Charles Island in Milford is rumored to be "thrice-cursed" and is the subject of multiple ghost stories and legends. According to local lore, the first curse was placed by Ansantawae, a Paugusset chieftain, after selling the island to European settlers in 1639. The Paugusset tribe considered the island a sacred burial ground and home to ancestral spirits. Angered by the desecration of the land, the chief allegedly cursed the island, declaring that anything built upon it would crumble and not stand. Before his arrest, Captain Kidd allegedly buried a significant portion of his treasure on the south side of Charles Island, near a boulder known as Hog Rock. To protect his riches, he supposedly cursed the spot, warning that his spirit would haunt anyone who attempted to dig it up. According to a tale from 1838, a group of men who tried to unearth the treasure were met by a headless ghost and frightened away by flames and smoke emerging from the ground. A third curse is said to have arrived with a group of Connecticut sailors who returned from Mexico with stolen Aztec treasure in 1721. According to this legend, a series of disasters befell the five crew members who found the treasure, killing all but one. The lone survivor, in a panic, is said to have buried the loot on Charles Island, transferring the powerful Aztec curse to the land. Some claim to have seen a Native American woman holding two small children, said to be a mother who killed her children rather than allow them to be captured by settlers. Some believe Captain Kidd’s ghost continues to haunt the island, protecting his hidden booty. Visitors have reported sudden feelings of dread, unexplained breathing difficulties, and a sense of being watched.