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THE STORY OF THE ATOCHA
Lost at the bottom of the vast ocean, for more then 350 years, the Spanish ship, the Atocha, carried 40 tons of silver and gold and 70 pounds of emeralds. Historic Salvor, Mel Fisher, finally discovered the Atocha with all of its treasure, after a 16-year search on July 20, 1985. Soon after Fisher’s discovery, the United States government confiscated the fortune, claiming it theirs. Fisher spent about 1.6 million dollars on lawyers and faced over 140 trials to get back the treasure he had rightfully found. The trials were very complicating, but knowing the history of the Atocha helps to clear the water.
The year 1622 was a time of Kings and Queens, pirates, treasure and exploration. The Spanish ship, Nuestra Senora de Atocha, sank that year, carrying 265 passengers and valuable treasure that Spain desperately needed, to pay for the Thirty Years War. It carried 20 bronze cannons to protect itself and the 28 other vessels it would be traveling with. Pirates and the Dutch warships were greatly feared by the Spanish. It left the dock of Havana, Cuba, September 4, 1622, six weeks behind schedule and entering hurricane season. Sure enough the hurricanes whipped up smashing the Atocha right into the coral reefs, killing 260 of its passengers and taking down one and a half million pesos (400 million dollars today).
Seaman, Gasper de Vargas, found the Atocha in October of 1622, but was unable to open the hatches. He had to leave due to the upcoming seasonal hurricanes. He gathered a crew and returned in April, but was unable to find the ship. He assumed the hurricanes had broken it up and carried it away. The divers had extreme difficulty, holding their breaths and carrying rocks in order to sink, due to the lack of technological equipment. The Atocha seemed impossible to find in these deep waters. Discouraged Vargas’s partner Nicholas de Cardona prepared a map and the crew left. Some 350 years later, Mel Fisher, a born treasure hunter, brought the Atocha legend back to life through a 16-year journey.
Mel Fisher dedicated his whole life to the ocean. Fisher opened California's first dive shop and with the help of his wife, he made some of the first wet suits ever.
Fisher also made some of the first under water videos such as The Other End of the Line. Mel soon became interested in treasure hunting too. He met a man named Eugene Lyon and soon discovered that he could read the scrawl that Spanish archives were written in. He offered Lyon 10,000 dollars to help him locate the Atocha. Mel Fisher worked very hard, dedicating a lot of time and money. Mel Fisher dedicated over 16 years of his life to find the Atocha and his hard work should be recognized by the state of Florida. The State required Fisher to have a state agent on every boat, but would allow only one agent per contract and they could not work more than 40 hours a week. Fisher not only had six agents, he bought them equipment, taught them to dive and fed them.
Fisher hired an archaeologist named Duncan Mathewson, to be on board because he wanted to preserve the historical importance of the Atocha. He realized an archaeologist could map out every square inch of the site, tag and preserve every artifact. Duncan was the first archaeologist to work with a commercial treasure salvage expedition and he was criticized for being a gold digger. Duncan thought it was fair to remove the Atocha because it was deteriorating anyways. He opened the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum to share his carefully restored finds with the public. Fisher wanted to share his findings with the public so he opened the museum right there in the Old Key West Naval station. It contains hundreds of artifacts and has a research and conservation laboratory. Fisher found the treasure, yet the State of Florida tried to claim the Atocha and all the treasure on it. The Atocha was located in the Lower Florida Keys where the boundary between state waters and international waters is very complex. In the 1968 constitution, Florida claimed 3 miles outside the historic boundary. Fisher donated 25% of all the artifacts to Florida and let the states choose what pieces they wanted. Fisher was very responsible with the artifacts, tracking everything he found, keeping archaeological records, writing reports and teaching his crew about the state regulations, yet they still confiscated the artifacts. Mel Fisher finally won the case in the US Supreme Court giving him rights to his treasure.
Historic salvage is not illegal, but it is very controversial subject between state government, other countries, environmentalists and many more who often want to get in on the treasure. It is also very complicated because it covers laws of the sea, admiralty, the law of finds, sovereign immunity, and the land and property rights under federal and state law. In 1970 the state charged Mel Fisher for a search contract and salvage permit for every site and made him put up a bond. Fisher obtained a state search contract far to the west in the Florida Keys. The state of Florida supervises salvors, granting search and salvage contracts and maintaining field agents to protect shipwreck sites and take charge of recovered materials and the state gets 25% of the finds to be kept as the patrimony of the people of Florida. In 1975, Florida claimed to own the Atocha sight. In 1976 Authority battles began claiming Fisher a fraud. February 3, 1976, the US government had no legitimate claim to the treasure. Fisher could not sell stock or share of the treasure until the investigation was completed. State had not divided any of the materials found in 1971 and Fisher was broke because he needed money for fuel, pay rolls, and equipment. In 12 years the search had already cost 6 million dollars. The founding of the Margarita brought in 20 million. Cost about $500 per day to search. In 1982 the case went all the way to the Supreme Court after 141 hearings. Fisher donated 25% of all the artifacts to the state of Florida. The state picked all their artifacts, but Fisher made suggestions, because he felt that many of the artifacts were too historically important to go to the hands of the investors. January 20, 1982 the state said “its boundaries for purpose of rightful ownership of sunken ships extend further that its boundaries for purpose of ownership of mineral…” National Marine Sanctuary, “A shipwreck resting within a national marine sanctuary, whether on state submerged lands or not is governed by federal law governing access to and use of the sanctuary.” A ship is abandoned lost for centuries and no one comes forward after extensive publicity to claim ownership. Federal courts have original jurisdiction over all admiralty and maritime issues under the Article III Section 2 of the US Constitution. The Abandoned Shipwreck Act removes shipwrecks from the jurisdiction. It is aimed to protect historically important shipwrecks on state submerged lands. Characterizes historic shipwrecks that are included in the National Register. Atocha is included in the National Register. July 13, 1975, 5 bronze cannons were found. The state of Florida noted the discovery, but no archaeologist employed by the state bothered to make a journey to see the cannons. Fisher said “When I was bringing up only artifacts such as old guns and swords and pieces of pottery they had no interest whatsoever, but the very day I found $1.6 million in gold doubloons they pounced on me, put a sticker on my boat, said I had to come to Tallahassee and sign a contract. The Governor and the trustees wanted to take 25% of the gold.” On July 1, 1982 the US Supreme Court said that Fisher owned the Atocha, which rested on the outer continental shelf. July 20, 1985 the Atocha was found. The Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 was created to preserve historically and archaeological value of ancient shipwrecks located in the state waters and ownership therefore would go to the state. It doesn’t say anything about commercial salvage though. The overwhelming majority of significant cultural artifacts that have been recovered were successfully recovered by the commercial salvor. Mel Fisher’s commercial salvage group is called Florida’s Salvors, Inc. Commercial salvage has proven itself to be professional organizations capable of locating, recovering and successfully preserving the cultural heritage. Horan won the case because he was able to prove that the Atocha was outside the Florida state waters. Now state agents are not required on search boats. Today instead of the bond, they sign a contract for the ownership of the historical materials.
Mel Fisher deserved the treasure he had worked so hard to find. The United States was just trying to preserve the artifacts, but they were robbing him of his treasure. Fisher spent about 1.6 million dollars on lawyers and faced over 140 trials to get back the treasure he had rightfully found. (Written by Kory Hebner May, 2000)
Treasure Of The Atocha
by R. Duncan Mathewson III
Archaeological Director Of The Search For The
Nuestra Senora de Atocha
Introduction
Mel Fisher was the leading force in the search for the treasure of
the 1622 galleons. His struggle to find the lost treasure has been a costly
one, both financially, and personally. But the search continues, this mound
of silver bars and coins are a small portion of what has been found.
Excavation of the motherload site is expected to continue for several years.
Marquesas Key's Florida, July 20, 1985:
“Put away the charts! We found it!’’ Kane Fisher’s voice crackled out of the radio at the Key West office of Treasure Salvors, the salvage company owned by his father1 Mel Fisher. The announcement set off an instant, nearly riotous. celebration.
Kane Fisher spoke from the deck of the Dauntless, a salvage boat which had been combing the ocean floor off Key West for the wreckage of a Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Atocha. Today’s the day that treasure Salvors I6-year search finally yields the solution to a 350-year-old mystery. The silver ingots---over 1,000 of them stacked like a cord of wood-mark the resting place of the bulk of the cargo of the Atocha, which sank during a hurricane in 1622.
During that 16 years, Mel Fisher often encouraged his divers by telling them, Today’s the day” He even had the phrase printed on t-shirts And that hope kept them going through times when there was no money to pay their wages, through the weary months between the tantalizing finds of a single silver ingot or a scrap of jewelry.
Ironically, today is also the day, July 20, marking the tenth anniversary of the death of Mel’s oldest son, Dirk, Dirk’s wife, Angel, and crewman Rick Gage. The three drowned when the company’s salvage tug Northwind capsized. three days before his death, Dirk had located a pile of bronze cannons. Those cannons confirmed that the scattered artifacts the divers had been finding for the past four years were part of the long-lost Atocha.
Now, a decade later, the fervent optimism of Mel Fisher, and the skill of a dedicated band of archaeologists, scientists, historians.
sailors, and divers had finally uncovered the scene of one of Spain’s most financially disastrous maritime accidents.
The hurricane that wrecked the Atocha was no more fierce than the forces spawned by Fisher’s monomanical search.
In addition to the loss of lives, the search consumed 58 million dollars-profits from Fisher’s earlier salvage of a fleet of galleons sunk in 1715 plus the funds of hundreds of investors.
In the treasure business, success can be more difficult than failure. During the 16 year search Fisher had to wage battle in court with the United States Federal Government Land the State of Florida for ownership of the Atocha‘s great wealth.
In ruling against the United States and for Treasure Salvors in March 1978, Judge Walter P. Gewin of the U.S. Court of Appeals wrote:
“This action evokes all the romance and danger of the buccaneering days in the West Indies. It is routed in an ancient tragedy of Imperial Spain, and embraces a modern tragedy as well. The case also represents the story of triumph, a story in which the daring and determination of the colonial settlers are mirrored by contemporary treasure seekers.”
Judge Gewins’ ruling hints at the adventure of treasure hunting treasure is an almost universal human dream. While the stories of pirates that inspire the wistful longing for the bright gleam of gold chains, the dull lustre of fine silver, and the brilliance of a well crafted emerald may be fiction, they have a firm foundation in fact.
For most of us, those stories remain dreams. But not for Mel Fisher, and not for the people who are Treasure Salvors, Inc. They fought the sea, the government, even modern day pirates, to recover the wealth of the Atocha In their search, they adapted every useful instrument of modern technology, following through with sweat in a dogged physical struggle with the capricious ocean. In the salvage of the Atocha, for the first time, the work of commercial salvors was guided by a team of historians and archaeologists. Despite the disparagement of other professional archaeologists who claimed the archaeological work done on the Atocha was useless because it was carried out by a commercial salvage company, the innovations and knowledge gained in the operation proved conclusively that shallow water shipwrecks in the New World could be uncovered with the same meticulous attention to detail exercised on -sites on dry land. With details patiently pieced together from the rotted timbers and crushed jewelry and information gained from worm eaten documents, the divers, historians, and archaeologists were able to add enormously to what is known about Spain’s New World Colonies in the 17th century.
What follows is the story of an extraordinary group of men and women who followed their dream of locating underwater riches and succeeded where the power of Imperial Spain, Dutch warships, and English pirates failed.
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