Remnants of 300-year-old Spanish galleon recovered from Oregon Coast

Sam Campbell

2 years ago

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Remnants of a 300-year-old Spanish galleon were recovered on the Oregon Coast this week near Manzanita, as reported by National Geographic.

Timber from the ship, called the Santo Cristo de Burgos, washed into a sea cave was first spotted by a beach-goer back in 2019, but removal efforts that normally take years to plan moved at warp speed recently.

The pandemic and permit requirements slowed down the process, but archaeology firm Search Inc., state parks and local agencies teamed up to pick up the artifacts this week.

Remains from the ship have long been an elusive find for treasure hunters, who believe the ship veered off course from its trade route, possibly in a storm. Those pieces that have been awash for centuries are now finding a home.

“In this case, I think the most appropriate place for it to be would be the Columbia Maritime Museum because who better than the experts here to deal with that shipwreck,” said Stacy Scott, an archaeologist with Oregon Parks and Recreation.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria has already secured some of the pieces.

National Geographic provided photos from the recovery, viewable in the gallery below. For more on this story, click here.

Bits of Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period (1661-1722) that washes ashore near Manzanita are likely remnants of the galleon’s cargo. Photograph by Balazs Gardi, National Geographic.

A block of beeswax from the Santo Cristo de Burgos features a distinctive owner’s mark. Photograph by Balazs Gardi, National Geographic.

A section of suspected ship timber is treated with a solution to stabilize the waterlogged wood at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. Photograph by Balazs Gardi, National Geographic.

Archaeologists, law officers, and search-and-rescue personnel execute the risky emergency recovery of 17th-century shipwreck timbers from the Oregon coast earlier this week. They are believed to belong to the Santo Cristo de Burgos, a Spanish galleon that disappeared en route from the Philippines to Mexico in 1693. Photograph by Balazs Gardi, National Geographic.

Mountain Region archaeologist Steve Jenevein and park resource program manager Chris Parkins of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and Scott Williams, president of the Maritime Archaeological Society, wrap a timber in flotation devices before it’s brought to shore. Photograph by Balazs Gardi, National Geographic.

Visitors can see them on display at the museum. According to National Geographic, this shipwreck inspired the movie The Goonies.