The Hurricane and the 1715 Treasure Fleet
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2022
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association estimates that 300,000 to 500,000 people died in Atlantic hurricanes between 1492 and 1994. More than one thousand of those lives were lost on July 31st, 1715 in a tragedy more remembered for treasure than people.
Support The History Guy on Patreon: / thehistoryguy
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
You can purchase the bow tie worn in this episode at The Tie Bar:
www.thetiebar.com/?...
All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
Support The History Guy on Patreon: / thehistoryguy
Facebook: / thehistoryguyyt
Please send suggestions for future episodes: Suggestions@TheHistoryGuy.net
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
Subscribe for more forgotten history: / @thehistoryguychannel .
Awesome The History Guy merchandise is available at:
thehistoryguy-shop.fourthwall...
Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #Hurricane
Coffee and History Guy in the morning. Today is coming up aces
I am from Fort Myers, Florida. My family is still there. If you want a testament to the raw power of a hurricane look at the topographic before and after photos from the storm that has just passed. I have worked on Pine Island. I have lounged on Sanibel. I have lived in Cape Coral. The destruction is unimaginable. In all my life no storm has delivered such devastation to my home town, and I pray no such storm ever visits what remains of those shores again.
Amen brother. I am from the Great Plains of the U.S. People marvel at the destruction of our tornadoes. You have to multiply our tornadoes by a gazillion to get to an Ian or Katrina. Our collective hearts, thoughts and prayers go to you and yours.
I'm so sorry for your family. A friend of ours lives (lived?) there (we sent her a text, but haven't heard back; we're hoping she left before the storm hit).
When I was young, one old timer said that Mother Nature is a hard mistress. Just a look at the destruction done by any of our different kinds of storms and floods makes us realize how tough she is. We can forecast, avoid or prepare for these things. But we cannot stop them! We are still at Mother Nature's mercy.
My maternal uncle lived between Fort Myers and Winston-Salem, NC for years and my 1st Cousin still lives there. We've not heard from her yet. My eldest brother and his wife have a winter home in Naples near the firehouse that was 4' under water. Luckily they were in NC when Ian hit. My son in a Paramedic and on the WV based FEMA Task Force slated to head south when called.
@@SMichaelDeHart I wish them all my best and also quick recovery. Mother Nature is still a force we cannot fight against. All we can do is come together and help each other through the aftermath. Thanks for the volunteers ready to rush in and start the recovery. Grand people indeed!
I live in St Augustine and have driven down to Sebastian Inlet where there is a Mel Fisher treasure museum there that has some artifacts from the 1715 fleet. The Florida coast there isn't rocky like depicted in the paintings. The ancient reefs along that stretch are mostly underwater so you don't see any of them unless it is low tide. The Coquina outcrops at low tide is probably what is being referred as "rocky". Every once in a while, usually after a storm some items from the wrecks washes ashore and are found. There is still one ship of that fleet that has yet to be found according to the display at the Treasure Museum. It is thought that is sank in much deeper water. Maybe one day us Pirates will find that lost ship and plunder it like a good pirate would! Shifarrr!!!🏴☠
I've lived in Florida my whole life and only found out about 8 years ago about a place in Florida called blowing rocks preserve.
@@1TakoyakiStore Just south of me by Marineland is about a mile or so stretch of Coquina rocky beach that extends out into the ocean.
Weird. The first time I clocked this vid it played the latest Lincoln episode
Spot on .I love St Augustine 😎
Just need to remove 1 piece of silver from the wreck anf you can claim the wreck as your property. But that's my retirement plan. So don't touch my treasure!
Good morning, fellow students!
I spent a summer diving on a treasure salvage boat in Sebastian FL in 2020. It was hard work pulling rope between dives, but the experience was totally worth it.
Im Capita'n Salgado De Rivas. My ship with 4 tons of gold sank 3 miles north to that location. Too bad you missed by this much. Im still living in it down under. LOL>...
We live on the Space Coast and spent Monday at Sebastian Inlet State Park, where I told our visiting daughter and her husband about the Treasure Coast and the Spanish Treasure Fleet that sunk there. After every storm treasure hunters descend upon the beaches to hunt for that treasure. Once we get our power back on, I will join them!
Thank you for posting this history of a ferocious storm that occurred before the Industrial Revolution. In your assessment of the cost of the treasure fleet's loss, you omitted one cost - the lives of the natives who labored under the Spanish yoke to mine the gold and silver.
My daughter and aunt survived Hurricane Ian this week.
Congrats bro may they stay safe
@@MrZiad32 Thank you...
Glad to hear it
I raise my glass of orange juice to you all and your wonderful state.
Congrats. I live on the space coast which was stressful but my heart an prayers go out to all the people and community's in s.w. Florida.
Man has been fighting hurricanes, typhoon, and cyclones since time immemorial but it has been less than a hundred years that technology has advanced enough to minimize the lives lost to them.
Probably partly due to the secularization of society. As the man said in the video, people seemed to believe hurricanes to be the judgment of God sent upon them for their sins. As we progress we realize we might not be able to prevent hurricanes from happening but we can plan around them if we know they are coming. However, perhaps that is Gods plan, to force us into developing our own technology and thus evolve society?
Exactly.
metal ships were kindof a big help. sad that it took so long for the world's navies to realize metal ships will float.
I'm in St Lucie county.
Mel was, Mel. Many of locals have found stuff from the wrecks. they are quiet about it because the state and Fed govts want a big share
Boy where to start back in the 50's and early 60's there were Floridians that would walk the lonely beaches and skip stones back into the water. They where reported as great skipping stones as they were nice and flat. These stones where colored black, but in the mid to late 60's someone figured out that these black stones where actually silver pieces of eight. Imagine skipping silver coins (silver oxidizes in salt water, turns them black. Gold does not , it remains gold looking in color) skipping them coins back into the ocean.
Those ships are still producing treasure today , the atocha especially, the mother load she was carrying hasn't been found yet. The treasure was scattered over miles of ocean bottom, it has been reported that these ships would carry their reported treasure and the would carry the unreported treasure. Sometimes as much as twice their reported cargo. These crews were a bit on the shiesty side..
Worth noting is that there were two treasure fleets that ran around off the Florida keys.
The 1715 fleet that was obliterated by the wave. And the 1733 fleet that was more intact and more treasure was recovered.
The Atocha mother lode was found by Mel Fisher. He lost his son, who was the one that found the bronze cannons near the mother lode. It took another ten years after, but he found and started recovery of it.
Bow Tie The History Guy > Bill Nye The Science Guy
Thank you for these lessons, free of the virtue signaling.
And a HUGE thank you to all those "treasure hunters" in Florida right now, seeking for our greatest treasure, human lives. 🙏
The History Guy has nothing like this th-cam.com/video/VtJFb_P2j48/w-d-xo.html
You had me at "a disater that is more remembered for the treasure then for those people that deserved to be remembered" thank you for all the hard work that you do to remember those who haved lived before us!
The people of Peru and other countries in South America deserve to be remembered, yet there wasn't a single mention of them. Instead, Spain was made to look like the savior of all of Europe.
As someone who learned a lot of Spanish Main geography from playing Sid Meier's Pirates!, I really appreciate the antique maps you used in this video and the history of which fleet went where, particularly Puerto Bello and the overland route the treasure took from the Pacific. As a former Navy sailor who once steamed through the Panama Canal and up through the Carribean, I definitely appreciate being on the water in rough seas.
I was starting to think I was the only one that remembered that game! I really wish they'd put out a mobile version for my iPad.
Was thinking same thing - about cranking up old computer to play Pirates! after watching this THG episode. Great game about new world naval history. Glad I’m not the only one who remembered.
My daughter and I interviewed Mel Fisher. Around is neck he wore a gold chain. He said he knew were more treasure was but didn’t want to share it with governments
I first like to point out that this wrecks were discovered by Kip Wagner, a local beachcomber and later treasure salvor. He along with Dr. Kelso did the research to establish this as the 1715 wreck site. They had to to convince the archeologists in Florida and at the Smithsonian Institute that the Vero Beach and Ft.Pierce sites were where the 1715 fleet sank. These archeologists had the wreck site somewhere near Key Largo. (according to Burgess's book). The other thing I would like to point out is that" Queens Dowery as depicted in many books and documentaries is a fable at best. Most of the ships where loaded and ready to go at the time of the first queens death in February 1714 . The time table for this would have been impossible. However it did make for a good story line in the movie "The Deep" which fictionalized the escape of one of the ships from the 1715 fleet.By the way Jackeline Bissett was great in that film. One of my favorites
Greetings from Cayo Hueso, the "Island of Bones". (Nowadays, it's known as Key West.) It is common to see locals wearing Escudo and Reale coins from Spanish treasure wrecks as pendants around their necks. They're known as "Key West dog tags". Many were given by the treasure hunter Mel Fisher to crew as payment in lieu of cash, which he was forever short of.
Best regards,
Capt. Blackheart Charlie
s/v Aurora, Cayo Hueso, Conch Republic
You are an amazing youtube historian, and I can't believe the timing of this video because last week my wife found her father's copies of Bob Weller's books about sunken galleons and she told me about how her Dad knew Bob Weller and went diving with him Florida in the 60s/70s. My father-in-law was a diver and marine biologist who had a cannon from one of those sunken ships in their front yard that he had retrieved. My wife just took it for granted as a child that they had a several-hundred-years-old cannon in their front yard! I was riveted listening to this story of the ships that were destroyed by a hurricane in 1715.
A very timely video, considering Hurricane Ian's march across Florida. We up here in North Florida dodged this one, but send prayers and aid southward.
The centuries of storms down here have also constantly churned the sand under the shallow waters, ever changing the topography, and moving and burying the many shipwrecks.
...here in PSL...gorgeous sunny and breezy, cool day...wouldn't know a hurricane/tropical storm has passed by 36 hours ago...
Yet another great presentation, HG! I had the misfortune to experience a hurricane at sea in a 450' cargo ship in the 60s, so I can relate to the emotions experienced by the doomed Spanish sailors. My only other direct experience with a hurricane was hurricane Ida late August 2021 in Louisiana. I had to go to New Bern, NC, to work for 8 weeks until I was able to return home. My heart goes out to the folks on the West coast of Florida. All I can say to them is , "you will recover."
The McLarty Treasure Museum near Vero Beach is a state run museum dedicated to the 1715 fleet. It's a great place to visit, and less than $5 admission. They have a huge book of treasures that ordinary people have found. If it's on the beach, by law you can own any treasure you find. If it's in the water you have to turn it over to the state because the state has given salvage rights to different companies to find treasure under the water. The queen's dowry has still not been found.
That we know of
Well I know any treasure I find will definitely be on the beach.
Probably if the find the Queenś dowry they would not say ..otherwise the Spanish government may start a court proceeding against them!!!...
@@rauldempaire5330 They'd say.....because the state of Florida is going to get their cut 😂.....the state has been getting a cut of all treasure salvage for years. True, they most likely won't announce the find until after the salvage is finished to keep poachers away.
When I was much younger (think 1950's) there was a show on TV about the first weather man to predict where a hurricane would land on US. Don't remember any details, but always thought he was a part of history which I'd like to remember.
I agree
Isaac's Storm? Galveston 1900?
@@kevindenelsbeck7444 I don't think that was it. Sticks in my mind had to do with FL. But, remember I saw it only once about 70 years ago. Probably only remember because my father was impressed. David
"Armada de Tierra Firme" actually translates to "Mainland Navy" (Armada=Navy; Tierra Firme was the name given to mainland South America). The Potosí Silver Mines were actually located in present day Bolivia, not Colombia.
Aside from that, as a native of Margarita Island, Venezuela, the mention is certainly appreciated :)
Terra firma is a Latin phrase, literally meaning "firm earth."
Ive been casually reading up on Hurricanes and how they had an effect on the American Revolution and its been fascinating to say the least
thanks
I have continued to enjoy your channel for so long I believe I maybe starting to take your genius for granted. Thank you so very much for all you do. You really make this youtube experience much better. Thanks a million.
Perfect! I tend to avoid documentaries on the treasure fleet because they're all such over-the-top hyperbole powered vapid nonsense choked with mindless repetition. Uh...pardon that mini rant. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is, in contrast, to listen to the story told by an intelligent and sensitive full-featured adult human being 🤣 Thanks, Lance!
Vapid? Lol 0.54 and you'll see why
I saw how Ian dried out parts of Tampa Bay and wondered if any treasure hunters would be out in the mud.
Oh yeah. I've seen posts on some of the treasure hunting forums I frequent.
I'd be out metal detecting if I lived down there.
@@TexasTimelapse , There are several TH-cam channels devoted to "mudlarking" along the Thames river in England. Rather different kinds of items found there; I doubt there's any gold treasure, but certainly plenty of history !
When the tide goes out like that we do NOT go out there or near. The water will come back in as a surge. Hell no. (By we I mean Floridians)
...most likely...
@@TexasTimelapse can you find spanish gold in the surf there?!?
You all do such a good job of these. I've said it before and I'll say it again, each segment is so well written and the videos are so well done. It's enjoyable to watch them. Thanks.
“Part of the enormous cost of empire” , indeed its a risk/cost we continue to accept for the “riches” of living along Florida’s coast. I have a home in Stuart, Fl. And once had a condo on Hutchinson Island. That coast know as the “treasure coast” (as others have mentioned) is full of maritime history. This video does a great job of explaining a significant piece of that history. Thanks HG 😀
Rolling down I-95 to Miami? Why not exit at Stuart and enjoy a great casual
Lunch in Stuart’s historic downtown on the water?
Having ridden out a hurricane at sea in a modern warship I can categorically state that I would not wish to do it again and NEVER in a sailing ship of any size.
The McLarty Treasure Museum on A1A just south of Sebastian Inlet is worth a visiting for shipwreck buffs.
Love all of these time period videos THG has been dropping this past week
Back in the Saddle Again Naturally
Thanks
Being aboard wooden sailing ships in a hurricane amidst reef strewn shore lines must have been utterly horrific (albeit short lived!) for those unfortunate enough to be there...
I still mourn the loss of the HMS Bounty replica, some years back during Hurricane Sandy, and the two lives she took with her. Having been through a hurricane at sea myself in my Navy days, I can attest to the feelings of helplessness and terror during the storm. Fortunately my little Frigate survived.
Interesting that the book referenced was written by a Burgess. One of the Flying Gang pirates was Josiah Burgess, he died falling off his sloop in the Bahamas in 1719. May be distantly related.
I live down south in Southern Georgia and even some time in South Carolina during my formative years. I lived through category 5 storms like Hugo. The power and destruction of nature is humbling.
For a history guy you sure keep up your content with current events 👍
in defense of the treasure, when someone else is dying, the treasure is always more important.
Thinking of everyone in Florida and NC. Hope you're ok
It's great that most of the precious metals have been saved.
Yes it is
I agree.
What about all the lives that were lost?!
Who cares they knew the risks.
Yea so and?what's your point?
Such an awesome delivery history bro..
Stellar episode, HG! That was knocked out of the park, my friend. I watched it twice. Well researched, well delivered, and well done. 🙂👍👨🏫🎓🗺️🇪🇦👸💎💍👑💲⚓⛵🧭🌀🌊🌩️💥🏝️🪙💰💸📜📚🤔
Thank you again THG, for another history lesson. Although tragic
the 1715 account by you, was very informative.
My family moved to the Melbourne Florida area after my father got a job with Real Eight in 1969 and we got the odd piece of wood parts from the wrecks mostly from the Green Cabin wreck south of Wabasso Beach.
Always fascinating as I grew up on the Treasure Coast. An uncle says he has a couple of Bells from these ships, before they were discovered and recovered by the Fischer family but I have never followed up on that. Loss of life the awful part.
Thank you for this educational video friend. My great Grandparents are from Spain 🇪🇸 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸.
Phew! I was beginning to think you weren't going to work pirates into the story.
Remarkable. Thank you.
My mother lived in Ft. Pierce for several years before she crossed. This the first time I heard the story of WHY that stretch is call the Treasure Coast. Thank you!
Very interesting and informative. Thank you 😊 👍.
“ in your belly you hold the treasure that few have ever seen, most of them dream. Most of them dream.”
-Jimmy Buffett
I have seen that treasure. I live on the treasure coast. In 2013 I got an opportunity to treasure dive. In 2015, on July 30th, exactly 300 years to the day that the ship sank, I discovered it over 300 Spanish gold coin worth an estimated value of $4.5 million. Yes, I am a pirate.😁
4:01-4:03 Potosi where the ore was mined is in SW Bolivia. The mint and mines are worth touring.
Born and raised on the Treasure Coast
The best channel on TH-cam!
I've been hearing about the Treasure Coast since I moved here, but I never knew how it got its name. Very cool!
I love this info!
So interesting, thanks 😊
I have a ‘ piece of eight’ from Mel Fishers treasure.I had read a story in the 60’s in National Geographic.this was very informative,thank you!! it adds to the story when holding the coin in my hand.
Well done Sir.
Great video.
"Last night the Moon had a Golden Ring
and tonight no Moon we see . . ."
I pray Ye....
Wow, a great break down
Sensational!
As hindsight is a degree from above as we in these times can say would have ,could of been those there at the time had no such luxury. Even if reason escapes many ,the phocus of an honorable few enlightening us about history and what it's about and why it must be remembered. Great education!
I just read about a bombing at the LaGuardia airport in 1975, but no other videos are on TH-cam besides short news clips. It def sounds like a very tragic but intriguing story. I’d love to see an episode on it, I’m a huge fan of THG!! ❤
Nice
Remember hearing this from a program called True Caribbean Pirates on the History channel.
Be on the lookout for any messages or comments from me. Evidently somebody ghosted my phone and made a bunch of posts.
I live in Florida. I did not know where (or why) Treasure Coast got its name. Thanks, History Guy!
I thought this story sounded familiar so I looked it up and sure enough it's the treasure from the book\ movie 'The Deep' by Peter Benchley. Great story.
Even relatively recent history speaks of the battle between cyclones and navies. The US fleet in the Pacific was devastated by a hurricane.
This is a rip roaring good yarn.
5:08 I simply love that map!😀
I wonder how much more treasure will be found washed ashore in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Bits & pieces of the treasure are found after most big storms that hit Florida, not only Hurricanes. I read that a few of the still missing Galleon's could have made it as far as the outer banks of North Carolina during that storm
Is it a coincidence that there is fish in the canteen on Fridays and that you tell us a story about the sea?
Have you done one on the East India Company? Here, the Spanish had 200 years to learn about the hurricane seasons.
Good luck! 👍
At least the Jackdaw survived.
I found this very interesting. I’ve been to the treasure coast and visited a small museum located a few miles south of Sebastian Inlet. They told the story and displayed some items recovered from the wreckage.
The better museum to visit is Mel Fishers in Key West. It has displays of treasure. Jewelry, silver bars, gold chains, etc.
What this video has wrong is when they stated that the ships hit reefs and rocks which sunk them. There are no reefs or rocks to hit around Florida. Just long sandy beaches. He is confused with reefs that exist in the South Pacific around atolls which are volcanic unlike Florida.
Mel fisher ran a dive shop in California. Sometime in the 50’s or 60’s he started searching the treasure coast located around Vero Beach Florida and had success finding treasure in shallow water on sandy bottom. Less than 30 feet. Later Mel spent 10 years searching the waters off Key West for the wreck of the Atocha which he eventually found and it was a huge discovery once again in fairly shallow water on a vast sandy bottom.
What, no pirates? 😎
Pirates were the reason they has treasure fleets.
9:23 I suppose I could googolplex it, but is that the same harbor that the USS Maine blew up in some 170-80 years later....?
I love the music on this. Would love to know the song/artist🙂
The Northern Hemisphere ‘Hurricane’ may well be named after The God of Evil,
But The Southern Hemisphere ‘Cyclone’ is named after The God of Profanity.
Nice presentation.
I’ve found my share there .
Captain Mike Maguire
This is the incident that formed the basis of the 1970s film The Deep where a couple find the wreck of one of the Flota's ships with Elizabeth of Parma's jewels on board.
The Italian woman Duchess of Parma wanted millions in gold and silver jewelry. Just like they are today.
aLWAYS THE BEST AS USUAL.
What a tragic story. I feel so sad for the Queen and her loss of dowry.
How much would of that treasure been worth in American dollars today if they had made it back to Spain? I assume the reason it's millions is because that would be a modern price for the find.
I wonder what’s going to wash up after hurricane Ian ????
I remember seeing Mel Fisher at sloppy joes bar , he was a telephone ordering gumball machines about 3 months later thay found the treasure. 😛
10:07 Is that a modern or a contemporary sketch? Does it represent a specific ship or any average galleon?
A sizeable fraction of the New World gold and silver was used to hold back the Ottoman Turks from conquering Europe. It wasn't all about acquiring luxuries or dowries. The Reconquista left Spain well behind the rest of Europe, and they and the Hapsburgs were always on the front lines of the fight against Ottoman conquest.
I find mostly intriguing the heart ❤ made of pearls was it the shape we use to represent the heart or was it truly shaped like a heart? If it was the the same shape we use to represent the heart I find it odd that they used the same shape.
In more modern times a train was washed away while trying to leave the Florida Keys from a hurricane. Sept 3, 1935
One more….
The 11 or so ships crashed along the Florida coast. Survivors made in to the oldest fort in the new world at St. Augustine. Troops were sent to recover what they could.
What was not mentioned was that this fact was forgotten for 300 years. One day after a hurricane, a guy was walking along the beach. He reached down picking up small discs in the sand and skipped them across the water. That is until someone pointed out that these were silver coins, pieces of eight. That’s when the excitement started and much treasure found in inshore waters
Good night
They had hurricanes in the middle of the Little Ice Age? I thought the warmer it got, the worse the hurricanes.
I know, don't ever trust a democrat or an elitist, just pure scum.