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Tuesday, July 13, 1999

Search for La Salle's ship comes up empty
Historians disappointed that they can't find French explorer's wrecked relic, l'Aimable
By Anna M. Tinsley
Scripps Howard Austin Bureau

   AUSTIN - Once again, l'Aimable, the wrecked ship that was once French explorer La Salle's flagship, has eluded Texas historians.
   Researchers and divers thought they might have found the wrecked relic in waters near Pass Cavallo, near Port O'Connor, last week.
   But they retrieved a cannon from the sunken ship which dates to the 18th century - too late for l'Aimable which sank in 1685, said Jim Bruseth, director of the Texas Historical Commission's archaeology division.
   "It's an exciting shipwreck find,'' Bruseth said. "But it's disappointing that it's not the elusive Aimable.''
   Historians have searched for more than 20 years for this ship led by La Salle that carried food, medicine, utensils, tools, clothing, barter goods and other supplies needed for survival.
   Workers are searching an area near where another La Salle ship, the Belle, was found more than three years ago. Contents of the Belle - and much of that ship's hull - was retrieved and conserved.
   Key historians say they won't let this latest disappointment deter them from finding La Salle's former ship.
   Researchers for the state have been searching for the historic shipwreck since 1978.
   The historical commission last year partnered up with the National Underwater and Marine Agency, a nonprofit organization founded in 1979, to search for the 180-ton ship that was part of La Salle's 17th century expedition to the New World.
   The historical commission chose the agency, officials said, because the group has found more shipwrecks of historical significance than any other organization.
   The agency has taken the lead on the l'Aimable search.
   Agency crews first used instruments similar to metal detectors to identify buried objects near Pass Cavallo that are about the size of a ship with the same magnetic force a ship would have.
   The agency found 46 possible sites and set out in February 1998 to find the six most likely, said Wayne Gronquist, agency president.
   The wreckage where the cannon was found was the sixth site researchers have searched.
   "We've eliminated six targets,'' Gronquist said. "One was a shrimp boat and we determined that the others aren't the Aimable.''
   That means workers will go back to the original map of 46 sites and target other possibilities near the original six that could be the size of a ship.
   As for last week's find, the cannon, once its age was determined, was returned to the water. It will be retrieved for conservation later this month.
   "It has been in sand and water so long, it would deteriorate rapidly if we left it out of the water,'' Gronquist said. "We put it back in the water until preparations have been made to conserve it.''
   But it's not likely that the whole ship will be retrieved and preserved, Bruseth said.
   That's because the ship is buried beneath much sand and silt.



Scripps Howard Austin Bureau writer Anna M. Tinsley can be reached at 512-478-9644 or by e-mail at tinsleya@scripps.com

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