From a 1717 shipwreck off Wellfleet to the gold coins in our basement, a personal look at the legend of "Black Sam" Bellamy.
The year was 1717. A furious Nor'easter raged off the coast of Cape Cod, battering the shores of Wellfleet. On that fateful night, Captain "Black Sam" Bellamy, one of the wealthiest pirates in history, met his end along with most of his crew when his ship, the Whydah Gally, was swallowed by the tempestuous seas. For centuries, the wreck lay hidden, a legend whispered among local fishermen, its vast treasure a phantom beneath the waves.
Fast forward to the mid-1980s. I was working at a bank on Cape Cod, going about my daily routines, completely unaware that I was about to get a front-row seat to one of the most incredible archaeological discoveries in maritime history. The buzz around the Cape was all about Barry Clifford, a local underwater explorer who claimed he had found a pirate ship. Many were skeptical, but Barry was relentless. And then, it happened. His team located a bronze bell, encrusted with centuries of marine growth, but undeniably bearing the words "THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716." It was the undeniable proof—the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever found.
What made this discovery even more incredible was my proximity to it, not just geographically, but personally. Our next-door neighbor in Chatham happened to be Barry Clifford's college roommate, and he was even diving the very day they found that historic bell. The excitement was palpable; history was being pulled from the depths right off our coast.
But for me, the Whydah saga became intensely personal and surreal when the recovered treasure started arriving. The bank where I worked was chosen to house the artifacts in our lower vault. Imagine this: stepping into work each day, knowing that just a few floors below, real pirate gold and silver were being meticulously cleaned and cataloged.
I’ll never forget the daily routine. Technicians would arrive, carefully bringing up buckets of gold coins and silver pieces, still encrusted with the grime of 300 years on the ocean floor. They'd spend hours, day after day, gently removing the layers of history, revealing the gleaming riches beneath. It was like watching time peel away, exposing the very wealth that "Black Sam" Bellamy had plundered. The vault, normally a secure but rather mundane space, became a portal to the Golden Age of Piracy. It was an amazing, almost magical time, and I felt like I was part of something truly extraordinary.
Even today, the legacy of the Whydah Gally continues. Barry Clifford’s research vessel, The Vast Explorer, still sails the waters off Wellfleet every year. They continue to search for more of Bellamy’s treasure, bringing up new artifacts and piecing together even more of this captivating story.
The Whydah isn't just a shipwreck; it's a living piece of history that continues to unfold. And for me, it will always be more than just a historical footnote. It's a vivid memory of a time when pirate gold wasn't just in books or movies, but right there in our bank vault, just a few floors beneath my feet.
