supplies and treasure they could carry and then they sneaked out of the city. Unfortunate for them, they were spotted and an alarm spread around the city. The Spaniards were attacked from all sides and about a thousand of them died. Although more Aztecs had died that night, was it a massive win for the Aztecs, maybe the biggest. For the Spanish it was ‘La Noche Triste’, ‘The Sad Night’.

But what about the treasure, you might think. First you have to know that Tenochtitlan was built on a lake and the Spaniards could only leave it by crossing a bridge. When they were attacked, some of them fell into the water and literally sank to the bottom of the lake, because they were carrying too much treasure like Cortés told them to do. To this day, the treasure is somewhere around that lake. But here is the problem, the water was drained and Mexico-City lies above it. So you have to dig deep in the city to find your gold, good luck!

Stories tell that general Rumiñahui was on his way with the gold when he heard about the king's death. Hereafter, he sent soldiers to the east to hide the gold and other valuables. It is assumed that the treasure is hidden in a cave or dumped in a lake somewhere in the Llanganates mountain range, but it has never been seen again. Even when Rumiñahui was captured and tortured, he never told the Spaniards were the gold is hidden.

The information about the San Miguel and her fleet varies by source. When Wikipedia talks about the richest treasure ever lost on sea, they talk about the San Miguel from 1551 who sank during a storm near Cuba. But most other sources tell this story.

During the Spanish War of Succession, Philips V ordered a treasure fleet from the New World to fund his army in 1715. The San Miguel left Cuba or Mexico with eleven or twelve other ships. Unfortunately, they were caught in a hurricane near Cuba and all ships sunk. Around a thousand people drowned that day. The Spaniards were able to recover some, but it is still estimated that around $2 billion dollar worth of Aztec and Inca treasure lies on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea

During the Peruvian War of Independence, the Roman Catholic Church gathered a huge treasure in Lima and the Viceroy decided it had to be transported to Mexico for safekeeping. It contained jeweled stones, candlesticks and two life-sized golden statues of Mary and baby Jesus and is estimated to be worth around 170 million dollars.

Captain William Thompson and his first mate James Alexander Forbes were put in charge, but when they realized they were in possession of a treasure, they turned to piracy. They killed the guards and priests and headed for the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica. Here the crew spit the treasure and buried it to later return. However, the ship was captured and everyone but Thompson and Forbes were hanged for piracy. The two of them were kept alive to show the Spaniards the buried treasure, but when they arrived at the island, Thompson and Forbes managed to escape into the jungle. It is believed that the captain went to Newfoundland and the first mate became a businessman in California, but they never returned to the islands.

Many treasure hunters went to the Cocos Islands to find this treasure, but no one ever found it. If you try to find it, know that you will be in violation of the law. The Costa Rican government, not believing in the existence of the treasure, has forbidden treasure hunting on the islands.

The Treasure of Lima wasn’t the first Peruan treasure to be lost. Four years prior to the above described treasure, a ship called the Esperanza, loaded with 1.5 million golden pesos, silver and precious stones, set sail to the Spanish West Indies. We will follow the journey of James Hines, the only 'surviving' seaman of the upcoming fiasco. Ready?

Shortly after the departure, the Esperanza was caught in a storm that dismasted and damaged the ship. Hereafter, they were attacked by pirates who boarded the ship. They took the treasure and the surviving crew towards Macau, the Esperanza sunk. However, the new ship did not bring much luck to Hines. They were, again, caught in a storm and after 43 days, they struck on a coral reef with a dismasted ship. They offloaded the treasure on the atol, distributed some and buried the rest, whereafter they repaired the mast. The crew shipped away after 120 days, but left James Hines with nine others behind. They had to live for over a year on the island without help, until they decided to make a small boat. The draw lots, six could leave and four had to guard to treasure. Very surprisingly, they were caught in another storm and four of them died. The last two were saved by an American whaler who brought them back to land. Unfortunately, one died on the route and James Hines died thirty days later in a hospital in San Francisco.

Before he died, he wrote letters about the location of the treasure. It is not known where these letters were in the ninety years after his death, but in 1903, the harbormaster of Honolulu received the letters for safekeeping by a sailor who went to the Solomon Islands, but never returned. He held it for twenty years, whereafter he publiced it. It is now believed that the atoll described by Hines is the Palmyra Atoll, mid-Pacific. Historians aren’t sure if the treasure really exists or has existed. Is it too coincidental that the only one who kept the travelog, survived everything to tell the story? Where was the letter for almost a century? But who knows, maybe he told the truth and 1.5 million gold is waiting to be recovered.

Spain had brutally plundered the Aztecs and Incas, but weren’t able to keep all of its ‘treasure’ safe. The amount of gold, silver and other valuables that are described here, shows how much they looted and lost. They weren’t prepared for the storms and otherwise were the pirates very interested. Next time, we will take a look at what other parts of America have lost over the years. See you when we discuss the United States and Canada.