The legend of treasure hidden along the Oregon coast, a centuries-old shipwreck, and speculation about whether parts of the story inspired “The Goonies” movie is a wild and wooly saga that has fascinated Oregonians for years.
Now, the tale is getting new attention in a documentary called “The True Quest for Fabled Treasure on the Oregon Coast,” which premieres at the Columbian Theater in Astoria on Oct. 13, and plays in Portland at the Hollywood Theatre on Oct. 15.
Filmmakers Tony Altamirano, JB Fisher, and Doug Kenck-Crispin teamed up for the documentary, which is billed as the first in a video and podcast series called “Secrets of the Mysteries.”
“The True Quest for Fabled Treasure on the Oregon Coast” explores the legends that have grown up around the so-called treasure of Neahkahnie Mountain, and the treasure hunters who have kept interest in the region alive for decades.
The origin of these fables generally dates back to reports of a large ship that was wrecked on Nehalem Spit, as the Oregon Encyclopedia says. Analysis has suggested that the ship was called the Santo Cristo de Burgos, described as “a Manila galleon that left the Philippines in the summer of 1693 carrying exquisite Asian trade goods.”
The galleon, or sailing ship, was reportedly headed to Acapulco, but failed to reach its destination and was suspected to have been shipwrecked.
“Among other things,” the Oregon Encyclopedia entry says, “the wreck left a massive cargo of beeswax blocks, often stamped with shippers’ marks, scattered and buried on Nehalem Spit and in the vicinity of Nehalem Bay.”
Accounts of what happened, and what the ship carried, grew over the decades. “The result was that the Neahkahnie Mountain area and the beaches of Nehalem Spit became the state’s premiere focus for treasure-hunting,” as The Oregon Encyclopedia says.
The “Beeswax Wreck” story heated up in 2022, when a team of investigators were able to retrieve timbers from sea caves near Manzanita. The hazardous endeavor made headlines when it was determined that the timbers were, as the National Geographic reported, “believed to be pieces of the Santo Cristo de Burgos,” the Spanish galleon that vanished in 1693, “most likely wrecking on what’s now Oregon’s coast. Its cargo included costly Chinese silk, porcelain, and blocks of beeswax for making candles.”
That 2022 discovery generated a spate of articles claiming the Spanish shipwreck helped inspire “The Goonies,” the enduringly popular 1985 movie set in Astoria, and filmed in locations along the Oregon coast. In the movie, a group of young people set out to find what they believe to be treasure, left hidden in a 17th-century pirate ship.
To try and find some answers to questions about the Santo Cristo de Burgos, treasure, and how much – if any – influence any of that may have had on “The Goonies” were all part of the motivations for history enthusiasts Kenck-Crispin and Fisher, who recently answered some questions about “The True Quest for Fabled Treasure on the Oregon Coast,” via email.
“Our film does focus on the Manila Galleon wreck,” Fisher writes. “We talk about the 2022 timber discovery, about the history and logistics of the Manila-Acapulco trade route, and what might have happened to the Burgos and its crew.”
It’s not their intention to “solve” the mystery of the shipwreck, Fisher writes. “We are primarily interested in exploring how archeological evidence from the Manila Galleon wreck relates to oral accounts and other evidence concerning treasure hidden at Neahkahnie Mountain. We are not trying to prove or disprove the existence of treasure there. Rather, we are exploring how the legacy of this legend has been shaped by indigenous eyewitness accounts, archeological evidence, and 200-plus years of treasure hunters attempting to find the loot.”
As for the shipwreck’s legend inspiring “The Goonies,” Fisher writes that he and his collaborators “wanted to tell the world that there is more to that story than just an incidental connection” to the popular movie.
Kenck-Crispin sounds convinced that there’s a connection between the shipwreck, those who have sought its treasures, and “The Goonies.”
“I think this is absolutely the case!” Kenck-Crispin writes.
One of the central treasure hunters in “The True Quest for Fabled Treasures on the Oregon Coast” is a man named Ed Fire, who was also known as Tony Mareno.
The filmmakers had access to archival news footage of Fire/aka Mareno, as Fisher writes, and TV news coverage of him digging for treasure at Manzanita Beach in the late 1960s.
Kenck-Crispin writes that there are enough similarities between certain of Fire/Mareno’s behavior and moments from “The Goonies” that, “it’s just too difficult to separate the two.”
“His descendants claim that ‘The Goonies’ was directly inspired by his efforts and claims,” Fisher writes. “There were even parallels with the main character, Mikey. Both Ed Fire and Mikey had asthma and frequently sucked on their inhalers; Mikey often used the phrase ‘our time’ while Ed frequently talked about ‘my time’ in interviews. And of course what Ed Fire claims to have discovered seems right out of the movie. Part of what our film looks at is this question: Did Ed Fire inspire ‘The Goonies’ or did ‘The Goonies’ inspire Ed Fire?”
Kenck-Crispin writes that he and Fisher have been researching the “Neahkahnie Treasure” legend for more than a decade.
“Before the film project started, we had taken several field trips to the suspected sites, hiked the mountain, visited coastal museums, and spoken with long-term local residents.” Kenck-Crispin writes.
“With the decision to make a movie about the topic, we really turned up our archival research and reviewed the collections of institutions in Portland, Tillamook, Astoria, and Philomath, often viewing artifacts that had not been on display for decades, if ever. We took deep dives into these collections and tried to ask the right questions to archivists to make sure we covered all of our bases. We were able to bring ‘new’ documents and physical artifacts to the discussion that even the leading archeologists and curators of the suspected Burgos finds had not even seen yet.”
Asked if he thinks there are treasures hidden at Neahkahnie Mountain, Kenck-Crispin writes, “I do. I really do. Now is it a chamber of immeasurable strings of pearls and other jewels surrounded by chests of doubloons? Piles of gold in bars, coins, platters and pitchers and the like? I find this option highly unlikely.”
But, Kenck-Crispin goes on, if there was a centuries-old shipwreck on the Oregon coast, “and the survivors gathered all of the religious artifacts and icons on the ship, all of their valuable personal possessions, some silver pesos from Spanish colonies, jewelry and souvenirs they had picked up or stolen in the Philippines or Peru, and maybe the ship’s supercargo’s bank, placed it in a few chests, and you buried that in the sand for 300 and twenty some odd years...”
All of that constitutes treasure, Kenck-Crispin writes.
As for what they hope viewers may take away from their film, Fisher writes, “We want viewers to come away with a better appreciation for what the phrase ‘the wreck that inspired The Goonies’ can mean. We want viewers to appreciate the value of the historical and archeological discoveries in this story while also embracing the mysteries and ambiguities that the treasure hunter legacy invites.”
“The True Quest for Fabled Treasure on the Oregon Coast” premieres at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, at the Columbian Theater, in Astoria; and screens at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Hollywood Theatre, in Portland. Want to rent or buy “The Goonies”? It’s available on platforms that include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and iTunes.
