The Lewis and Clark companion: an
encyclopedic guide to the voyage of discovery
By Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, Clay Jenkinson
Source:
http://books.google.com/books?id=079zBsvjKAwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
Page 8
Beeswax: Used in combination with buffalo
tallow and charcoal to seal the stitches of
the hides used to cover the iron boat. But
"the stitches began to gape very much since
she has began to dry; I am now convinced
this would not have been the case had the
skins been sewed with a sharp point only."
Beeswax was used as part of a poultice given
by Captain Clark to treat an abscess on Jean
Baptiste's neck in June 1805. On march 9,
1806, Ordway mentions Clatsop Indians
bringing "bears wax" to trade. Whitehouse
mentions it correctly spelling it "bees wax" in
his entry for the same day. While exploring
the Columbia River in 1813, Alexander Henry
noted, "Great quantities of beeswax continue
to be dug out of the sand near this spot and the
Indians bring it to trade with us." The Spanish
galleon San Francisco Xavier, lost at sea near
Nehalem Spit in 1705, is the likely source of
the beeswax, which can still be found today
and has been, according to Ruth and Emory
Strong, radiocarbon dated to between 1485
and 1655. -references: Moulton, vols. 4, 11;
Strong and Strong; Wood and Thiessen.
See more Beeswax Wreck here:
History Detectives - The Beeswax Wreck Video pbs.org/video/video/1162509522/chapter/4/search/beeswax%20Wreck
This video shows the type of bee that produced the
beeswax found in the beeswax wreck..
Apis dorsata - The Giant Honeybee honeybee
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/video/702_galleonwreck.html
Anthropology Field Notes 5:
The Beeswax Shipwreck of Nehalem Video:
http://www.archaeologychannel.org/player/player.php?v=anthfldnotes5.mp4
Beeswax Wreck Research Project Video
http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1685
The Beeswax Wreck Project
http://www.nagagroup.org/BeesWax/about/about.htm
Find part of galleon's beeswax cargo
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/NEWS/802250305