Devotees of Tales from Buzzard Point will recall that, in preparing the site, DB & Son Infrastructure, Pepco’s excavation contractor, dug up some giant bones identified as those of a long thought-extinct aurochs. (See Tales from Buzzard Point VI: The Aurochs and the Eagle ).
The contractors also dug up many buried old timbers thought to have been washed up on Buzzard Point after the wreck of the Columbus in January 1854. As reported then by the Daily Evening Star and cited in Tales from Buzzard Point II :
The Columbus was carrying a cargo of valuable timbers from Puget Sound to Alexandria when massive whitecaps and storm surge raised by the storm carried it northward beyond its intended port.
The violence of the storm broke up the Columbus and scattered its cargo of valuable timbers along the Anacostia and as far north as Great Falls on the Potomac.
One of those timbers recovered from the cargo (or perhaps a plank from the wrecked ship itself) has puzzled me ever since. Carved crudely and somewhat indistinctly into the timber was a Spanish phrase which I’ve deciphered as
luchar es mejor que valer
Literally translated, that means "to fight is better than just to be worthy" but more loosely it might mean "to struggle is better than to rest on one’s laurels" (i.e. when faced with adversity)
Who carved that phrase into the timber and when?
Perhaps it was the veiled criticism by some Spanish- speaking deckhand of the dubious seamanship of Captain Gregory Bierholder. After all, though flying an American flag and originating in the Pacific Northwest, the Columbus would undoubtedly have picked up additional hands at Callao or Valparaiso or even Buenos Aires during its long voyage around South America. Such a seaman might have doubted Capt. Bierholder’s skill when confronted with storms common off Cape Horn – as, indeed, the Columbus did founder in the midst of a sudden squall off Buzzard Point.
A new finding by the renowned forensic investigator, Sean Joyner, a devoted DC United fan from Reston, Virginia, has added to the mystery. "Restonfan" reports that the actual carving on the weathered timber was not done 165 years ago but is of much more recent vintage – probably soon after the timber was unearthed. He further noted that microscopic evaluation shows that there is no terminal "r" carved into the wood in the first word and that some indecipherable letter may have come at the end of the last word: "lucha es mejor que valer?"
Could the carving possibly say?
Lucho es mejor que Valeri
Lucho Acosta is better than Diego Valeri? the Portland Timbers’ acclaimed enganche? Our Argentine is better than your Argentine?
I don’t disagree with the sentiment (certainly in the long run). However, who could have carved that into the just excavated 165-year old timber at Buzzard Point? Perhaps it was one of the many Spanish-speaking members of the excavation and construction crews? Many are DC United fans who have also joined Barra Brava and other supporters groups.
I cannot resolve the mystery. I’ll leave that up to readers of Tales from Buzzard Point to decide the issue through your comments below.
But whether words were carved 165 years ago or 28 months ago, the message is unequivocal: the Portland Timbers are doomed whenever they dare come to Buzzard Point.
Series Editor’s postscript: "Tales from Buzzard Point" includes historical fiction and homage or parody. All members of the B&RU Commentariat are invited to submit manuscripts of their own researches into the history and traditions of Buzzard Point to davidrusk@verizon.net . All proposed tales must a) involve Buzzard Point, b) have some relationship to football/soccer, and c) demonstrate that Buzzard Point is hallowed ground for DC United and that our MLS opponents are doomed to never come away from Buzzard Point with a result.
