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
I'd love to see some pics, too.
