Features







 

Books

 

Fun & Games

Trivia Games

 

Contact Us


 

 

 

John's Journal... Entry 114, Day 2

David Horan - The Treasure Sultan

The Treasure Attorney


Click to enlargeEDITOR'S NOTE: David Horan's clients know him as the Treasure Sultan. Horan of Key West, Florida, is one of the leading attorneys in the nation on admiralty law as it pertains to ownership of sunken treasure, sunken ships and underwater artifacts. His clients have salvaged some of the greatest underwater treasures and historical finds in the world, including the "Atocha," the "Santa Margarita," the "Andreadoria," the "Titanic," the "San Miguel De Archangel" and the "El Cazador." Horan also has had the opportunity to scuba dive on many of these wrecks. This week, Horan will share with us his adventures, photos and tales of great treasure finds made by ordinary people like you and me.

I've worked as an attorney since 1971. I had a degree in marine biology with minors in chemistry and physics. When I came to Key West, all I really wanted to do was scuba dive and surf. I really didn't want to practice law. But when I arrived in Key West, I started practicing environmental law and representing the commercial fishing industry here in the Keys. In the first two or three years of my practice, I fought cases in front of the Supreme Court of Florida for the fishing industry. During that time, I frequented an establishment known as the Chart Room. Jimmy Buffet often came by to sing for drinks, and Mel Fischer sat around there and talked about lost treasure. Fischer's assistant encouraged him to get out of a contract he had with a Washington law firm. He owed them more than $1 million in past-due attorney fees. Although I was a widely-publicized young attorney in the Florida Keys area, I wasn't nationally, and he felt like he could afford me. He hired me as his counsel for his treasure-hunting adventures. That's how I got involved in the treasure business. Since those early days with Mel, however, I've represented other companies that found historic wrecks they wanted to salvage. I was the chief trial counsel for the "Titanic." However, the French salvage company won the rights to the "Titanic."

Click to enlargeI received the most financial reward from the "Central America" wreck. The salvage team recovered more artifacts and treasure from this wreck than any other wreck in history. So far the recovery team has recovered approximately $1 billion in all-gold treasure. I also was involved in the 1715 Plate wrecks that sank on July 31, 1715, along the Fort Pierce and Vero Beach area. Several boats hit the shore there and broke into pieces. The treasure from these wrecks scattered all up and down those beaches. Salvage operations have operated there since the early 1960s.

Click to enlargeI'm also working on the recovery of a B-17 bomber that sat down on a frozen lake in Canada. In 1947 a B-17 on its way from Tuley, Greenland, to Goose Bay, Labrador in Canada, lost its way and landed on a frozen lake when it started having engine trouble. We have pictures of the plane sitting on the lake. Our team found the plane on the bottom of the lake. We'll try to recover this plane in the spring of 2002. The investor hopes to restore the plane and actually fly it.

If you find a treasure and you want to contact me, you can email me at bhw608@hotmail.com, call me at (352) 294-4585 or write to me at 608 Whitehead Street, Key West, Fl 33040.

TOMORROW: TREASURES OF THE "EL CAZADOR"

 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about Dave Horan...

Day 1 - Discovering the Treasure Ship "Atocha"
Day 2 - The Treasure Attorney
Day 3 - Treasures of the "El Cazador"
Day 4 - The Jupiter Wreck
Day 5 - What To do If You Find A Sunken Or Duried Treasure


John's Journal