Pearl Ship of the Mojave Research

[GaBnn3]

I suppose that many, like me, peruse the well known stories for solvability. In doing so regarding the above, I came across an on-line comment at the end of an article on this topic from a man named Will Williams from El Centro, Ca. He states that in 1968-9, while he was about 14 he was with family when they discovered a ship with only the bow sprit and main mast protruding above the desert sand. They reported the find to National Geographic Society which excavated the site. He states with a certainty that it was a Spanish galleon and he visited the site during the excavations. He was not allowed in and understands that nothing of value was found, only the usual shipboard items. The circumstances of the pearl ship becoming stranded in the Salton Sea basin were unique. I find it hard to believe that there are many Spanish galleons left stranded in that area and it seems likely that a Spanish galleon in that location is probably the pearl ship. As a young man I once was trusting of institutions, but not now. Does anyone have a collection of NatGeo magazines covering these years which might contain an article on this excavation? Any suggestions appreciated. A NatGeo excavation that got hushed up is suspicious. At his point I feel the pearl ship has probably been looted and I am ready to scratch this one off my list of possibilities.

 

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[vpnavy]

Those interested - here is the article: Lost Ship of the Desert

 

[Mackaydon]

Many legends have been related of the desert and the tragedies enacted within it, and among these one of the most interesting appeared in a magazine of wide circulation in September, 1891. This article was a graphic account of the finding of the hulk of an old Spanish galleon in the playa which at that time formed the lowest part of the desert.
No later explorer has found a trace of the old Spanish galleon, although many have visited the Salton Sink, and before its inundation by the Colorado River salt mining was carried out on a commercial scale within it for many years, so that the general location was intimately known.
In any event,it must have been inherently impossible for any of the earlier Spanish explorers who passed up the west coast of No.Am. and into the Gulf of California (the Sea of Cortes), even had it existed at the time of their explorations, because so nearly did evaporation balance inflow from the Colorado that the stream connecting the lake and the gulf must have been too small for navigation and, if we may judge from the present grades,too swift for ships of the old galleon type to make headway against the current.
The above is paraphrased from the NGM, Vol 20, Issues 7-12; page 685.
I'll add...galleons (Spanish treasure galleons,more specifically) would be travelling in a southerly direction along the coast of California, not northbound; from Manila and perhaps other Asian ports; and nearly void of silver since the silver was used to pay for goods in Manila. Treasure galleons (loaded with silver), Mania galleons, would be traveling westward from port(s) south of the USA.
I'm not denying the bones of a vessel was more recently found in the desert, but to believe it was Spanish galleon is too far of a stretch for me.
Don.......

 

[Mackaydon]

Wikipedia lists an extensive media timeline of articles written about lost vessels in the California desert
It shows how the story has changed in each generation's telling. Scroll down to see the list as you read this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Ship_of_the_Desert
Don...

 

[aa battery]

Salton sea area is strange only thing i found there was a beer at a now closed cafe.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

FYI - Under "Treasure Legends" there is a sub-Forum - The Pearl Ship.


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo