Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
When Col. Buck died a fine granite obelisk was erected over his grave.
Soon after, however, a stain, which some say resembles a woman's leg,
appeared on the base stone. Several attempts to wash, blast, or scrape it
away over the years have been unsuccessful. Each time the stain returns;
some say darker than before.
You can see the stone for yourself today in Bucksport. Just after you cross
over from Verona Island on Route 1A, take a right. The cemetery is just a
few hundred yards up on the left.
Buried Treasure
Many pirates have sailed Maine waters. Legend has it that remote
islands off the coast still harbor chests of gold, jewels and other booty. A
great stock of buried treasure was reportedly found on
Jewell Island
in
Casco Bay during the late 1800s. An island resident moved the rectangu-
lar box full of gold for save keeping. He died soon after and no one has
found the relocated stash.
In 1840, a farmer near
Castine
found a scattering of 400 coins along the
banks of the Bagaduce River.
Islands off
Stonington
are reported to still harbor treasure.
Gold was once reported to hidden on some islands in
Frenchman Bay
off Bar Harbor as well. In the 1950s a Boy Scout beachcombing on one of
the islands found a shiny gold doubloon. No other trace of treasure was
found.
Pirate loot is also reportedly buried on islands off
Machias
. Because
most islands are now privately owned, treasure hunting without permis-
sion is not recommended.
Also in Washington County, searchers have for years attempted to locate
a
ghost
that may have left its tattered skeleton behind. In 1927, just 12
days before Charles Lindberg made his heroic solo flight across the
Atlantic from the United States to Europe, two Frenchmen, Francis Coli
and Charles Nungesser, left from the opposite direction in a biplane
called
The White Bird
. They disappeared, as one observer said, “like a
midnight ghost.”
Years later interviews with residents of the Machias area revealed tales
of the noise of an airplane overhead (a rare event in those days) about the
time the French heros would be expected over North America. Other sto-
ries of the engine sputtering and hunters telling of a huge engine rusting
in the woods fueled several expeditions to the wild forested lands in
search of a wreck site. Proof has yet to be found.
