9/4/16 Report - Hermine and Spanish History and Treasure of the Florida Panhandle. Spanish Cross of Grand Mesa. Medieval Finds.

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

Hermine didn't do much to the Treasure Coast but it did a lot of damage to the Panhandle beaches.  I mentioned some of the history of that area a couple of days ago.  It so happens that Dan B. was on his way to the Apalachicola area and might get in a little detecting up that way in the wake of Hermine.

It is an area that has a lot of history and treasure even though we don't hear much about it.  Below is a little information about San Marcos de Apalache from a link I gave you a couple of days ago.  As you will see, there is a case to be made that St. Marks is the oldest European settlement in the U. S.

This (St. Marks) is the site of the original Spanish mission in the area. It was established about 400 years ago. You will see that the town of St Marks claims to have been established in 1527, if this is true it would make St Marks the oldest European settlement in the US.  The old fort site a state park and has an interesting visitor's center. When in St. Marks eat at Posey’s "home of the topless oyster", the smoked mullet is very good, and of course the oysters can't be beat. This is a genuine Florida redneck experience. There are people who believe St. Marks to be the oldest inhabitation in the US. No records exist to prove it was inhabited before the early 1600's but there is some evidence. In 1519 Ponce de Leon may have landed there, and many believe that Wakulla Springs was his famed Fountain of Youth. Cabaza de Vaca probably spent the winter of 1528/1529 here. Cabaza de Vaca landed with a party of about 300 men near Tampa, with the objective of finding gold and conquering. The ships were lost and he made his way mostly overland from there to Mexico City over a period of about 8 years, of the original party only 3, including Cabaza de Vaca survived. Anyway there are people who believe Cabaza de Vaca's group left settlers at St. Marks, this is the basis for their claim to the 1527 date. There are also those who believe that when DeSoto passed the area in 1540 he left settlers. In some of the early reports of the 1604 missionaries who landed at St. Marks there appears to be reference to Spanish already living in the area. If in fact St. Marks was first settled before 1604 it was most likely by someone from Cabaza de Vaca's party. If so it is the oldest European settlement north of Mexico City, but even if it was not settled until 1604 it was still an important port and settlement many years before the first Englishman set foot on Plymouth Rock. Little remains today of the early settlement, and St. Marks population is probably no more than it was in 1650, but the oysters are still just as good.

Here is the link for more about the Panhandle area.  You'll also read about shipwrecks and other treasures in the Panhandle area.

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

----

Always take notice of earth being moved in an urban or other potentially productive area.

Medieval building foundations, a Tudor kiln and silver coins are among items that have been unearthed at a development site in the city centre...

A Tudor kiln was discovered, that was most likely used for pottery or tile production, as well as a 16th century well and the foundations of medieval buildings.

Smaller objects such as silver coins, and what appears to be a clasp/pin made of polished bone were also discovered...

Here is the link for more of that story.

http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/14718189.Medieval_artefacts_found_on_city_centre_development_site/----

---

A piece of a centuries-old bronze cross found on a rocky side of the Grand Mesa 45 years ago could put a new spin on Spanish exploration in Colorado.

The bit of ceremonial cross – no bigger than a candy bar – disappeared long ago into the archives of some East Coast museum. But in a Da Vinci Code-stoked world that is newly pondering religious symbolism, the missing metal has taken on compelling new mystery. It has sparked a hunt for the rest of the cross and an investigation into what early Spanish explorers were doing on the 10,000- foot-high Grand Mesa.

“I think it would be great if we could find another piece to give us some answers,” said Dave Bailey, chief curator for the Museum of Western Colorado in Grand Junction and member of the Western Investigations Team.

The team will use ultra-sensitive metal detectors to comb a football field-sized area on the west of the mesa over three days this week and will take anything they find to labs at Mesa State College for analysis...

Here is the link for more of that story and the possible significance of the cross.

http://www.denverpost.com/2006/06/19/quest-for-colorados-spanish-cross/

I received another newspaper account of that story from Darrel S.  Thanks Darrel.

---

Hermine might do some damage to the beaches in the Northeast.

The Treasure Coast will have a small surf today but maybe up to five feet Tuesday.

We still have a disturbance out by the West Indies that is heading west.

Happy hunting,
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

9/1/16 Report - Hurricane Hermine About To Make Landfall. A Look At Some Treasure Coast Beaches.

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

Jensen Beach At Low Tide Thursday

As you probably know Florida is now expecting a hurricane to land up in the panhandle.  More on that later.

In the picture above you can see a detectorist (left of center) working along the seaweed line.

Notice the dip just off the beach.

Looking South at Jensen Beach Near Low Tide

Notice the surf and the shells.  There haven't been many shells on the beaches along the Treasure Coast lately.  This is about the most that I've seen.  I spotted a piece of an old pot in the shells without spending any time looking.

At John Brooks Beach At Low Tide.

At John Brooks there were some shallow scallops and peaks.  The beach front here was mushy.

Compass On Walkway.

If you want to get a good fix on directions, you'll find this indicator cut into the walkover at John Brooks.  It has been there a few years now.

Fort Pierce Inlet South.

That beach is now covered with a lot of seaweed.

As you can see Hermine has not done much for out Treasure Coast beaches.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Hermine is now a level 1 hurricane and about to make landfall.  An eight to twelve foot surge is expected.

Hermine is then expected to cross over and follow the seacoast north.

That is what most people are paying attention to, but notice the disturbance work west across the Atlantic.

Gaston is still handing around in the middle of the Atlantic.

That is it for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/31/16 Report - Tropical Storm Hermine Heading Towards Big Bend. 12th Century Cache. A Great Resource.

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

One Hurricane, One Tropical Storm and a Depression and Another Disturbance.

In my opinion the most interesting of the disturbances shown on the above map is the one over by the Canary Islands.  I feel like the others are not going to do a lot for us.

Gaston is still lingering in the middle of the Atlantic.

Depression Eight will be heading away from North Carolina and out into the Atlantic.

Our new Tropical Storm, Hermine, formerly referred to as Invest 99, is going to pass over North Florida and out into the Atlantic and up towards North Carolina.

The path of Hermine appears to be a little more narrow and bit farther north than it was yesterday.  It has strengthened.

There is a surge warning or watch along the big bend all the way from Spring Hill up to around Alligator Point.

The south winds could result in a touch of improvement to a few (very few) scattered spots on the Treasure Coast.

We're supposed to have a four foot surf on Wednesday.  After that the surf is supposed to decrease as Hermine results in west and southwest winds for the Treasure Coast.

The big bump in the surf for next week that was in the predictions disappeared as I thought it would.

Like I said, I more interested in watching the new disturbance leaving the Canary Islands.

There should be a few very small cuts developing today, but nothing big.

There should be improved hunting in spots around the big bend, and definitely North Carolina.

---

About 273 copper coins related to the 12th century have been found in ancient jar...

Here is the link.

http://www.azernews.az/culture/101501.html

---

I found a good read, absolutely full of interesting information.  It is the PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM “EDGE OF EMPIRE” HELD AT THE 2006 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SACRAMENTO CA Edited by Filipe Vieira de Castro and Katie Custer.

There is a lot of good stuff to read there.

Here is the link.  (It takes a while to load.)

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/00-pdf/Castro%20and%20Custer%202008%20-%20Book%20-%20Edge%20of%20Empire.pdf

---

I'll be checking out the beaches before long.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net