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ONGOING FOCUSED RESEARCH
The Dismal Swamp Junk.Much has been made of historic reports of a Chinese junk being found during canal construction in Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp. One report made to the 1421 Foundation stated that Washington’s Dismal Canal Company first encountered the junk when digging the first canal intended to drain the swamp. It was reported later that the US Corp of Engineers found the same junk when working to clear the Canal in 1920. A third report stated that US Navy personnel also found this junk when searching for a crashed Navy plane that took off from Norfolk Navy Base in 1942.
Three seemingly verifiable sightings made this lead an important one to follow up on. The 1421.org was pledged sufficient money to develop this project by two California supporters. A small amount of the grant was used for initial archival research. Archaeologist Bruce Terrell, a former NOAA official, was engaged to review local archives in Virginia and Washington with 1421 Director Mark Newell. An initial problem arose immediately - the canal dug by George Washington in the 1750s was on the west side of the Swamp - the Corps of Engineers and the Navy search involved the present Dismal Swamp Canal on the east side of the swamp. If correct, there would have to be TWO Chinese junks in the swamp! Terrell and Newell accessed the very complete reports made by future President Washington when supervising the construction of “Washington’s Ditch” on the west side of the swamp, according to survey maps made at the time. The notes were exclusively limited to financial transactions for supplies and canal company stock. There was NO mention of a Chinese junk. None at all. Contacts were then made with the US Navy archives where detailed crash reports are filed. Data on the crashed plane and the crew were fully revealed - and again there was no mention of a Chinese junk. A relative of the navigator of the plane was supposed to have reported a conversation about the junk with the navigator - but no evidence of this could be found. Finally, Newell accessed the Corps of Engineers records at the COE archives in High Point Georgia. Terrell also accessed COE archives in Virginia. While records of the work on the Great Dismal Swamp were found, there was NO mention of a the wreckage of a Chinese junk being encountered. As a result, field work for the project was scrapped. There have been persistent reports of Chinese artifacts and even Chinese DNA being encountered in Virginia - some artifacts as far back as the first Colonists. Certainly this could be the case arising from Asian contacts in later centuries - but for now, this is one “lead” from the Menzies files that can be put to rest for the time being. NEXT REPORT: The Bronze Buddha of Western Australia |