Dear HISTARCH,
 
The following two threads were sent to me after I sent my summary on the
Mormon Archaeology discussion some days ago, to the list.  I received
permission from both authors to reproduce their messages here, dealing
with a 19th century shipwreck off the coast of Tahiti that had a large
passenger assignment of Mormons on their way to Australia.
 
Robin Mills ([log in to unmask])
 
 
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 97 09:43:47 PST
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Morman archaeology - a maritime perspective
     Dear Robin,
     FYI
     Sorry about coming in late on the 'Morman Archaeology' thread but I
have just come back from the field.     My name is Kieran Hosty and I'm
the curator of maritime archaeology at the Australian National Maritime
Museum in Sydney, Australia. Over the last two years one of the other
curators here at the Museum -a Paul Hundley, curator of the American
Gallery, (email [log in to unmask]) has been investigating the remains
of an American owned and registered vessel called 'Julia Ann'. This vessel
(which was chartered by the LDS) made four voyages to and from Australia
during the 1850's carrying Mormans. The vessel was wrecked in 1857 on the
Manuae Islands off Tahiti in 1857, the survivors (the     majority of
which were Mormans) lived on the islands for three months whilst waiting
for rescue.  In January this year Paul carried out a pre-disturbance
survey of this site.
     In 1998 the Museum will be opening a travelling exhibition on the
wreck of the 'Julia Ann' - which will hopefully travel to the States. Like
many of the archaeologists who responded to this thread - Paul     has
received much assistance from the Mormans.
     cheers Kieran
     ********************************************************************
     Kieran Hosty
 
AND ALSO...
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 97 16:24:10 PST
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Mormon sites
 
Robin,
 
Kieran Hosty has forwarded a few of your postings to me regarding the
interest in Mormon activities.  What follows is a press release issued by
the Museum in mid-January.  I am still in the process of analyzing the
scatter pattern and trying to reconcile it with the historical
documentation.
 
The loss of the Julia Ann was widely reported in both the Sydney and San
Francisco newspapers of the time.  A narrative of the wreck was published
in 1858 which compiles the reports from various sources.  We were able to
purchase a copy of this for the collection.  About a year later we bought
a portrait of
the first officer, Peter Martin Coffin.  As a result of my recent research
and with the help of a New Jersey geneologist, I have been in contact with
the great-granddaughter of Capt. Pond who has his manuscript journal and
'a trunk full of his papers and personal effects'!  I will be meeting with
her in a week
when I am heading to the States for a museum conference.
 
If there is any further mention of the island camp and the social
structure which developed, I will let you know.  There will be a
conference in Perth, Western Australia in September this year which has a
session on shipwrecks and survivors camps.
 
I would like to investigate the islands in future fieldwork, especially if
I can limit the possible location of the camp.  It would be a fascinating
look at the crew/passenger, Mormon/non-Mormon, singles/families
composition among the survivors and the impact that had on the physical
layout of habitation, work
and refuse areas.
 
Hope this adds to the discussion.  Feel free to forward this information
to those who you think would be interested.  We have a web site at
http://www.anmm.gov.au which provides a bit of information on the maritime
archaeology program at the Museum and I hope to get some images of this
project
up in the next month or so.
 
Paul Hundley, Curator
USA Gallery
Australian National Maritime Museum
[log in to unmask]
 
 
1855 Shipwreck from Sydney found west of Tahiti
 
Members of the Australian National Maritime Museum have returned from a
joint archaeological investigation in French Polynesia.  The
archaeological team included representatives of the Australian National
Maritime Museum, the Newport Harbor Maritime Museum in California and
three representatives (one from Paris and two from Tahiti) of GRAN (Groupe
de Reschersche en Archeologie
Navale), who assist the Museum of Tahiti in underwater investigations.
The research was conducted under authorization of the Department of
Archaeology, Centre Polynesian des Sciences Humaines.
 
The discovery is the culmination of two years research by Paul Hundley,
Curator of the USA Gallery into the events surrounding the loss of the
Julia Ann.  The primary goal of the archaeological investigation was to
locate and survey the wrecksite  of the Julia Ann.   This was accomplished
with the assistance of
residents of the island.   The historic accounts indicate that the vessel
broke in two;  the stern of the vessel lifted up onto the reef and the bow
fell off the reef into deep water.  The remains which were recorded on the
reef included the windlass, an anchor, copper sheathing, fastenings,
rigging, ballast and coal.   The material was dispersed over an area 50
meters wide and several hundred meters long.
 
The location and orientation of the anchor and windlass may possibly
indicate the initial point of impact, at which time the windlass came
loose from the deck and later the bow broke away.  However, no significant
remains were found in the deep water immediately seaward from this point.
Objects recovered from the shipwreck site include copper sheathing which
protected the hull timbers and the copper fastening which were used in the
construction of the vessel. Ballast stone and coal samples will be
analyzed to aid in the scientific study of the ship.  The artifacts will
be conserved by the ANMM and will be returned to  French Polynesia.
 
This vessel was trading between San Francisco and Sydney during the
Australia goldrush, bringing passengers and supplies to the Victorian
goldfields.  On its fourth voyage the Julia Ann  left Sydney on 7
September, 1855 under the command of Captain B.F. Pond,  bound for San
Francisco with 42 passengers and 350 tonnes of Newcastle coal.  Over half
of the passengers were members of the Mormon Church who were migrating
from Australia to Salt Lake City, Utah. Twenty-seven days later the ship
struck a reef surrounding the Scilly Island, the western most atoll of the
Society Islands, and sank approximately 400
kilometers west of Tahiti.  Two women and three children were lost in the
wreckage, all of whom were Mormons.  The survivors spent  two months on
this deserted island, living in family units.  During this time the crew
salvaged materials from the ship and set up a forge on the island to
repaired the ship's
boat.  When this was completed the captain and crew rowed over 200
kilometers to Bora Bora.  The captain returned with a rescue vessel and
took the passengers to Tahiti.
 
Time and weather conditions did not allow a survey of the islands to be
undertaken at this time.  The islands were planted with coconut palm in
the late 1890's and there is still active harvesting of the coconuts for
the copra industry.   Objects, images and film footage from this project
will be
incorporated into a major exhibition in the USA Gallery within the
Australian National Maritime Museum.  In 1998, the Museum will be hosting
a major exhibition entitled 'Coming to Australia' based on immigration and
the shaping of Australia's multicultural society.  In this exhibition the
movement of both
the American and Australian passengers will be put into context within the
themes of goldrush migration and the Mormon migration to Salt Lake City.
This also coincides with the celebrations in California of the
sesquicentennial of the finding of gold at Sutters' Mill, 1849 Goldrush
and California Statehood in
1850.  It is planned that a traveling exhibition will tour to Tahiti,
California and Salt Lake City.