Archaeologists Say La Belle Excavation Is Running Out of Cash

By Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Excavation of the French shipwreck La Belle, considered the most important current archeological project in Texas, could soon run aground because of a lack of cash, researchers say.

The 310-year-old ship, once owned by famed French explorer La Salle, is believed to be the second-oldest discovered in Texas waters, preceded only by a 1554 wreck found off South Padre Island.

Work began at the Matagorda Bay site in September and so far has yielded archaeological treasures and the remains of at least one human. Archaeologists are working inside what is called a cofferdam, a steel dam around the site that leaves the sea floor exposed.

But Jim Bruseth, who is directing the project for the Texas Historical Commission, said workers might have to abandon the wreck if officials can't find more funding.

"We need $200,000 by early January to be able to keep this thing going," Bruseth told the San Antonio Express-News for Sunday editions.

"If we don't get it, then we let the water come back in and all the wood that's been exposed starts to deteriorate ... We run a very significant risk of losing what has been preserved for 310 years.

"This shipwreck is the crown jewel of shipwrecks in Texas and one of the most important in North America. You don't just recover half of it and let the other half of it disintegrate."

The state has allocated $1.7 million for the project. Another $1.3 million has been raised, mostly through grants and foundations.

Bruseth said the funding shortfall occurred because the excavation has turned out to be more expensive than originally thought.

"Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for us, what we're finding is much more than anticipated. That's why we're having the funding shortfall. I can't imagine we won't get the money," he said.

In addition to the money needed immediately to keep the work going, another $1 million must be raised to treat, store and then display the ship and artifacts, said Renee Peterson, a commission spokeswoman.

"Our financial situation is more extreme than we thought," Ms. Peterson said. "We just desperately need more money to continue into January. If we don't get it fairly soon we're going to have to re-evaluate our plans."

The Legislature could pass an emergency appropriation when it convenes in January, but that would require the governor's signature and two-thirds support in both houses.

"Logistically speaking it could be done," said Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "Whether they have the support to do that is another question."

After nearly three months of digging inside the cofferdam at a site some 150 miles southwest of Houston, archaeologists say they've found as much as half of the wooden ship hull and thousands of well-preserved artifacts.

A single box yielded tens of thousands of glass trade beads, while another box holds several muskets and the hilt to a sword.

La Salle and his crew of 30 to 40 pioneers set out to build a colony in the New World but wound up by mistake in southeast Texas. The Belle sank during a storm in January 1686.