Sinking of the Brother Johnathan

On July 30, 1865, the ship wrecked on its way to Portland in a terrible windstorm, hitting an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California. The ship carried the crew, 244 passengers—including prospectors, settlers, prostitutes, freed slaves, and dignitaries—and a large shipment of gold. Only nineteen people survived in one longboat, making it the deadliest passenger shipwreck up to that time off the West Coast. The tragedy forced a change in steamship safety laws and prompted the construction of St. George Reef Lighthouse, the most expensive and remote lighthouse in U.S. history.

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