Recent stories in the print and electronic media concerning the finding of hundreds of gold and silver coins in extremely shallow water off the east coast of Florida by recreational boaters brought back memories. Among them were news accounts of the exploits of Mel Fisher, one of the earliest (and most successful) treasure salvors.
In place of today’s highly sophisticated deep water robots, Mel and his crew of young divers recovered early treasure such as gold and silver coins and bars from a fleet of treasure ships sailing from South America and Mexico to Spain. The fleet was overtaken by a powerful hurricane, and most (if not all) were driven ashore in relatively shallow waters along the lower east coast. This impressive recovery was followed by others, and climaxed by the discovery of the wreck of “Nuestra Senora de Atocha” in less than 6O feet of water, west of the Florida Keys.
It was, by far, the most immense treasure trove discovered to date, but not without great personal loss to the Fisher family. Mel’s young son, Dirk and Dirk’s wife were both drowned when one of the search vessels in which they were sleeping suffered a ruptured pipe, capsized and sank. After investors in Mel’s company were rewarded with gold, silver and precious stones, a “treasure museum” was established in Key West. A second and third were established in Sebastian and St. Pete Beach, Florida.
The St. Pete Beach Treasure Museum, which was located where Silas Dents restaurant is today, closed after a couple of lackluster seasons and a reported robbery. The other two museums and a website, www.MelFisher.com still bring back memories of the romantic and turbulent days of Florida’s early visitors.
Authors note: I went to this web site www.floridianaquifer.com, and found some interesting data, plus some video footage which may be of interest. More water than the Great Lakes?
I can still recall my excitement as a small fry when my parents would surprise us kids with a trip to Salt and Juniper Springs in our old Dodge with a wicker picnic basket, packed with good food. Very few paved roads to and from the Ocala National Forest, but a very special occasion!
Story by Julian Fant