Treasure of Choctawhatchee Bay

Do millions in gold and silver await discovery?

Choctawhatchee Bay in Northwest Florida.

by Dale Cox

Editor's Note: This article continues "Monstery and Mystery Month" on Two Egg TV! To read the first article in the series, please see Pirate Ghosts of the Emerald Coast!

Long before real gold rose from the sands of Destin and South Walton, Choctawhatchee Bay was the focal point of a series of searches for buried treasure. In fact, many would-be millionaires still believe that a fortune in Spanish gold and silver remains to be found somewhere in the bay.

The frenzy surrounding the purported treasure reached its height in 1921-1925 after a man named W.S. Teachout claimed to know its precise location:

Mr. Teachout, who is about seventy years of age, said he could go and put his hands on three of the ships--one that was under only a few feet of sand, that he found it several years ago, and was only waiting for someone with enough money to tackle the job. He was told that men and boats were at his disposal, and that dredges, pumps, and divers would be gotten if necessary. [1]

Rocky Bayou as seen from the shoreline at Fred Gannon
Rocky Bayou State Park in Niceville, Florida. The park is
one of the prettiest spots on Choctawhatchee Bay's north shore.

The legend, as told by Teachout, was that a flotilla of pirate ships was cornered in Choctawhatchee Bay by Spanish warships. East Pass was too shallow for the vessels to escape, and the Spanish had blocked the channel leading from the Choctawhatchee through Santa Rosa Sound to Pensacola. Instead of surrendering to face not just the loss of his treasure but his execution on the gallows at Pensacola, the pirate leader scuttled his gold-laden ships and escaped into the woods with his crew.

No documentation that the legend is true has ever been found, and there is a good reason for skepticism. Evidence, however, has never been a barrier to true believers!

Mr. Teachout found ready investors, and they met him at Valparaiso, ready to begin the search. That's when things got very strange:

...Wednesday night there was a dance in Valparaiso and several strangers were present, two of whom attempted to draw Mr. Teachout into conversation about the treasure. Thursday morning when a boat went out with Teachout and others an airplane soon appeared and hovered over the boat. The boat remained out all morning, and so did the plane. It hovered over the treasure seekers’ boat until noon, when the boat returned to Valparaiso, and the plane flew away. [2]

Did a flotilla of treasure-laden pirate ships meet its end
in Northwest Florida's Choctawhatchee Bay?

The 1921 search focused on areas along the north side of the bay between Valparaiso and Freeport. Newspaper writers reported seeing "mysterious figures," including one of a ship carved into large trees along the shore.

To his own chagrin, Teachout was not able to lead the searchers to the treasure, and the hunt came up empty. The effort to find gold and silver in the bay, however, was far from over. Things got hot again in 1925 when a mysterious dredge left Pensacola and made its way through Santa Rosa Sound to Choctawhatchee Bay:

…Movement of the big barge through the narrows of the sound is a costly process but it was accomplished, the first stop of the barge being at the south shore in Hogtown Bayou. In the past days the dredge has been working off Camp Walton [i.e. Fort Walton Beach]. 

     Lands on the north shore of Choctawhatchee bay, where old timers say treasure is really cached, are owned by the Dixie Town and Land company, and its officials have announced that they will permit no trespass of their properties or riparian rights. The barge crew has been warned not to come within 1,000 feet of this shore line or injunctions will be obtained against them. [3]

The north shore of Choctawhatchee Bay is said by some to be
the location of a mysterious buried treasure.

Part of the north shore of the bay - then as now - was the property of the U.S. Government. Military officials were so concerned about the treasure seekers that they launched planes to shadow their movements. This might also explain the mysterious aircraft that followed the 1921 expedition.

The expense and determination expended on the 1925 expedition failed to bring treasure up from the bottom of Choctawhatchee Bay. The search came up empty, and legends of buried treasure continue to this day.

Is there really a buried treasure? And if so, who could have left it there? The only real answer to the first question is that anything is possible. No documentation of Spanish ships cornering a pirate flotilla in Choctawhatchee Bay has ever been found, but it is challenging to prove a negative. As to who could have left it there, legend current in 1925 credited the famed Louisiana pirate Jean Lafitte.

Editor's Note: Watch for another mystery tomorrow right here on our web channel at www.twoeggflorida.com. 

REFERENCES

[1] Wiregrass Farmer quoting the Valparaiso Herald, September 8, 1921.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The Tampa Times, September 12, 1925.