The Beeswax Wreck

AND SPEAKING OF BEESWAX, the summer 2018 special issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly entitled “Oregon's Manila Galleon” features the research done on the mysterious "Beeswax Wreck."  Thought to be that of Manila galleon Santo Cristo de Burgos which left Manila in 1693, the wreck carried a large load of beeswax (used by churches in the Spanish colonies to make candles) much of which washed ashore and contained wings of bees native to the Philippines. I am sure that some, if not most, of those beeswax were gathered by Mangyans from the mountains of Mindoro. And if some Pinoy crewmembers survived the shipwreck as the video suggests, then they would be the second oldest group of Filipinos in the US, after those that arrived in Morro Bay in 1587. 

To order a copy, contact Andrew VanDerZanden, Oregon Historical Society, 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205, phone (503) 306-5230, email Andrew.VanDerZanden@ohs.org.