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Archiver > ACADIAN-CAJUN > 2001-06 > 0992185917


From: "Cajun" <>
Subject: Exhibit of artifacts from LaSalle's Ships
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 10:15:59 -0500


Interesting article from the Dallas Morning News re artifacts from LaSalle's
ship

Welcome aboard

Two of the three replicas of Christopher Columbus' ships have reopened their
gangplanks at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.
The accurate reproductions of the 15th-century caravels, now dry-docked
adjacent to the museum, have been locked since October 1999. Their sister
ship, the Nina, bobs in the water at the nearby city marina, still shut
tight.

They were sent by the Spanish government on an 18-city tour in 1992 to
commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' original voyage to the New
World. But life in Texas has not been easy. The ships have encountered a
series of unfortunate events, including a gulf storm in 1993 and damage
caused when a commercial barge broke loose and crashed into the Santa Maria
and Pinta in 1994. Repairs were completed in 1997.

But money problems and a lease agreement with Spain shuttered the replicas
until the city stepped in and worked out an agreement between the Columbus
Fleet Association (a nonprofit group of civic leaders) and Spain to at least
open the doors.

Also at the Corpus Christi museum, the new Gallery of Cultural Encounters
has just opened with "La Belle: The Mystery of La Salle in the Gulf."

The exhibit includes artifacts recovered from La Salle's ship La Belle by
the Texas Historical Commission in 1995. The museum is the repository for
the million artifacts from the excavation of the ship from Matagorda Bay.

The gallery's permanent exhibit detailing the 300 years of exploration in
South Texas from 1600 to 1900 will open in about a year, says Rick Stryker,
museum director.

The gallery features a dome room with a mudéjar style wood ceiling installed
in Castile, Spain, in 1535. The floor is finished with unglazed tile pavers
from Spain with insets featuring the castle-and-lion motif symbolic of
Spain.

"It's something you don't expect," Mr. Stryker says of the huge domed
gallery. "You can't describe it. It takes people's breath away."

The url is:

http://www.dallasnews.com/travel2/archive/388878_textrav_10tra..html

Stanley LeBlanc
http://www.thecajuns.com

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