326-year-old beeswax is washing up on Oregon beaches

Knute Berger

Knute Berger Jul 7, 2025

Jan 31, 2019

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                <h1>326-year-old beeswax is washing up on Oregon beaches</h1>
                <h2><p>In the late 1600s, a Spanish galleon from Manila went down in a storm off the Oregon coast. Its cargo? A bounty of beeswax, used for candles to light the churches and major institutions of the Spanish colonies. Beeswax and other artifacts from the epic shipwreck are still being found</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/knute-berger-crosscut-com/">Knute Berger</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 31, 2019</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100%" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/XaUbIbjppTBPZOVRe9GvAQ==/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=true&amp;endscreen=false" width="100%"></iframe></figure><p>In the late 1600s, a Spanish galleon from Manila went down in a storm off the Oregon coast. Its cargo? A bounty of beeswax, used for candles to light the churches and major institutions of the Spanish colonies. Beeswax and other artifacts from the epic shipwreck are still being found on beaches today. In this edition of Mossback's Northwest, Knute Berger recalls the complicated journey that some observers say resulted in the first-ever contact between Europeans and Northwest indigenous peoples.</p>
          </article>

In the late 1600s, a Spanish galleon from Manila went down in a storm off the Oregon coast. Its cargo? A bounty of beeswax, used for candles to light the churches and major institutions of the Spanish colonies. Beeswax and other artifacts from the epic shipwreck are still being found on beaches today. In this edition of Mossback's Northwest, Knute Berger recalls the complicated journey that some observers say resulted in the first-ever contact between Europeans and Northwest indigenous peoples.

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By Knute Berger

Knute “Mossback” Berger is an editor-at-large and host of "Mossback’s Northwest" at Cascade PBS. He writes about politics and regional heritage.