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Foreword
- Texas A&M University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
7 Foreword F or more than twenty years, Texas Historical Commission (THC) archaeologists searched for La Salle’s lost ship, La Belle, in the shallow murky waters of Matagorda Bay. On a warm June day in 1995, THC divers under the supervision of then-THC State Marine Archeologist J. Barto Arnold III, located a shipwreck containing historic artifacts of European origin. The first cannon to be lifted from the waters bore late seventeenth-century French insignias, proof that the illfated La Belle had at last been found. To safeguard the wreck from storms and treasure hunters , in 1996 the THC embarked on a full-scale excavation of La Belle under the direction of then-THC Archeology Division Director, Dr. James Bruseth (also Guest Curator for the La Belle exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum). Using a cofferdam to conduct an unprecedented dry excavation of a shipwreck in the middle of the bay, our archaeologists successfully unearthed the remains of the ship and its cargo. Our partners at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory ensured the expert preservation of more than one million artifacts recovered from the wreck. Like La Salle’s expedition, the impact of this archaeological investigation extended far beyond the borders of Texas. After completing the excavation of the vessel, the French Republic officially claimed La Belle, citing archival documents listing the ship as one of King Louis XIV’s vessels. Under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, a flag state (in this case, France) maintains ownership of a governmental vessel lost on a non-commercial venture. Accordingly, France argued that La Belle was on an official mission for the king when lost, and therefore was still owned by the French Republic. The U.S. State Department agreed, and an international agreement was negotiated by the French Republic, the U.S. Department of State, the Musée national de la Marine, and the THC. The document was signed on March 31, 2003, giving ownership to France but allowing the ship and its contents to remain in Texas under the control of the THC. The agreement also assigned responsibility through a separate accord to the Musée national de la Marine (Musée national) in Paris to work with the THC on issues related to curation, research , documentation, and exhibition of La Belle. The wreck and all of its artifacts are actually part of the Musée national’s collection. French authorities have expressed their full support for the Bullock Museum’s exciting new exhibit. We are very proud of our contributions to the La Salle shipwreckprojectandaredelightedbytheBullockMuseum’s bold vision for displaying La Belle as the centerpiece of the central atrium. The new installation will immerse museum visitors in the dramatic story of seventeenth-century exploration and colonization along the Texas coast in a way it never has before. By exploring how these events impacted not just the French colonists but also the broad sweep of Texas’s indigenous and European history, the exhibit offers a unique opportunity to tell the real and fascinating story of France’s failed attempt to gain a foothold on the northern Gulf of Mexico. And our partnership with Texas A&M University, the Bullock Museum, and the Musée national de la Marine will yield benefits to scientists, scholars, and the general public in Texas and across the world for generations to come. Mark Wolfe Executive Director, Texas Historical Commission ...