10/24/18 Report - Dog Island Shipwrecks Surface After Hurricane as Expected. Bronze Age Dagger Found. Martyrs of North America.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Dog Island Shipwreck Uncovered by Hurricane Michael.

On 10/11/18 I posted the following.

As you know by now, the portions of the Florida Panhandle got hit hard by Hurricane Michael.  I have not doubt that some old things will be uncovered up around Alligator Point and Dog Island, where nice old Spanish coins have been found before.

If you want to become a little more familiar with the shipwrecks of the area, here is a link to a lengthy and  detailed archaeological report.

You will find a lot of interesting information in that report.

Some of the uncovered wrecks, such as the one or two shown above are now in the news.

It looks like that photo was taken by a drone.

An article in TampaBay.com published the photo at the top of the post and said, But among the destruction is also a reemergence of history.  The storm's surge unearthed a shipwreck from the 19th century, one or possibly two sunken ships that were washed up on Dog Island by a 1899 hurricane.  According to Sarah Revell, spokeswoman for the Department of State, the wrecks "have been mapped and investigated scientifically multiple times," and parts of them have been exposed in the past.

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/10/23/hurricane-michael-unearthed-a-19th-century-shipwreck-on-dog-island/

I also recommend reading the extensive archaeological report, if you haven't already done that.

Other sources also talked about Dog Island shipwrecks exposed by hurricane Michael.  The following appeared in MyFox8.com.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://myfox8.com/2018/10/20/hurricane-michael-exposes-120-year-old-shipwrecks-off-florida-coast/

Thanks to TekLord Doug for the lead on these articles.

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Bronze Age Dagger.

Source: Spectator.sme.sk

Here is an excerpt from an article about another interesting find.

A local man has found a unique Bronze Age dagger on the banks of the Slanec stream in Hriňová. The dagger is probably between 3200 and 3600 years old. More specific data will be available after more detailed research by preservation offices.

“It is the oldest finding from the area around our town and may reveal significant new historical connections to the region,” said the Hriňová project manager, Michal Machava, as quoted by the TASR newswire...

Here is the link for more about that.


https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20940695/bronze-age-dagger-unearthed.html

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Here is an excerpt from an interesting article about martyrs of North America.

In the summer of 1642, Jogues and the surgeon-turned-Jesuit brother, St. René Goupil, were accompanying a large group of Huron warriors homeward when they were ambushed by Mohawks (part of the Iroquois Confederacy) at Lake Champlain. Many died, but the rest were taken prisoner, with Jogues and Goupil among them. Both were victims of torture and Jogues had most of his fingers cut off. Goupil was martyred shortly after professing his religious vows in the presence of Jogues for teaching a small boy the Sign of the Cross. Commenting on this, Jogues wrote, “this angel of innocence and martyr of Jesus Christ gave his life for him who had given him his.”

And here is that link.

https://www.osv.com/Article/TabId/493/ArtMID/13569/ArticleID/20406/North-American-Martyrs.aspx

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Friend, physician and detectorist Russ P. confirms that the Red Tide that has been plaguing our beaches does cause coughing.  I understand that if you have asthma, it could be dangerous.

There are no storms in the Atlantic.

A cool front came through last night with some northeast winds.  I haven't seen the beaches yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/11/18 Report - Florida Panhandle Area Shipwreck Survey Report. Mission Nombre de Dios. Columbus' Map. FBI Hunts Treasure?

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasuebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

As you know by now, the portions of the Florida Panhandle got hit hard by Hurricane Michael.  I have not doubt that some old things will be uncovered up around Alligator Point and Dog Island, where nice old Spanish coins have been found before.

If you want to become a little more familiar with the shipwrecks of the area, here is a link to a lengthy and  detailed archaeological report.

You will find a lot of interesting information in that report.

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In the 1950s, Father Charles Spellman, a priest and archaeologist in St. Augustine, made a historic discovery at the Mission Nombre de Dios.

Spellman uncovered the remnants of what is thought to be the first stone building and shrine dedicated to Our Lady of La Leche, a building believed to have been constructed in 1677. He discovered artifacts and made a map of the site, but he never shared his discovery with the archaeological community...

Archaeologists have rediscovered the site and will be trying to learn more about it.  Here is the link.

http://www.staugustine.com/news/20181009/mysterious-17th-century-building-being-uncovered-at-mission

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Dean R. and SuperRick sent links to this story.

The father-son duo spent years combing this bit of Pennyslvania wilderness with high-end metal detectors, drills and other tools to prospect for a fabled cache of Civil War gold. They felt certain they'd discovered the hiding place of the long-lost booty, leading the FBI to the mountainous, heavily wooded area last March.

Now, at the end of the court-sanctioned excavation, the FBI escorted the treasure hunters to the snow-covered site and asked them what they saw. They gazed at the pit. Not so much as a glimmer of gold dust, let alone the tons of precious metal they said an FBI contractor's instruments had detected.

"We were embarrassed," Dennis Parada told The Associated Press in his first interview since the well-publicized dig last winter. "They walk us in, and they make us look like dummies. Like we messed up."

Since that day, however, neighbors' accounts of late-night excavation and FBI convoys have fueled suspicions that the agency isn't telling the whole truth. The Paradas are challenging the FBI's account of the dig, insisting that something had to have been buried in the woods near Dents Run, about 135 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh..

Here is the link.


https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/treasure-hunters-challenge-the-fbi-over-a-dig-for-legendary-gold.html

A lot of questions to consider in this one.

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Here is an article about the map Columbus might have used.


https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture-exploration/2018/10/columbus-map-discovery-secrets-new-world/

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Well, Michael has left Florida but continues to cause problems.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

On the Treasure Coast the surf is down around two feet now, but the tides are still high.

Remember those in the Panhandle.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/2/16 Report - Hermine Hits Florida Panhandle and Heads North. Treasures of Alligator Point and Dog Island.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Wind Pattern Friday.
Source: windyty.com

Hermine made landfall and is now working its way north.  Above you can see that Hermine will be pulling wind up over the Treasure Coast from the southwest.

I have the windyty site permanently linked on the first page of this blog under Wind, Surf and Waves.

According to the Washington Post, Coastal areas from the North Carolina Outer Banks to the Jersey Shore may well get slammed. Heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous surf are likely, with forecast confidence high for the Carolina Outer Banks but just moderate for the Delmarva beaches. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Outer Banks and a tropical storm watch for the Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey beaches.  

I occasionally post finds from North Carolina that are contributed by readers of this blog.

Historic areas such as Cedar Key and Appalachicola received a very large storm surge.  After they attend to the damage, there will undoubtedly be some interesting metal detector finds in that area.

There are places other than the Treasure Coast that produce shipwreck treasures.  I have some personal history with Alligator Point, which I mentioned the other day and which undoubtedly got hit by the high surf produced by Hermine.

Here is a bit about Alligator Point from AlligatorPoint.org.

There are rumors that gold coins have been found washed up on Alligator Point and Bald Point. We have it on good authority that the pirate Billy Bowlegs Rogers buried three chests of treasure on Bald Point (the far side of Alligator Point from the house). He started out as one of Jean Lafitte’s men in Louisiana and later moved to Florida and fought in the Seminole Indian wars. Before that the British attacked and sunk his ship, the “Mysterio”, in the pass between St George and St Vincent Island, the wreckage was found in 1956, but no gold was reported. As the story goes he buried $6,000,000 worth of gold bars in clay jars on St George Island, we are sure he buried a lot more on Alligator Point. He is buried in Mary Esther, Florida near Eglin Air Force Base. Rumor has it that about 100 years ago grave robbers dug him up and found 2 pots of gold in the grave. Even more interesting it is said that an unusual looking tree in the cemetery was hit with an axe and silver dollars poured out. He was married to an Indian woman and may have taken his name from the famous Seminole Chief Billy Bowlegs. He lived out his old age in Northern Florida as a simple fisherman who occasionally did a bit of pirating.

Some other good stories including a 1699 shipwreck in a Hurricane that washed up on St George Island losing gold, silver, and cannons as it broke up. We have been told that artifacts have been found about half a mile east of the old lighthouse on Little St George Island. There are numerous other stories of gold, silver, and treasure having been buried on Dog Island and Alligator Point. FSU has an interesting website about real Dog Island shipwrecks.

One of Rob’s nieces found a British copper coin with a date of 1808 near the end of Alligator Point on the bay side. That’s as close to treasure as we’ve seen, but good hunting, we’ve sure it’s out there.
Here is the link to that web site.

http://www.alligatorpoint.org/about/fog0000000011.html

Here is a link to use if you want to read about Dog Island shipwrecks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Island_(Florida)

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

As Hermine leaves Florida, we still have something to watch.  Notice the yellow X working its way West.

We'll have a small surf until at least Monday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net