The Mystery of the Beeswax Shipwreck

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
​A discovery of "ancient beeswax" found on the Oregonian coast at Nehalem was reported in the newspapers throughout the years. It was assumed it came from a wrecked vessel that foundered on its way to a Catholic monastery in California. The wax was etched with Latin words.

---

Nehalem Bay

Oral history from the tribes in the area, as well as  journals of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery expedition document the presence of wax.

During the 1800s, there were different theories where chunks of beeswax washing onshore were coming from. First it was assumed it might have come from the ship Peacock wrecked on the Nehalem Bay sandpit. It carried beeswax among its cargo, which was strewn along the beach. However William Savage a pioneer in the area during the 1840s, said the brig-of-war Peacock was wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1842.

Then there was controversy if it was beeswax or mineral wax, however the wing of a bee was found imbedded in the wax, providing evidence of its origins.

The ship carried such a large amount of wax because the Catholic Church deemed only beeswax was acceptable for liturgical candles. At this time there were no honeybees in the Americas, and all the missions, chapels and churches needed it to make candles. The heavy blocks also served as ballast for the ship. 

By 1922, it was reported that chunks of beeswax were sent by Emil G. Gadell of Manzanita to the Oregon Agricultural College for further examination.

---

In 1961, the beeswax was dated to the 16th century (Source - The News Review)

In 1961, the Shell Oil Company issued a report stating the beeswax found in the sand dune of Nehalem Peninsula were about 430 years old. They tested a specimen at their laboratory in Texas after it was sent to them by the Tillamook County Chamber of Commerce.

Some believed it came from the cargo of the San Francisco Xavier, a Spanish galleon which wrecked in 1705, as it was headed from Mexico to the Philippines.

Dr. Cook, who taught at Castleton Teachers' College in Vermont, and was in the process of  writing a book titled, The Spanish in the Pacific Northwest saw a picture in the newspapers of Alex Walker holding a piece of beeswax he had found. He said, "From the marking, it is undoubtedly from a Spanish ship which visited the area in the early days. It appears to be one of the largest and best preserved pieces in existence."

He said that beeswax was once found along the coast in large quantities, were destroyed by those who didn't realize what they had found. These specimens came from Spanish ships wrecked off the coast. The mystery was tied to the name of the ship.

In the summer of 1693, Santo Cristo de Burgos left Manila then a Spanish colony, on what was supposed to be a normal trading voyage. The galleon had filled its hold with beeswax, Chinese porcelain and silk bound for Mexico. Normally when land was sighted the route were turned southward toward Mexico, in order to avoid the foggy coast of Oregon and Washington. Somewhere in the northern Pacific it ran into some type of disaster, and sailed into oblivion until 2022.

---

Chinese porcelain that washed onshore (source - MAS)

Seven years later, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale swallowed part of the Oregon coastline, and then returned it inside a tsunami. This event was known as the Great Cascadia Earthquake.

The galleon and its cargo were thrown onto the coastline, along with other debris returned to the shore..

The Maritime Archeological Society (MAS) researched legends of a burning ship and its survivors, retold by the Nehalem Indians. It involved tales of lost treasure and locals finding pieces of Chinese porcelain shards along the shoreline.

According to the oral histories of the Nehalem Indians, crewmen from the ship lived with them for some time, leaving descendants who are in the area until this day. Other stories contradict this version, in which the crew who survived the wreck were killed by the natives.

---

A large beeswax block that was found near the Nehalem Spit with Spanish shipping marks carved into it. This block was donated to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum in 1952 (Source OHS.org)

According to Spanish naval records, two galleons were lost during these years. It was the Santo Cristo de Burgos sailing from Manila to Acapulco, and the San Francisco Xavier, lost in 1705. However examination of large wooden timbers recovered in coastal sea caves, find they date to before the tsunami. Radio carbon dating on the wood indicated it was built in the 1650s from Asian lumber, ruling out the San Francisco Xavier.

​The earliest reference to the wreck dates back to 1813, when fur trader Alexander Henry said the local Clatsop tribe were trading large amounts of beeswax. They said it came from a shipwreck near Nehalem Bay. Teak from the ship's timbers were used to build furniture and souvenirs. Much of the beeswax was marked with Spanish shipping symbols, and wings of bees native to the Philippines were found trapped in the wax.

---

The origins of the beeswax captured the imagination of the coastal residents for decades

It is a mystery why the galleon was sailing off the coast of Oregon, north of its route to Mexico, unless it was damaged and drifted off course.

​In 2006, a group of archaeologists from the Maritime Archeology Society started The Beeswax Wreck Research Project, using the shards of Chinese porcelain recovered thus far by beachcombers.

​Examination of the porcelain proved they came from the Kangxi period of the late 17th century, which corresponded with the time period the ships were sailing between Manila and Mexico.

---

An unidentified man holds a piece of beeswax that washed ashore in 1955 (Source - Salem Public Library)

A group of volunteers were looking for clues through the local lore that had accumulated through the years about the beeswax wreck.

Ronald Spores a professor at Vanderbilt University was part of the group, and in 2018 while reviewing 17th-century records from Spain, he found the personnel manifest of the ship. There were 231 persons on board on its last voyage. They were 215 officers and crew members; 62 weren't Spanish but Creoles from the Philippines, China, Malaysia and other cultures. There were only 16 passengers, composed of six priests of the Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit orders, as well as merchants and military men. There were no women.

---

A map of the winds and currents used by Manila galleons to facilitate trade between New Spain and Asia.

The Santo Cristo de Burgos was built in 1687-1688 at the Spanish shipyard of Solsogón on the island of Bagatao in the Philippines, and probably had a cargo space in excess of 1,000 tons. Its exact dimensions are unknown. It plied the Manila trade route used by Spain from 1565 to 1815. The Spanish ships traversed 12,000 miles from Asia to New Spain (now Mexico) laden with Chinese silks, ivory figurines, spices and lacquer furniture.

The ship was captained by Don Bernardo Iñiguez del Bayo y de Pradilla. He came from a noble Basque family, was a member of the Knights of Santiago and served in 1686 as the mayor of the mining town, San Luis de Potosi in Mexico. He then headed the cavalry of Mexico City. By the spring of 1691 he sailed on the ship to the Philippines, but the following year it encountered a furious storm that sent it back to port in the Philippines with three broken masts. An investigation cleared the captain of responsibility, but most of the officers faced the end of their maritime careers. Some were banished and others imprisoned. This was punishment for the tremendous loss of revenue when the voyage could not be completed.

The ship sailed from the Philippines in 1693, short of about 30 crew members. Why it wrecked is unknown. Was it another storm, or inadequate repairs? There was also scurvy among the crew.

---

Remnants from what is believed to be the Santo Cristo de Burgos galleon were recovered throughout the years at what became known as "Beeswax Beach" c.1953. (Source - Oregonian)

There is an oral tradition in which survivors, some which sported long ponytails possibly the non-Spanish crew, made it to the shore. In a tantalizing clue, a rock at Oswald State Park south of Manzanita, has the initials "HM" carved in old style lettering into it. One of the crew was named Hernando Muñoz. Was this him?

Could the story be accurate that all who survived and made it to the beach were killed, or were they instead integrated into the tribes, leaving descendants in the area?

---

Bronze chest handles found in Manzanita c.1913 (Source - Beeswax Wreck Project)

In 1915, an article described where a "primitive Spanish cannon" had been found nine miles north of Nehalem Bay in what became known as Cannon Beach. There was another account of a second cannon found on Nehalem Beach. What became of the cannons after their discovery is unknown.

In 2013, Craig Andes, a beachcomber found timbers sticking out of the sand in caves, which initially no one believed belonged to a shipwreck. It turned out he was right. 

---

Manzanita Beach with Neahkahnie Mountain looming in the background

Lest you believe the loss of this Spanish galleon was a rare occurrence, more than 2,000 ships have been lost where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It is little wonder this stretch of cliffs and sand have been dubbed the "Graveyard of the Pacific".

The beeswax shipwreck, also spawned tales of buried treasure. 

Neahkahnie Mountain which looms over Manzanita Bay, is said to be the place where gold salvaged from the ship was hidden. It was supposedly dragged ashore and hidden somewhere on the beach or along the slopes of the mountain.

There are stories of the ghosts of the sailors massacred by the Indians, or having died from exposure still guarding the treasure. There is another version, reminiscent of typical pirate custom, in where a man was killed and left to guard the treasure. This story dates back to the mid-1800s when the first sailors from the Hudson's Bay Company came to the area.

The tale of treasure has proved to be so tantalizing that lives have been lost in the endeavor.  In 1931, Charles and Lynn Wood, father and son, were killed when the 30-foot hole they'd dug trying to claim the treasure caved in.

To add to the mystery are stone outcrops on Neahkahnie Mountain that are inscribed. An inscription which has been dated to be older than 100 years,  and within 25 years of the US Army's exploration of the mountain was found etched in rocks.

---

The wreck of the Glenesslin c.1913

​In October, 1913 the Glenesslin wrecked at Neahkanie Mountain. It was wedged on the rocks that lay  in the waters. The surf pounded the steel hull to bits quickly. The British ship was 125 days out from Santos, Brazil and bound for the Columbia River. It was loaded with grain.

The 21 members of the crew reached the shore by a lifeline stretched to the higher rocks.

Captain Owen Williams was so drunk that he could stand up after being taken ashore, as reported by Samuel Gordon Reed (1872-1941) proprietor of Neahkahnie Tavern. Other members of the crew were noted to be drunk, or at least had been drinking as well. Was this in part the cause why the windjammer wrecked even though it was mid-afternoon on a clear day?

Initially there were questions as to why the crew did not make moves to avoid the accident. A possible explanation is that within a week of the accident seven of the crew preferred to stay in the United States. During an inquiry held as to the fault of the captain, a Chinese steward with 46 years of service at sea reported calling attention to the mate of the dangerous position of the vessel.

Another reason why none of the crew climbed up into the rigging to drop the sails was because the majority of the crew was drunk.

Another explanation could lie in the fact the Glenessin had not turned a profit in several years, the fate of several ships that were powered by wind and not steam.

The Glenesslin was a British ship out of Liverpool built in 1885. She had been at the same port in 1903, which apparently did not bode well for this vessel, since a fire started in her hold, doing considerable damage to the cargo. She was lying at the quarantine station at the time.

According to the book Northwest Corner: "... her captain ordered full sail, set a course toward land, and ordered n one to change course on pain of being charged with mutiny. Then he drank himself into a stupor while his ship ran onto the coast in broad daylight."

---

Glenessin with crew c.1913

Eventually the captain was found guilty of negligence and his master's certificate was suspended for 3 months as per the British consulate. The first mate was reprimanded for not acting quickly, however the severest penalty was imposed to Second Mate John K. Colefield whose certificate was suspended for 6 months, since he was found guilty of great negligence in going too close to shore and in not calling the master before he did. 

The captain denied the charge that he was intoxicated, and his officers backed his statement. Ironically Captain Williams, who had captained a vessel for 20 years, had a reputation of being a drunkard, who would start to drink heavily when he was in sight of land.

Part of the problem were that both the first and second mate were only 22 years old. Years before this would have been unheard of, but it was very difficult to find officers for sailing vessels, most of the experienced men were hired on to steamships.

What was left of the ship was sold for a little over $500, sight unseen. When the new owner saw exactly what he had purchased he resold it immediately for $100.

Captain Williams died two years later at the age of 70. More than likely after the suspension, he never commanded a ship again.

The Glenesslin's hull completely disappeared from view in December, 1913  and only the top masts could be viewed at low tide. The wreck was submerged in 60 feet of water. The insurance paid the owners $30,000 for the loss.

The carcass of the windjammer is still rusting away. A sad fate for a vessel that in 1902 had set a world speed record (still unmatched) under sail from Portland to Port Elizabeth in South Africa in 74 days.

​Was this what happened to the Santo Cristo de Burgos 220 years before; it became becalmed and
unable to escape the powerful waves was crushed against the rocks?

---

The Goonies movie poster c.1985

In 2022, more pieces of wood believed to be part of the Santo Cristo de Burgos were recovered, and are the first clue of physical evidence to confirm its existence.

The Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 protects shipwrecks and gave ownership within 3 miles of the American coastline to the state adjacent to where it was found. So for example, if you're a diver or beachcomber and you come across any part of a new wreck along the Oregon Coast, you would be cheated of your find by this law since it belongs to Oregon.

One exception is the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which preserves the sovereign status of sunken U.S. military vessels and aircraft, regardless of how much time has passed. 

The numerous stories circulated about the lost ship caught the attention of director Steven Spielberg. This was the jumping off point for the idea behind the 1985 movie, The Goonies where a group of kids use a map to find the hidden treasure left behind by One-Eyed Willy, a 17th-century pirate.

---