Archeologist present as oil spill boom brings up 19th century anchor

By Renee Busby

When an oil boom at Perdido Pass accidentally snagged a 19th century anchor last month, Doug Wilson was on the dock when the anchor was unloaded.

An archaeologist at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Preserve, Wilson was working a two-week stint at the BP Joint Command Center during the oil spill crisis helping protect historical sites in the Gulf of Mexico and on beaches. As an archaeologist with some expertise in Civil War relics, he wanted to see the anchor.

Maritime archaeologists, he said, determined it was a 19th century folding stock anchor that probably predated the Civil War.

Because of its size, Wilson said it was probably on a smaller ship, like a schooner.

The anchor was turned over to the Alabama Historical Commission, said Wilson.

Had the boat captain followed “protocol,” Wilson said, the “anchors should have been left in place and documented,” not transported back to shore, he said. “If needed, we send people underwater to survey the artifacts.”

Working the oil spill was Wilson’s first incident deployment.

“In the National Park Service we’re usually knocking out fires,” Wilson said in an interview from Portland, Ore.

His job on the Gulf Coast was helping protect the shipwrecks, World War II relics and American Indian shell midden mounds that line the Gulf of Mexico and other waters.

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