Pirate Gold of Adak Island is a new Netflix reality show which follows a group of people on the hunt for a lost hoard of pirate treasure in Alaska. The gold, believed to amount to more than $350 million in today’s currency, is supposed to have been buried by a Russian pirate named Gregory Dwargstof in the late 1800s. In the show, a group of people, including the mayor of Adak, two construction workers, a scientist, and a technology expert, search for the lost gold in the town of Adak, where pieces of the treasure were discovered in the 1950s.
Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that this is a reality show, not a historical documentary. Elements of the story are exaggerated to create drama (the treasure hunters always appear convinced that they’re seconds away from discovering the gold), events are almost certainly manipulated to craft a narrative arc, and some moments may be staged for the camera. However, if you can go into the show with some suspension of disbelief and not expect too much from it, then it can be highly entertaining. If you like pirates, lost treasure, or centuries-old mysteries, then you will likely enjoy this show, as it does a good job of evoking the wonder of the search for lost pirate gold.
The Story of the Lost Pirate’s Treasure
Little information about these events is readily available online, but according to Pirate Gold of Adak Island, Captain Gregory Dwargstof was a notorious Russian pirate in the late 1800s. He was a member of an organization of Russian seal poachers who hunted seals illegally in the northern islands of the Pacific Ocean. When the U.S. Navy caught wind of their activity, the poachers gathered all of their gold and entrusted it to Dwargstof, who was to hide it somewhere until things quieted down and then go back later to retrieve it.
Chased by Navy warships, Dwargstof is believed to have buried the enormous haul of gold on Adak Island, a location on the remote western edge of Alaska and one he frequently visited to hunt seals. Soon after, his ship crashed in the Aleutian Islands, and he was captured, only to die of pneumonia without having told anyone where the gold was.
Why do treasure hunters suspect Dwargstof buried the gold on Adak Island, of all places? Well, in WWII, a U.S. military base was placed there because of its proximity to Japanese-controlled waters. On two separate occasions, soldiers stationed at Adak in the mid-1940s happened upon small cans full of 19th-century gold coins believed to be part of Dwargstof’s hidden stash. One soldier was digging during the construction of a barracks, and another was digging a drainage ditch. There is apparently photographic evidence of one of these soldiers holding the can of gold. Based on the legends, however, there would have been over 100 more cans full of gold coins buried somewhere on Adak.
The Thrill of the Search
What makes the show so fun to watch is that it is always motivated by a genuine search for treasure and its real historical importance. Unlike other reality shows such as Pawn Stars or Gold Rush, which are characterized by an aimless procession of random objects or a generic search for gold ore, Pirate Gold of Adak Island has a clearer and more direct plot motivation.
The search for the treasure is also structured around trying to predict what Dwargstof did when (or if) he reached the island. The team’s scientist and technology expert are especially crucial at this stage of the search. They try to determine, for example, which areas off the island’s shore would be most suitable for a large 19th-century wooden ship to anchor: the waters mustn’t be too shallow, but they must also ideally have a rocky bottom to provide leverage for the anchor. Based on this, they reduce the search to a few areas Dwargstof may have come ashore to bury the gold and begin digging there.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, this is a reality show. Some of the grandiose and specific predictions are undoubtedly made to increase the drama (upping the tension by discovering the one place Dwargstof “must” have buried the gold, and then the next, and the next). However, even if one is skeptical of its historical accuracy, there is a primal entertainment from the wonder evoked by stories of pirate treasure and speculation of what the Russian pirate would have done.
An Area Full of Dangers
One of the unique aspects of the show is the element of danger in the search. Because the two small discoveries of treasure were made by soldiers stationed on Adak, much of the digging takes place in an old WWII-era base that is littered with discarded bombs. As the protagonists dig, there is always the possibility that what their metal detectors have located is not a stash of gold but rather an old bomb. In addition, some areas of the island are still littered with spike traps that were set up by the military in case of Japanese invasion.
What is more fun than trying to solve centuries-old mysteries? Discovering clues left behind by 19th-century Russian pirates? Digging up buried artifacts from a past millennium? Although some of the content should be taken with a grain of salt like any reality show, Pirate Gold of Adak Island is a fascinating and entertaining show that will appeal to people who can't get enough of shipwrecks, abandoned buildings, ghost towns, pirate treasure, or unsolved mysteries.