In Reply to: Re: The Pearl Ship of the Salton Sea
posted by Jim on May 01, 1998 at 05:12:53

The ship was probably the "Linda Maria." The story can be found in a book at the San Diego main library.

The present day Salton Sea was formed early in this century when the mouth of the Colorado River closed over, and the river found an outlet to the northwest into a depression lying more than 200' below sea level (the Imperial Valley) Presumably if it happened around 1905, it could have happened three hundred years earlier.

The story goes that he had sailed up the Colorado looking for a way out of the north end of the Sea of Cortez, but eventually had to turn back downstream. In the meantime the river mouth had closed and he sailed down into the Imperial Valley. It seems unlikely for several reasons. If the ship exists, it is probably in Mexico between San Felipe and the mouth of the Colorado.

What the man's grandfather saw was probably the remains of the old plank road west from Yuma. It can still be seen in a few places off I-8.

As for the Imperial Valley location - get a pilots' "sectional" aeronautical chart for the El Centro area and use a highliter to trace the sea level contour all the way around the valley. You will see that you have a lot of shoreline to search.

Good Luck

Chuck Ross