This is cool, I’ll have to find out where this place is….
BURIED TREASURE ON GRAND ISLAND?
SNIP….
At Grand Island, which the French had used as a staging point for the doomed attack, a small inlet on the north shore had provided an anchorage for the larger fleet of flat-bottomed bateaux and two frigates that transported the French force along the southeastern shoreline of Lake Erie and up the Niagara.
Sieur Claireaux, who had taken charge of the shattered French expedition, still didn’t know the British had not bothered to come after him. The fleet he now commanded could wreak all manner of havoc on Lake Erie should it fall into enemy hands. And so, before vanishing with his men into the mists of time, Claireaux ordered the warships and most of the bateaux burned at their moorings, leaving behind an enduring mystery — and, perhaps, a fabulous treasure.
The existence of the buried French hoard became known almost immediately following the surrender of Fort Niagara, as the Ohio Indians brought by the French got to know their newfound Mohawk friends over flagons of rum. In fact, reports of the treasure were appearing in newspapers back east less than a month later.
One article, in the Aug. 23, 1759 issue of the Maryland Gazette, states, “By a letter from Niagara of the 21st ult., we learn that by the assistance and influence of Sir William Johnson there were upwards of eleven hundred Indians convened there, who by their good behavior have justly gained the esteem of the whole army; and that Sir William, being informed that the enemy had buried a quantity of goods on an island about twenty miles from the post, sent a number of Indians to search for them.”
While the Indians returned with a quantity of beaver pelts and other furs, no treasure was found, and the search was eventually called off.
Later, American settlers, noting the blackened ruins beneath the clear water of the inlet, dubbed it Burnt Ship Bay, often salvaging chain, bits of iron and lead shot from the rotting wrecks. A June 22, 1825 article on the Niagara region in the Ontario Repository mentions the site:
“At the north end of Grand Island and almost in view of the Falls of Niagara, is a small bay, called Burnt Ship Bay, which takes its name from the hulks of several vessels sunk on that spot during the old French War; and tradition says they were sunk with all their military chests and munitions of war, fearing the enemy coming so sudden upon them, as to leave no time to escape.” Excerpt–more….
