Darren in NC
Silver Member
- Apr 1, 2004
- 2,780
- 1,574
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Sand Shark, Homebuilt pulse loop
- Primary Interest:
- Shipwrecks
Anyone from central Mississippi or Louisiana want to check out a lead?
Going through my research files always turns up projects that I will likely never pursue. So I thought it would be fun to put a small team of people together to investigate a small project, and report back here. I used to live near this area as a kid, and if I lived there now, I would check it out. If you live in the central Mississippi/Louisiana area, let me know. I would like to recruit you to find out what can be done (if anything at all) with an abandoned project near Woodville, Mississippi.
In the 1990s, James Moore was determined to find a riverboat that had exploded and sank in the Mississippi River nearby. There was supposedly a great deal of gold on this vessel. In May of 1837, the Ben Sherrod departed from New Orleans and was destined for Louisville, KY. She had a considerable sum of specie aboard that was to be transferred to the banks in Tennessee. There was also private specie onboard belonging to wealthy passengers. This specie is what Moore and his investors were after. They knew the river had shifted and the wreck was likely on land now.
After years of being obsessed with the Ben Sherrod, Moore found her in a wooded area with a magnetometer. He gained permission to dig up the old riverboat. He dug a massive hole, and found her at about 70 feet. She was upside down. I spoke with a guy who visited Moore and stood on the overturned hull. Moore had yet to fully excavate the site. He said Moore was frantic because the river was as low as it had been in a long time, and he wanted to dig as much as possible to see what he could find. Up until that time, they could never pump out enough water to get down far enough.
Sadly, Moore's frantic state turned into a heart attack in September of 2000, while digging at the site. The project was abandoned shortly after, and the hole filled up again. As far as I know, no attempts have been made to continue the project.
This would be a massive undertaking. I have no idea if new state archaeological laws enacted since the 90s would even allow such a reviving of the project. Is there anyone here on the forum who lives in that area and would like to locally investigate this further? I realize someone could run with this privately, but I would appreciate it if anyone did agree to investigate this, that they would report back here for updates.
Anyone interested?
Going through my research files always turns up projects that I will likely never pursue. So I thought it would be fun to put a small team of people together to investigate a small project, and report back here. I used to live near this area as a kid, and if I lived there now, I would check it out. If you live in the central Mississippi/Louisiana area, let me know. I would like to recruit you to find out what can be done (if anything at all) with an abandoned project near Woodville, Mississippi.
In the 1990s, James Moore was determined to find a riverboat that had exploded and sank in the Mississippi River nearby. There was supposedly a great deal of gold on this vessel. In May of 1837, the Ben Sherrod departed from New Orleans and was destined for Louisville, KY. She had a considerable sum of specie aboard that was to be transferred to the banks in Tennessee. There was also private specie onboard belonging to wealthy passengers. This specie is what Moore and his investors were after. They knew the river had shifted and the wreck was likely on land now.
After years of being obsessed with the Ben Sherrod, Moore found her in a wooded area with a magnetometer. He gained permission to dig up the old riverboat. He dug a massive hole, and found her at about 70 feet. She was upside down. I spoke with a guy who visited Moore and stood on the overturned hull. Moore had yet to fully excavate the site. He said Moore was frantic because the river was as low as it had been in a long time, and he wanted to dig as much as possible to see what he could find. Up until that time, they could never pump out enough water to get down far enough.
Sadly, Moore's frantic state turned into a heart attack in September of 2000, while digging at the site. The project was abandoned shortly after, and the hole filled up again. As far as I know, no attempts have been made to continue the project.
This would be a massive undertaking. I have no idea if new state archaeological laws enacted since the 90s would even allow such a reviving of the project. Is there anyone here on the forum who lives in that area and would like to locally investigate this further? I realize someone could run with this privately, but I would appreciate it if anyone did agree to investigate this, that they would report back here for updates.
Anyone interested?
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