TREASURE OF LIMA
Legend of Will Thompson
Overview
In 1820 the Roman Catholic Church had decided to move an immense treasure from Lima to Mexico for safe keeping. However, the temptation of this treasure was simply too much for the merchant ships crew and Captain William Thompson who turned pirate stealing the treasure and hiding it on Isla del Coco, off the coast of Costa Rica.
Captured by the Spanish the ships crew were all executed with the exception of Thompson and his first mate who agreed to take the Spanish to the treasures hiding place in exchange for their lives. Once they arrived on Cocos Island they managed to escape into the jungle and were never seen again.
Map of Isla del Coco.
Despite the efforts of hundreds of treasure hunters and the many stories and even more theories as to what happened to the treasure there has never been any solid evidence to suggest that the treasure has ever been found and is likely still tucked away on Isla del Coco.
OVERVIEW
The Treasure of Lima is a buried treasure reputedly removed from Lima, Peru, in 1820 and never recovered. It is estimated to be worth up to £160 million or $208 million in today’s money.[1]
Sourced from: Wikipedia
REFRERENCES
- Jasper Copping (5 August 2012). “British expedition to Pacific ‘treasure island’ where pirates buried their plunder”. The Telegraph. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
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The Legend
With the wars of independence creating conflicts across South America in 1820, the Roman Catholic Church made a decision to transport the immense treasure they had been collecting in Lima since the 16th century to Mexico for safe keeping. This treasure estimated to be worth between $12 and $60 million consisted of jeweled stones, candle sticks, and two life-sized gold statues of Mary.
Assigned to head up this challenge was Captain William Thompson who was the commander of a merchant ship, neutral to the conflicts from Bristol called the Mary Dear. While Thompson and his crew were heading north towards Costa Rica the temptation became too much for them and they decided to take this immense treasure for themselves turning pirate.
They made a stop at an island along their journey known as Isla del Coco where they hid the treasure before agreeing to split up and lay low until a time when the situation had calmed down at which point they would return and divvy up their stolen loot.
Photo of Captain William Thompson.
Islet Manuelita.
Unfortunately for Thompson and the crew of the Mary Dear they were captured by the Spanish and put on trial for piracy where all but Thompson and his first mate Alexander Forbes were executed. Thompson and Forbes had spared their lives by agreeing to take the Spanish to the treasures location. Once they have arrived at Cocos Island the two pirates escaped off into the jungle never to be seen again.
Some believe Thompson and Forbes escaped the island on a British whaling ship. Thompson went to Newfoundland and Forbes settled in California where he became a successful business man.
HISTORY
Spain had controlled Lima since the 16th century, when it defeated the Incas. In the centuries that followed, the Roman Catholic Church gathered a huge treasure in Lima. In the early 19th century, Spain began to have difficulties with its colonies due to wars of independence in South America. Lima was no exception, and in 1820 the city came under heavy pressure and finally had to be evacuated. (See also Peruvian War of Independence.)
In 1820, Lima was on the edge of revolt. As a preventative measure, the Viceroy of Lima decided to transport the city’s fabulous wealth to Mexico for safekeeping. The treasures included jeweled stones, candlesticks, and two life-size solid gold statues of Mary holding the baby Jesus. In all, the treasure was valued at between $12 million and $60 million.[1]
Captain William Thompson, commander of the Mary Dear, was put in charge of transporting the riches to Mexico.[1] Thompson and his crew proved to be unable to resist the temptation; they turned pirate, cut the throats of the guards and accompanying priests, and threw their bodies overboard.[1][2]
Thompson headed for Cocos Island, off the coast of present-day Costa Rica, where he and his men allegedly buried the treasure.[1][2] They then decided to split up and lay low until the situation had calmed down, at which time they would reconvene to divvy up the spoils.
However, the Mary Dear was captured, and the crew went on trial for piracy. All but Thompson and his first mate James Alexander Forbes were hanged.[1][3] To save their lives, the two agreed to lead the Spanish to the stolen treasure.[1] They took them as far as the Cocos Islands and then managed to escape into the jungle.[1] Thompson, the first mate, and the treasure were never seen again, though it is believed that Thompson returned to Newfoundland with the aid of a whaling ship. Forbes settled in California, became a successful businessman, but never returned to the island. [3]
Sourced from: Wikipedia
REFERENCES
- “Legends and Lore (Part 2)”. PBS.org. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b MacInnis, Joe (1975). Underwater Man. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 28. ISBN 0-396-07142-2. LCCN 75-680.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Preston, Douglas (5 September 2017). The Lost City of the Monkey God : a True Story. Grand Central Publishing. p. 58-61. ISBN 978-1455540013.
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The Treasure
Keating shared the following inventory of treasures which are allegedly stashed on Isla del Coco:
- One chest containing altar trimmings of gold cloth with canopies, monstrances, chalices all coated with gem stones of up to 1,244 pieces.
- One chest with 2 gold relic containers weighing 120 pounds with 624 topaz, carnelians, emeralds and 12 diamonds.
- One chest containing 3 relic containers of cast metal weighing 160 pounds with 860 rubies, 19 diamonds and other gem stones.
- One chest containing 4,000 doubloons of Spanish Marked 8, 124 swords, 5,000 crowns of Mexican Gold, 64 daggers, 120 shoulder belts and 28 round shields.
- One chest containing 8 caskets of cedar wood and silver with 3,840 cut stones, rings offering plates and 4,265 uncut stones.
- Seven chests with 22 candelabra in gold and silver weighing 250 pounds and 164 rubies.
- One 7-foot Solid Gold Statue of Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus. Weighing 780 pounds, rolled on her gold chasuble adorned with 1,684 jewels including 4-inch emeralds, 6-inch topazes and 7 crosses made of diamonds.
Collectively this is a massive hoard of treasure that would make any person vastly wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.
One 7-foot Solid Gold Statue of Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus. Weighing 780 pounds is said to be amongst the treasure cache hidden on Isla de Coco.
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The Clues
Over the years hundreds of treasure hunters have led expeditions on Cocos Island in search of the Treasure of Lima. But, to this day the treasure has eluded all who have gone in search of it, including such big names as Franklin Roosevelt, Sir Malcolm Campbell and Errol Flynn.
In more recent history, treasure hunter and engineer Shaun Whitehead was planning an expedition to Cocos Island after spending 18 months negotiating with the authorities to gain access and secure permissions to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Isla del Coco. His plan to use technologies never before used in search of the treasure and a list of most likely spots by concentrating on areas around three of the four bays of the island gave Whitehead a confidence in his mission.
Rock carving of a ship found on Isla de Coco.
“Given the amount of treasure, it would have been too heavy to carry far from sea level and stories suggest the use of caves. We can also rule out where others have looked, dug up and detected – like on the beaches.”
-Shaun Whitehead, 2012
Map by Maria Figueroa 1883 after witnessing Pirate Benito Bonito hide his treasure on Isla del Coco.
While Whitehead’s expedition partially took place the permissions only lasted six months during which time the TV company which had signed on to document the expedition was unable to get their permits in time. Whitehead’s next attempt to secure permissions was denied by authorities due to the amount of publicity relating to the treasure.
William Thompson and the Treasure of Lima is not the only treasure associated with Isla del Coco. In-fact there are numerous treasure legends associated with this tiny island off the coast of Costa Rica. Such as that of Pirate Benito Bonito & Pirate Grahame Bennett (Who may or may not have been the same person) it was the legend of Benito hiding his treasure here that allegedly kept Treasure hunter Augusto Gissler coming back and living on the island over many years, in the end he only found a few gold coins.
TREASURE HUNTING
Since that time, hundreds of treasure hunters have travelled to Cocos Island and tried to find the Treasure of Lima, sometimes also referred to as the Loot of Lima, or the Cocos Island Treasure.[4] One of the most notable was the German August Gissler, who lived on the island from 1889 to 1908. Another was the American gangster Bugsy Seigel. None have succeeded in finding the treasure. One theory is that the treasure was not buried on the Cocos Islands at all, but on an unknown island off the coast of Central America. The Costa Rican government does not allow treasure hunting here any longer and believes no treasure exists on this island.
Sourced from: Wikipedia
REFERENCES:
- Preston, Douglas (5 September 2017). The Lost City of the Monkey God : a True Story. Grand Central Publishing. p. 58-61. ISBN 978-1455540013.
SEAN WHITEHEAD’S EXPEDITION
Sourced from: The Costa Rican Star
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Conclusion
If you believe the legends. Thompson and his first mate Alexander Forbes escaped Cocos Island, saved by a passing British whaler ship. Allegedly, both Thompson and Forbes made detailed documents and maps to the location of the treasure.
After escaping the island Forbes became a wealthy business man in the California area keeping the documents he had made and maps in a locked safe where they stayed until passing them onto his eldest son Charles Forbes who having no interest in treasure hunting passed them on through the generations until finally ending up in the hands of James Forbes the fourth who led a team to Isla del Coco in search of the treasure but without success returned to home. He never went back to the island and before he died passed the documents onto William B. Forbes.
Cliffs of Moai.
Photo of Captain William Thompson years after the Lima incident?.
For William Thompson it is believed he shared the information of the treasure whereabouts with a seaman by the name of John Keating who allegedly made an expedition to Cocos Island and according to his quartermaster, Nicholas Fitzgerald recovered a large portion of the treasure which they then buried on Coiba Island off the coast of Panama. A document held in Caracas museum is allegedly an inventory of this haul that had been recovered.
ESCAPE FROM ISLA DEL COCO
Sourced from: The Costa Rican Star
THE KEATING EXPEDITION
Sourced from: Blogspot
OTHER TREASURE LEGENDS OF ISLA DEL COCO
Sourced from: Holiday Travel
TREASURE HUNTING ATTEMPTS
Sourced from: Wikiwand
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Written By
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ADAM L C
Director of Areas Grey
Adam is an avid treasure hunter, seeker of adventure and the creator of Areas Grey. After travelling for almost half his life and cataloguing over 100 treasure legends along the way. He decided this was simply far too much treasure for one person to chase! As a result he created Areas Grey so he could share his stories, connect with other treasure hunters and put a little more adventure in the lives of the treasure hunting community.
Adam is a Private Investigator and former Wilderness Guide with a passion for history and archaeology. With the skills, knowledge and gear, Adam is always eager to go on the next fortune seeking adventure and connect with fellow treasure hunters along the way.
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