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David K
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Lost Ship of the Desert coming to TV Jan. 2, 2015
Baja Nomad 'dezertmag' (John Grasson) will be on TV next month talking about the Lost Ship of the Desert... a ship that sailed up the Sea Of Cortez
into the Salton Sea area, hundreds of years ago... There is a short preview of the show, following the commercial:
http://www.ahctv.com/tv-shows/myth-hunters/myth-hunters-vide...
John is the publisher of Dezert Magazine, and all the original Desert Magazines are online, too: http://dezertmagazine.com/
[Edited on 1-2-2015 by David K]
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AKgringo
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If my recollection of the history of the Salton Sea is correct, the level was raised in the early 1900's by an accidental, or illegal diversion of the
Colorado River.
If there was ever a passage to the Sea of Cortez during the early days of exploration, it probably wouldn't have been deep enough for the keel of an
ocean going ship.
I say myth!
[Edited on 12-22-2014 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
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If you watch the short video for the show, a map gives a possible explanation in brief. There is a thread here on Nomad about the Colorado River
history and how it was diverted into the Salton Sink many times in history, creating Lake Cahuilla and lastly, the Salton Sea.
From the video above:
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David K
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Personally, I believe the Laguna Salada version of the story better...
[Edited on 12-23-2014 by David K]
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AKgringo
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I will have to watch the film, but I still have two problems with the myth.
The first is the time line. There is no question that the Salton Sink was full and connected to the Sea of Cortez in the past, but if it was so during
visits by early explorers then it dried up far faster than all of the other sinks on the east side of the Sierras. There would be a lot more lake
during the days of prospectors and settlers.
The second question is about the vessel. Given the power of an un-dammed Colorado River meeting the significant tides of the Sea of Cortez, I just
can't see a ships captain risking his ship and all their lives exploring that channel. When captain Cook was exploring the inlet that now bears his
name in Alaska, he anchored his ships and explored the tributaries in his long boats. I could see that happening, but a seagoing vessel, no way!
P.S. What is the Laguna Salda version?
[Edited on 12-23-2014 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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KaceyJ
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You can see the remaining pieces of the bow of the ship just west of the hemp research station at Brawley . All the locals know where it is
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AKgringo
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Hemp research station? I suppose that would help you see just about anything!
Kidding aside, thanks for that information. Can it be determined if it was a ship, or a shallow draft longboat?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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bajaguy
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Date
Be nice if we knew the date
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John M
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Lost ship stories
In the early 1950s some newspaper people resurrected the publication of the "Calico Print" - an 1880s era paper from Calico, a rich mining area east
of Barstow.
The revived Calico Print was initially a newspaper format but by June of 1952 that was changed and it was printed as a small folio. The final edition
in November 1953 carried, on page 31, "Lost Ship of the Desert" a three page article. A couple of other lost ship stories accompanied this main
article.
I haven't looked at the trailer David linked to, nor read the Lost Ship story as published sixty plus years ago. I'll save that for tomorrow. Enough
to say there are lots of great desert stories!
More later.
November 1953 Calico Print - Harold & Lucile Weight editors
With this map I guess it's not "lost" any longer!
This edition of Calico Print has several altogether differing versions of the legend. Each was written by noted desert writers and researchers such as
Paul Wilhelm, L. Burr Belden, and Ed Stevens. And as David K notes, Choral Pepper also got in on the action.
John M
[Edited on 12-23-2014 by John M]
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David K
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | I will have to watch the film, but I still have two problems with the myth.
The first is the time line. There is no question that the Salton Sink was full and connected to the Sea of Cortez in the past, but if it was so during
visits by early explorers then it dried up far faster than all of the other sinks on the east side of the Sierras. There would be a lot more lake
during the days of prospectors and settlers.
The second question is about the vessel. Given the power of an un-dammed Colorado River meeting the significant tides of the Sea of Cortez, I just
can't see a ships captain risking his ship and all their lives exploring that channel. When captain Cook was exploring the inlet that now bears his
name in Alaska, he anchored his ships and explored the tributaries in his long boats. I could see that happening, but a seagoing vessel, no way!
P.S. What is the Laguna Salda version?
[Edited on 12-23-2014 by AKgringo] |
I posted Choral Pepper's pearl treasure stories in 2004 and 2007: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=26704
Here is the part of Choral Pepper's chapter on the lost ship:
Juan de Iturbe, explorer for the King and pearler on his own account, was first to sail the entire length along the California Gulf Coast and
into the Colorado River in 1615. After loading his fifty-ton ship with a great fortune in pearls, he sailed northward beyond San Felipe, but instead
of finding the mouth of the Colorado River, he discovered himself grounded on a sandbar in a vast sea surrounded by mountains. Certain that he had
discovered the long-sought Straits of Anian that gave entrance to the Pacific Ocean, even though it had already been determined that this was not so,
Iturbe stayed there for a month waiting for a storm or enough wind to carry him off the bar. At last the gods favored him with a great cloudburst, but
water gushed down from the high mountains with such fury that waves rendered his ship unmanageable.
Still dreaming that he and his crew would be ennobled by the King and endowed with measureless fame and fortune, Iturbe continued his exploration by
land. When supplies ran low, they dried flesh from antelope and wild sheep. After several months of futile searching, they climbed to the top of the
highest mountain and identified the Colorado River winding toward the northeast, but the mouth of it was as elusive as the supposed Straits running to
the west.
With their ship finally seaworthy, they attempted again to sail around the landlocked sea in search of an exit, but somehow, as if controlled by a
sorcerer, the water had receded. Iturbe once again found himself grounded, this time on soft, boggy ground from which the crew barely escaped alive.
With little choice, they abandoned the ship with its vast treasure of pearls, leaving it poised upright with its keel buried in sand as if a-sail, and
managed to straggle across the sandy waste back to the Gulf where they eventually were rescued.
Iturbe's aborted pearling adventure gave birth to one of Southern California's greatest lost treasure legends, as recounted in Desert Lore of Southern
California by this author.
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CortezBlue
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It is on here in Fenix, AZ Jan 2 at 8pm on directv chnl 287
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
- Albert Einstein
Follow Cortez Blue
www.cortezblue.com
We put the FUNK in disFUNKtion |
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Gulliver
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I believe that some of the iron hull of the steam boat Uncle Sam is still out in the desert near Yuma. Sunk and then washed away around 1852.
Closest thing to reality in all of these stories.
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David K
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It is in the link... here is the schedule: http://www.ahctv.com/tv-shows/myth-hunters/myth-hunters-tv-s...
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Tioloco
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Gulliver-
Any more info on that Uncle Sam? I am interested in seeing that.
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bajaguy
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San Diego - Dish Network
Friday, January 2 - 7PM on Ch 195
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Gulliver
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Tioloco,
The info is in a book at my house on Lopez Island in the San Juans. I'll contact a friend with a copy of the book and get back with any info I
get.
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David K
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From 'Lost Desert Bonanzas', 1963
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KaceyJ
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One interesting note to the above maps that David posted is that there are extensive old dry oyster beds in the area near the named "Yuha Spg"
(spring)
The size of the lake or inland sea was much bigger than indicated by the maps
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by KaceyJ | One interesting note to the above maps that David posted is that there are extensive old dry oyster beds in the area near the named "Yuha Spg"
(spring)
The size of the lake or inland sea was much bigger than indicated by the maps |
Been to the Yuha Oyster Shell Beds with my folks who supported my rock hound hobby... that was in the 1960's before I-8 was built. Also went to the
Yuha Well to the south of the oyster hills. I am thinking those were sea water shells, from when the sea levels were once much higher, millions of
years ago?
South of San Felipe, at several hundred feet above sea level and 5 miles from the gulf coast on can see the exact same type of oyster fossils.
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KaceyJ
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"South of San Felipe, at several hundred feet above sea level and 5 miles from the gulf coast on can see the exact same type of oyster fossils. "
That's incredible , how could that be? 
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