After a careful search, Gallagher collected one (1) man's shoe and one (1) woman's shoe.
We can't say that for certain. In his early correspondence (Sept. 23 through October 17) Gallagher mentions only the part of the sole of a woman's shoe. On October 26, Secretary Vaskess tells him "
Organised search should be made in the vicinity and all bones and other finds, including box, sextant and shoe, should be forwarded to Suva by the first opportunity for examination."
Gallagher received that telegram but then his radio went down and there was no further communication with the outside world until after the first of the year. Gallagher's letter that accompanied the bones to Fiji, written on Dec. 27, 1940 says, "
The larger of these packages is the coffin containing the remains of the unidentified individual found on the South Eastern shore of Gardner Island; the second package is the sextant box found in the immediate locality and contains all the other pieces of evidence which were found in the proximity of the body."
But he doesn't list "all the other pieces of evidence."
On July 1, 1941 Steenson examined "all the other pieces of evidence" and wrote:
"
Apart from stating that they appear to be parts of shoes worn by a male person and a female person, I have nothing further to say.
Those corks on brass chains would appear to have belonged to a small cask."
Gallagher made at least two searches of the site - one prior to Sept. 23, 1940 and one after October 26, 1940. It appears that he found the parts of a man's shoe or shoes, possibly more parts of a woman's shoe or shoes, and the corks with brass chains during the second "organized search" ordered by Vaskess on Oct. 26.
The challenge is to explain the presence of a woman's shoe(s?) and a man's shoe(s) at the site. The woman's shoe(s?) is easy. The post-loss radio signals put Amelia Earhart on the island. There were no other women on the island who wore shoes up to the time of Gallagher's discovery in 1940. The castaway bone measurements fit Amelia. The woman's shoe(s?) were brought to the site by Amelia.
The man's shoe(s?) is tougher. There were plenty of men on the island prior to Gallagher's discovery. In chronological order - Norwich City survivors, Fred Noonan, Gilbertese laborers, NZ surveyors, Bushnell surveyors.
• The Norwich City survivors were on the island before 1940 but they never went anywhere near the site.
• Fred Noonan could have left his shoe(s?) at the site and moved on to die at some undiscovered location.
• The Gilbertese laborers were at the site before Gallagher but they did not wear shoes.
• NZ surveyors and Bushnell surveyors wore shoes but putting one of them at the site and abandoning his shoe(s?) without noticing the dead castaway would make Occam roll over in his grave.
There are no slam dunks, but there is evidence that Noonan was severely injured and died in or near the plane and that Earhart had an injured ankle. The only explanation for the man's shoe(s?) at the site that is supported by evidence, however slim, is that it was brought there by (or on) Amelia.