Legends of the Pirate Black Caesar Biscayne Park

Cruising by boat around Biscayne National Park in Miami, Dade County, we docked at Adam’s Key. 

 

I was writing a story for Route1Views on the Cocolobo Cay Club, a turn of the century private resort fishing club that hosted four presidents and Washington elite, which was destroyed by hurricane. Andrew in 1992.

 

We came upon an erected  panel, alluding to the island being the hideout for the legendary pirate Black Caesar.  In particular, a spot that overlooks the swift moving creek flowing between Old Rhodes and Elliott Keys, now known as Caesar’s Creek, bearing his name.

 

In researching the legend, there is much confusion since there seems to be three Black Caesars. One was part of Blackbeard’s crew and was allegedly hung in 1718 and another terrorized the Gulf coast of Florida at Sanibel and Captiva island in the 1800’s, with the infamous pirate Jose Gaspar. 

 

A separate legend speaks of a pirate “Black Caesar”, who raided ships in the Florida Keys.  

 

He was apparently a very large and cunning man, and by many accounts he was an African chieftain, who was shanghaied into slavery,

and befriended a sailor when a hurricane arrived as the slave ship approached the Florida coast.  The two escaped in a rowboat, and were the only survivors of the terrible storm.

 

For several years,  they amassed a considerable fortune.   They would light fires along the shore, pretending to be shipwreck survivors, when they were approached to offer aid, they would violentlly ambush and plunder the unsuspecting crews  robbing vessels that offered them assistance. 

 

Black Caesar eventually hired on more crew, secured a boat and began attacking ships on the open sea.

 

Cunning and ruthless, he earned himself a fearsome reputation throughout the Caribbean.

 

Black Caesar amassed a harem of a hundred kidnapped women at his hideout in the Florida Keys, all seized from passing ships.

 

Stories claim that Black Caesar left tons of silver somewhere in Biscayne National Park, where modern day treasure hunters have blown holes in the rocks  searching for his cache.  

 

So watch out for locals, selling fake treasure maps along Route 1.