If you visit the city of Pensacola, Florida, you might get one of the local "old-timers" to tell you about a missing treasure buried in the well of an old Spanish fort. If you listen closely, you might also hear about a Spanish prisoner who was led into a chamber built in one of the fort's thick walls … and bricked up alive!

I heard this legend in early visits to Florida, but it was largely discounted since no evidence existed of this horrible affair … that is, until I was researching some historical documents at the State's Archives in Tallahassee.

That's when I discovered a 1926 letter written by Colonel Langdon, who served as the fort's commander in 1892. Here's what I learned:

In 1781, Florida's Spanish government decided to build a brick fortification known as the Water Battery and link it with an underground tunnel to the formidable fort San Carlos de Barrancas guarding the entrance to Pensacola Harbour. In the early 19th Century, Spain ceded Florida to the States and the U.S. 3rd Artillery moved in to the fort's austere quarters.

And then fifty-four years later, a dying Spanish priest in Mobile divulged a gruesome secret.

Just before turning the fort over to the USA, the Spanish commandant had a four foot by six chamber hollowed out of the Water Battery's thick wall. A mysterious prisoner was placed in this cell which was then bricked up. The tomb's outer wall was glazed over so effectively that its presence was not suspected until mentioned by the dying priest.

On hearing this, the Artillery officers "sounded" the fort's thick walls, located a hollow sounding area where they broke into the chamber and discovered the skeleton. To this day, nobody knows who he was and why he was left to die in such a horrible manner. To add to the mystery, a nearby well was excavated by the same officers who rumour states, located the treasure. For those who enjoy such mysteries, you'll find a copy of Colonel Langdon's letter and a plan of the Water Battery, below: