Larry J. Pierson Papers, 1965-2009 (bulk 1970-1987) (MSS 753)

OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.

Extent: 3.8 Linear feet (7 archives boxes and 1 record carton)

The Larry J. Pierson papers consist of a selection of work product files, research materials, and maps relating to his career as a marine archaeologist in California between 1974 and 1987.

Larry Jack Pierson was born on November 14, 1937 in Coquille, Oregon. At 18 Pierson joined the Air Force where he specialized as an electronics technician at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi (1955-1957), and gained 2 years of field experience with the Alaskan Distant Early Warning System. Between 1975 and 1977 he attended Los Angeles Valley College majoring in History and Anthropology with minors in Geology and Oceanography, while also taking classes at the University of California, San Diego and University of San Diego (USD). In 1979 he graduated from USD with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology, before continuing his studies to pursue a Master of Arts in Historic Site Interpretation and Archaeology (1986). During this time period, he also participated in several archaeological field schools in the San Diego area. Pierson held various diving certifications, including Los Angeles County (1963), the National Association of Scuba Diving Schools (1968) (now called Scuba Schools International), and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (1968). A full list of his professional work and completed contracts as a professional archaeologist and historian, marine archaeologist, and electronic remote sensing specialist is available in his collection of papers (box 1, folder 1).

The Larry J. Pierson papers consist of a selection of work product files, research materials, and maps relating to his career as a marine archaeologist in California between 1974 and 1987. Many of the work files document survey scans for cultural and archaeological sites completed prior to major projects like the deepening of the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor in the 1980s, as well as ocean bottom surveys for oil rig platforms and gas pipelines. This material represents only a small fraction of his professional work. A series of maps in the collection documents areas off the coast of California in a continuous run from Point Estero to the Mexican border, which was the foundation of his published report, Archaeological Resource Study: Morro Bay to Mexican Border (1987). The collection also contains an unpublished compilation of data organized by Pierson and Patrick G. Gibson documenting hundreds of shipwreck sites and other underwater obstructions (circa 1977), some writings by others, and a handful of files on Pierson's interest in underwater salvage operations. It includes correspondence from Dr. James Moriarty III, who was interested in the discovery of Chinese anchor stones of the coast of California in the 1970s and was investigating their origin.

Arranged in three series: 1) WORK PROJECTS, 2) SHIPWRECK AND SITE RESEARCH, and 3) MISCELLANEOUS.

Container List

WORK PROJECTS

Box 1 Folder 1
Pierson curriculum vitae (CV)
Box 1 Folder 2
Port San Luis - Navigation improvement supplement (Army Corps of Engineers) and historical materials, 1975
Box 1 Folder 3
Correspondence with Los Angeles Maritime History Museum - Wharf expansion at Berth 206, Los Angeles Harbor, 1977 May-July

Oil and gas line projects

Box 1 Folder 4
Underwater archeaology investigations for Gas Pipeline-Western LNG Terminal Company, 1977

Job No. 0011-168-02. Off Point Conception.

Box 1 Folder 5
Pipeline route survey, San Pedro Shelf, Calif. for or Shell Oil Company - Report, 1977 October 14
Box 1 Folder 6
Marine geophysical and cultural resource surveys, proposed pipeline route offshore Long Beach, Calif. for Shell Oil Company - Report, 1978 July
Box 1 Folder 7
Cultural resource study: Archeological literature survey and remote sensing data evaluation of a short transect off Long Beach, Calif., 1978
Box 1 Folder 8-10
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with SAI - Southern California Bight archaeological study, 1977-1980
Box 2 Folder 1
Proposal for regional historic resources inventory Phase II: North San Diego County coastal area, 1979
Box 2 Folder 2
Preliminary report on sensitive marine archeaological and historical sites located within the boundary of the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary, Volume I, ca. 1980

Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor surveys

Box 2 Folder 3
Underwater survey of sunken vessels in the outer harbor south of Terminal Island, and Cultural resource evaluation - Reports, 1980
Box 2 Folder 4
A cultural resource study for the Los Angeles Harbor deepening project, 1980
Box 2 Folder 5
LA harbor deepening project, 1980-1981
Box 2 Folder 6-7
LA harbor deepening project maps, shipwreck locations, accuracy and data sources, 1980 March
Box 2 Folder 8
Proposal to locate and evaluate all known cultural resouces in the Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor feasibility study area, and final report, 1980-1981
Box 2 Folder 9
Ferryboat Sierra Nevada - Engine salvage, 1980-1981
Box 3 Folder 1
Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor areas cultural resource survey, 1981 March
Box 3 Folder 2
Underwater cultural resource survey, Long Beach Harbor, Calif. - Technical proposal, Teckmarine Inc., 1987
Box 3 Folder 3
Nekton, Inc. statement of qualifications for offshore research, and marketing materials, 1983
Box 3 Folder 4
Underwater archaeological remote-sensing survey and cultural evaluation of proposed offshore breakwater at entrance to Mission Bay, San Diego Calif. - Proposal, 1983 November
Box 3 Folder 5
Underwater archaeological remote-sensing survey and cultural evaluation of proposed Navy dredging and beach renourishment near Coronado Beach, San Diego Calif., 1984 August
Box 3 Folder 6
Side scan sonar training manual, 1985

Maps

Box 3 Folder 7
Isopach map of post-Wisconsin sediment thickness, Point Estero to Mexican Border, 1987
Box 3 Folder 8
Isopach map of post-Wisconsin sediment thickness, Santa Barbara and San Nicholas Islands, 1987
Box 3 Folder 9
Isopach map of post-Wisconsin sediment thickness data sources Point Estero to Mexican Border, 1987
Box 3 Folder 10
Isopach map of post-Wisconsin sediment thickness data sources Santa Barbara and San Nicholas Islands, 1987
Box 4 Folder 1
Shipwreck site predictive model map, Point Estero to Mexican Border, 1987
Box 4 Folder 2
Shipwreck site predictive model map, Santa Barbara, San Nicholas, and San Clemente Islands, Tanner and Cortes Banks, 1987
Box 4 Folder 3
Shipwreck distribution map, Point Estero to Mexican border, 1987
Box 4 Folder 4
Shipwreck distribution map, Santa Barbara, San Nicholas, and San Clemente Islands, Tanner and Cortes Banks, 1987
Box 4 Folder 5
Prehistoric archaeological site and predictive model map, Point Estero to Mexican Border, 1987
Box 4 Folder 6
Prehistoric archaeological site and predictive model map, Santa Barbara and San Nicholas Islands, 1987

SHIPWRECK AND SITE RESEARCH

Box 4 Folder 7
Ship Salvors, Inc. project binder relating to salvage expedition for wooden ship (galleon) wreck off San Miguel Island, 1974-1975

Stone anchors off California coast

Box 4 Folder 8
Correspondence with Chinese experts re: stone anchors, 1980-1986

Correspondence to/from Peking and Dr. James Moriarty III.

Box 5 Folder 1-4
Correspondence re: Palos Verdes stone discovery and China connection, 1975-1993

Dr. James Moriarty III.

Box 5 Folder 5
Palos Verdes stones - Later assessment, 2009
Box 5 Folder 6-7
Palos Verdes stones - Photographs and illustrations, 1983
Box 5 Folder 8
Point Conception stones - Photographs, 1985
Box 5 Folder 9
Correspondence re: Patton escarpment stones, 1973-1975
Box 6 Folder 4
Shipwreck list, 2nd edition (PS Associates)
Box 6 Folder 5
Archaeology list, California sites, 1st edition (PS Associates)
Box 7 Folder 1
Binder - Complete alphabetal list of shipwrecks, 1977
Box 7 Folder 2-3
Shipwrecks in California waters: A computer compendium of data by Patrick G. Gibson and Larry J. Pierson (2 versions), ca. 1977
Box 8
Microfilm (8 reels) - U.S. Coast Guard record of wreck reports and other historical maritime resources

Film boxes labeled by Pierson 1-8 with approximate dates, 1898-1934. No further identification of content.

Box 8
Microfilm (1 reel) - San Francisco Maritime Museum, S.F. Merchants Exchange Association, total ship losses 1900-1962

MISCELLANEOUS

Box 5 Folder 10
The history and evolution of anchors, by James Moriarty III and Neil F. Marshall, 1965
Box 5 Folder 11
Marine archaeology in submerged prehistoric sites, by James Moriarty III, 1969
Box 5 Folder 12
Avila Beach: Descriptive data and hypotheses from the excavation of 1929 - Report by Thomas F. King, 1970
Box 5 Folder 13
Underwater site testing: Results of the Texas Antiquities Committee's 1977 field season - Report by J. Barto Arnold III, 1978
Box 6 Folder 1
New evidence of Asiatic shipwrecks off the California coast, or Palos Verde stones: Their origin and use, by Larry J. Pierson, 1979
Box 6 Folder 2
Drug runner: A biography of the brig "Frolic" 1844-1850, a Baltimore-built opium clipper in India, China and Gold Rush California - Typescript by Thomas N. Layton, 1990

Includes an inventory of artifacts from the wreck of the Frolic donated to the Mendocino County Museum.

Box 6 Folder 3
Gifts from the celestial kingdom: The cargo of the Frolic - Typescript by Thomas N. Layton, 1998