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Photos by Gerald E. McLeod
The La Petite Belle, moored in Palacios, is a three-dimensional, seaworthy model of La Salle’s ship found at the bottom of Matagorda Bay.
The beauty of the 17th century French ship was lost in the muddy bottom of the bay halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi. The half-scale model in Palacios recreates the flourishes on the bow and the bright colors of its hull.
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, left France in 1684 with four ships looking for the mouth of the Mississippi, but landed on the Texan coast. La Belle, the smallest of the ships, ran aground and sank in a storm.
In 1995, the archaeological dig of the 54-foot three-mast barque was carried out by the state using Palacios as a base of operations. Along with cannons, tools and skeletal remains, the remains of the wooden hull were recovered and finally installed at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.
In 2002 a group of Palacios residents began to develop a half working model of La Belle as an educational tool and ambassador for the port city. The design of the 30-foot fiberglass sailboat was based on drawings of the original ship, says Ted Riccio, captain of La Petite Belle. Four sailors are required when the seven sails are deployed, or a crew of two when the 30 horsepower diesel engine is used.
The remains of the La Belle’s hull were recovered from the muddy bottom of Matagorda Bay at the Bullock History Museum in Austin.
La Petite Belle was completed in 2013 and has starred in documentaries and re-enactments. She can be seen through the fence in the South Bay Marina in Palacios. Boat tours of the city can be arranged by the Sea Museum at 361 / 972-1148. Donations to support La Petite Belle can be made at citybytheseamuseum.org or lapetitebelle.org.
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