LIVING HISTORY
dug behind the dunes, where they found water that was fit
enough to drink. Miguel de Lima was able to remove provisions
20
from his battered boat before it sank altogether. The biscuits
and other foods he rationed out helped many castaways
survive for the 31 days it took for the first relief ships to
arrive with additional supplies. As for the hundreds of dead,
they were given makeshift graves in the sand.
Fortunately, two small lifeboats with sails remained intact,
and Adm. Salmón used them to send messengers to Havana
and St. Augustine to ask the governors of Cuba and Florida
for assistance. The most prominent castaways were allowed
to sail away to civilization with Salmón’s messengers. A few
larcenous opportunists stole as much treasure as they could
carry and walked 120 miles to St. Augustine, where they were
arrested. The rest of the passengers sweltered and swatted
bugs for a month, before the first rescue sloops arrived from
Havana. Some had to wait much longer. Even after the rescue,
the ordeal would continue for many.
“I have suffered such great losses from this disaster that I
lack the funds to get back to my home or even to maintain
myself in Havana,” Miguel de Lima lamented. “However, I
am happy that I still have my life and health.”
Adm. Salmón’s encampment near Sebastian Inlet continued
to serve as headquarters for Spain’s salvage operations for
several years. With the help of hired Native American divers,
around half of the lost treasure was recovered and shipped
back to Spain. But some of the treasure was lost all over
again when several hundred pirates attacked the salvage
encampment in 1716. The Spaniards found life in the area
much too hostile and unpromising to consider a permanent
settlement.
After salvage operations ended, the encampment below
Sebastian Inlet was abandoned to be covered by the sands of
time ― literally. The dunes along the coast remained untouched
for hundreds of years, but now most of them have
been claimed by housing subdivisions and condominiums
of recent origin. A small stretch of seascape in the vicinity
of Adm. Salmón’s encampment has never been developed,
however. It is part of Sebastian Inlet State Park, a perfect
place to take a seaside stroll and witness what eternity has
erased. Could there be a clearer illustration of the words of
King Solomon? “There is no remembrance of men of old, and
even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by
those who follow.”
MONUMENT TO TRAGEDY
At the southernmost end of the state park you’ll discover
a hidden treasure: the McLarty Treasure Museum. If you
blink you will miss it driving by, and even most longtime
residents of the Treasure Coast probably don’t realize it is
there. The museum has been open since 1971. Inside, you will
find many artifacts of the 1715 Plate Fleet disaster on display:
ship’s tackle, weaponry, pottery, porcelain and dozens of
pieces of eight. They are relics that still wash up in hurricanes
from time to time. At the Mel Fisher Museum a few miles
away in downtown Sebastian, you can also see plenty of gold
― and touch it, too.
Musing upon museum collections of maritime relics and
treasure, we can begin to piece together the story that is as
big as the Titanic. Of course it must have gold, silver and lots
of jewels. But there will be broken hearts in distant harbors ―
lost dreams, lost hopes, lost graves and a vanishing empire,
too. We will have struggles with courage and cowardice, good
and evil, but the triumph of the human spirit will prevail,
that unstoppable will to keep on going and help one another
survives no matter what life throws in our way. In the end,
we will discover our story is more than silver, more than
gold, more than an endless striving to reach the future ―
this stirring drama of the Treasure Coast ― and it came out
of a storm.
RICK CRARY
The McLarty Treasure Museum in Sebastian Inlet State Park is a hidden
treasure trove of history.
JOHN de BRY COLLECTION/1715 FLEET SOCIETY