Lost Ships of the California Desert: Spanish Galleon, Unsolved Mysteries

Unravel the mysteries of Lost Ships of the Desert in California - desert shipwrecks, legends and lore of vanished vessels in Southern California's parched wilds including the Anza Borrego Desert.

Join our expedition into the Imperial county desert, Anza Borrego Desert and Baja California exploring legends of wayward ships stranded in California's most arid regions. Could truth lie behind these southwest desert legends of a 1615 Spanish galleon captain losing his pearl-filled ship in a vast inland sea? How about an abandoned 19th century river skiff sighted by natives marooned 30 miles from water? And what explains accounts of a bizarre 1892 canyon-lodged discovery with gleaming metal sides and unreadable inscriptions?

We'll delve into these California desert history tales, legends and mystery, reviewing Imperial County desert and Salton Sea lore of bygone prospectors, explorers and adventurers losing ships and fortunes while navigating treacherous terrain. What became of Juan de Iturbe's alleged chests of Gulf pearls lost in a colossal inland body of water? Could traces remain today of an odd open-decked vessel stranded 30 miles from the Colorado River? And what became of Santiago's mysterious 1892 canyon-trapped ship with metallic plates and puzzling scripts? Did it harbor secrets dwarfing fabled Indian gold?

Our Lost Ships documentary spans centuries of baffling desert mysteries and vanished ships from California's Imperial Valley across Baja Mexico's remote backcountry. Pack your curiosity for this adventure into legend and lore from one of North America's most punishing (and ship swallowing) landscapes!