“Treasure on Holy Island” (1912)

Summary

“Treasure on Holy Island” is the earliest explicit Holy Island (Pine Lake) treasure account currently held. Published in 1912 during the island’s resort development, it says Strang’s followers buried valuables identifiable as stolen when a government vessel approached. It also describes ruins, arches, fortifications, and old excavations through local tradition.

Evidentiary character

The article appeared fifty-six years after Strang’s death. Its Strangites-as- pirates framing belongs to a long hostile narrative, and no contemporary Strangite account, government inventory, sworn testimony, or archaeological report held here verifies the cache. The source is valuable evidence for what people were saying in 1912 and how history was used to make a resort property interesting.

That promotional context is independently visible in nearby advertisements offering a free illustrated history of Holy Island and “King Strang’s Buried Treasure.” It does not make the story worthless; it tells us to ask why this particular version was useful at that moment.

Open questions

• Does a copy survive of I. B. McLean’s illustrated promotional booklet?
• Can the reported ruins or excavations be matched to a survey or archaeological record rather than promotional prose?

See also

• Holy Island (Pine Lake)
• Strang treasure traditions
• James Jesse Strang