Sixteen Decades Have Passed Since the Brother Jonathan Tragedy

Today, July 30, 2025 marks the 160th anniversary of the Brother Jonathan paddle steamer ship tragedy when 225 souls lost their lives when The Jonathan crashed upon the uncharted Dragon Rocks, six miles off-shore from Crescent City. 19 individuals survived the ordeal.

The Brother Jonathan was en route to Portland, Victoria, British Columbia  with a payload of an estimated (at $60 million st today’s gold value) in gold bars and $20 Double Eagle coins to make payments to local American troops and indigenous tribes per treaty agreements.

There, the Brother Jonathan rested at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in perpituity.

During the interim, the Government cobbled the funding necessary and built the St. George Reef Lighthouse in 1893, undoubtedly one of the most dangerous ingress/ egress lighthouses in the world. The Lighthouse Association and the US Guard operated Lady St. George until 1975 when technology replaced the purpose of the Lighthouse with a radio / buoy that would warn ships of the approaching Dragon Rocks.

Technology never stops. 

A single person submarine hit the market  and found the ruins of the Brother Jonathan in 1993.

For three years, Deep Sea Research (DSR) scoured the ocean floor near the site and a mini sub pilot caught a glimpse  of gold. DSR retrieved 1,006 $20 Double Eagles. These coins were auctioned off in Los Angeles in 1999. 

The State sought a cut of the booty, even after losing every court action including the United States Supreme Court.  The State vowed to continue the fight but eventually DSR agreed to 20 percent of the gold coins.

Is there more gold temptingly close to the near-shore. Experts believe? Yes!

It is estimated just 25 percent of the coins remain undiscovered..

Read more in the non-fiction book, The Treasure Ship: The Legend and Legacy of the S.S. Brother Jonathan by noted marine author, Dennis Powers (2006) Kensington/ Citadel Press, New York.