00:00Just like Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Captain Kidd was a pirate who sailed around looking for treasure.
00:10Only he was less charming and more dangerous. As the legend goes, he was so protective of his loot that he is still out there, guarding it as a ghost.
00:21William Kidd, who became famous as Captain Kidd, was born around the 1650s. He told people his birthplace was Dundee, Scotland, but many people think it was a lie.
00:35When he was a young man, Kidd settled in New York City. He became friends with powerful people, including three governors.
00:43Some stories suggest he started his maritime adventures as a rookie on a pirate ship before becoming a well-known sailor.
00:51By 1689, Kidd had already become part of a pirate crew. When they were sailing in the Caribbean, Kidd and other men on the ship rebelled.
01:01They overpowered the captain and renamed their ship Blessed William, making Kidd the new captain.
01:07Kidd gained experience and even assisted certain countries during battles.
01:13Once, the governor didn't pay the crew for their services, and Kidd and his team attacked a French island, Marie Galante, and looted it, collecting a huge amount of money.
01:24In 1691, Kidd married a woman named Sarah Bradley, who was one of the richest women in New York.
01:31She had been married twice before him and was a widow. Her money came as an inheritance from her previous husbands.
01:41A few years later, the man in charge of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire asked Captain Kidd to go after some pirates.
01:49This wasn't just any request. It had the support of the king and carried a lot of importance.
01:56If Kidd had said no, people would have thought he was disloyal and looked down on him.
02:02This was the start of the journey that made Captain Kidd famous as a pirate and a character in stories.
02:09This trip was funded by a few noble lords, who were some of the most powerful people in England at that time.
02:16The king himself signed a letter that gave Kidd permission to be a privateer, which is basically a pirate who can do all piratey things with a legal license.
02:26This letter said that 10% of the treasure he may find would go to the king.
02:31To get some extra cash for the trip, Kidd had to sell one of his ships, the Antigua, and for his special voyage, Kidd got a new ship called the Adventure Galley.
02:41It was perfect for chasing pirates, with 34 cannons, oars, and a crew of 150 men.
02:49The oars were handy because they let the ship move even when the wind wasn't blowing.
02:54Kidd was very picky about his crew, choosing only the best and most loyal officers.
03:03But as the Adventure Galley sailed, something strange happened.
03:07Kidd was expected to salute a navy yacht, but he did not.
03:12So, the navy yacht fired a shot to show Kidd he needed to pay respect.
03:17But Kidd and his crew decided to do the opposite.
03:21They turned around and slapped their backsides in disrespect.
03:25After this, the navy captain got angry and took many of Kidd's crew members to work for the navy, even though privateer crews were usually free from this obligation.
03:35Kidd, short of men, sailed to New York, where he captured a French ship.
03:40To replace his lost crew, he hired a lot of known criminals, some of whom were likely former pirates.
03:47In September 1696, Captain Kidd set sail for the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
03:54His journey faced troubles right from the start.
03:57Cholera caused many of his crew to get sick and pass away.
04:00Even worse, their brand new ship started to have lots of leaks.
04:06Kidd was also on a mission to catch some pirates in the Indian Ocean, but he couldn't find them.
04:14As his big plan started falling apart, Kidd got desperate to make money to cover his costs.
04:20The worst happened a few months later.
04:23Kidd attacked one of his own crew members because the man wanted to board a Dutch ship.
04:27But it would have been considered an act of piracy.
04:31The man passed away due to his injury.
04:33Things were going downhill fast for Kidd, and a Royal Navy officer declared him a pirate.
04:39Kidd changed his ship's flag to look like it was French and captured a big Indian ship called the Quedig Merchant.
04:46It was loaded with valuable stuff like silk, gold and silver.
04:51Kidd decided to keep the Quedig Merchant and sailed to Madagascar.
04:55There he met another pirate named Robert, who had taken Kidd's ship years ago.
05:00There are two different stories about how it went.
05:03One says Kidd was nice to him, and the other says Kidd was scared and wanted to wait for his backup to attack.
05:09But whatever the case, most of Kidd's crew left him to join Robert.
05:17Kidd decided to give up and go back home.
05:19He left his old ship, the Adventure Galley, behind as it was falling apart.
05:24Before he set it on fire, he took all valuables from it and boarded the Adventure Prize.
05:30The British authorities had a law that offered pardons to pirates in the Indian Ocean, but they made sure Kidd couldn't get one.
05:37They didn't want to forgive him because he was connected to some powerful people in England.
05:42Kidd found out he was wanted as soon as he reached Anguilla, and he couldn't use the pardon.
05:47The government had changed, and new leaders wanted to use him to make their rivals look bad.
05:53They thought Kidd would spill the beans about his powerful supporters.
05:57However, Kidd refused to reveal any names, believing that his friends would come to his rescue, but they failed him.
06:05Some say he might have escaped punishment if he had talked, but he didn't.
06:09Kidd was sent to London to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty.
06:13They accused Kidd of piracy on the high seas and the accident with a crew member.
06:19While he waited for his trial, he was locked up in the notorious Newgate Prison.
06:26They found him guilty on all counts and sentenced him to public execution, though many questioned if the evidence was enough for such a harsh verdict.
06:36He was executed on May 23, 1701.
06:39His body was displayed over the River Thames for three years as a warning to anyone thinking about becoming a pirate.
06:47Some of Kidd's crewmen were supposed to be punished in the same way, but they were set free before their executions.
06:54The loot Captain Kidd had collected over the years made people believe he must have hidden it somewhere.
07:01This sparked loads of treasure hunts in different places.
07:04Some people say that Kidd might have hidden the treasure on the Rahway River in New Jersey, just across from Staten Island.
07:12Evidence suggests that Captain Kidd hid a small stash of treasure on Gardner's Island, near New York.
07:19It was supposedly found and sent to England as proof against Kidd in his trial for piracy.
07:25Around the Bay of Fundy, people have been looking for Kidd's treasure since at least 1875.
07:31They believed he hid it there during his time as a privateer.
07:35There's a place on the island called Money Cove because of these stories.
07:42Considering how Kidd met his sad and unfair fate, it's not surprising that people have claimed to see the ghost of Captain Kidd.
07:51Some people reported spotting him at Trinity Churchyard as if he was searching for his own grave.
07:57There's also a story of two men who tried to look for Kidd's jewels in 1825.
08:03They actually found a treasure box.
08:05But before they could crack it open, the ghost of Captain Kidd himself rose up from the ground next to the treasure chest.
08:13This sight was so terrifying that it made the men pass out.
08:17Both of them claimed to have seen a truly creepy figure emerge from the earth.
08:22It breathed out sulfur fumes and seemed to glide over the ground.
08:27Thankfully, there is no solid evidence that confirms these ghost stories.
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