The Mary Dear

Based on a True Story

In The Mary Dear, Dennis Wesley Clark tells a powerful story about the drama and the men who took the ‘treasure of Lima’.  Captain William Thompson and his brig, Mary Dear, were in the port for Lima, Peru, when revolutionaries were closing in.  The Spanish powers, the Viceroy of Lima, the Church and the elite citizens, were fearful that the armies and looters would steal their wealth.  They rushed to put their valuables on Captain Thompson’s ship and have him sail with a Spanish armed guard out of harm’s way to Acapulco, Mexico.

The ship never made it.  On the way, the Spanish armed guards were killed.  Captain Thompson and his crew hid the treasure on Cocos Island.  A Spanish warship spotted the Mary Dear out in the Pacific.  They captured the brig, tried the crew for mutiny and hung them … all except Captain Thomson and his First Officer.  The Spanish Captain forced the two men to lead them to the ‘treasure of Lima’ in exchange for their lives.

On Cocos Island, Captain Thompson and his First Officer escaped into the jungle.  They swore to never tell anyone exactly where the treasure was hidden.  They made it to the mainland and eventually home.  They deceived everyone as to where the ‘treasure of Lima’ was exactly buried.  For 200 years, many people searched unsuccessfully.  Many doubted it was real.  By chance, in 2015 by an act of nature and by chance it was discovered … over $100 million in treasure.