Turtle Island

Turtle Island is actually the island of Tortuga in Haiti. This island is much more than a popular stopping point for the pirates in the famous Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean movies. As it turns out, the movies were not very far off. Tortuga (“Turtle Island”) was a major port in Caribbean piracy in the seventeenth century. Thanks to its tourist industry, it is one of the most well known areas of Haiti.

History

Turtle Island was first discovered in 1493 by Europeans and was part of Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the New World. It was actually Columbus's crew who named it Turtle Island (or Tortuga, for Turtle) because it has a humped shape that resembles a turtle's shell. The island was first settled by colonists from Spain and in 1625 the English and French settlers came in. These late settlers were attacked by Don Fadrique de Toledo and his Spanish troops in 1629, and these troops succeeded in expelling the French and English settlers. Ironically, the French and English re-claimed the island in 1930 when Toledo's troops left the island to try and eradicate another island of its non-Spanish settlers. They tried to re-claim the island in 1638 but were ultimately unsuccessful.

The major pirate population of Tortuga was made up of the French, English and Dutch settlers and they called themselves the Brethren of the Coast. This group was well established by 1640.

Another fun point in Turtle Island's history is 1645 when, in an attempt to control the island and bring about peace, the governor brought in around sixteen hundred prostitutes who were supposed to settle down the unruly pirates.

References to Turtle Island in Fiction

Obviously the most famous contemporary reference to Tortuga is in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Of course, there are plenty of other references to the Pirate Capital in other works of fiction as well. It was a major feature of the Captain Blood series by Sabatini. In these stories, it is where the main character and his crew flee after they escape from Barbados. Tortuga's governor sends a letter to the main character and it from then on that the island is his “home base.”

Other films that feature Tortuga or Turtle Island are Double Crossbones, The Spanish Main, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, and Pirates of Tortuga. The island has also been featured in the video games Sea Legend Tortuga—Two Treasures, Voyage Century Online, Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales and Walkmyplank.net

Turtle Island has a rich and colorful history and will always be one of the major points of interest in the Caribbean. It is a popular point of interest for pirate history buffs as well as people who are interested in the history and the development of the Caribbean islands. Turtle Island was named for its shape by the crew on Christopher Columbus's first voyage and has held its name (Tortuga) ever since, even though it has been home to many different settlement populations.