In July of 1865, Elizabeth (Cartwright) Cooper, her husband Philomon Cooper and their infant daughter were traveling back from San Francisco on the steamship "The Brother Jonathan" back to their home in Linn County, Oregon.
The Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer. It was named after "Brother Jonathan", a character personifying the United States before the creation of Uncle Sam. In July of 1865, the ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold.
The steamship Brother Jonathan was owned by the California Steam Navigation Company. The company initially focused its operations to bay and river runs in the San Francisco area. In 1858, as the result of the Fraser River Gold Rush in British Columbia, the company entered the coastal service with runs to ports north of San Francisco. Their initial ships included the Pacific and Brother Jonathan.
By 1865, California Steam had become known for its disregard of human life where profits were involved, but it was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound.
In 1865, freight was being piled up on the San Francisco docks faster than the line's coastwide steamers could haul it north. The aging Brother Jonathan was crammed with freight until her holds bulged . . . then more was piled on deck. On July 26, 1865, Captain Samuel De Wolfe informed the company's agent that the steamer was being dangerously overloaded; the agent responded that if he was too timid to take the Brother Jonathan to sea, there were a dozen jobless captains who would do so.
Days later, enroute to Portland from San Francisco, during a heavy gale the Brother Jonathan struck St. George Reef, near Crescent City, California. On July 30th the ship crashed on an uncharted rock, off the coast. Only 19 people survived the sinking, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States.
The Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer. It was named after "Brother Jonathan", a character personifying the United States before the creation of Uncle Sam. In July of 1865, the ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold.
The steamship Brother Jonathan was owned by the California Steam Navigation Company. The company initially focused its operations to bay and river runs in the San Francisco area. In 1858, as the result of the Fraser River Gold Rush in British Columbia, the company entered the coastal service with runs to ports north of San Francisco. Their initial ships included the Pacific and Brother Jonathan.
By 1865, California Steam had become known for its disregard of human life where profits were involved, but it was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound.
In 1865, freight was being piled up on the San Francisco docks faster than the line's coastwide steamers could haul it north. The aging Brother Jonathan was crammed with freight until her holds bulged . . . then more was piled on deck. On July 26, 1865, Captain Samuel De Wolfe informed the company's agent that the steamer was being dangerously overloaded; the agent responded that if he was too timid to take the Brother Jonathan to sea, there were a dozen jobless captains who would do so.
Days later, enroute to Portland from San Francisco, during a heavy gale the Brother Jonathan struck St. George Reef, near Crescent City, California. On July 30th the ship crashed on an uncharted rock, off the coast. Only 19 people survived the sinking, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States.
In July of 1865, Elizabeth (Cartwright) Cooper, her husband Philomon Cooper and their infant daughter were traveling back from San Francisco on the steamship "The Brother Jonathan" back to their home in Linn County, Oregon.
The Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer. It was named after "Brother Jonathan", a character personifying the United States before the creation of Uncle Sam. In July of 1865, the ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold.
The steamship Brother Jonathan was owned by the California Steam Navigation Company. The company initially focused its operations to bay and river runs in the San Francisco area. In 1858, as the result of the Fraser River Gold Rush in British Columbia, the company entered the coastal service with runs to ports north of San Francisco. Their initial ships included the Pacific and Brother Jonathan.
By 1865, California Steam had become known for its disregard of human life where profits were involved, but it was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound.
In 1865, freight was being piled up on the San Francisco docks faster than the line's coastwide steamers could haul it north. The aging Brother Jonathan was crammed with freight until her holds bulged . . . then more was piled on deck. On July 26, 1865, Captain Samuel De Wolfe informed the company's agent that the steamer was being dangerously overloaded; the agent responded that if he was too timid to take the Brother Jonathan to sea, there were a dozen jobless captains who would do so.
Days later, enroute to Portland from San Francisco, during a heavy gale the Brother Jonathan struck St. George Reef, near Crescent City, California. On July 30th the ship crashed on an uncharted rock, off the coast. Only 19 people survived the sinking, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States.
The Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer. It was named after "Brother Jonathan", a character personifying the United States before the creation of Uncle Sam. In July of 1865, the ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold.
The steamship Brother Jonathan was owned by the California Steam Navigation Company. The company initially focused its operations to bay and river runs in the San Francisco area. In 1858, as the result of the Fraser River Gold Rush in British Columbia, the company entered the coastal service with runs to ports north of San Francisco. Their initial ships included the Pacific and Brother Jonathan.
By 1865, California Steam had become known for its disregard of human life where profits were involved, but it was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound.
In 1865, freight was being piled up on the San Francisco docks faster than the line's coastwide steamers could haul it north. The aging Brother Jonathan was crammed with freight until her holds bulged . . . then more was piled on deck. On July 26, 1865, Captain Samuel De Wolfe informed the company's agent that the steamer was being dangerously overloaded; the agent responded that if he was too timid to take the Brother Jonathan to sea, there were a dozen jobless captains who would do so.
Days later, enroute to Portland from San Francisco, during a heavy gale the Brother Jonathan struck St. George Reef, near Crescent City, California. On July 30th the ship crashed on an uncharted rock, off the coast. Only 19 people survived the sinking, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States.
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