.gif)
Brother Jonathan (steamer)
Encyclopedia
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
that crashed on an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California
Crescent City, California
Crescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 7,643 in the 2010 census, up from 4,006 in the 2000 census...
, on July 30, 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 survived the wreck, making it the deadliest shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States. It was named after "Brother Jonathan
Brother Jonathan
Brother Jonathan was a fictional character created to personify the entire United States, in the early days of the country's existence.In editorial cartoons and patriotic posters, Brother Jonathan was usually depicted as a typical American revolutionary, with tri-cornered hat and long military jacket...
", a character personifying the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
before the creation of Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
.
Initial construction
The ship was commissioned by Edward Mills, a New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
er who tried to operate a shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
business during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. When built in 1851, she was 220 feet (67 m) long and 36 feet (11 m) wide. Her route was from New York to Chagres
Chagres
Chagres, a village of the Republic of Panama in the Colón Province. It has a harbour from 10 to I ~ ft. deep, which is difficult to enter. The port was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, and was opened for traffic with Panama, on the Pacific coast, by way of the Chagres River, in the 16th...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, and on her first journey set a record for the then fastest round-trip — 31 days. Passengers would cross the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
and make their way north to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
via another ship.
In 1852, the ship was purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
, who operated a competing line, to replace one of his ships that had wrecked. Vanderbilt had the Brother Jonathan sail around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
and used her on the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
side of the route. Vanderbilt also had the steamer rebuilt to accommodate more passengers.
Uses
Vanderbilt's company had had an exclusive contract ferrying passengers across the isthmus through NicaraguaNicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, but in 1856, the Nicaraguan government canceled the agreement. The ship was then sold to Captain John Wright, whereupon she was renamed the Commodore and put on West Coast routes, including from her home port of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
to Vancouver, British Columbia, as gold prospectors traveled to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
.
The ship played a small but symbolic role in the history of the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. After President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
signed the bill admitting Oregon to the Union on February 14, 1859, the news was wired to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, carried by stagecoach to San Francisco, and loaded on the Brother Jonathan on March 10. On March 15, the ship docked in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, delivering the official notification of statehood to the people of Oregon.
By 1861, she had fallen into disrepair and was sold again to the California Steam Navigation Company, who retrofit
Retrofit
Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.* power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions...
ted her, restored her original name of Brother Jonathan, and continued her on the northward route from San Francisco to Vancouver via Portland, allowing prospectors to work the Salmon River Gold Rush. Over the next several years, the vessel gained a reputation as being one of the finest steamers on the Pacific Coast, being the fastest ship to make the run, sixty-nine hours each way.
Shipwreck
On her last voyage, the ship ran into a heavy gale within hours after leaving San Francisco harbor and steaming north. Most of the passengers on board the Brother Jonathan became seasick and were confined to their rooms by the continuing storm of “frightful winds and stormy seas”. Early Sunday morning, July 30, 1865, the steamer anchored in Crescent City harbor on the first leg of its trip to Portland and Victoria, B.C. After leaving the safety of the bay that Sunday afternoon, the ship ran headfirst into more stormy conditions. The seas were so bad near the California-Oregon border that the captain ordered the ship turned around for the safety of Crescent City. Forty-five minutes later on that return and close to port, the ship struck the rock, tearing a large hole in its hullHull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
. Within five minutes, the captain realized the ship was going to sink and ordered the passengers and crew to abandon ship. Despite having enough lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
s to hold all of the people on board, only three were able to be deployed. Acts of courage and desperation, fear and self-sacrifice, were numerous. The rough waves capsized the first one that was lowered and smashed the second against the vessel's sides. Only a single surfboat
Surfboat
A surfboat is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach.-Construction:...
, holding eleven crew members, five women and three children managed to escape the wreck and make it safely to Crescent City.
Among the victims were Brigadier General George Wright
George Wright (general)
George Wright was an American soldier who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, the Union Commander of the Department of the Pacific
Department of the Pacific
The Department of the Pacific was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century.-Formation:The Department of the Pacific was first organized on October 31, 1853, at San Francisco, California, taking over from the previous Pacific Division. The department reported directly to...
; Dr. Anson G. Henry, Surveyor General of the Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, who was also Abraham Lincoln’s physician and closest friend; James Nisbet, a well-known publisher, who wrote a love note and his will while awaiting his death; and Roseanna Keenan, a colorful San Francisco madam, who was traveling with seven “soiled doves”. As a result of this tragedy, new laws were written to increase passenger-ship safety, including the ability of lifeboats to be released from a sinking ship.
For its final voyage, crates of gold coin
Gold coin
A gold coin is a coin made mostly or entirely of gold. Gold has been used for coins practically since the invention of coinage, originally because of gold's intrinsic value...
s had been loaded on the vessel, including the annual treaty payments in gold for Indian tribes, Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
shipments consigned for Portland and Vancouver, and gold carried on board by the passengers. A large ship’s safe safeguarded valuable jewelry, more gold coins, and gold bars. The gold alone was valued at $50 million dollars in today’s dollars. Divers and ships began searching for the sunken treasure two weeks after the disaster, but despite the attempts of numerous salvors, for over 125 years, the ship’s treasure of gold and artifacts remained one of the Pacific’s great secrets.
Modern recovery efforts
Despite the fact that the Brother Jonathan sank so tantalizingly close to shore, the ferocious storms, rocky passageways, strong underwater currents, and darkness at the depths held the secret of her location. Although the ship sunk eight miles from Crescent City, technology needed to improve and explorers had to change their assumptions before the ship could be found. On the last day of its 1993 expedition, Deep Sea Research (DSR) changed its theory. The men decided that the ship had actually floated underneath the ocean's surface to finally hit bottom two miles from where it first smashed into the reef. Led by Donald Knight and under risky conditions, a mini-sub on October 1, 1993, discovered the ship there at the last minute. Over time, the team began to bring artifacts back from a depth of 275 feet.No human remains were ever found. In 1996, a mini-sub scooted past a “glint” on the bottom, raising curiosity. On August 30, 1996, divers found gold coins and on that expedition recovered 875 1860s gold coins in near-mint condition. Over time, the salvers recovered 1,207 gold coins, primarily $20 Double Eagle
Double Eagle
A Double Eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. . The coins are made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy....
s, in addition to numerous artifacts.
Thousands of items eventually were brought up, ranging from nineteenth-century cut-crystal sherry glasses, white porcelain plates, beer mugs, and terracotta containers (once holding mineral water from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) to exquisite glassware, cups, glass containers, and multi-faceted cruet bottles. Wine and champagne bottles, crates of goods (from axe handles to doorknobs), tinctures of medicine, port holes—among many goods and objects—were discovered.
While recovery efforts were being conducted, the lawsuits flew around among the salvers, the State of California, and numismatic experts. California took the legal position that it owned the rights to the wreck and everything located close to its shores. As the state had enacted a broad law granting it these rights to "historical shipwrecks", it fought the salver's claims of ownership. Although every judge along the way disagreed with California’s position, a number of states with similar interests joined in the legal battle. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998 unanimously held that existing federal law controlled, declared the law(s) unconstitutional, and ruled for the salvors. However, California officials told DSR that they would take the fight up again to the Supreme Court on the facts, and the state received 20% of the recovered gold in a final settlement.
In the first legally-recognized sale of all of the salvors' gold discovered from a sunken treasure ship, more than 500 bidders crowded into the Airport Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles for the auction of DSR’s gold coins on May 29, 1999. The sale of its 1006 coins fetched a total of $5.3 million. Later,the finders of the coins once again appealed the Supreme Court's decision and were granted the rest of California gold coins.
Meanwhile, another battle had broken out over the authenticity of historic gold bars secretly recovered from the Brother Jonathan in the 1930s. Reading like a “Who’s who” in numismatic circles, these experts viciously attacked each other over these bars in a rare public controversy (the “Great Debate”) at the 1999 American Numismatic Association
American Numismatic Association
The American Numismatic Association was founded in 1891 by Dr. George F. Heath in Chicago, Illinois. The ANA was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics along educational, historical and scientific lines, as well as enhance interest in the hobby.The ANA national headquarters and museum is...
’s annual convention—a battle that still resounds among collectors and gold experts. This also resulted in litigation.
DSR set up a conservation lab for the recovered artifacts that was run by the local historical society in Crescent City, the Del Norte County Historical Society. The salvors also hired a national expert to work with the volunteers in these efforts. This small historical society has been refurbishing and maintaining the artifacts, as well as having an exhibit on the Brother Jonathan’s demise and a variety of the objects that were reclaimed.
Legacy
The reef the ship slammed into is now known as “Jonathan Rock,” and the St. George Reef LighthouseSt. George Reef Lighthouse
The St. George Reef Light is an inactive lighthouse located six miles off the coast of northern California near Crescent City.-Location:...
was built in response to this disaster. A memorial for the deceased, registered as California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
#541, sits at Brother Jonathan Vista Point in Crescent City. The shipwreck is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Despite the gold coins already discovered and brought up, crates of gold from the Brother Jonathan still remain hidden and undisturbed. The large safe with its millions of dollars of jewels, gold bars, and gold was never found. The salvors estimate that 4/5ths of the treasure is still waiting to be discovered—mere miles from land. In 2010, folk music singer/songwriter John Donovan released an album entitled "Bells Will Ring," a line from his song about the shipwreck entitled "Brother Jonathan."