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Cursed Charles Island
It’s a beautiful piece of real estate in Long Island Sound – 17 acres of land set aside for seasonal bird migration and nesting. At low tide, a sand bar (technically known as a tombolo) becomes visible, allowing humans to simply walk the three-quarters-of-a-mile to the island.
But, if you wait too long to walk back – and hide tide gets ahead of your schedule, covering the sand bar with water and blocking your path back to shore – that’s when the curse of Charles Island is at its most dangerous.
There have been several fatalities and far more numerous close calls requiring rescues among island-hoppers who tried to navigate their way across the sand bar despite the rising water, only to come up against its ferocious rip-tide currents and be pulled out to sea and drowned.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The Native American who felt the island was taken from him by white settlers placed the original curse on the island. Chief Ansantawae, leader of the Paugusett tribe in the early 1600s, believed sacred spirits lived on the island and cursed any European settlers who disturbed the island or built on it – saying they were doomed to face tragedy.
In addition, two different buried treasures are rumored to be buried there. The first, in 1699, supposedly belonged to the infamous Scottish pirate, Captain William Kidd. In fact, when Captain Kidd was captured and tried and hanged in England, prosecutors dug up loot he had buried on an island not too far away from Charles Island and used that as evidence in his trial. Not all of the missing treasure was found, and Kidd was known to have frequented Charles Island; therefore, speculation is that some of it was stashed there.
Separately, in 1721, four sailors were said to have stolen a fortune from Mexican ruler Guatmozin. Two of the four died mysterious deaths, while the other two supposedly buried the treasure on Charles Island and placed a curse on anyone who might steal it.
The curses – and the unfortunate outcomes that have befallen many persons who tried to live on, or profit from, the island over the years – make an incredible tale.
Click this link to hear the story on the podcast Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut’s Beaten Path, with your host Mike Allen:
"Listeners can now tune in to WICC Radio (600 AM and 95.9 FM) every Sunday at 10 am to hear all about the Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut's Beaten Path."
