Missing 17th-Century Spanish Galleon That Inspired Filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s 1985 Movie Discovered off the Oregon Coast

Archaeologists recently discovered parts of the 17th-century Spanish galleon, the Santo Cristo de Burgos. In June, the team found over 20 pieces of wood in a cave along the Oregon coast. The researchers believed the wood matched that of the ship, famously recognized as the Beeswax Wreck. Scott Williams, president of the Maritime Archaeological Society, told CNN, "An Oregon local was searching for agate gemstones along the coast when he discovered some of the timber a few years ago."

However, the Beeswax Wreck wasn’t filled with gold and treasures, but it shared many similarities with the ship featured in the 1985 film The Goonies. The movie told the intriguing story of a group of teenagers in Astoria who searched for hidden pirate treasure along the Oregon coast. Both the movie and the Beeswax Wreck were located on the Oregon coast, leading many to assume that Steven Spielberg may have drawn inspiration from these old stories.

Spielberg's film, starring Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, and Josh Brolin, was a hit due to its legendary ship and adventurous story. Knewz.com noted that the director reportedly saw a newspaper article about the ship's history and the treasure it carried, which inspired him to make the movie. According to HuffPost, Williams told the Post, "The caves were incredibly hard to get to. They were located on a beach that was only accessible at high tide, and it was a tough hike to reach it over landslides and boulder fields."

The Santo Cristo de Burgos sank in 1693, and locals spotted the cargo that washed ashore. An Oregon local man searching for agate gemstones found parts of the beeswax wreck. He had heard stories about the Beeswax Wreck, and when he discovered pieces of wood and timber, he thought they might be significant for archaeologists and museums.

Several excavations and studies were conducted to dig up the rest of the wood. However, Williams told National Geographic, "I was convinced it was driftwood. To think that 300-year-old ship timbers could survive on the Oregon coast was just crazy." Many archaeologists and explorers believed that strong tides made the search difficult and dangerous. Later, a lab test confirmed that the tropical hardwood was the right type and age for the Santo Cristo, leading to further recovery efforts.

Archaeological investigator Jim Delgado, the senior vice president of the cultural resource management firm SEARCH, Inc., told National Geographic, "These timbers were physical evidence for the stories that had been known and passed down through generations." The ship's wood was stored at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon, for historians to study and uncover more astonishing finds.

Williams later told the Post, "We were about 90 percent sure they were from the Santo Cristo de Burgos, but there was nothing definitive that said they were from the ship that went missing in 1693. There was a chance it was an unknown shipwreck, but the odds were small for that. The simplest explanation was that these timbers were part of the galleon."