How Many Ships Wrecked During the Gold Rush on the Way into San Francisco Bay?

Shipwrecks were a regular occurrence in the early days of San Francisco.

Welcome to the Point Bonita Tour: Life on the Edge. We are excited to tell you the Point Bonita story. It is an area where powerful environmental forces have profoundly affected human history. And some might say it all started with...GOLD!

The Golden Gate, the Golden Gate Bridge, the gold rush and our golden state, California. The Golden Gate, the body of water that is laid out before you, was named golden before actual gold was discovered. It was named by explorer John C. Fremont in 1846 after the "Golden Horn" in Constantinople. Ah, the golden gate, a beautiful place to view the setting sun slipping into the Pacific as the rosy rays leave the straits glowing like gold at dusk. These sunsets must have been a delight to behold by the less than 1,000 residents living in San Francisco, then a quiet sleepy town in the early 1800s.

Please start moving, through the metal gate and up the hill, staying on the asphalt path. Stop when you reach the top of the hill.

On January 24, 1848: EUREKA! James Marshall discovers gold in the American River, northeast of San Francisco. Sam Brannan rides through the city waving a bottle of gold dust shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" The rush was on! News of Gold in California travels far and wide. (Wagon wheels and horses are heard as if you are joining the rush) Thousands upon thousands dropped what they were doing and headed for the gold fields of California.
But how to quickly travel to the newly discovered fields of gold? Whether to strike out on a dangerous land passage with a wagon train across the inhospitable dry deserts and over snow-covered mountain passes, or book passage on a sailing ship, possibly a sleek clipper ship , to weather a stormy voyage around South America's Cape Horn or survive the typhoid ridden tropics?

You should now be on the path at the top of the hill.

THE SHIPWRECK GRAVEYARD

There are rocks below and all along the coast. Those '49ers that chose to make the sea voyage sailed through this strait - the Golden Gate Strait - barely a mile wide and three miles long. The waters that are below you swallowed up many unlucky ships navigating this inlet just hours before they would have dropped anchor in San Francisco's safe harbor. During the Gold Rush, from 1849 to 1861, 24 shipwrecks are known to have happened around here. The journey leading to San Francisco and the California dream was a treacherous one. Clearly, ships needed help getting from the sea to San Francisco Bay. A system of navigation lights would be required up and down the west coast-with some of the most critical ones signaling the mouth of the Golden Gate, right before you.

Now start moving down the path, towards the next sign, which is positioned on the right.