Trinidad Spanish galleon off Oceanside California

bobinsd

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Oct 20, 2005
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Markey was a fraud

I posted on this subject several years ago after discussions with Markey's photographer's dentist, who also knew Markey. The photographer's name was Drdek, and he related the made-up story to the dentist. The dentist is now a local north county historian (name escapes me). Turns out I worked with the photags son (Frank Drdek) for 2 years back in the 70's. He knew nothing of the story and his dad had died many years ago. No skulls, helmets, swords, cave, has ever been located. It was a story made up by someone needing attention. As I understand, many locals tried to discredit him simply because it would discredit Cabrillo as the 1st to set foot on CA soil. Many landmarks carry his name, ie, Cabrillo Lighthouse at the end of Pt. Loma.
 

mariner

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Apr 4, 2005
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boninsd,

Markey was looking for Ulloa's ship: nothing to do with Cabrillo, who explored the coast shortly afterwards, in 1542-43, and who was probably the first European to land in what is now the State of California. as far as I remember.

There is another photograph that is exactly the same, except for the skulls etc., which shows that the Markey photograph was phoney.

As Allen_Idaho says, Ulloa turned up in Spain later, so any search for the Trinidad is a waste of time. It's a shame, though, because if it was ever found, it would belong to the current heir to Cortes, and I happen to be her sole representative and agent on matters related to any of his ships. She/we would be delighted if one turns up.
 

bobinsd

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I was only pointing out that if the story was true, Cabrillo would have "lost" his title as first.
 

Klems

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Jul 12, 2012
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Pretty sure nobody is interested any longer, but I managed to find this in my search for other shipwrecks along the Sothern California coast.

Its from the CA State Lands Commission from 1968 authorizing the search permit for Wilfred S. Takasoto to search for the Trinidad.

May I just say that I don't really believe in the story of the Trinidad, the history simply doesn't back it up, but that's not to say there may not be a wreck in the area as I also found this:

Santo Domingo Wreck reference.jpg

The Santo Domingo is reportedly in the same area and supposedly went down in 1540. My main problem is finding documents that reference ANY of these wrecks. The San Pedro is the only one I've traced down and know for a fact existed. The rest of these I just can't find any documentation on.
 

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Jolly Mon

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Sep 3, 2012
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Pretty sure nobody is interested any longer, but I managed to find this in my search for other shipwrecks along the Sothern California coast.

Its from the CA State Lands Commission from 1968 authorizing the search permit for Wilfred S. Takasoto to search for the Trinidad.

May I just say that I don't really believe in the story of the Trinidad, the history simply doesn't back it up, but that's not to say there may not be a wreck in the area as I also found this:

View attachment 724664

The Santo Domingo is reportedly in the same area and supposedly went down in 1540. My main problem is finding documents that reference ANY of these wrecks. The San Pedro is the only one I've traced down and know for a fact existed. The rest of these I just can't find any documentation on.

I can't help you with the documentation...who knows what information lies waiting to be discovered in the Archives of the Indies, but here is an interesting thread concerning the San Diego County area: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/california/89869-ulloas-trinidad.html

I don't believe the Trinidad story for an instant, but that there are Spanish Colonial era wrecks in Socal, I take as a given...
 

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