photo courtesy of Pixabay user gregstepien75
(OREGON COAST) Some of the lowest tides in Northwest history have uncovered pieces of the past, and the discovery has significance for both fans of history, as well as fans of a particular movie from the 1980s.
You remember hearing about the historically low tides around here last week? Well, the same thing happened along the northern Oregon coast.
And it was an opportunity for archeologist Scott Williams to follow up on “find” two years ago.
“When a beachcomber fist told me he had found shipwreck pieces, I told him ‘I doubt it,'” Williams tells KPTV.com. “You just don’t get shipwreck wood preserving for 300 years.”
Closer inspection was needed – an opportunity given to Williams and his crew this past week courtesy of low tides near a cave in Manzanita.
“When we first got our there to look at it, it was very much ‘Oh my gosh this really is piece from a shipwreck,” he says.
Williams believes the pieces of wood are from the Santo Cristo De Brugo, which was sailing from the Philippines to Acapulco when it wandered way off course into the waters off the north Oregon coast. It got stuck, and was battered by waves in 1693. Over the years, pieces and cargo from the ship have floated to shore elsewhere.
It’s about this point in hte story the clues should be hitting you between the eyes: Ship in a cave, north Oregon coast, not too far from Astoria, treasures found. Sound like a movie you know?
For the 80s movie buff, this find is the mother lode. In the movie The Goonies, a bunch of kids in Astoria follow a treasure map that leads to a ship found in a cave. But before you can say “Goonies never say die,” keep in mind this was a Spanish Galleon, and not a pirate ship. The ship from The Goonies was found fully in-tact.
The Santo Cristo De Brugo is literally in pieces.
