MISSING ANCHOR AND CANNON
I was at Lago 1955-59 and worked in TSD Engineering in the GOB (General Office Building).  I was the diver that led the salvage operation to bring up a 11 1/2-ft anchor and a 750 lb. cannon in 1957.  I arranged to have them to be donated to the to-be-built museum, however, neither artifact is on display.  I have written articles for Larry's e-mails, as has Don Gray, asking for any help to find the artifacts and get them in the museum where they belong----not rusting on somebody's patio!! 
 
Regards,
 
A. John Geis
Chapel Hill, NC

ANCHOR, ANCHOR, WHERE IS THE ANCHOR OR THE CANNON FOR THAT MATTER?  CAN YOU HELP?

John Geis standing behind the anchor.  The davit was needed to pick up the artifacts when we dropped them from the boat used for the salvage operations.

A. John Geis, left of cannon and Bill Heron on the right.  Can anyone identify the kids in the background?  Photo taken in October 1957.

FOLLOWING IS JOHN GEIS ACCOUNT OF HOW THE ANCHOR AND CANNON WERE FOUND, BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE AND THEN CLEANED AND PRESERVED.
On a Saturday afternoon during the 1957 hurricane season, Bill Herron and I swam out past the reef looking for other artifacts from the wreck where Tom Tucker recovered 5 cannons in '54. We found a large cannon and anchor, then arranged a salvage diving trip on Martin Smith's de-masted catamaran powered by the Pedernales, (then the Boy Scout boat) for Sunday. The anchor was 10 1/2 feet long and weighted over 1,000 lbs. I did the scuba diving about 15-20-ft. to connect a rope which I attached to a block and tackle, rigged through the keel-slot on the catamaran. Then 4 or 5 guys heaved it up to the bottom of the catamaran. The Pedernales towed us to the Rogers Beach boat dock where the boat davit was used to lift it onto the dock. The next Saturday, after the trade winds had resumed and the Caribbean was its normal rough water, we used just the Pedernales. We rigged an 8" x 8" beam across the boat's beam to lift the cannon. It weighed about 700 lbs. and was much larger than the '54 cannons. The November 30, 1957 issue of Aruba Esso News had quite a detailed story of our salvage along with several photos that I took on the two operations. Both artifacts were then thoroughly cleaned of barnacles and corrosion at the Acid Plant, and sealed with several coats of varnish. I mailed photos, weights, measurements, and location data to every maritime records museum I could locate. The replies stated that they could not identify the ship, but that it was of 1790-1810 time frame because of the anchor's flutes. Both artifacts were designated to be presented to the museum in Oranjestad that was then in the planning stage. The sad ending is that while the museum got built, the artifacts were never delivered and no one knows where they are! My wife and I have returned to Aruba five times since 1995 and I have searched, without success, to find them. They belong in Aruba's museum and not rusting on someone's patio!

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN GEIS AND SENT TO LARRY RIGGS WHO POSTED IT ON HIS LAGO BULLETIN BOARD SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
ARUBA ARTIFACTS

I was the diver of the group that salvaged a 10-½ ft. anchor and a 700-lb. cannon beyond the Rogers Beach reef in 1957. The origin could not be determined, but Smithsonian, Lloyds of London, and the Seville Museum all stated that they were from the 1790-1810 era. After the items were thoroughly acid-washed, caustic treated, washed and varnished, they were designated to be given to the to-be-built museum in Oranjestad. The Esso News covered the story with a two-page spread on November 30, 1957. (I still have a copy) I left Lago in 1959.

In 1995, we had a family reunion in Aruba and visited the Aruban Museum at the old Fort Zoutnan to see the anchor and cannon. They were not there, and the museum director and National Historical Archives director knew nothing about them! Old photos and the Esso News story proved their existence and started an interest in locating them. Many sites that displayed cannons and/or an anchor were visited, but none of the items were the correct size or of the proper vintage. Aruba Today wrote a feature article with photos requesting local help in finding the artifacts on June 29, 1995. During subsequent visits in 1/99 and 10/00, I again visited museum and archives officials and learned that their whereabouts was still a mystery.

With the Internet and over 400 names worldwide in the Lago alumni address file, the Aruba government and I are asking for your help in locating these missing artifacts. Since visible locations on the island have all come up empty, maybe they were shipped out with some Lago employees' household goods during the shutdown of the refinery. If you have any knowledge as to their location, an e-mail to me (ajgeis@worldnet.att.net) and Raymond Hernandez, Director National Historical Archives, (nathisarchief@setarnet.aw) would be appreciated. My interest is solely to have those items displayed in the Aruba Museum, not rusting away in some Lago retiree's yard!

TO DATE THE ANCHOR OR CANNON HAS NOT BEEN LOCATED. 

PLEASE - IF ANYONE KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF THESE ITEMS PLEASE USE THE E-MAIL ADDRESS ABOVE OR SEND ME AN EMAIL. JOHN IS RIGHT, THEY BELONG TO ALL THE PEOPLE OF ARUBA.

THANKS, DAN JENSEN

IF THE ANCHOR OR CANNON ARE IN THE UNITED STATES BY CHANCE AND YOU EMAIL ME I WILL DRIVE AND PICK THEM UP AND ARRANGE TO GET THEM TO ARUBA.  I WILL DO THIS WITH NO QUESTIONS ASKED AND NOT REVEAL WHO OR WHERE THEY WERE.  IF THEY HAPPEN TO BE IN EUROPE OR SOME PLACE ELSE IN THE WORLD STILL EMAIL ME AND THE SAME OFFER GOES, I WILL GET SOMEONE TO PICK THEM UP, AGAIN, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

DAN JENSEN

The following is the Aruba Esso News article about the anchor and canon which John sent to me as an email attachment.  I am going to get it on a disk and then maybe when I put it on the page you will be able to read what is written, it will have to come via "snail mail".  THE DISK ARRIVED, HERE ARE THE IMPROVED COPY.

THE FIRST FULL PAGE CAN BE MADE LARGER BY CLICKING ON THE COPY.  THEN CLICK ON THE LARGE COPY TO RETURN.

March 18, 2009  Today John Geis sent me the Google Map showing the location where he found the anchor and canon in 1957

CLICK ON THIS LINE TO SEE STORY ABOUT CANNONS FOUND EARLIER BY TOM TUCKER

CLICK ON THIS LINE TO SEE STORY ABOUT CANNONS FOUND IN 2008 IN SAME LOCATION BY STEVE FREMGEN

CLICK ON THIS LINE TO RETURN TO THE ANCHOR DIRECTORY