Pirate Days in Alexandria Bay is one of the most popular events in the North Country, offering 10 days of fun on the river and a celebration of the life of an actual pirate, Bill Johnston.  

However, this year, COVID-19 forced the event to cancel.  So we thought, why not find a different way to keep the tradition going by exploring some tales of who Bill Johnston was and what made him so memorable. I don't think anyone would argue, Pirate Days is perhaps a bit more action packed than Bill Johnston's real life, but it was a life full of adventure for sure.

We started the story Friday and when we last left off, Bill had just destroyed a British ship and was on the run.

"It's rumored that he hid out in an island called Devil's Oven just outside of Alexandria Bay," Clayton Island Tours Captain Matt Withers said.

Pirate Bill Johnston had just failed at an attempt to take over the British ship, the Sir Robert Peel, and bring it to the United States Navy. He and his men took it over, but no one knew how to start it up. So they took the money off it, lit it on fire and send it into the river to sink.

Bill was wanted by British, who had a $5,000 bounty on his head and the Americans, who may have or may not have known what Bill was trying to do, offered a $500 reward.

But Bill was again a step ahead. He knew Devil's Oven and why it made it the perfect hiding spot.

"If you didn't know it and hadn't been around it, that island is actually hollow," Withers said.

Bill hid there for weeks, with his daughter, Kate sneaking him supplies. Eventually the time came he just couldn't take it anymore.

However, this was Bill Johnston, always a step, or in this case two steps, ahead.

"He devised a plan to turn himself over to his son, so his son could profit the $500," Withers said.

Money in family hand, Bill was tried and convicted. Soon after, he escaped.

He smuggled as much as he could until he was caught again, tried, and jailed again.  However, his daughter, who was not convicted of anything, went with him.

"Now I have two daughters, neither one of them is going to volunteer to go to jail with me for a year," Withers joked.

Eventually, perhaps part of an escape plan, or at least knowing of one, Kate left custody. Bill got out, but had to go back in hiding.

The "Patriot" group wanted him back in charge, but he declined.

As soon as the heat had cooled off, he collected a petition, signed by many, for a presidential pardon. He was able to get a meeting with President Martin Van Buren himself.

"That president denied the pardon, but he was leaving office in 10 days," Withers said.

So, Bill just waited 10 days, met with new President William Henry Harrison and was not only pardoned, but a short time later, thanks to his support of the President, Harrison would name him keeper of the Rock Island Lighthouse.  It was where he stayed until Harrison left office.

"He liked the gig. He wanted to stay.  They literally had to send men over and bodily take him off the island," Withers said.

Somehow though all of it, Bill Johnston lived to be 90 years old in the 1800's.

Maybe some of these stories are just that, but Pirate Bill Johnston is the North Country historical figure man Captain Matt would most want to sit down and have a beer with, and in a way, every year, thousands of people come to Alexandria Bay to do just that.