On a frigid, stormy day in February of 1686, a small French sailing 
ship lost control and ran aground in Matagorda Bay. The crew had 
braved an ocean voyage, attacks by pirates, raids by Native 
Americans, and ravaging diseases under the command of famed 
explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, hoping to establish a 
colony in the New World. Pounded in the Texas bay by gale-force 
winds and storm surges, La Belle finally slipped beneath the water 
and sank to the bottom, where it would remain for centuries.

    More than 300 years later, Texas Historical Commission 
archaeologists discovered La Belle's resting place. Using cutting-
edge technology and scientific innovation, investigators excavated 
the shipwreck and salvaged from its watery grave more than a million 
artifacts, including bronze guns, muskets, trade beads, axes, rings, 
bells, dishes, medicines—everything a New World colony needed for 
survival.

    Authors James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner use vivid photographs 
and engaging descriptions to share the excitement of discovery as 
they piece together both the ship and its tragic story. For those 
interested in history, archaeology, or the quest for clues to the past,
From a Watery Grave tells a riveting tale of nautical adventure in the 
seventeenth century and reveals modern scientific archaeology at its 
best.    

_________________________________________________________

JAMES E. BRUSETH is director of the archaeology division at the 
Texas Historical Commission, which sponsored the excavation of La 
Belle. Bruseth directed the excavation and serves as the project's 
principal investigator. TONI S. TURNER is a freelance writer and fund 
raiser who assisted in many aspects of the recovery of the shipwreck.



What people are saying about this book

". . . can be recommended unreservedly to both the general reader 
and the nautical specialist."—Nautical Archaeology, Fall 2006

"From a Watery Grave is a very fascinating adventure story . . . a 
sumptuous volume worthy of the events it describes."—The Dallas 
Morning News, August 2005

"Authors Bruseth (archaeology division, Texas Historical Commission) 
and Turner (La Belle excavation project fund-raiser) present the 
fascinating story of the 1995 discovery and 1996-97 excavation of La 
Belle, the French ship lost in Matagorda Bay, TX, in 1686. In February 
1686, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, on  his expedition to establish 
a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi in the New World, lost control of 
the ship La Belle in the Gulf of Mexico, where it sank to the bottom of 
the bay. The authors provide an informative, succinct history of La Salle's 
expedition that places the voyage in the context of late 17th-century world 
events, vividly describing the exciting discovery of the sunken ship and 
many of the nearly one million artifacts found by archaeologists. The 
projects received extensive media coverage (a NOVA documentary, a 
Texas Historical Commission documentary, coverage by all the major 
media), so this important contribution to archaeology is essential for all 
university archaeological collections and Texas public and school 
libraries."—Dale Farris, Groves, TX (from Library Journal)

"From a Watery Grave represents a solid and lasting triumph of nautical 
archaeology. James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner tell the amazing 
story of how a dedicated team of scientists and researchers rose to the 
challenge of preserving the fragile remains of La Salle’s 300-year-old ship
La Belle—from the innovative planning and building of the coffer dam to 
enable excavation on 'dry' land through the dismantling, transporting, and 
reassembly of the ship’s hull. Truly an astounding analysis of the rarest 
of finds . . . the report stands as a high-water mark to be striven for in all 
such efforts in the future."—Robert S. Weddle, author of The Wreck of 
the Belle, the Ruin of La Salle