We also participate in programs from eBay, CJ, Bluehost, Clickbank, ShareASale, and other sites. There is another treasure said to be buried on Kelly Island in Delaware by James Gillian, a member of Kidds crew. The parade that follows is one of the largest in the country, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to Tampa Bay. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Were There Pirates In Tampa Bay? - On Secret Hunt Thread starter seeker41; Start date Apr 29, 2015 Apr 29, 2015 Professional blogger, rum judge, consultant, marketer, and consumer of blue water beauty. He apparently helped repeal a British Invasion on New Orleans. was reading about Jose Gaspar aka Gasparilla Pirate and one story tells of his friend Roderigo Lopez wanting to leave the Pirate life and Gaspar helped him leave, so it seems Maria Lopez great great grandfather may have been Roderigo. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The city of Tampa hosts a Gasparilla Day each year. May 4, 1904Gasparilla Pirate Festival / First event date. From a four-mile long parade of pirates and period memorabilia on display, to specialty packages and a waterfront half . The rest of the treasure remains hidden, waiting to be found. When he was captured and offered the option of going to prison or joining the navy, he chose the latter, serving with distinction for several years before organizing a mutiny against a dictatorial captain and fleeing to Florida with a stolen ship. At The Jose Gaspar Treasure Co. visitors and locals can find treasures of all kinds. His ship was scuttled in the battle sending the valuables to the bottom of the ocean. One day Gasparilla prepared to attack a merchantman, but to his surprise, it turned out to be a United States man-of-war. And to this day, Jose Gaspar returns on board his pirate ship every year to capture the city.". Since 1904, pirates have invaded the City of Tampa to kick off the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. A Beginners Guide to Magnet Fishing: 15 Sure Fire Tips. He has taken his place in local folklore and culture and has an annual festival in his honor. The race of the old buccaneer was nearly run, but all through that night, he told a story of piracy that could scarce be believed, yet it was a dying man that was clearing his soul before his Maker. ", The story of Gaspar begins in 1782; the brochure states, "he stood high in the graces of the Spanish Court, so high indeed that he niched the crown jewels. Gasparilla Season | Visit Tampa Bay Jos Gaspar - Wikipedia His piratical career always starts with an injustice and he is seen as a lovable rogue rather than a murderous monster. Named for legendary pirate, Jose Gaspar, who terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the 18th and early 19th centuries, Tampa Bay's destination-wide annual Gasparilla celebration kicks off each January with a full schedule of exciting pirate-themed events. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); If anybody wants to start a treasure seach team, WTF Florida? Ill post one a week Treasure Tuesdaysthis that lame? Lacking experience in seamanship, he and his crew of escaped slaves limited their raids to smaller ships and coastal villages but managed to amass a large amount of treasure, which was hidden in several caches on the . However, there is another story, that has some validity, of what happened to his treasure. This happened in the year 1782. It's a Small size geocache, with difficulty of 3.5, terrain of 5. With the help of the Prime Minster she was able to convincingly spread this rumor leading to Gaspars impending arrest by the king. Retail store with the following - shells, shellcraft, wood carvings, shark teeth and jaws,. The brochure relied heavily on the stories told by John Gomez. The poem, maps, comments from other searchers, and other guides to finding the treasure are online and easy to find. JOSE GASPAR: 15 years later, Telemundo is still the only Spanish Most of the suspected locations are in and around the state of Florida. "We are not sure what we're going to do with it," said Lopez. If the legend is true, Gasparilla was extremely successful and plundered more than 400 ships. After that, they searched his cabin and found a jar of gold coins and a small sheet of copper engraved with a code indicating the location of buried treasure. Finding a real human hand is probably not what the Lopezes had in mind, but thats exactly what this family from Florida found in their grandparents attic. He supposedly buried large amounts of treasures on the islands around the bay. Inside, bound to the box by copper wire, she found a dessicated hand wearing a ring with the word "Gaspar" on . Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by, Jose Gaspar is not the only mythical pirate character that has. 11 The Cuerdale Treasures- $2.6 Million. Though details about his early life, motivations, and piratical exploits differ in various tellings, they agree that the 'Last of the Buccaneers" was a remarkably active pirate who amassed a huge . Answer: True This is an area where the stories of Gaspar are for once consistent. Story continues below video. Instead, he pursued a merchant ship and insisted that it convey Batista and Ann Jeffries to England and that its captain marry them on board after they were out of sight of his ship, the Jose Gasparilla II. The treasure on Money Island is said to hidden in the crevice of a large rock that is only visible during low tide. What year did Gasparilla start? Do you think there's buried treasure out there? All of it is built around the story of Gaspar. Gattuso leads a a small group called the The Treasure Hunters who spend their weekends hiking the wilderness near the Peace River in search of lost treasure believed to have been left behind by Jose Gaspar. Mike Lopez said his sister was not expecting to find a human hand, a treasure map, and gold coins. The 300,000 partiers who will swarm the streets Saturday in Tampa for the annual Gasparilla pirate parade won't care. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. ", According to the railroad brochure, the "narrative was compiled by the writer from incidents told by John Gomez, better known as Panther Key John, a brother-in-law of Gasparilla and a member of his crew, who died at the age of 120 years, at Panther Key, Florida, 12 miles below Marco, in the year 1900; also from records left by John Gomez, Jr., the cabin-boy on Gasparilla's ship, who was kidnapped by Gasparilla and who witnessed the death of this pirate and all on board his vessel. He weighed in on the treasure map as well and believes it was a blueprint for the area during the 1920s and 1930s, but nothing more. RECOMMENDED: The legend of Jose Gaspar and the history of Gasparilla. A fortune worth $1 million when it was hidden in 2010 is waiting to be picked up somewhere in the Rocky Mountains just a few miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. The San Jose galleon was believed to have been . Jose Gaspar Treasure Co | Flagler Beach, FL 32136 My grandfather had a book on all these when I was younger. He stated that it was buried beside 2 wind damaged trees and a large rock (one would think that with treasure this valuable one would choose landmarks a little more cautiously, but I guess trees and a rock is all we have to go on here). With Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses, How We Became Mr. and Mrs. So it is a huge, huge draw for people to come to Tampa.". But Gasparilla himself did not survive the final battle. Florida's Pirate Jose Gaspar and his Treasure Story This endeavor lasted only about 5 years when the us army came to visit Lafitte, asking him to leave. He was sentenced to prison and eventually released. And he's fueled a cottage industry of treasure-hunting books, guides and metal . He finally returned with his wife to find all but a handful of his crew had died. Available at: https://www.wfla.com/news/gasparilla/history-of-gasparilla-jose-gaspar-his-krewe/, ymkg, 2022. To learn more, visit our. Jose Gaspar has come in handy for parades and celebrations. Treasure hunter Erin Melcher. When Gasparilla requested that they accompany him and his crew on a raid, the two young lovers assumed they would be slaughtered. In different accounts, details of his early life, motivations, and activities varied. Upon returning he discovered that he had been labeled a pirate by the British government. His flagship was eventually ran aground and he was ultimately killed by English warships off the East Coast of America. Treasure hunter Michael Gattuso paddles a boat toward the dock where part of his crew Stacey Hunt, Erin Melcher and Lauren Gattuso wait for him near Nav-A-Gators Bar and Grill. From seashells to lost treasure, this shop has it all. Debbie gave us a great tip to hide the tooth in the sand and make our son think he found it. (2) Most of the islands around Charlotte Harbor were named by the Cuban Spanish fishermen that lived there since the 1600's. A treasure said to be worth $30 million. What is the story behind Gasparilla? - Promisekit.org And indeed there are serious problems with the stories of Gasparilla. The story states that Rogers discovered these lost tunnels and used them to store his treasure. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. During this time a woman of the royal family, rumored to be the kings daughter-in-law sought the attention of this young naval officer. All of it is built around the story of Gaspar. The theme and focal point of Gasparilla is a friendly "invasion" by mythical pirate Jos Gaspar and his crew, who are portrayed by members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG), an organization created for this purpose in 1904. Santa Rosa Island has been sort of a local hotspot for finding bags of gold and silver coins. During the final combat, the majority of Gasparillas crew was killed, but there were 12 survivors 11 men and a cabin boy called Juan Gomez. Upon hearing this news, he unloaded his spoils and set sail for America (where he was later arrested and sent back to England). Or at least thats what Florida folklore would have you believe. The family thinks the hand belongs to famous Tampa Bay pirate Jose Gaspar.