area and it has long been believed that there is treasure hidden somewhere along the rugged shore. No one knows who actually hid the bounty but supposedly it was one of the ubiquitous pirates who were reported to have buried treasure in various places along the Atlantic seaboard.
Deep bays and unfrequented islands formed ideal hiding places for the ill-gotten gains of the old bucaneers who plied their nefarious trade from Trinidad and Hispaniola to the New England states. When the rich spoils became too dangerous a cargo, causing trouble among crew members, it was the custom to seek suitable hiding places where chests of gold and jewels might be buried in secrecy and to be retrieved later when the owner(s) gave up the sea to spend last days as respectable citizens. But pirates, as was fitting, often met violent and sudden death, and with them went knowledge of the whereabouts of buried treasure.
*As an aside, it is interesting to note the Oak Island mystery (featured in a Global TV series) refers to stories of buried treasure and unexplained objects found on or near Oak Island in Nova Scotia. Since the 19th century, a number of attempts have been made to locate treasure and artifacts. Theories about artifacts present on the island range from pirate treasures of Captains Kidd and Henry Avery, to Shakespearean manuscripts, to possibly the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant, with the Grail and the Ark having been buried there by the Knights Templar. Various items have surfaced over the years that were found on the island, some of which have since been carbon-dated and found to be hundreds of years old. Although these items can be considered treasure in their own right, no significant main treasure site has ever been found. The site consists of digs by numerous people and groups of people. The original shaft, in an unknown location today, was dug by early explorers and known as "the money pit". "The curse" is said to have originated more than a century ago and states that seven men will die in the search for the treasure before it is found. To date, six men have died in their efforts to find the treasure.
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| Mysterious Oak Island |
The Bay of Chaleur is also known for its phantom ship legend, which dates back more than two centuries.The story claims that a sail ship burned in the waters to the north of the city - possibly from the Battle of the Restigouche - and that the ghost of the vessel and its crew is visible on the water in certain weather and light conditions to this day. Some believe it is a ghost ship from the Battle of the Restigouche whereas others believe it is merely caused by heat waves, reflections, or hallucinations. A drawing of a ghost wielding an anchor and menacing two sailors could be seen on the the City of Bathurst's old welcome sign. but back to the buried treasure story... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What follows is the story first told to me by my late wife's grandfather, Wilfred Estey of Durham Bridge, N.B. back in July of 1960. Wilfred was a lifetime railroader and traveled virtually every square inch of the province. Stories?...He had a million of them!
As folklore has it, one day two men were towing a small raft of lumber along the shore of the Nepisiguit River, near the entrance to Chaleau Bay. It was a warm day and they found the work extremely fatiguing, frequently necessitating rest breaks. Sometimes the companions were together but often they were separated for short distances. Noting that his partner did not seem to be doing his share of the heavy slogging, the man in the lead stopped suddenly and looked back.
To his surprise, he saw an elderly woman, very simply dressed, with a plaid shawl over her shoulders. She was apparently engaged in conversation with his partner, very much disturbed and pleading for some kind of help. The two continued to walk together for a few minutes before the woman disappeared into the woods.
Pausing to consider what he had just seen, the man in the lead called back to his friend and asked him about the woman and what she wanted. To his amazement, the other man declared that he had not seen any woman, much less conversed with one and suggested that what his friend saw must have been the figment of an abnormal imagination.
Several years later, the same figure of a lonely woman wandering on the same shore was seen by a girl of the neighborhood who was terrified by the apparition. She described the elderly woman in terms similar to those expressed by the man who had seen her previously.
Conjectures regarding the mysterious woman were numerous, and some of them were very ingenious and startling. The general belief, however, was that she was associated in some way with buried treasure and that she may have been the ghost of the mate of a pirate, or of a woman whose husband had perished when the treasure was hidden.
The story was told and re-told so many times and came to be believed so implicitly that few people were surprised when, some years later, a report circulated that two strangers had been seen landing from a boat and digging for a time on the shore before sailing away into the night. Certainly, locals were satisfied that the strangers had carried off whatever treasure there was because a fairly hole was left behind on the shore as evidence.
Since the night when men dug the hole, the mysterious woman has never been seen again. A century has elapsed now and it seems likely that the wrath has disappeared forever.
Old Wilfred Estey who passed away 50 years ago, would be relieved to know that.
What follows is the story first told to me by my late wife's grandfather, Wilfred Estey of Durham Bridge, N.B. back in July of 1960. Wilfred was a lifetime railroader and traveled virtually every square inch of the province. Stories?...He had a million of them!
As folklore has it, one day two men were towing a small raft of lumber along the shore of the Nepisiguit River, near the entrance to Chaleau Bay. It was a warm day and they found the work extremely fatiguing, frequently necessitating rest breaks. Sometimes the companions were together but often they were separated for short distances. Noting that his partner did not seem to be doing his share of the heavy slogging, the man in the lead stopped suddenly and looked back.
To his surprise, he saw an elderly woman, very simply dressed, with a plaid shawl over her shoulders. She was apparently engaged in conversation with his partner, very much disturbed and pleading for some kind of help. The two continued to walk together for a few minutes before the woman disappeared into the woods.
Pausing to consider what he had just seen, the man in the lead called back to his friend and asked him about the woman and what she wanted. To his amazement, the other man declared that he had not seen any woman, much less conversed with one and suggested that what his friend saw must have been the figment of an abnormal imagination.
Several years later, the same figure of a lonely woman wandering on the same shore was seen by a girl of the neighborhood who was terrified by the apparition. She described the elderly woman in terms similar to those expressed by the man who had seen her previously.
Conjectures regarding the mysterious woman were numerous, and some of them were very ingenious and startling. The general belief, however, was that she was associated in some way with buried treasure and that she may have been the ghost of the mate of a pirate, or of a woman whose husband had perished when the treasure was hidden.
The story was told and re-told so many times and came to be believed so implicitly that few people were surprised when, some years later, a report circulated that two strangers had been seen landing from a boat and digging for a time on the shore before sailing away into the night. Certainly, locals were satisfied that the strangers had carried off whatever treasure there was because a fairly hole was left behind on the shore as evidence.
Since the night when men dug the hole, the mysterious woman has never been seen again. A century has elapsed now and it seems likely that the wrath has disappeared forever.
Old Wilfred Estey who passed away 50 years ago, would be relieved to know that.
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