Original subtitles

♪♪

Gates: I'm Here Because There's A Legend

About Blackbeard On This Island.Yes.

Do You Think That Blackbeard Had A Treasure?

That's A Coin, Man.

Duffus: His Treasure Wasn't What You Think It Is.

Whoa! Looks Like A Sea Cave.

Look At This.

Got It! We Got It!

♪♪

Every Day, Thousands Of Kids Float Through

Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean Ride,

Singing Along To That Emblematic Tune,

"Yo Ho, Yo Ho, [A Pirate's Life For Me]."

But Wait A Minute.

Pirates Are Immoral, Bloodthirsty Murderers,

So Why Are We So Obsessed With Them?

Perhaps It's Because We All Secretly Yearn

To Find Their Buried Treasure.

Well, The Most Famous Lost Pirate Treasure

Belongs To The World's Most Notorious Pirate --

The One And Only Blackbeard.

He Was Born Edward Teach

And Later Became A Successful Privateer,

Commissioned By The British Crown

To Protect Their Interests In The Caribbean.

Blackbeard's Menacing Appearance Inspired Countless Authors

And Later Made Him Hollywood's Favorite Pirate.

But It Is His Legendary Lost Fortune

That Has Captivated Explorers For Hundreds Of Years.

Blackbeard Boasted That Only He And The Devil Himself

Knew Where The Treasure Was Buried.

Now, After Three Centuries,

There Are Groundbreaking New Developments In The Hunt.

Off The Coast Of North Carolina, An Archaeological Team

Has Discovered Blackbeard's Flagship,

And They Are Meticulously Bringing It To The Surface.

Simultaneously, In The Outer Banks

And In The Cayman Islands,

Treasure Hunters Believe That New Information

Is Drawing Them Closer To Blackbeard's Buried Loot,

And One Historian Believes

That He Has Solved The Mystery Once And For All.

So, Join Me As I Hit The High Seas In Search Of

The Most Sought-After Pirate Treasure In History.

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord!

[ Laughs Maniacally ]

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is "Expedition Unknown."

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

The Hunt Begins Here In Hampton, Virginia.

Located 700 Miles North Of The Caribbean,

This Isn't Exactly The First Place That Comes To Mind

When You Think Of Buccaneers, But, This Weekend,

It Is The Annual Hampton Blackbeard Festival.

[ Crowd Cheering ]

♪♪

The Festival Is More Than Just A Cosplay Free-For-All.

History Is Shared, Authentic Weapons Are Fired,

And Pirate Traditions And Craftsmanship

Are Brought Back To Life.

Obligatory Jack Sparrow Sighting In Three, Two, One...

Hi.

[ As Jack Sparrow ] Hi, How You Doing, Mate?

Pretty Good.

I'd Like To Apologize For Being A Scallywag To Everybody Here.

What Does Scallywag Even Mean?

If You Want To Find A Pirate Treasure,

You've Got To Think Like A Pirate And,

Whenever Possible, Look Like One.

Time For A Little Wardrobe Change.

Can You See?Yes.

I Feel Like I'm About To Ratify A Declaration Of Some Sort.

Oh, Hell, Yeah. That's It.

This Is The One, I Think.

I'm Not Worried About That Thinning Hair Anymore.

I Am Back, Baby.

♪♪

Not To Worry, Folks.

All The Pirate Wigs Are 100% Human "H'arrr."

When It Comes To Blackbeard,

300 Years Makes It Difficult To Separate Fact From Fiction,

So I'm Meeting With John Collamore.

Don't Let The Hat And The Outfit Fool You.

He's Been Studying The History Of Piracy For Decades.

When Does Blackbeard First Appear On The Scene?

Blackbeard First Appears As A Privateer In The Caribbean

During The Queen Anne's War In 1715, 1716.

He Is Sort Of A Legal Pirate.

He's A Pirate With Papers. Absolutely.

The Man Who Would Become Blackbeard

Was Born Edward Teach.

In The 18Th Century, Teach And Others Like Him

Worked For The English Crown

To Suppress Enemy Forces In The Caribbean.

But By 1714, Privateering Was Outlawed.

Young Sailors Like Edward Teach Had A Violent Set Of Skills

And Were Suddenly Thrown Out Of Work.

So, Teach Went Awol And Became A Pirate,

The Scourge Of Shipping Lanes Across The Atlantic.

Why Does He Have This Reputation

As Being Such A Terrifying Guy?

He Was Tall. He's Over Six Feet.

He's Broad-Shouldered, He Has A Commanding Presence,

And He Was A Showman.

Blackbeard's Success Was Due In Part

To His Terrifying Persona.

He Dressed In All Black.

Before Combat, He Was Said To Tie

Smoldering Cannon Fuses To His Beard,

Which Made Smoke Encircle His Head.

He Also Carried A Dozen Pistols

In A Bandoleer Slung Over His Shoulders.

This Is A Guy Whose Flag Was A Devil Stabbing A Human Heart,

So Intimidation Was Clearly The Name Of The Game,

And Blackbeard Was A Master.

Most Of His Victims Surrendered

Without Him Firing A Single Shot.

A Lot Has Been Said About Blackbeard's Treasure.

If I'm Looking For That Treasure,

Where Do You Think A Good Place Would Be To Look?

Cayman Brac Would Be A Very Likely Place

If You Pay Attention To The Legends And The Folklore.

Rumor Has It That He Was Sighted By The Locals

Taking Boats Ashore And Possibly Burying Treasure.

Cayman Brac? Cayman Brac.

This Corner Of The Caribbean

Is Considered A Major Target For The Treasure,

So I'm Setting Off To Investigate

By Meeting Two Different Treasure Hunters There.

I'm Flying 1,250 Miles To The Southeast

To The Crystalline Waters Of The Cayman Islands.

♪♪

Paradise.

What Else Can You Call It?

To Most Of Us, The Caymans Are A Playground For The Rich,

An Offshore Tax Haven,

And An All-Around Great Place To Park A Yacht.

But That's Grand Cayman.

Just To The East Is An Island

That Most Tourists Have Never Heard Of...

Cayman Brac.

♪♪

This Is The Caribbean Of Another Time And Place --

No Hard Rock Cafe, No Five-Star Hotels.

It's A Sleepy, 12-Mile-Long Strip Of Tropical Wilderness

That Rises Up 140 Feet Above The Sea.

It's The Type Of Place That Screen Savers Are Made Of.

Today There's Only About 2,000 Residents On The Island,

But If You're Here Looking For Pirate Riches,

The One Man To See Is Tenson Scott.

A Lifelong Treasure Hunter And "Braccer,"

He May Have Come Within Inches Of Finding A Pirate Fortune.

Hello, There. Are You Tenson?

Scott, Yes, You're Right.

So, I've Heard A Story

That Blackbeard May Have Come To This Island.

Do You Think That Pirates Came To This Island?

Rumor Has It That While Blackbeard

Was Raiding Ships In The Caribbean,

He And Other Pirates Used Cayman Brac

As A Place To Deposit Treasure.

Even Back Then, The Caymans Were A Good Place For Banking,

And Tenson Scott Is Famous

For Almost Finding Some Of That Pirate Loot.

I Heard A Story That You Came Close

To Finding Some Sort Of Treasure.

Sounds Lovely.

So, What Did You Do?

You Gave Up. And Then What Happened?

Uh-Huh.

[ Imitating Metal Detector Beeping ]

And What Was Underneath The Stone?

The Coins Appeared To Be From After Blackbeard's Time,

And The Men Who Found It Disappeared With The Haul,

Leaving Tenson With Nothing.

He Spent Years Scouring The Island.

He Believes That Blackbeard's Treasure Is Here,

And He Thinks He Knows Where.

So, If I'm Going To Look For The Treasure, Where Should I Look?

Caves. Okay.

While Tenson's Treasure-Hunting Days May Be Behind Him,

His Nephew Logan Is Continuing The Search.

But The Question Is, Do You Know Where It Is?

I Don't Know Exactly Where It Is,

But I Know It's Somewhere Around Here.

You Want To Show Me Where You're Looking?

Yeah, Sure.Let's Do It. Come On.

Tenson, We'll Be Back Soon With A Big Treasure Chest.

Whoo!

♪♪

Logan Is Bringing Me To Ironshore,

A Remote Beach Where Blackbeard May Have Dropped Anchor.

Wow!

That Is A View. Yeah.

That Is Awesome.

What Is This Bluff?

The Bluff Is Actually A Risen Reef.

Oh, It's Like A Coral Reef That's Been Pushed Up.

Really Porous, Lots Of Holes.Yeah.

Gates: To Reach The Cave, We Have To Cross

1,200 Yards Of Jagged, Razor-Sharp Coral.

The Slightest Misstep Here Can Get You Swallowed By The Waves.

Look Out.

Look Out!

Logan Has Systematically Explored

Over 100 Caves On The Island.

Today, He's Leading Me To A Remote Cavern

He Hasn't Yet Searched, A Place Accessible Only At Low Tide.

Thatlooks Like A Pirate Cave.

We Have Only A Short Time To Search The Cave

Before The Rising Tide Will Cut Us Off From The Beach.

Whoa. This Is Wild.

This Is Pretty Piratey, Dude.

If I Was A Pirate, This Is Where I Would Hide Some Treasure.

Oh, Yeah, Me, Too.

What We're Looking Here For

Is Some Soft Sand Or Some Sort Of Marker Or Something.

A Marker Or Some Soft Sand, Okay.

Boy, I Wish The Humidity Was

A Little Bit Higher In This Cave.

It's Not Quite At 100%.

Little Sweaty.

♪♪

Logan: Okay, Josh, Here's What We're Looking For.

I'm Gonna Start Digging Here.

Okay, Right Behind You.

With The Tide Outside Rising, We Waste No Time And Dig In.

Tell You What, Treasure-Hunting Is Not Easy Work.

No, It's Not.

Just Imagine What They Went Through To Try And Hide It.

Yeah, They Would've Been Just As Sweaty As We Are.

[ Laughing ] Yeah.

I Got A Skull Here. Look At This --

Tiny Skull, Part Of An Animal Skull, Maybe A Bird.

This Could Be The Grave Of Blackbeard's Parrot.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

[ Metal Clinking ]

What Is That?

[ Metal Clanging ]

It's Something Hard.

Oh! What's That?! You See That?!

What Is It?I Just Saw Something Flash.

Give Me The Light.

There! You See That?Yeah, I See It.

That's A Coin, Man. That Is A Coin.

♪♪

Gates: I'm On The Coast Of The Idyllic Caribbean Island Of Cayman Brac.

A Local Treasure Hunter And I Have Ventured Into A Remote Cave

Where, Legend Has It, The Infamous Pirate Blackbeard

May Have Hidden A Massive Fortune.

Oh! What's That?! You See That?!

Logan: What Is It?I Just Saw Something Flash.

Give Me The Light.

There! You See That?Yeah, I See It.

That's A Coin, Man. Oh, Man.

That Is A Coin.

Let's See If We Can Clean It Off.

That Look Like Silver, Dude.

Don't See A Date?No, I Don't See A Date.

I Can Make Out A Little Writing, But Not Much.

Though Heavily Faded, The Coin Appears To Be Dated

From The Year 1800, 82 Years After Blackbeard's Death.

Let's Start Digging, Josh.Let's Go.

If We Get Anything Else -- Glints, Any More Metal...

Logan And I Continue To Excavate The Pit.

We Find Other Small Bones, But No Other Treasure.

With The Tide Nearly High, We Leave The Cave

And Quickly Hike Back Across The Rocks

Before We End Up Trapped Here.

As For Logan And His Uncle,

They Vow To Continue Searching The Many Caves On The Island,

Convinced That The Jackpot Is Just Around The Next Corner.

♪♪

On The Other Side Of The Island Is A Man Who Believes

That Everyone Is Looking For Blackbeard's Treasure

In The Wrong Place.

Are You Darvin? I Am He.

Meet Darvin Ebanks, Aka "Black Terrence."

I Hope You Don't Take This As An Insult,

But You Look A Little Bit Like A Pirate.

Yeah, I Am. I Am Captain Black Terrence,

Captain Of The Bloody Bay Buccaneers.

What Are The Bloody Bay Buccaneers?

Well, The Bloody Bay Buccaneers Is My Crew,

Is My Buccaneers Crew.

And Do You Guys Actually Steal Stuff?

Ah, Well... [ Laughs ]

I'm Not Gonna Tell You That.

Right, A Pirate Never Tells.

I'm Here Because There's A Legend

About Blackbeard On This Island.Yes.

So, The Big Question Is, Where's The Treasure?

I Think I Know A Place Where People Have Not Looked.

♪♪

The Ocean. Yes.

Follow Me.

Darvin's Explorations Have Confirmed

That Many Of The Limestone Caves That Crisscross Cayman Brac

Lead To Flooded Passages That Connect To The Sea.

He Believes The Contents Of These Caves,

And Perhaps Hidden Treasure,

May Have Been Flushed Out Into The Caribbean.

I'm Going To Put Darvin's Theory To The Test,

So I'm Joining Him In His Search For Blackbeard's Treasure

In The Waters Surrounding The Island.

After A Short Trip To Our First Location,

It's Time For Us To Gear Up And Dive In.

♪♪

The Nice Thing About Treasure-Hunting

In The Cayman Islands Is This --

Some Of The Best Diving On Earth.

But Even In These Clear Waters, There Are Secrets.

Beyond The Anchor, I Enter A World Of Shadow.

The Passage Narrows, And We Sift The Bottom

To Explore Every Nook And Cranny We Can Find.

Soon, Though, The Dark Cave Gives Way To Ethereal Light.

This Is The Cayman Abyss,

A Sheer Drop That Plummets Down To More Than 20,000 Feet.

Diving Here Is Like Floating In Outer Space.

I Swim Back Toward The Shallow Caves

To Continue Our Underwater Treasure Hunt.

These Subsea Canyons Are Spectacular,

And Soon They Give Way To A Massive Surprise.

♪♪

This Hulking 330-Foot Leviathan Dates Back To The Cold War.

Once Part Of The Soviet Union's Atlantic Fleet In Cuba,

It Was Scuttled In 1996.

The Vessel Rests In An Eerie State Of Preservation.

I Pass Cautiously Through Her Dim Hallways

And Survey Her Long-Silenced Guns.

It's Ironic To See A Modern Ship Of War

In Such A Peaceful Setting.

Darvin And I Leave The Wreck Behind And Continue To Explore

The Many Flooded Passages Beneath Cayman Brac.

But By Afternoon, With Our Air Running Low,

We Have To Call It A Day.

♪♪

The Wreck Is Incredible.

Very, Very Nice. Very Nice.

No Sign Of The Treasure.

Nothing At All. Nothing.

What's It Gonna Take To Find It?

A Lot More Diving, I Bet.Yeah.

Treasure-Hunting's Not Easy, You Know?

Then I Should Probably Stay Here On This Island

And Continue To Look For The Treasure, Maybe Buy A House.

♪♪

While There's No Doubt

That Cayman Brac Was Once A Haven For Pirates,

There Is No Solid Evidence

That Blackbeard's Treasure Is Here,

Just Legends Fueled By The Promise Of Riches.

So, I'm Going To Keep Following His Trail

In Search Of Hard Facts.

♪♪

From Cayman Brac, I'm Jetting Back

To The East Coast Of The United States

And Touching Down... In North Carolina.

♪♪

Here In The South, You're Nothing Without A Truck,

So I've Picked Up A Hunk Of American Steel

Worthy Of A Pirate.

♪ Let's Ride ♪

My Ride May Be Cool, But It's No Match For Blackbeard's.

In Late 1717, Blackbeard Seized

The French Slaving Ship La Concorde

Off The Island Of Martinique.

She Was Refitted With An Overwhelming 40 Cannons

And, In A Nod To His Life As A Privateer,

Renamed The Queen Anne's Revenge.

♪♪

As For The Slaves On The Concord,

History Offers No Record Of What Happened To Them.

Some Believe That Blackbeard Welcomed Them

As Brothers In Arms.

Others, However, Suggest That He Had No Compunction

About Buying And Selling Human Beings.

In Either Case, Blackbeard Sails To The American Colonies

To Continue Raiding Ships.

In May Of 1718, He Gets Bold,

Blockading The Port Of Charleston.

Desperate For Order, The King Of England

Offers Blackbeard A Full Pardon.

All Blackbeard Has To Do Is Meet With A Local Governor

And Sign A Treaty, But Before He Can Get There...

[ Crashing ]

...His Ship Runs Aground Off The Coast.

If You're Looking For A Pirate Treasure,

A Really Good Place To Look Is Inside A Pirate Ship,

And Lucky For Us,

Blackbeard's Flagship Has Already Been Found.

In 1998, Nearly 300 Years After Her Sinking,

Explorers Located The Queen Anne's Revenge

Off The Coast Of North Carolina.

But It Has Taken Decades To Carefully Haul

Her Broken Pieces To The Surface.

In A Facility Outside Of Greenville,

Archaeologists Are Carefully Sifting Through

This Pirate Time Capsule.

Hello.

Hey, How Are You Doing Today?

Good. How You Doing?

Josh, Thanks A Lot For Coming By, Man.

Oh, Are You Kidding? Thanks For Having Me.

This Place Is Amazing.

This Is Where Everything That We Bring Up

Off Of The Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Ends Up --

Everything From Conserving Large Objects Like Cannons

To Pieces Of The Ship's Hull

To Almost Microscopic Artifacts

That Are Recovered From The Sediment As We Excavate.

What Was Your First Impression Of It?

It Was A Staggeringly Cool Site.

That It Belonged To One Of The Most Famous Pirates

In The World Is Really Cool.

It's One Of The Neatest Sites

I've Ever Had The Privilege Of Working On.

How Many Artifacts Have You

Pulled Off The Wreck At This Point?

Over 400,000 To Date.

400,000?

Where Are You Keeping All Of That?

♪♪

So, How Do You Safely Store

Nearly Half A Million Priceless Pirate Artifacts?

A Staggering Amount Of Tupperware.

This Is Like The Biggest Collection

Of Leftovers I've Ever Seen.

This Is Actually What My Refrigerator Looks Like.

[ Chuckles ]

While I'm Impressed By The Sheer Amount Of Smaller Items

The Team Has Managed To Salvage, I'm Ready To See The Big Guns.

So, This Is The Main Event?

This Is The Main Event.

This Is Where All The Really Neat Stuff Is.

[ Chuckling ] Oh!

♪♪

Gates: I'm In North Carolina,

On A Hunt For The Lost Treasure Of The Pirate Blackbeard.

I've Arrived At A Research Facility

To Examine Some Of The 400,000 Artifacts

Salvaged From Blackbeard's Sunken Flagship.

Wow.

This Warehouse Is Like Something

Out Of "Raiders Of The Lost Ark."

Tank After Tank Is Filled With Massive Artifacts That Are

Helping Us To Understand Blackbeard And His Ship.

This Is Where The Bigger Artifacts Are Stored.

They're Kept Wet.Wow.

♪♪

This Is One Of Four Anchors Associated With This Wreck.

How Did You Ever Get This Off The Ocean Floor?

We Put Lift Bags On It, Floated It To The Surface,

And Then Used A Research Vessel To Pick It Up

And Get It Up Here To The Lab.

The Huge Anchor Was Necessary For Such A Large Vessel.

The Queen Anne's Revenge

Was Over 103 Feet Long And Weighed 300 Tons.

The 40 Cannon On Board Meant That She Could Outgun

Pretty Much Anything Else On The Water.

This Boat Was Basically A Floating Tank.

This, Of Course, One Of The Oldest Items Here In The Lab.

This Is Incredibly Rare.

This, Of Course, Is Blackbeard's Boom Box,

And Just The State Of Preservation Is Amazing.

Morris: Indeed, And When Conservation Is Complete,

We're Probably Gonna Be Able To Figure Out

What They Were Listening To.

Yeah. Probably Nickelback, I Would Think.

Blackbeard Was A Big Nickelback Fan.

So, A Lot Of Incredible Things

That Have Been Pulled Off The Wreck.

Indeed.

How Much Is Left To Be Excavated?

I Think We've Got Over Half Of The Ship Still To Go.

The Best Stuff Is Yet To Be Seen,

So I'd Be Tickled To Take You Down To See It.

Really? Yeah, Man.

You Kidding? I'm In. Let's Do It.

The Relics In The Lab Are Impressive,

But With Blackbeard's Treasure Still Out There,

I'm Eager To Examine The Wreck For Myself.

♪♪

From Greenville, We Head About 85 Miles Southeast

To The Coastal Carolina Town Of Beaufort.

On The Docks, We Meet The Support Team

Critical To The Massive Recovery Effort.

Wow. Legit.Come On Aboard, Man.

♪♪

With Our Gear Stowed Aboard, We Head Out To Dive The Site.

When The Queen Anne's Revenge Ran Aground,

Blackbeard Hastily Fled To Another Vessel In His Fleet.

The Question Is, Did His Legendary Treasure

Go Down With The Ship?

♪♪

To Investigate The Remains That Are Still On The Ocean Floor,

We'll Be Diving In The Tough Exposed Conditions

Of The Atlantic Coast.

Gates: I Take It That Diving Here

Is Not Exactly The Clarity Of The Waters Of The Caribbean.

Rarely.

What Do You Think We're Looking At Down There?

I Think, If We Have A Foot Of Visibility,

We're Gonna Be Lucky.

That's One Of The Reasons

That It's A Difficult Place To Work.

The Weather Here Changes By The Minute, And As We Anchor Up,

Conditions Are Already Deteriorating.

In A Race Against Time And The Elements,

We Strap On Our Gear And Hit The Water.

♪♪

♪♪

Just A Few Feet Below The Surface,

The Visibility Has Dropped To Almost Nothing.

I Can Feel The Current Pulling Me

As I Struggle To Hang On To A Guideline

That Leads Down To The Wreck.

If I Lose My Grip, The Current Will Pull Me

Blindly Into The Murky Waters.

Gates: I'm In North Carolina,

Investigating Blackbeard's Lost Treasure.

I'm Diving On The Remains Of His Flagship,

And The Conditions Are Worsening By The Minute.

This Is One Of The Four Anchors

That Were Carried On The Queen Anne's Revenge.

I Realize Now That There Is Treasure Here,

But It's In The Form Of Priceless Artifacts,

Not Gold Coins.

The Ship Was Also Packed With 40 Cannons,

Which Were There Primarily For Intimidation.

As We Explore, The Visibility Drops,

And We Go From Looking Around To Clutching Around In The Haze.

There's No Indication Of Gold Today,

But I'm Far From Disappointed.

♪♪

As We Reach Topside, I'm Impressed By The Dedication

Billy Ray And His Team Have Shown

In Studying This Incredible Wreck.

[ Engine Starts ]

And With Half The Ship Left To Go,

Who Knows What They'll Find Next?

♪♪

I'm Back On The Road, Tracing Blackbeard's Movements

During The Final Months Of His Life.

After He Wrecks His Flagship,

He Travels Somewhere Very Unexpected.

♪♪

So, After Blackbeard Wrecks The Queen Anne's Revenge,

This Is Where His Story Continues.

June Of 1718, Aboard A Vessel Known As The Adventure,

He Sails Here To The Tiny Postcard-Perfect Town

Of Bath, North Carolina.

Rather Than Plotting His Next Attack,

He Receives A Royal Pardon,

And Then The Most Feared Pirate In History

Does Something Totally Out Of Character -- He Settles Down.

With Deep Pockets, He And His Crew Buy Up Some Land

And Go Into Retirement.

Blackbeard Even Gets Married.

[ Dog Barks ]

But Once A Pirate, Always A Pirate.

[ Cannon Fire, Men Shouting ]

After Just A Few Months Of Playing It Straight,

Blackbeard Is Back To Plundering On The High Seas.

The Response Is Swift And Severe.

The Governor Of Virginia Commissions

Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard

To Bring Blackbeard In Or To Simply Kill Him.

Now!

He Finds Blackbeard Anchored Off Nearby Ocracoke Island,

Which Is Now Famous For Being The Location

Of Blackbeard's Last Stand.

It's Also Where A Well-Known Treasure Hunter

Thinks Blackbeard's Loot Might Be Buried.

♪♪

To Meet Him, I'm Traveling

One Of America's Most Scenic Roadways.

So, These Are The Famed Outer Banks,

More Than 200 Miles Of Narrow Roads And Bridges

That Connect A Series Of Barrier Islands

Off The North Carolina Coast.

In The Summertime -- Big Tourist Destination.

One Of Those Places That's Super-Remote

And Yet Is Also Filled With Dairy Queens,

Mini-Golf Courses, And Nautical- Themed Convenience Stores.

The Beauty Of The Outer Banks Is Breathtaking,

From The Windswept Dunes At Kitty Hawk,

Where Two Brothers First Took To The Air,

To The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse,

Which Has Been Standing Watch Over The Coast

For Over A Century.

Blackbeard -- He Started Hanging Out In A Remote Island

Off The Coast Of North Carolina,

And Many People Think That This May Be The Strongest Contender

For The Location Of His Buried Treasure.

While You Can Travel Most Of The Outer Banks By Car,

You Do Run Out Of Road Before You Get To Ocracoke Island.

To Reach This Tiny Spit Of Land, I Need To Take A Ferry.

♪♪

I Had This Terrible Dream That I Was

In A Super [Bleep] Pickup Truck In The Middle Of The Ocean.

Oh, Wait.

♪♪

At Last, I Arrive On Ocracoke And Seek Shelter At --

Where Else? -- Blackbeard's Lodge.

I'm Exhausted, But Who Knows?

Tomorrow Could Be The Day I Strike It Rich.

♪♪

Gates: Morning On Ocracoke Island Off North Carolina.

I've Arranged To Meet A Treasure Hunter Who Has A Hot Lead

On What He Hopes Is Blackbeard's Lost Fortune.

[ Horn Honks ]

Gates: You Ed? I'm Ed.

Sweet Ride.Yeah, Thank You.

This Is The Official Way To Get Around Ocracoke.

All Right, Man, Let's Go.

So, This Is Ocracoke?Yes, Sir.

It's, Uh -- It's Empty.

Pretty Much A Little Strip,

And That's About It -- And A Bunch Of Sand.

Yeah, Out Here On The Open Roads,

I Do See A Lot Of Regular Cars.

Well, I Mean, Once I Get --

I'm Not Knocking Your Golf Cart, Ed.

Well, I'm Just Saying, When We Get To Town,

You'll See A Lot More Golf Carts,

And The People In Cars, They Got Nowhere To Park.

It's True, Parking Does Look Tight Out Here.

[ Chuckling ] Yeah.

[ Gulls Crying ]

And, So, You've Been

Looking For The Treasure Now For How Long?

About Five Years.

So, What Do You Do When You're Not Treasure-Hunting?

I'm A Police Officer In Virginia.

A Treasure-Hunting Police Officer?

That's Right. I Mean, Well, If You Think About It,

Police Officers Are Trying To Solve Mysteries,

Trying To Figure Things Out.

Okay, So, Where Are We Headed?

Well, We're Going To Springer's Point,

But To Understand Springer's Point,

You Have To Understand Blackbeard's Death.

Blackbeard's Last Stand Begins Shortly After

Lieutenant Maynard's Ship Sails Into The Bay.

Blackbeard Fires His Cannons,

But Maynard Cleverly Orders His Men To Hide Below Deck,

Convincing Blackbeard The Cannon Fire Has Obliterated His Crew.

When The Pirates Storm The Ship,

Maynard's Men Rush Out Of The Hold,

Catching Blackbeard By Surprise.

Within Minutes, The Infamous Pirate Is Dead --

Shot 5 Times And Stabbed 20.

When It's All Over, Maynard Returns To Virginia

With Blackbeard's Head Swinging From The Bow Of His Ship.

Blackbeard Had Mistakenly Believed

That This Area Was A Safe Place To Lay Low,

And There Are Many Scholars Who Contend That This Location

At Springer's Point Was The True Hiding Place Of His Treasure.

So, Has Everybody Just Dug Up Springer's Point, Then?

No, Springer's Point Has Never Been

Any Kind Of Permission To Hunt,

Go On There With Any Kind Of Metal Detector Or Anything,

But For The First Time Today,

I Got Special Permission To Go On Here

And Do Some Detecting.

Really? Yes.

This Is Actually Sounding More And More Promising.

It's A Pretty Big Deal. There's A Good Chance.

One Of The Biggest Things I've Heard Is

You're More Likely To Find A Pirate Treasure

Than You Are To Win The Lottery.

That's Funny. That's A Great Point.

Well, It Is Easier To Buy A Lottery Ticket.

It's Easier. Got To Put A Little Effort.

♪♪

Springer's Point.

Thanks To Ed's Badge And His Persistence,

He's Been Able To Get Us Unique Access

To Search This Extremely Restricted Area.

Okay, Lead The Way.

Ed, There's Obviously A Lot Of Wilderness Back Here.

How Do You Know Where To Hone In On The Treasure?

Well, Follow Me, And I'll Show You.

I Can Do That.

♪♪

[ Gull Cries ]

This Is It -- Springer Point.

So, This Is A Map From 1733.

This Is A Map Of Ocracoke, 1733.1733.

Now, As You Can See, The Island Looks Much Different

Than It Does On This Map Today.

This Is A Present-Day Map Of Ocracoke, Satellite Image.

You Can See How Much The Island Has Changed.

And Taking These Two Maps, 1733,

And Overlaying It On A Current Satellite Image Of The Map,

One Thing That You Can Point Out From This Map Of 1733

Is That The Well Marked On This Map Falls On Springer Point,

Where The Current Well Is.

So, You Think They're One And The Same.

I Do.All Right, Let's Get To It.

Let's Do It.

Ed Believes That Blackbeard Frequented This Spot

Because Springer's Point Had

The One Thing He And His Crew Needed -- Freshwater.

With The Well Identified On The Map,

Ed Thinks The Treasure Must Be Close By.

Here It Is.

This Is The Well.

How Long Do You Think This Has Been Here For?

Obviously The Wood's Newer.

The Brick Looks Like It Was Laid Later On,

But The Well Itself, I'd Say About 1700.

So, What's Our Strategy?

I Think It's Right Around This Vicinity.

I Say We Check Around The Well First,

And Then We'll Head Down To The Beach And Scan Around.

Copy That.

Finding This Well Means That We're Likely In The Exact Spot

That Blackbeard Would've Visited When He Came Ashore.

Since We've Only Been Granted A Few Hours To Search The Site,

We Break Out The Metal Detectors And Get To Work.

[ Metal Detector Pinging ]

Beer Tab.

[ Pinging ]

Almost Immediately, Ed Starts Getting Hit...

[ Pinging ]...After Hit.

Ed Sounds Like He's Finding Treasure All Over The Place.

I Got Nothing.

Is This Thing Even On?

Ed, You Didn't Give Me The Broken One, Did You?

Your Thing's Going Off Like A Smoke Detector, Mine's Dead.

That Might Be User Error.

[ Pinging ]

Classic Pirate Move.

With Ed's Metal Detector Blowing Up,

I Move In To Get A Closer Look

At This Beachcombing Ninja At Work.

That Is A Beer Can.

I Wonder If That Was Blackbeard's Brand.

Blackbeard -- A Light-Beer Drinker.

I Would Not Have Guessed That, Actually. It's Surprising.

♪♪

With Our Sights Set Considerably Higher Than A 5¢ Deposit,

We Press On, And Soon Ed Gets A Major Hit.

[ Beeping ]

Josh, I Think I Got Something.

You Got Something? Yeah.

What Do You Got?Something Really Big.

My Hand Under It On This Side.

That's...

That Is Metal.

Whatever It Is, That Is Old.

[ Beeping ]That's Definitely Metal.

It's Got Wood Wrapped Around It.

It's Got Some Organic Material Around It.

Looks Like A Spike Of Some Kind.

And There's More Of It Down There.

Here, I'm Gonna Grab The Shovel.

Two Dudes About To Strike It Rich.

Okay, Ready? Yep.

Hold On. There's Something Big Right There.

Ooh, We're Under It.

I Mean, If I Pull A Pirate Chest Up Out Of Here, Ed,

I Am Gonna [Bleep] My Pants.

There We Go. There We Go.

We Got It! We Got It!

[ Grunts ]

[ Laughs ]

[ Exhales Deeply ]

Ed, I Am No Treasure-Hunting Expert,

But I Believe That This Is What Is Called, Uh, A Rock.

Yep. Looks Like A Rock To Me.

We Do Have This Very Cool Spike.

Who Knows? This Could Be Part Of Blackbeard's Ship.

This Is True.

But It's Not A Treasure.

Boy, That Was Exciting There For A Second.

It Is. It's Always The Thrill Of The Hunt.

Yeah, And The Agony Of Defeat.That's Right.

Well, You Know What They Say?

When Treasure-Hunting, Leave No Stone Unturned.

I Was Just Doing That, Literally.

We'd Need A Dredge To Get Deeper In The Flooded Hole,

And Our Short Time At Springer's Point Is Up.

It Will Take Substantial Time And Money

To Completely Canvass This Protected Area.

There May Be More Here Just Waiting To Be Found,

Or It May Be Another In A Long Line Of Dead Ends.

[ Horn Blows ]

I Return To The Docks And Catch A Ferry Back To The Mainland,

Where I Have One Last Stop...

A Meeting With A Renowned Blackbeard Scholar

Who Believes He's Cracked The Code

To Reveal The Truth Behind The Treasure.

♪♪

Well, I've Looked High And Low For Blackbeard's Treasure.

Not On The Caymans...

Not On The Queen Anne's Revenge...

And Not In Ocracoke.

But I Do Have One Last Lead.

There's A Historian Here In North Carolina

Who Has A Bold New Theory About Blackbeard.

In Fact, He Thinks He's Solved The Mystery

Of Blackbeard's Treasure.

♪♪

I've Returned To Blackbeard's Home Of Bath

To Meet With Noted Historian And Author Kevin Duffus.

Gates: A Lot Of Legends Surrounding Blackbeard.

There Are.

Maybe More Than Any Other Pirate.

Well, Certainly,

And Because He's, Of Course, The Best-Known Pirate.

Most Things That People Believe About Blackbeard

Are Entirely Myths That Are Based On

The Repetition Of Long-Held Beliefs.

So, Do You Think That Blackbeard Had A Treasure?

I Do Think He Had A Treasure,

But His Treasure Wasn't What You Think It Is.

To Fully Understand The Story,

You Have To Do More Than Just Research Pirate History.

You Have To Research Political History

And Economic History Of The Colony Of North Carolina.

In The 10 Years Before Blackbeard Arrived Here

In The Summer Of 1718,

North Carolina Was At A Great Disadvantage

Compared To Its Neighboring Colonies.

They Had Been On The Brink Of Economic Devastation.

There Was No Labor Force Here.

In The Summer Of 1718...

...Blackbeard Wrecked The Queen Anne's Revenge

132 Miles Away From Here And Sailed Up Here,

And, All Of A Sudden, There's An Economic Boom.

And Let's Talk About The Economic Boom.

What Is He Bringing On That Sloop?

Something Else That Turned Out To Be

More Valuable, More Necessary

For The Economically Depressed Plantation Society,

That Was More Valuable Than Gold Or Silver.

So, If His Treasure Wasn't Money,

If It Wasn't Gold And Silver, What Was It?

Blackbeard's Treasure Were Slaves.

Slaves? Absolutely.

The Priceless Commodity That Blackbeard Traded

Wasn't Gold Or Silver.

In An Era When Human Life Was Available For A Price,

Blackbeard Appears To Have Been A Participant

In The Tragic Legacy Of The American Slave Trade.

How Do You Come To This Conclusion,

That It's Really About Human Cargo?

There's Very Strong Written Evidence That Shows

That A Number Of Men Whose Names Appear On The Records

As Having Been With Blackbeard

Are Buying Land Here In Bath For These Slaves.

These Slaves, Of Course, Arrived On This Pirate Ship

Not Knowing Where They Were Going, What Their Future Held,

And They Were At The Mercy Of Their Pirate Masters,

But They Come Here To Bath And,

Over Time, Become Skilled Tradesmen.

And They Helped To Build America

Into The Nation That It Is Today.

Unfortunately, The History Of Those Men

Has Been Eclipsed By Blackbeard's Vast Legend.

It's This Opaque Legend

Before And Even Long After His Death.

It Certainly Puts Blackbeard And His Legacy

In A Very Different Light.Yeah, I Agree.

In The End, It's Easy To See

Why Our Fascination With Blackbeard

Has Endured For Centuries.

The Ocean Was A Stage, And He Was Its Consummate Showman

With A Threatening Flair For The Dramatic.

But Did He Really Hide Loot On Cayman Brac

As Other Pirates Did,

Or Did He Stash It Off The Carolina Coast

Before His Last Stand?

Dogged Archaeologists And Historians

Are Reconstructing The Puzzle Of Blackbeard's Life,

And The More We Learn About It, The Harder It Is To Hum

"A Pirate's Life For Me."

Blackbeard Famously Said That

Only He And The Devil Himself Knew Where The Treasure Was.

With The Revelation That He May Have Traded In Human Lives,

Perhaps It's More Accurate To Say

That He And The Devil Were One And The Same.