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91 Salvage License #32 State archaeologists cringe at the thought of dealing with salvage divers. They would rather eat glass. Archaeologists see these treasure hunters as human termites, devouring archaeological sites through their greed— a kind of blight on the scientific landscape of archaeological research. Archaeologists perceive the artifacts taken by salvage divers as a loss to our cultural heritage. Salvors, of course, see artifacts as objects devoid of scientific information but full of profit potential. After all, they argue, what scientific value can there be in, for instance, South Carolina Dispensary bottles lying haphazardly near a shipwreck or in a crate of dinnerware found in the wreckage of a blockade runner? Archaeologists, naturally, see thing differently. To them every artifact, every ship timber, every loose bottle lying near a shipwreck is part of the story, and its loss is tragic. They would be perfectly happy to see treasure hunters shot, hanged, or at least crucified. These options are, of course, out of the question, so archaeologists have a tendency to want nothing to do with treasure hunters. Since the South Carolina Underwater Antiquities Act provides for the salvage of shipwrecks in state waters, however, institute archaeologists who administer the law have little choice. As good public servants, they have to work with those salvors who come up with salvage plans that fit all the legal requirements. They may not like it, but they at least have to “make nice.” Yet no matter how friendly and cordial the relationship between the archaeologist and salvor begins, it often degenerates into squabbling, bickering, and occasionally legal action. Mistrust and misunderstandings frequently lead to animosity and accusations. Such is the case of salvage license #32. In May 1985 Howard B. Tower Jr. of Jacksonville, an engineer with Southern Bell, applied to SCIAA for a search license (now called an intensive survey license) to look for shipwrecks off Bowman’s Jetty on 92 The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain Sullivan’s Island. This is a precursor to receiving a salvage license (now a data recovery license). The idea is that before the institute issues a salvage license, the prospective salvor should precisely delineate the area he wants to salvage and conduct historic research on the area and shipwrecks he is looking for, giving everyone a better idea of what is down there before going further. It also gives the institute archaeologists an idea of how the salvor operates before allowing him to retrieve a large number of artifacts. In this case the applicant previously held a salvage license. Issued in 1980, that license allowed Tower to salvage the remains of the USS Boston, a 215-foot army transport ship that caught fire and sank in the Ashepoo River in 1864. Because of Tower’s prior salvage record with the Boston, the state underwater archaeologist, Alan Albright, approved the application, and Tower’s search for Civil War blockade runners near Bowman’s Jetty began. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Bowman’s Jetty in 1839 to control the erosion of Sullivan’s Island near Fort Moultrie. Jutting four hundred feet into Charleston Harbor, the jetty was an immediate success . Within months more than one hundred feet of additional beach had accrued in front of the fort. Some years later, in 1850, Lt. John Maffitt of the U.S. Navy discovered a new channel into the harbor while resurveying the Charleston bar and the entrances to Charleston Harbor. This winding channel ran close to Sullivan’s Island, almost paralleling the beach. During the Civil War, “Maffitt’s Channel” became popular with the blockade runners. With Union batteries on Morris Island and the blockading fleet guarding the regular channels, the blockade runners, either coming to or leaving from Charleston, found the near shore channel gave them the best chance of avoiding the Union artillery. This put them dangerously close to Bowman’s Jetty, however. As a result several were lost on the protruding rocks. Over a period of several months, Tower conducted his search in the area on the ocean side of Bowman’s Jetty. He and his team located the remains of several shipwrecks believed to be the Minho, the Stono, the Prince Albert, the Beatrice, and the Flamingo. All these vessels were indeed blockade runners lost while trying to enter or leave Charleston Harbor. Between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the night of October 20, 1862, the Union blockading fleet spotted...

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