Have you seen MAS in the news this week? We are so excited the word is finally out!
As part of a collaborative effort with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, other local agencies, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and SEARCH, Inc., timbers believed to be from Oregon’s Spanish Galleon Shipwreck, often referred to as the Beeswax Wreck project, have been recovered from a cave on the northern Oregon Coast near Manzanita. The timbers are likely from the Spanish galleon Santo Cristo de Burgos, last seen when it left the Philippines for Mexico in 1693. The timbers have been moved to the Columbia River Maritime Museum for preservation and further study.
MAS was founded as a non-profit in 2015, in part to provide the ability for project volunteers to seek grants to aid the search for the Beeswax Wreck Project.
Here is a roundup of some of some of the coverage:
- National Geographic:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/legendary-spanish-galleon-shipwreck-discovered-on-oregon-coast - Smithsonian Magazine:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-timbers-from-17th-century-spanish-shipwreck-discovered-off-oregon-coast-180980290/?no-cache - NewYork Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/12/us/beeswax-shipwreck-oregon.html - Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/10/goonies-shipwreck-timbers-oregon - Univ of Delaware professor Art Trembanis and members of his lab joined with SEARCH2O, the maritime archeology branch of SEARCH Inc for the timber recovery and remote sensing work:
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2022/july/goonies-shipwreck-search-oregon-santo-cristo-de-burgos-trembanis - It was fisherman Craig Andes who discovered the timbers and brought them to our attention. He has extensive knowledge of the area and its history as well as an intense interest in the Beeswax Wreck Project:
https://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/on-the-north-coast-a-fisherman-makes-a-rare-find/article_4af1665a-ed9a-11ec-b090-bb5e2986b445.html - MAS President Scott Williams, OR Parks and Rec archaeologist Stacy Scott, and archaeological investigator/senior vice president of SEARCH Inc James Delgado spoke to Portland’s KOIN6 news over Zoom on an iPhone while they were finishing up the timber recording at the Columbia River Maritime Museum on Thursday June 17:
https://www.koin.com/local/oregon-coast/remnants-of-300-year-old-spanish-galleon-recovered-from-sea-cave-on-oregon-coast - And a reminder that we had a support team and safety plan backing up the professional archaeologists while recovering these timbers. Conditions change quickly at the Oregon Coast and it can be a dangerous place, so please do not put your life at risk:
https://shipreport.net/2022/06/17/when-archaeology-and-beach-combing-might-not-mix
More coverage:
- Oregon Public Broadcasting:
https://www.opb.org/article/2022/06/18/north-oregon-coast-timbers-found-from-shipwreck-spanish-galleon/ - CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/world/goonies-shipwreck-oregon-discovery-scn/index.html - NPR:
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1110882206 - Willamette Weekly:
https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/08/03/a-conversation-with-the-archaeologist-who-maybe-found-the-wreckage-of-a-spanish-galleon-in-an-oregon-sea-cave/ - Jefferson Public Radio:
https://www.ijpr.org/show/the-jefferson-exchange/2022-07-27/thu-8-30-underground-history-takes-up-the-timbers-found-from-the-beeswax-shipwreck