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05:56poured in, explained myself, everything will be clear.
05:59Instead, Belomont, who didn't want to be embarrassed by association with this guy
06:02who everybody believed by now was a pirate, threw him in irons,
06:06put him in this jail that stood right here.
06:08Okay, so it was probably more a political move than it was a move to bring justice, right?
06:15What had happened was that Kidd had become an embarrassment
06:18for his wealthy and influential backers,
06:20and they wanted to shut him up, get him out of the way.
06:22By the time they put Kidd away,
06:25he had already amassed the treasure we're still searching for today.
06:29As a privateer, he was making money for wealthy people like Belomont.
06:33But when he put on his pirate hat,
06:36he was making money only for himself and his men.
06:40In 1698, desperate for loot,
06:43Kidd spotted a 500-ton Armenian ship
06:46carrying a treasure trove of riches that he couldn't resist.
06:50The question I have is,
06:52did he take the secret of where he hid those riches to his grave?
06:57I know that he died shortly after, right?
06:59Well, he was in solitary here.
07:01He was put on a British Navy ship,
07:03brought to London,
07:04where he was again put in solitary in the old Nougat prison,
07:07which is a place you wouldn't want to be for two days,
07:09let alone the better part of a year.
07:11Eventually put on trial,
07:12not only on accounts of piracy,
07:14but on account of murder.
07:17In 1697,
07:19Kidd was said to have killed his crewman, William Moore,
07:22by hitting him in the head with a bucket after a disagreement.
07:26Moore suffered a fractured skull and died the next day.
07:30Okay, so let's talk for a second about Captain Kidd's treasure.
07:34There's all kinds of legends and stories about treasure being hidden,
07:38all up and down the eastern seaboard of North America.
07:41What do we know about that?
07:42Well, we know that Captain Kidd had some treasure with him when he was arrested
07:46and that it was eventually confiscated.
07:49But he had been out in the Indian Ocean for over a year,
07:52and they had captured several ships,
07:54some of which were carrying quite a bit of treasure.
07:56So it's pretty easy to surmise that some of this was either buried by Kidd himself
08:01or by some of his men.
08:02Although I should point out that it wasn't the common practice of pirates to bury treasure.
08:06They generally burned it all on rum and women in whatever port they could land in
08:10and find the local taverns and bordellos.
08:13Well, that makes some sense.
08:15But let's just say that there is treasure out there,
08:17or there was treasure out there.
08:19What about this rumor that the richest man in America at the time,
08:23John Jacob Astor, came into some of his wealth from Captain Kidd's treasure?
08:29John Jacob Astor was America's first millionaire.
08:32A successful real estate tycoon, he left a lasting legacy.
08:37The famed Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan was named after him,
08:41as well as his hometown of Waldorf, Germany.
08:44But a rumor has circulated for more than a century
08:48that some of the money that helped him morph into an American icon
08:51was none other than Captain Kidd's.
08:54In 1801, Astor's Manhattan bank account supposedly shot up to half a million dollars
09:00from just $4,000 after striking a deal with a French fur trader
09:05who supposedly came upon Kidd's pirate chest while trapping.
09:09I want to know the truth.
09:11We know that John Jacob Astor started out poor
09:14and ended phenomenally wealthy.
09:16When he died in 1848, he was worth the unheard of sum of $20 million,
09:21which has been estimated to be well over $100 billion in today's money.
09:24$100 billion?
09:25$100 billion.
09:26So he would have been richer than Warren Buffett or Bill Gates.
09:29Sure.
09:29Now, we know he started small.
09:30He got into the fur trade when he first came here,
09:33and he did very well at it.
09:34That was the foundation of his fortune.
09:37Whether or not his net worth mysteriously and suddenly bumped up early in his career
09:43is what's at issue.
09:45So we know John Jacob Astor made the bulk of his fortune
09:48in the fur trading business and real estate,
09:50but do you think Captain Kidd's treasure could have been part of that?
09:54Well, Scott, that's where this clue might come in.
10:00What is this?
10:01I was hoping you could tell me.
10:40Bill, let me see if I have this straight.
10:43This sequence of numbers, you're saying ties Captain Kidd's treasure
10:47with John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men of all time?
10:51Well, the story has it that this sequence of numbers
10:54was on a paper that Kidd handed to his wife.
11:01So Captain Kidd gave this sequence of numbers to his wife.
11:05How does this all tie back to John Jacob Astor?
11:08Well, supposedly this could be a clue as to the location of Kidd's treasure.
11:12Now, the question is whether or not Astor
11:14or someone working on his behalf found the treasure.
11:17So, Bill, what I want to know is
11:18how does this all connect with John Jacob Astor?
11:21I mean, we know that he became very wealthy
11:23through the fur trading business.
11:24Are you suggesting that he may also have gotten a hold of Captain Kidd's treasure?
11:29Well, there were stories that went around
11:31to the effect that John Jacob Astor's bank account
11:34took a sudden and dramatic jump fairly early in his career.
11:38This leads to the question of where did he get the money?
11:42Supposedly, Captain Kidd's treasure was phenomenally lucrative.
11:45It was said to be 20 bars of gold
11:47and the quote was Rick's dollars manifold.
11:50Rick's dollars, what are those?
11:52Well, that was a currency that was used in Europe at the time.
11:55Okay.
11:56We're talking about a lot of money, right?
11:58Manifold meaning a great deal.
12:00Okay.
12:01So, this note with these numbers was passed on to his wife, correct?
12:0944106818.
12:09So, what do you think these numbers mean?
12:12I'm not really sure.
12:14A series of numbers scribbled on scrap paper
12:17could mean just about anything.
12:19They could be a combination to Kidd's treasure chest
12:22or important dates in Kidd's life.
12:26But a part of me also thinks it could point us
12:29in a much more specific direction.
12:31Well, you know, when I look at this,
12:33I see something that I recognize.
12:3644, I bet, is a latitude.
12:39And if that's a latitude,
12:41I bet the last four numbers are probably a longitude.
12:44Makes sense.
12:45Let me pull out my phone here.
12:47I'm going to plug these numbers in.
12:54Dear Isle, does that mean anything to you?
12:56Well, there is an island by that name off the coast of Maine.
13:00Since Captain Kidd sailed all over the Atlantic,
13:03a stop in Maine wouldn't be out of the question.
13:08In fact, some treasure hunters believe Kidd
13:11stashed away hordes of loot around Maine.
13:14It's also possible that John Jacob Astor
13:16expanded his fur business into Maine
13:18as he looked for more opportunities.
13:21Well, if Captain Kidd gave these numbers to his wife,
13:25and this is a latitude and longitude,
13:29maybe that treasure is still there.
13:31It's worth a look.
13:37Bill and I think we have the coordinates
13:39to what could be the exact location
13:41where Kidd left his treasure.
13:43But the question is,
13:45did a fur trader already find it there
13:47and give it to John Jacob Astor
13:49as part of some sort of deal?
13:55the Astors might know.
13:56But tracking one down
13:57and getting them to talk to us about it
13:59wasn't easy.
14:15After doing some digging,
14:17I found a descendant willing to meet with us
14:20at one of the Astors' original summer homes.
14:24But can I convince her to reveal
14:27what could be an explosive family secret?
14:30that would be true?
14:59The Astor
15:03alexandra hello scott walter hi i'm alexandra aldridge welcome to rokeby well this is a
15:11beautiful estate the grounds are lovely this house i mean how big of an area is this and when was
15:17this house built well this is a 450 acre estate located in the hudson valley of new york it was
15:23originally part of a land grant from king james ii to my ancestor robert livingston
15:27the house itself is a 43 room mansion that was built in 1815 by a man named john armstrong who
15:34was a general in the war of 1812 and my direct ancestor now alexandra what is your connection
15:40with the astor family well john jacob astor was my great great great great great grandfather
15:45that's five greats and his son william bacchus astor married into the livingston family and
15:51rokeby became his primary residence in the mid-19th century well as beautiful as it is out here
15:57i bet it's even more interesting inside right
16:06music has always played a prominent role in our family and my great-grandparents played duets on
16:10these two steinway grounds in fact my great-grandfather richard aldrich was a prominent music critic for the
16:15new york times well john jacob astor himself although he was not an educated man loved music in the
16:20performing arts he liked nothing better than an evening musicale at his home in new york city
16:25and in fact he owned one of the uh prominent theaters in new york in the early 1800s that's
16:31correct you know alexandra one of the reasons that we're here is there's a an old story about the
16:38astor family coming into some of its money through captain kidd's treasure does that ring any bells for
16:47you
16:48so
17:21You know, Alexandra, one of the reasons that we're here is there's an old story about the Astor family coming
17:27into some of its money through Captain Kidd's treasure.
17:31Does that ring any bells for you?
17:32Well, if there is any treasure, I haven't seen a speck of it.
17:37If I found pirate treasure, I know I'd never have to work again.
17:42My kids might not have to work again, and their kids might not have to work again.
17:48But as I was about to learn, living life as an Astor wasn't what I imagined.
17:59Tell me, what was it like to grow up in the Astor family here at this house?
18:03I relived a double life, because on the one hand, I grew up in what was essentially a house museum.
18:08The house is on the registry for historic places.
18:12So that meant that historical societies visited us very frequently.
18:15I was often part of the tour.
18:17But on the other hand, my parents and I lived on the third floor in the old servants' quarters.
18:21My father was not only one of the owners, but the de facto maintenance man,
18:26because the money had basically run out to maintain the property.
18:30So what happened to the money?
18:31I mean, John Jacob Astor was the one who basically made the family fortune in the fur trade, right?
18:37That's right.
18:37So what happened after that?
18:38Well, his son, William, was a prudent businessman.
18:41And it is said of him that he never made a penny and never lost a penny.
18:44So he inherited this massive fortune.
18:46He became the richest man in America after his father died.
18:49So that when my great-grandmother's generation came along,
18:52she and her siblings inherited the third largest portion of the Astor fortune.
18:56Okay, and what happened then?
18:57Well, she lived to be almost 100.
19:00She never knew how to work, so she lived on her money.
19:03So that ate up a lot of that wealth that she inherited.
19:07That's right.
19:08So when she died in 1963, she basically left the property to the family without the money to maintain it.
19:19So you were part of the next generation, right?
19:21What did you guys do?
19:23When I was growing up, it seemed that everyone was living in the past and nobody really attended to the
19:28needs of the present,
19:29including the needs of the children.
19:30So there was a tremendous amount of neglect.
19:31But on the other hand, it's such a source of pride and my family would never give up this property
19:36because then they would lose their identity because this is who they are.
19:40If John Jacob Astor did strike it rich thanks to Captain Kidd's treasure,
19:45it seems all the good luck has now faded away.
19:50Who knows?
19:51Maybe there's some truth to this cursed treasure after all.
19:55Tragedy has found the Astors more than once.
20:00Astor's grandson, John Jacob Astor III, went down on the Titanic when he was worth about $150 million.
20:10And another prominent Astor relative injured her head falling down a grand staircase
20:15that left her with dementia until her final days.
20:20Maybe it just proves that rich people suffer bad luck too.
20:28Well, I appreciate you being so candid about your family's history.
20:31And, you know, just looking around here, I can imagine all of the interesting and important people
20:36that have been inside this house and have followed in the footsteps of your ancestors.
20:41I mean, it's really incredible.
20:42But to your knowledge, is there anything that might connect with Captain Kidd's treasure to your family fortune?
20:49Not that I know of.
20:50Is it possible that maybe some people might have been jealous of the Astor wealth and created this story?
20:57It's a definite possibility.
20:58Well, if there's one thing I've learned in these stories and myths is that there's always some truth to them.
21:04So if there isn't a connection here, that means I have to keep looking.
21:25While I came up empty at the Astor estate, I still believe there's some truth to this legend.
21:32Maybe the treasure's still out there.
21:35I need to go back to my only real evidence, the piece of paper Kidd gave to his wife.
21:42My hunch is these numbers represent coordinates that point to Deer Isle, Maine.
21:52With so many small islands and inlets, Maine has thousands of potential hiding places.
21:58There's something alluring about the ghostly open waters, rocky shores, and gloomy fog rolling out to sea.
22:08I wouldn't be surprised if Captain Kidd did choose this spot to leave his rumored fortune.
22:23Scott, we're heading out of Stonington Harbor.
22:26Stonington is the busiest lobster port in the United States.
22:29When you think of Stonington, you think of lobsters.
22:31Well, speaking of lobsters, we got awful lucky hitching a ride on this boat.
22:35It's the off-season.
22:36Can you imagine what it would have been like if we were here during high season?
22:39Oh, no chance.
22:40And, you know, a lot of people head out on boats here looking for more than lobsters.
22:43There have been treasure hunters up and down this coast for years.
22:46So where do you think a pirate like Captain Kidd would bury his treasure?
22:51Well, of course, the most famous treasure story in this part of the world
22:54is on the other side of the Gulf of Maine, Oak Island in Nova Scotia.
22:58I know Oak Island very well.
23:00Oak Island has been the site for hardcore treasure hunting for over 200 years.
23:06It's rumored that Kidd may have hid some treasure there, but so far, nothing's been recovered.
23:12I've even looked for treasure there myself, but no luck.
23:17If Captain Kidd's treasure is not on Oak Island, where would it be in this area?
23:21Well, when you talk about Captain Kidd, you're looking into so many different treasure stories
23:25that he'd have to have lived to be 100 years old to have buried treasure every place they say he
23:29did.
23:30Specifically, along this stretch of coast, there are a couple of pirate stories.
23:34One has to do with a character named Dixie Bull, who was a small-time operator in the early 1600s.
23:39And then later on in the 1700s, you had a somewhat more famous character named Black Sam Bellamy,
23:45captain of the WIDA.
23:46The WIDA was found, by the way, off Cape Cod.
23:49It wrecked there, drowning Captain Bellamy and his crew
23:52just a few months after he set up shop here as a repair base for his ship.
23:57So this whole treasure business, it's pretty dangerous, isn't it?
24:01It was dangerous being a pirate, and sometimes I guess it could be dangerous
24:05looking for whatever they might have left.
24:11Hey, wait a minute.
24:16Who's this?
24:23How you doing?
24:24Hi.
24:26Are you Scott Walder?
24:28Uh, yes, sir.
24:31I hear you might be looking for Captain Kidd's treasure.
24:33Yeah, we are.
24:34I might be able to help you.
24:37I might be able to help you.
25:00I'm in Maine hunting down Captain Kidd's treasure.
25:05It's believed he has precious loot hidden along the coast,
25:09but so far, nothing has turned up.
25:12I found an aster relative willing to speak with me about treasure,
25:16but come to find out, she never heard of Kidd's treasure.
25:20While I haven't seen any pirate treasure yet,
25:23I know there's some out there.
25:29Huge stashes have been found before.
25:31Off the coast of Cape Cod,
25:33more than $10 million worth of artifacts
25:35was recovered from the widest ship
25:37that sank back in 1717.
25:40Some of it included gold coins.
25:54If Kidd's treasure even comes close to that,
25:57it'd be a huge discovery.
25:59But where is it?
26:07Hey, wait a minute.
26:12Who's this?
26:17How you doing?
26:18Hi.
26:19Are you Scott Walter?
26:21Yes, sir.
26:24I hear you might be looking for Captain Kidd's treasure.
26:27Um, yeah, we are.
26:29I might be able to help you.
26:31Why don't you come with me,
26:33and we'll find a place to dock,
26:34and we can talk some more.
26:58I don't know who this boat captain is,
27:00but he must have something important to say
27:03if he's tracking us down on the water,
27:05fog and all.
27:07At least I can tell he's leading us
27:09in the right direction to Deer Isle, Maine,
27:12the location to where Captain Kidd's coordinates lead to.
27:33So who are you, and how did you find us?
27:36It's a very small island,
27:38and I heard you were doing some treasure hunting.
27:40I'm Walt Reed.
27:41I'm a charter captain here on Deer Isle.
27:43Okay, well, are we in the right area?
27:45What do you know about it?
27:46Well, there's been a long-standing myth
27:48that Captain Kidd buried treasure here on Deer Isle.
27:51It's a myth?
27:52Wait a minute.
27:54What about this?
27:57What's that?
27:58The supposed secret code that Captain Kidd was said to have passed along to his wife
28:03before he was taken away for trial?
28:054-4-1-0, 6-8-1-8.
28:08Supposedly the latitude and longitude coordinates of this island.
28:11And that's absolutely true.
28:13Those are the latitude and longitude coordinates for this island,
28:15and it was part of the myth.
28:16So this whole thing is a story.
28:19Well, what about the connection with the Astor family?
28:21Is this part of this story?
28:23It's part of the myth as well, yes.
28:25The myth has it that John Jacob Astor had a trapper here on Deer Isle
28:29who found the cave where Captain Kidd had buried his treasure
28:33and took the treasure chest to New York where the Astor family opened it,
28:38found the jewels, and got their seed money for the rest of their fortune.
28:44In the beginning, the Astor fortune was worth between $20 to $30 million,
28:50and it allegedly dried up over the years, according to Alexandra,
28:54one of Astor's descendants.
28:57Whether that money came from Kidd
28:59and whether his treasure chest was found here on Deer Isle,
29:03we may never know.
29:06Or will we?
29:07A local skipper tells me it's all a myth.
29:11It's amazing how some of these stories can just grow on their own
29:15and become truth to many people.
29:17It's a great story.
29:18It stays alive for many years.
29:21Many people have come to look for it,
29:22and no one's ever found anything.
29:24So did Captain Kidd leave a treasure buried anywhere?
29:26There's no treasure here,
29:27but there may be a treasure somewhere else.
29:32Is this Captain Kidd's treasure chest?
29:58Is this Captain Kidd's treasure chest?
30:00Could be.
30:02So where is this pirate chest?
30:04Well, it's not here.
30:06It's in St. Augustine, Florida.
30:10This is a case of cryptic clues.
30:13And even though I asked,
30:15Walt wouldn't tell me any more
30:16about how Kidd's chest ended up down south
30:19when he was a pirate up here in the northeast.
30:24Here's what I know so far.
30:26Before Captain Kidd was put to the gallows,
30:29he secretly handed his wife a set of numbers
30:32that were supposedly a clue
30:33to the whereabouts of the treasure he left behind.
30:37First, I thought the numbers could have been a code
30:40to unlock a chest,
30:41but the combination lock wasn't invented until the 1860s.
30:45So that was a dead end.
30:47All I know is I need answers.
30:50But all I have are questions.
31:06While at the airport,
31:07I did some research to figure out
31:09exactly where in St. Augustine to go.
31:12I discovered there's another millionaire
31:14who figures into this mystery.
31:18A man here named Pat Croce,
31:21who was once the owner
31:22of the 76ers basketball team
31:24and who seems to be the guy
31:26who has Kidd's chest.
31:30I want to see just how much treasure this guy has.
31:41Pat, how are you doing, man?
31:42Scott, I'm doing great.
31:43Welcome to my pirate museum.
31:44Now, how can I help you?
31:45Well, I'd love to talk about basketball.
31:47I know you like that.
31:48But actually, I'm here.
31:49I'm looking for Captain Kidd's treasure.
31:51Heard you might know something about it.
31:53Come right with me.
31:54All right.
32:11All right.
32:17So, Scott, you want a Captain Kidd?
32:19Here's Captain Kidd.
32:32That's Captain Kidd's personal treasure chest, Scott.
32:35Okay.
32:35When I hear Captain Kidd's treasure,
32:38I'm thinking of heaps of silver and gold coins,
32:41satins, sugar, muslins,
32:42and other valuable goods
32:44spilling out of a treasure chest.
32:45But I never thought about it looking like this.
32:48That's over 300 years old.
32:50So, yes, you're going to have to put on your glove.
32:52I know already.
32:53If I'm going to get access, I...
32:55You're the only one who has unique access.
32:56We usually keep this under lock and key,
32:58security, armed guard.
33:00These things don't get out in the public.
33:01I really appreciate this opportunity.
33:04I know how valuable these things are,
33:06not just to you, but to everybody,
33:08because these are important historical artifacts.
33:11But I have to ask you,
33:13what tells you that this was Captain Kidd's chest?
33:18First and foremost, his name is on the front.
33:20If you look at the lock,
33:22you'll see a William Kidd,
33:25Leith, Scotland.
33:27Okay.
33:28Yes, now anyone could put a brace like that on it.
33:30But then when you look inside,
33:32see the coin in the back?
33:33It gives it a little more dimension.
33:35That's a King Charles II coin,
33:38which happens to be in the era of like 1660 to 1685,
33:42somewhere around there,
33:44which the whole chest is wallpapered
33:47with remnants of the British Britannica.
33:51Now, you've got to remember something,
33:53and I'm sure that you thought about this.
33:54The coin has to make sense in context
33:57with the time of Captain Kidd
33:59and his adventures,
34:00and the coin does seem to make sense.
34:02It's earlier than him.
34:03If it was later, we got a problem.
34:05Big problem.
34:06And the paper has to match date-wise.
34:08And now go down into the treasure chest,
34:11and you'll see there's a fake false bottom.
34:13Yes.
34:15About an inch.
34:16So there was a piece of wood that was over here,
34:18and he had, must have been documents
34:20or maybe some coins or currency.
34:22Or evidence.
34:23Or whatever.
34:24Okay.
34:26And the wood itself and the construction.
34:29I mean, I'm not an expert on period wood boxes like this,
34:32but it sure looks authentic to me.
34:35So I love having you in our museum
34:37because now you get to see some of the artifacts
34:39that validate Captain Kidd as a pirate.
34:43Well, and they also bring him to life.
34:46Who was this guy?
34:46And this whole discussion about treasure, you know,
34:50I'm sure a lot of people would say,
34:51well, to me, treasure is this box filled with gold and silver.
34:55But quite frankly, to me,
34:57some of the most incredible treasure I've ever seen
34:59were long-lost documents, letters,
35:02that people had never seen that show up.
35:05And to me, that's gold.
35:07Well, then I have some gold for you.
35:34The further I get into this mystery,
35:36the more I wonder, what's the real treasure here?
35:39If it's not a cache of gold and silver,
35:42maybe it's something else.
35:45Kidd was no ordinary pirate.
35:46He was a celebrity of his time,
35:48and some believe a patsy,
35:50since he was set up by the people who hired him.
35:54Maybe the real treasure is uncovering the truth
35:57about who Captain Kidd really was.
36:04Because I think this journal will be gold to you,
36:08because this is a journal by a Lieutenant Longish.
36:11Okay.
36:11It's dated October 24th.
36:141699.
36:151699.
36:16What makes it famous is if you open it up,
36:19there's several sections in it,
36:21but just look, yeah, right there,
36:23where your finger is.
36:23If you can read that third line from the bottom,
36:27this day we receive...
36:29Look at these next two words.
36:30Captain Kidd.
36:34Look at that.
36:35I can just see that popping up.
36:37And three more on board is our prisoners.
36:40And what's interesting is there's nothing
36:43that's elevated about it.
36:44It's not like it's on page.
36:46It's just another entry.
36:47This guy was doing his job,
36:49and to me that reflects authenticity.
36:51Obviously it did to you.
36:53Without a doubt.
36:53And throughout it, you'll see they gave him a little more honor.
36:59They put him separate than the other prisoners.
37:01And you'll see that in the journal.
37:02But I just think it's fabulous that here we have a document,
37:06gold in your world, right,
37:08that's over 300 years old,
37:09that demonstrates Captain Kidd's last voyage.
37:12This famous merchantman, privateer, pirate.
37:15Now he's a prisoner.
37:21How about this document here?
37:23These are all the remnants of exactly what happened
37:26at trial of Captain Kidd.
37:27As you see, the murder and piracy.
37:29Six indictments.
37:31He had five indictments for piracy,
37:33one for murder.
37:34He's the only pirate,
37:36maybe the only man we know,
37:37who had six indictments
37:39and was hung three times.
37:44Kidd may have been a ruthless pirate,
37:46but to be hanged three times
37:48sounds excessive.
37:57On May 23rd, 1701,
38:01execution dock in England,
38:02he's walked up the gallows' scaffold.
38:04They put the rope around his neck.
38:08The trap door drops.
38:10His neck doesn't break.
38:11The rope breaks.
38:12He falls down.
38:13Everyone's cheering.
38:14200,000 people are hoping
38:15Kidd says we helped bury this treasure.
38:17They're cheering because the pirate's still living.
38:19They walk him back up the gallows again,
38:21put the rope around his neck.
38:25Hang him till day.
38:30They let him down.
38:31Untie the rope.
38:33They take him into a back of a vessel,
38:36a barn.
38:37They tar him.
38:38Tar him to preserve the flesh.
38:39They put him in chains.
38:41They take him to Tilbury Point
38:42in the Thames Eschewary.
38:44They hang him again from a gibbet
38:46as a warning to all other pirates.
38:49And he swung in the wind
38:51while his body decomposed.
38:52For years.
38:53Sending a message to people.
38:54This is what we do to pirates.
39:03We know Captain William Kidd is a pirate.
39:05We think he's the ultimate pirate.
39:06No, his name is the ultimate pirate.
39:08Blackbeard was a better pirate.
39:10Henry Avery was a better pirate.
39:11But he has the notoriety
39:13because of being a political scapegoat.
39:18So, Pat, this document here
39:20basically is a flyer
39:23that was talking about
39:24the hanging of Captain Kidd?
39:25Exactly, Scott.
39:27I'll read the last paragraph.
39:29Take warning now by me
39:31for I must die
39:32for I must die.
39:33Take warning now by me
39:34for I must die.
39:35Lest you come to hell with me
39:37for I must die
39:38for I must die.
39:39Lest you come to hell with me
39:41for I must die.
39:44Wow.
39:45Well, there's the end.
39:47Written in the words
39:48that everybody could see.
39:49There were 200,000 people there
39:51at his execution.
39:52And most pirate executions
39:54were a carnival.
39:55people come out
39:56and celebrate.
39:57But for him,
39:58there was another reason.
40:00They wanted to know
40:01and hoping that he would reveal
40:03at his last moments of breath
40:05where he hid his treasure.
40:07Because we know,
40:08for a fact,
40:09he buried some treasure.
40:15Well, Pat, I have to say,
40:16throughout this investigation,
40:17I've been to some amazing places
40:20where Captain Kidd was
40:21following this trail
40:22to try to find the treasure,
40:24which I think we agree
40:26some of it may have been found,
40:27but some of it is still out there
40:29yet to be discovered.
40:30But I have to say,
40:32after looking at all of this
40:33and seeing these artifacts
40:35and the fact that you are sharing
40:37these artifacts with the world,
40:38that's not lost on you.
40:40You want this story
40:41and these artifacts
40:42to continue into the future?
40:44From my perspective,
40:46Captain Kidd's treasure
40:48is right here.
40:59My search for Captain Kidd's treasure
41:02took me from the remnants
41:03of the first American millionaire's fortune
41:05to America's remote northeastern isles.
41:09After meeting up with Bill and Alexander,
41:12I still have no proof
41:13Astor's wealth came from Captain Kidd.
41:17But investigating the link
41:19brought me to the only remaining relic
41:21of the notorious pirate's real treasure.
41:25Maybe John Jacob Astor
41:27found Captain Kidd's treasure.
41:29Maybe he didn't.
41:31Either way, there's treasure.
41:35I've seen the end of two giant's fortunes.
41:38One, a crumbling mansion in New York.
41:40The other, a weather-beaten box
41:42and a glass case.
41:44It reminds me that legacies
41:46aren't embodied in things.
41:49But are kept alive
41:49in the spirit of adventure.
41:54Next time on America Unearthed.
41:5650 miles in length
41:57and most people don't even know it's here.
41:59There are portions of the Great Wall
42:00that look like these walls
42:02I saw in California?
42:03So you're saying that Marco Polo
42:05made it to what is now California?
42:09If you have a mysterious artifact or site
42:12I need to see,
42:13I want to know about it.
42:14Go to history.com slash unearthed.
42:17Bye.
42:18Go to history.
42:18Go.
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