Cradle of Texas Chapter
General Meeting and Advanced Training
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Texas Agrilife Extension Building, Angleton
| 8:30-am | Social-and-snacks |
| 9:00-am | General Meeting |
| 9:30-am | Advanced Training• Speaker: Johnney Pollan, Brazosport Archaeological Society |
Johnney Pollan is a recognized expert in the archaeology of Brazoria County. He is affiliated with the Brazosport Archaeological Society, Southern Texas Archaeological Association, Texas Archaeological Society, Houston Archaeological Society, Society for Historical Archaeology, and Texas Archaeological Stewardship Network.
Pollan is an active member and frequent speaker for the Brazosport Archaeological Society, and currently serves as the Society's Treasurer. BAS meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, 400 College Drive, Clute, Texas 77531. Laboratory sessions are held on scheduled Saturdays at BMNS from 9 am - 1 pm. Field trips, excavations, and surveys are scheduled as necessary. The Brazosport Archaeological Society is an affiliate of the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, and works within its stated objectives, rules, and by-laws.
La Belle was the last of four ships of an expedition led by the French explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle in the 1680s. La Salle had come to the Gulf Coast to establish a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River. He missed the Mississippi River by about 400 miles, and lost three of the four ships on the way. One large merchant ship was taken by Spanish Pirates; the second merchant ship sank in Pass Cavallo. The third ship, a French man-of-war, returned to France with about half of the colonists, and did not return to Texas. The fourth ship, La Belle, was lost after a storm, leaving La Salle with no transportation except foot travel.
After sitting on the bottom of the bay for over 300 years, the Texas Historical Commission Archeology Division located the remains of the sunken wreck in 1995. Through the efforts of the THC, assisted by numerous volunteers, a thorough archaeological investigation followed. Pollan's talk will describe the investigation.
Further information about the La Belle Shipwreck may be found at the Texas Beyond History website.
Artifacts from La Belle are now in the collections of several Texas museum. The Matagorda County Museum in Bay City has a small exhibit, including one of the three cannons recovered from the wreck.
- Matagorada County Museum
- Photos of La Belle exhibit at Matagorada County Museum