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Open Legend · Unsolved

Île Sainte-Marie Pirate Hoards

1690s, 1720s, Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar
COLD TRAIL
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

Île Sainte-Marie Pirate Hoards: still unexplained.

Caches from the Indian Ocean's pirate haven

The subject
developing the photograph…
The manifest
Caches from the Indian Ocean's pirate haven
Last known, where the trail went cold
Kidd careened and abandoned the Adventure Galley here in 1698; the pirate cemetery still watches the harbor where whole fleets divided plunder.
The account

For thirty years this little island was the pirates' home port, Kidd, Tew, Condent, all of them, dividing the richest sea-lanes on Earth in one anchorage. Wrecks line the harbor floor; the hills above have never been honestly searched. The cemetery's skull-cut stones face the sea like men still keeping watch.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • Where the trail goes cold: Kidd careened and abandoned the Adventure Galley here in 1698; the pirate cemetery still watches the harbor where whole fleets divided plunder. That is where any serious search begins.
  • What you are chasing is Caches from the Indian Ocean's pirate haven. Work the documented record of Île Sainte-Marie Pirate Hoards back to primary sources and separate what is attested from folklore before you commit time or money.
  • Confirm who owns and governs Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and get written permission before any search; treat protected or archaeological ground as off limits.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • Where the trail goes cold: Kidd careened and abandoned the Adventure Galley here in 1698; the pirate cemetery still watches the harbor where whole fleets divided plunder. That is where any serious search begins.
  • What you are chasing is Caches from the Indian Ocean's pirate haven. Work the documented record of Île Sainte-Marie Pirate Hoards back to primary sources and separate what is attested from folklore before you commit time or money.
  • Confirm who owns and governs Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and get written permission before any search; treat protected or archaeological ground as off limits.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position -17.000°, 49.850° (approx.) View on the Map