Maggie Ross: Which way is up?
John Harreld identified a portion of a wooden ship hull embedded at the mouth of a creek just inside a large sandbar in 2016. He subsequently reported the find to NOAA and California State Parks. Archaeologists and historians photographed, measured, analyzed, and documented the find but couldn’t agree as to what part of the hull it represented. Some believed it was the bow while others suggested that it could be from the lower portion of the stern, near the keel. All were in agreement that the articulated hull fragment was likely from the steam schooner Maggie Ross, a 282-ton steam schooner that was beached near Fort Ross after hitting a submerged rock in August 1892. Following abandonment, the hull fragment likely tumbled inshore with the surf suggesting it broke off at the waterline. Following a monitoring visit to the site in February, SCHUNRS noted that the sand and gravel around the object had shifted, allowing for an alternate perspective. Combining newly acquired information and data gathered from previous monitoring efforts, John Harreld and Sheli Smith came to the conclusion that this piece represents a portion of the bow that would have been above the hull waterline. Viewing in cross-section, the angle and orientation of the ribs and outer planking suggest that the hull is getting wider as you move up from the creek bed which, taken with other noted construction details, indicates that the fragment is actually inverted. This piece is probably just one of many sections of hull that broke up and was scattered throughout the area. One of SCHUNRS’ 2022 projects will involve looking for the rest of Maggie Ross, both on land and underwater.