Resource Monitoring- Steamer Monterey
California’s shoreline is highly dynamic with seasonal scouring and sediment deposition changing the coastal landscape throughout the year. These changes directly impact maritime cultural resources located in the intertidal zone. One of the more important aspects of SCHUNRS’ work is revisiting known sites along the coast to document changing resource conditions over time and report negative impacts to the appropriate land manager or owner. The site of the steamer Monterey wreck event serves as an example of regular resource monitoring. The vessel struck a rock about half a mile from shore, three miles south of Fort Ross on its way from San Francisco to Shelter Cove in Mendocino County on May 29, 1880. Captain Von Helms immediately steered the vessel toward shore where it grounded on rocks just outside the surf zone. All 28 passengers were transported to shore safely but the vessel was considered a total loss, salvaged, and abandoned. Today, the known portion of the site consists of numerous water-worn metal artifacts, presumably from the Monterey wreck, distributed across a 200-meter stretch of rocky beach. This area is regularly exposed or buried, depending on season and high-energy storm events. Mapping individual diagnostic items helps us understand how this site is actively “moving” and photographs assist in tracking conditions of individual items. This not only builds a life history of the site well past the marine casualty, but also points to patterns along this stretch of the coast to better understand the life cycle of maritime cultural resources located in the intertidal zone.