The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain , livre ebook

The day the johnboat went up the mountain
The day the johnboat went up the mountain
Stories from my twenty years in South Carolina maritime archaeology
Carl Naylor
2010 University of South Carolina
Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2010 Paperback edition publlished by the University of South Carolina Press, 2012 Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina, by the University of South Carolina Press, 2012
www.sc.edu/uscpress
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Naylor, Carl.
The day the johnboat went up the mountain : stories from my
twenty years in South Carolina maritime archaeology / Carl Naylor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57003-868-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. South Carolina-Antiquities. 2. South Carolina-History, Local. 3. Excavations (Archaeology)-South Carolina. 4. Historic sites-South Carolina. 5. Shipwrecks-South Carolina-History. 6. Underwater archaeology-South Carolina. 7. Coastal archaeology-South Carolina. 8. Naylor, Carl. 9. Archaeologists-South Carolina-Biography. 10. University of South Carolina. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology-Biography. I. Title.
F271.N39 2010
917.57 04-dc22
2009029585
ISBN 978-1-61117-134-1 (ebook)
For Frank and Dorathy
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Twenty Years and Counting
The Lewisfield-No, Two Cannon-No, Little Landing Wreck Site
Mud Sucks
The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain
Hobcaw Shipyard
Dredging for the First Americans
The Upside-Down Wreck
Salvage License 32
The Wreck of the SS William Lawrence
Hobby Divers
Joe and the Alligator
Brown s Ferry Vessel Arrives in Georgetown
Those Darn Dugouts
The Hunley , the Housatonic , and the Indian Chief
The Mysterious French Cargo Site
The Cooper River Anchor Farm
Mowing the Lawn
Man Overboard-Not!
Never Sausage an Artifact
Sexy Wrecks
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Drawing of three-pounder cannon
Drawing of the swivel gun
Author in Kirby-Morgan band mask
Drawing of cannon with British markings
Plan view of Little Landing 1 hull remains
Archaeologist Jodie Simmons after failed attempt to walk on mud
1848 map of mound area
Joe Beatty holding 9-mm Smith and Wesson semiautomatic pistol
A portion of the 1786 plat showing Hobcaw Shipyard
A diver dredging the bottom of Smiths Lake Creek
Miller Ingram and William Barr watching Chris Amer gather gear
Views of the upside-down wreck
Navigation chart showing location of SS Lawrence
Projectile points found by Doug Boehme
Sites on the Cooper River Heritage Trail
Plan view of the Strawberry Wreck
Plan view of the Pimlico Wreck
Plan view of the Mepkin Abbey Vessel
An alligator cruising off Pimlico on the Cooper River
Brown s Ferry Vessel in conservation tank
Roots Canoe, still attached to stump of tree
Mount Pleasant resident Julian Weston standing over remains of wreck
Two silver half reals and a two-real silver Cobb coin
Large admiralty anchor being lowered into the Cooper River
Author retrieving magnetometer towfish as Chris Amer coils the tow cable
Joe Beatty and Jim Spirek wrestling with the hydraulic probe
Chris Amer holding Vienna sausage can
Areas surveyed during search for Le Prince
Acknowledgments
Maritime archaeology is a team effort. The stories told here result from the combined efforts of the members of the Maritime Research Division at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. In addition to their endeavors in the field, their hard work in finding funds, researching records, recording sites, writing reports, and drawing illustrations made this book possible.
My biggest thanks go to Joe Beatty, archaeological technician, expert diver, and good friend, for being a central character in this book. His participation provided many of the lighter moments we have enjoyed over the years, and his reading of chapter drafts proved invaluable in filling gaps in my increasingly unreliable memory.
My gratitude goes to Chris Amer, state underwater archaeologist and head of the Maritime Research Division, and Jim Spirek, deputy state underwater archaeologist, for allowing me access to their files on the archaeological projects discussed here and for their assistance with photographs and artwork. I also thank Lora Holland, maritime archaeologist, for bringing passion to her job and friendship to mine.
I would like to thank the Benton clan-Terry, Jane, Hana, Arthur, Mickie, Sandie, Joan, and especially Maura-for their encouragement and for being friends who are like family, only a lot less annoying.
And to all the professional archaeologists, enlightened volunteers, and expert divers with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the years, I express my heartfelt appreciation.
Twenty Years and Counting
On a blustery fall day in 1986, I walked into Buddy Line Divers in Mount Pleasant, where I was a staff instructor, and went straight to the shop s bulletin board. Looking at the scuba course sign-up sheet, I noticed that few names appeared on the lists for my upcoming scuba courses. If I were to juggle the scheduled classes, I might be able to put together one, maybe two, full classes. Maybe. Winter is not a popular time to take scuba lessons, even if South Carolina has mild weather. Perhaps people just have other things on their minds at that time of year. Like the holidays. Things will pick up in January, I told myself, when a new wave of Jacques Cousteau wannabes would be coming into the shop, clutching as if they were lottery tickets the scuba course gift certificates they had received for Christmas.
Then, next to the sign-up sheet, I noticed an announcement I had not seen before. It was from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. I knew little about these people other than that they were the outfit that issued the hobby diver license that allowed me to collect old bottles, fossilized shark s teeth, and other stuff from the rivers in the state. The notice said the institute s Underwater Archaeology Division planned to excavate a shipwreck in the Cooper River near Moncks Corner. They were looking to hire two divers for the six-week project to take place that October and November. Aha, I thought, a potential job. Even though temporary, it was a way to help make it through a winter that in many ways promised bleakness.
I looked at the class sign-up sheets and back at the job announcement. I actually liked teaching winter classes. Since I had fewer classes, I was able to get to know the students better, and it meant checkout dives in Florida, staying at dive resorts, diving some excellent sites-all paid for. And this institute project would mean diving long hours in the dark Cooper River in October and November. Not the best time, weather-wise, to be on or in the river. On the other hand, the dive shop paid by the student. The institute paid by the week.
So I applied for the job and was asked to come to Columbia for an interview. After meeting and talking with Alan Albright, head of the Underwater Archaeology Division, and Mark Newell, I got the job. This was the first excavation of the Little Landing Wreck. At the end of the project, I collected my paycheck, thanked Albright and Newell, and said goodbye to everyone, thinking I would never see these people again. Several months later, however, I received a call from Newell, who said that the institute was starting a new program to be located in Charleston and that there was a slot for a full-time diver. He asked if I was interested. I had to think about this. I loved teaching scuba diving and the freedom the job allowed. But the job with the institute offered two things I could not resist-interesting work and a steady paycheck. I took the job. So began my career in underwater archaeology.
The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (referred to hereafter as SCIAA or the institute) had its beginnings in 1963 when the South Carolina General Assembly created the South Carolina Department of Archeology. The department s mandate was to conserve and preserve the archaeological heritage of the state-a tall order. In 1968 the governor transferred the department to the University of South Carolina and renamed it the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology. In 1984 the name was changed to the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. In addition to adding an additional a to the word archaeology , the new name was intended to reflect the institute s dual role as a research arm of the university and as a state agency. The curating of state artifacts, archaeological site information management, and artifact conservation come under its mandate as a state agency. As curator of state artifacts the institute is responsible to the state for the storage and care of archaeological collections in South Carolina. These collections originate from both land and underwater archaeological investigations conducted by institute staff as well as by other agencies and private archaeological companies. The institute also maintains the South Carolina Statewide Archaeological Site Inventory, containing the official files of all recorded archaeological sites in the state. In addition the institute is responsible for the conservation of all artifacts accepted.
The new program for which I was hired in 1987 was the Underwater