A little background...

In February, 1686, a lonely French ship was battered by a strong winter storm in Texas.

It had made the long journey from France with Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, the famed explorer.  He and his crew had come to the New World to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Unfortunately, knowledge of America's geography was limited, and the expedition landed in Texas, hundreds of miles from the Mississippi.  Convinced their river was somewhere very near, the La Salle colonists had established a small fort as a base settlement.  Misfortune had visited the expedition since they landed - their supply ship sank and men died of disease. Food and water were scarce.

Finally, in February, their remaining ship, La Belle, sank.  This was devastating for the new colony.  They no longer had any possibility of escape by sea, nor any way to inform their families or country what had happened.  La Salle decided to make the very long trek overland from South Texas to Quebec, where there were other French citizens.  He was murdered by his own men somewhere in East Texas.  Only a few people made it to Quebec, and then back to France.  The rest died of disease, starvation, or Indian attacks.

This painting shows the La Salle expedition. La Belle is on the left. The supply ship, L'Aimable, is sinking to the right, and Le Joly - the remaining ship - sailed back to France shortly after.

In 1995, Texas Historical Commission archaeologists found La Belle in the mud under Matagorda Bay.  The THC raised the money needed and conducted the huge excavation project to recover almost two million artifacts which were then conserved by the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Most of the conserved artifacts are here at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.    Because the La Belle was a military ship, the artifacts actually belong to the nation of France and the Musee National de la Marine.  An international treaty allows the THC to preserve the collection for the public. 
They represent, in many cases, the last link to the men and women of the La Salle expedition. The artifacts are the last chances for these stories to be told. Perhaps this is an overly-romantic way to look at pieces of pottery or lumps of lead.  But all of them have a story, and they were all made or used by someone who died very far from home, in a new and strange land.

Over the next year, we're going to be counting, weighing and sorting these artifacts - and you can come along.  We'll be posting updates and pictures of the artifacts we're working on, and letting you see a part of the archaeological process most people never see - all the curatorial work that goes on behind the scenes to preserve the stories we hold in trust.