1274

CA, San Francisco--S.S. Golden Gate Treasure Ship Archive

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:875.00 USD Estimated At:1,750.00 - 3,000.00 USD
CA, San Francisco--S.S. Golden Gate Treasure Ship Archive
Preview
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite#309
Reno, NV 89511
Thursday April 11, 10am-6pm
* Preview also available by appointment

Live Auction
Friday & Saturday
April 12-13, 2012
9am PDT starting time, both days

Location
Atlantis Casino & Resort
Grand Ballroom #4
3800 S. Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502

Lot Pick Up
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite #309
Reno, NV 89511
Sunday April 14th, 10am-1pm

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to a rush of hopeful fortune hunters to the west coast. The Post Office Department kept the area’s inhabitants connected with the rest of the world by moving mail on steamboats that traveled to Central America, where mail (and passengers) traveled across either the Panamanian or Nicaraguan isthmus to the opposite shore where steamers waited to take them the rest of the way.

Among the grandest steamers running on the Pacific side was the "S.S. Golden Gate," operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The PMSC was under contract to the Department to carry mail between San Francisco and Panama, and had been doing so successfully since its first run between the two harbors in 1851. On the night of July 27, 1862, that streak came to a horrifying end. The "Golden Gate" had left San Francisco only six days earlier carrying mail, 338 passengers and crew, and over $1 million in gold gathered from the California gold fields. Early on the evening of the 27th a fire was spotted on the ship. As Captain W.W. Hudson worked to steer towards shore, the fire raged out of control. The ship broke up and sank approx. 300 yards from shore. Allegedly, gold silver would wash up on shore, giving the local Mexican coast the name Playa de Oro.



This lot is a collection of correspondence, articles, and other ephemera relating to the 1862 wreck of the S.S. Golden Gate. Accompanying the account and several news clippings of the tragedy, there are several letters from Mining Engineer Charles Pouliot to partners who are financing the search for the large treasure. This extensive archive also includes postmarked covers and photos of the search.

HKA#63000