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8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL AUGUST 8, 2018 Off beat Oregon History No. 505: Shipwrecked Nehalem Bay wasn’t on the galleons’ regular trade route; the San Cristo de Burgos would not have come to the north Oregon coast on purpose. In their Ore- gon Historical Quarterly article on the wreck site, Beeswax Proj- ect investigators Scott Williams, Curt Peterson, Mitch Marken and Richard Rogers write that most likely the ship was disabled in a storm and drift ed before the wind, wallowing in the trough of the sea, until it fetched up on Nehalem Spit. So: what about treasure? One of the more appealing parts of the San Francisco Xavier hy- pothesis was the large amount of personal wealth that was be- ing transported on that ship. But that doesn’t seem to have been the case with the San Cristo de Burgos. Although the Beeswax Wreck Project researchers were unable to fi nd a complete man- ifest in the records of the old Spanish colonial empire, they were able to learn most of it; and it appears that, in addition to the beeswax, the vast majority of the By Finn JD John For The Sentinel Since the beginning of Euro- pean settlement along the Or- egon Coast, people have won- dered about the source of the mysterious chunks of beeswax that were continually turning up there. It seemed there was an endless supply of the stuff , slow- ly being released from some- where just off shore ... century aft er century. Th e natives, when asked, shared their oral histories about the strange wax — a tale of a big ship wrecked on the shore near Nehalem Bay, from which it all came. But what kind of big ship? From where, and whither bound? And what had become of its crew? Over the years, historians and archaeologists have closed in on the answers to these ques- tions. By the mid-20th century they had fi gured out that it was a Spanish galleon out of Ma- nila, on its way to New Spain (Mexico, basically) sometime in the 1600s or 1700s, and that what remained of it — including cannons and other heavy met- al artifacts, as well as, possibly, treasure — lay on the seafl oor just off the north Oregon coast. But, nobody really knew which galleon it was. Most likely, they fi gured, it was the San Francis- co Xavier, which left Manila in 1705 and vanished from the face of the Earth. By the end of the 20th cen- tury, though, the historical re- cord on the beeswax shipwreck had become badly confused and polluted. Over the years, writers and raconteurs — especially Na- tive American storytellers hired by resort owners to entertain guests — had had some of their professional fabrications and exaggerations taken a little too seriously, and the whole subject had just about crossed over the line from archaeology to folk- lore studies. In other words, as a topic of study for a serious academic historian or archae- ologist, Beeswax Wreck Studies suff ered from the same stigma as UFO Studies. And so, as with UFOs, it went unstudied by se- rious academics, for a long time. But in 2006, a group of ar- chaeologists and historians and geologists came together and decided they were going to take the topic seriously, and drill down through all the myths and legends to solve the mystery for real. And thus was the Beeswax Wreck Project born. Last month, aft er more than a decade of research and explora- tion, the Beeswax Wreck Project — which has since expanded to become the Maritime Archaeo- logical Society, a nonprofi t orga- nization based in Astoria dedi- cated to the study of shipwrecks — published its fi ndings in the summer issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Th e editors dedicated the entire issue to this one topic. Th e Beeswax Wreck Project scientists won’t be able to say with 100 percent certainty un- less the wreck itself is located; but there is, they have learned, really only one galleon that it could possibly be: Th e San Cris- to de Burgos, which left Manila in 1693. Of the 400-odd galle- ons the Spanish built and sailed, many sank or were captured by This photo illustration accompanied a 1915 article about the beeswax shipwreck in the Portland Sunday Oregonian. (Image: UO Libraries) enemies, but only four vanished without a trace: two in the mid- 1500s; the San Cristo de Burgos in 1693; and the San Francisco Xavier in 1705. Th e early ones were ruled out because of the shards of Chinese pottery that have been found washed ashore from the wreck; they were of a design that didn’t exist in the 1500s. Th e San Francisco Xavier was ruled out because those pottery shards, along with lots of beeswax, were found inside Nehalem Bay — and the only way detritus from an off shore shipwreck could end up in Nehalem Bay would be if it was washed over Nehalem Spit by a tsunami — and the only tsunami that could do such a job happened in the year 1700. By process of elimination, therefore, it had to be the San Cristo de Burgos. Within that almost-certainty lies a fascinating story that we’ll never fully know: Th e wreck of the ship may have been es- sentially caused by the Spanish offi cials in Manila. When it left Manila in 1693, the San Cristo de Burgos was actually mak- ing its second try at crossing the Pacifi c. Th e previous year it had tried to make the crossing, but was dismasted in a sudden storm. Aft er limping back to Manila, the ship’s offi cers found themselves in hot water with the local authorities, who promptly got busy trying to fi nd someone to pin the blame on. Th e ship’s builder was accused of messing up the mast steps; the rigger, of not connecting the ropes right. Finally the authorities settled for charging the galleon’s skipper, Don Bernardo Iñiguez del Bayo, with negligence, and demand- ing a large payment from him. To avoid paying this, del Bayo cast off in the middle of the night (metaphorically speaking, al- though a literal midnight depar- ture does seem likely) leaving a large amount of food and other supplies behind, along with 30 sailors (out of a full complement in the 110-120 range, including gunners but not including cab- in boys). It certainly can’t be assumed that this short-staffi ng situation caused the wreck; but, Your Family Deserves The BEST Technology... Value... TV!... 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For the first 3 months (Offers vary by speed & location) first 12 months HyperLink™ Satellite Internet High-Speed Internet Connection speeds up to 75 Mbps* What you get with HughesNet Satellite Internet: • 50X faster than DSL!!** • High speed with fiber optic technology • Fast speeds up to 25 Mbps • Available everywhere • Fast download time for streaming videos, music and more! • Larger data allowance (up to 50 GB per month) 855-977-9436 Speed performance allowing you to stream & download shows, music, photos, large files and more on multiple devices HughesNet is a registered trademark of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, an EchoStar company. The HughsNet Gen5 service plans are designed to deliver download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps, but individual customers may experience different speeds at different times of the day. 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East 541-942-7711 Pastor: Bob Friend Two Services: 9am - Classic in the Chapel 10:30am - Contemporary in the Auditorium COTTAGE GROVE: 6th & Gibbs Church of Christ 195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822 Pastor: Aaron Earlywine Summer Service: 9:30 am Christian Education: Pre-K through 5th www.6thandgibbs.com First Baptist Church 301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242 Interim Pastor: Reed Webster Sunday School 9:30am Worship Service 11:00am Youth Wednesday 6:30pm cgfi rstbaptist.com Calvary Baptist Church 77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290 Pastor: Riley Hendricks Sunday School: 9:45am Worship: 11:00am The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Pastor: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am www.cgpresbynews.com Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove 1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza) 541-942-6842 Pastor: Jeff Smith Two Services on Sun: 9am & 10:45am Youth Group Bible Study Child Care 10:45am Service Only www.cgcalvary.org Hope In The Grove 700 E. Gibbs • 401-855-5668 Pastor: Wayne Husk Sunday services: Worship: 9am Coffee Fellowship: 10:15am Bible Study: 10:30am Hopper upgrade fee $5/mo. Add High Speed Internet cargo was textiles and fabrics: silks and cottons. Th ere was a fair amount of carved ivory, and quite a bit of elemental mercury that was to be used in the silver mines of New Spain; but, alas, no chests full of doubloons and pieces of eight. Th e full report of the Bees- wax Wreck Project, of course, includes lots more information than can be laid out here. To learn more about the wreck, and the galleon traffi c between Mex- ico and the Philippines that it was a part of, you should grab a copy of the Summer 2018 issue of Oregon Historical Quarterly. But the bottom line on the whole thing is, the identity of the mysterious beeswax ship is now solved, with more than 99 percent certainty. And the next time you stumble across a little chunk of wax on the beach af- ter a winter storm, you’ll know you’re holding in your hand a piece of history nearly a century older than the United States of America itself. Center for Spiritual Living 700 Gibbs Ave. (Community Center) Rev. Bobby Lee Meets Sunday 3:00 p.m. cslcottagegrove@gmail.com Church of Christ 420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 Sunday Service: 10:30am Cottage Grove Bible Church 1200 East Quincy Avenue 541-942-4771 Pastor:Bob Singer Worship 11am Sunday School:9:45am AWANA age 3-8th Grade, Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm www.cgbible.org Cottage Grove Faith Center 33761 Row River Rd. 541-942-4851 Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett www.cg4.tv Full Childrenʼs Ministry available Service: 10:00am Hope Fellowship United Pentecostal Church 100 S. Gateway Blvd. 541-942-2061 Pastor: Dave Bragg Worship: 11:00am Sunday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday www.hopefellowshipupc.com “FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Churches 1025 N. 19th St. 541-942-3420 Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen Holy Mass: Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm Sun: 10:30am Confession: After daily mass, Sat. 4-5pm or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrock Lane 541-895-8686, Sunday: 8:30am St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Church with the fl ags.” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Seventh-day Adventist Church 820 South 10th Street 541-942-5213 Pastor: Kevin Miller Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40 Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00 Trinity Lutheran Church 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373 Pastor: James L. Markus Sunday School & Adult Education 9:15am Sunday Worship 10:30 am Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur 5:00pm TLC Groups tlccg.com United Methodist Church 334 Washington • 541-942-3033 Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen Worship: 10:30am Comm. Dinner (Adults $5, Kids Free) 1st & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm umcgrove.org Non-Denominational Church of Christ 1041 Pennoyer Ave 541-942-8928 Preacher: Tony Martin “VICTORY” Country Church Sunday Bible Study:10:00am Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Pastor: Barbara Dockery www.pennoyeravecoc.com Worship Service: 10:00am Message: “WE BELIEVE IN Old Time Gospel Fellowship MIRACLES” 103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999 Pastor: Jim Edwards CRESWELL: Sunday Service: 10:00am Join in Traditional Christian Worship Creswell Presbyterian Church 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Rev. Seth Wheeler Adult Sunday School 9:15am Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am website www.creswellpres.org Worship With Us! Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in the newspaper. If your congregation would like to be a part of this directory, please contact the Cottage Grove Sentinel @ 541-942-3325