i found treasure

M

maryk33

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i found what i think could be from a pirate's booty. i have recovered hundreds of pieces. this is in the puget sound in washington state. it's jade carvings, bronze and gold, and they are covered with sediment. does anyone know of any treasure around here? how to clean old artifacts?
 

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maryk33; welcome to TreasureNet Forums. I was just up in your neck of the woods two weeks ago doing some research and treasure hunting. With a little searching, you will find an endless treasure trove of information on a long and proud nautical history in that part of the country. I would recommend starting with the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (206) 624-3028. You will have to call ahead for an appointment.
As for the artifacts, lets get them soaking in fresh water as soon as possible, or you will start finding piles of dust. As for preservation, you will find an entire section of TNet forums dedicated to artifact preservation. In addition, I would also recommend visiting the Texas A&M underwater archeology web site, they have a pdf file that you can download with tons of preservation information.
Good luck, and please keep us all updated.

PS we would love to see pictures of your finds.

Happy hunting

Q
 

I live in Seattle and have mutiple resources that may be able to help you on this- pics iwould be great. Can you give a little more info on this- general area, what depth, what did the wreckage look like, etc, etc. You don't have to reveal a lot, but whatever you pass on, I'd be glad to help you in possibly identifying it. Sounds like a great find!
 

HOLA Mary congrats on your find, but I would suggest down playing the size of your find for legal reasons.

Post a few pictures etc. in here "yes", but details of the amount of the find no!

Tropical Tramp
 

Mary,

For those of us in the Pacific North West this kind of find is particularly interesting, especially if the artifacts are from a n early era like the 16th century. I hope you will post some pics. I hope that you will examine ways of pursuing a legal means of examining and recovering the remaining artifacts, so that the story can come into the public domain, so we can all share in the history of this interesting find. I think it is more likely that the artifacts are from an early Spanish ship that lost its way rather than from a pirate ship, and it might be possible to get proper authorisation to recover the wreck.

Good luck and best wishes,

Mariner
 

I am visiting the Seattle area at the end of the month and one of the forum members has offered to take me beach hunting. You have whetted my appetite. Great find! Excellent! Monty
 

Marineer
For those of us in the Pacific North West this kind of find is particularly interesting, especially if the artifacts are from a n early era like the 16th century. I hope you will post some pics. I hope that you will examine ways of pursuing a legal means of examining and recovering the remaining artifacts, so that the story can come into the public domain, so we can all share in the history of this interesting find. I think it is more likely that the artifacts are from an early Spanish ship that lost its way rather than from a pirate ship, and it might be possible to get proper authorisation to recover the wreck.
Good luck and best wishes,
Mariner
*******


HI, agreed on both factors, Spanish and check the legal possibilities of an open salvage. - carefully!

Tropical Tramp
 

And I will reiterate what was said earlier - under no circumstances give out any information regarding where this was found unless you want to run the risk of exposing yourself to both legal issues as well as possible theft.

Pics would be cool - but if this is a real discovery, you need to play it cool and close to the hip!!
 

As these guys state, you don't need to reveal too much- pics of what you have found would be great to try and identify when and what it may be. Personnaly, I'm a bit skeptical on it being Spanish- while they were on the West Coast, such as Oregon, having them in Puget Sound is a bit unlikely. There is speculation that Drake made it in here, but I don't believe he lost any ships.

Another option is that it is a wreck of "seal pirates". These are groups who preyed on the sealing fleets up in Alaska. they may have sought refuge in the Sound and lost their ship. Since they had contact with Asia, this may explain the Jade. Another is a lost Japanese ship that difted across.

We really need to see a few items to help you on this!

-M
 

There are still, for example, several early Manila Galleons that went missing and are unaccounted for. Any ship crossing the Pacific above about 40 degrees could have been swept north along the Oregon and Washington coasts,and might have ended up in the Juan de Fuca Strait and then Puget Sound.

And,by the way, Drake did leave a ship behind on the West Coast, the one belonging to Rodriguez Tello that he captured off Costa Rica. We know this from the testimony of his cousin John Drake. I have an opinion on where it ended up, but until hard evidence is found, nothing can be ruled out.

I think it unlikely that any of the English or US ships that followed Juan Perez and Captain Cook in the 1770s would be carrying the kind of items that Mary describes, and we may be able to determine the possible age of the wreck by the nature of these artifacts, if we can get to see some pictures of them. This is potentially a very important find.

Mariner
 

Looks like Mary took the advice and decided to remain quiet :) I'd love to see some pics, too.
 

Good points Mariner- didn't know about the Drake ship, and I agree on the Cook comment. Regardless, if this is true , there is a huge importance of this find. What this may bring up is the issue of taking a look at the possibility of securing, what may be in essence, the "copyright" of a wreck. Whereas the government may lay claim to a wreck, would it be possible as the discoverer, to secure all film and TV rights to a wreck? With the popularity of wreck and treasure shows on television, it could be a great opportunity to earn a profit on your discovery. Any thoughts?

Again, I would love to see images!
 

The "Government" may not have rights to this wreck, depending on its nationality. If it is a Spanish wreck, for example, then the ship itself might belong to the Government of Spain, under the 1902 Treaty, but the cargo might not. The cargoes of Manila galleons for example mostly belonged to private merchants even though the ships (largely) belonged to the Kingdom of Spain. Spain has a reputation for being uncooperative about shipwreck recoveries, but I know some of the people involved and think the reputation is, at least in part, undeserved. I think they would be willing to co-operate in the recovery of one of their ships if the people involved came with a flexible and cooperative attitude. Spain is interested in its own colonial history.

If it is an English wreck, then it might belong to the rightful successor to the original owner, because of the terms of the Oregon Treaty which divided the old Oregon Country between Britain and the United States. For example, in addition to the ship that Drake left, the fate of the Content, a ship that belonged to Thomas Cavendish and went missing off Baja California in 1587, is unknown. It went missing immediately after Cavendish had captured andlooted the Manila Galleon Santa Ana, and the Content was reported to have gone north in search of the North West Passage. I happen to know who Cavendish's current legal heir is.

Then again, we know that the Spanish kept certain voyages secret. For example, Juan de Fuca claimed that he went on a secret voyage of discovery in 1592. I am not sure I believe his story, but it may be true, and he might have lost a ship in the process.

Then there is the question of which ship left the various artifacts excavated from the buried Makah Indian village of Ozette, located just below Cape Flattery. The village was buried by a sudden mudslide about the end of the 16th century, and when it was excavated in the 1970s, they found over a hundred pieces of metal, and a European tradebead at the lowest level. I suspect that the materials came from Drake, but there is no way of telling for sure.

The type of artifacts described by Mary are very unusual, and I think you and I both realise that this might be a very important find. I hope she will choose to share some information with us. After all, even on a basic level, with artifacts, the context is most important in determining the value. How much is a baseball worth? The one that Mark Maguire hit on his record-breaking homer a couple of years ago was worth about $10 five minutes earlier, but sold for $3 million immediately afterwards. In the same way, the artifacts described by Mary, which might not be dateable in any other way, are probably worth a lot more if it can be shown that they come from a very early shipwreck. Most important of all, of course, would be the opportunity to uncover what might be an important but unknown piece of Pacific North West history.

Mariner
 

Mariner... I doubt if you're going to see any pictures from Mary, so here's a nice one. :)
 

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Jeff,

Thanks for the picture, and the laugh!!

Were you personally associated with these items?

Best wishes,

Mariner
 

Hello everybody, and sorry about the pictures. In due time. I have been laying low, and most certainly will not disclose the location and vicinity. But sooner than later, shall. Thanks for being patient.
 

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