More shipwrecks. The Frolic

One of the more famous shipwrecks along the north coast of California was the wreck of the Frolic. The ship wrecked just off the shore of the present day Point Cabrillo lighthouse, just south of Fort Brag. She wrecked at 9:30 on the night of July 25th 1850. The Ship was Sailing 6000 miles from China to the Port Of San Francisco with a cargo intended to supply the booming gold rush. According to the book “Through the Eyes of the Elders”, published by the Laytonville School, and Penny Branscomb Comer, Elder Project Coordinator, the ship was “loaded with Chinese porcelain, silk and other exquisite goods”.

The reason that the ship was wrecked on a crystal clear moonlit night was because the charts that they had were not that accurate. That, and the long trip from china put them about one hundred miles north of their destination. After sighting the California coast line, they mistook the fires that the Indians used for clearing the brush and grass for civilization. The flat point of land that is Point Cabrillo was hid by a bank of fog. Unaware that they were right on the shore, they were just about upon the rocks before they could change course. The ship hit a rock with her stern and hung up on the rock. The Captain, Edward Faucon, ordered the ship to be abandoned.

The sailors made their way to shore, some of the lifeboats were wrecked on the shoreline. They were unable to find anybody on shore, and they started making their way south. The Captain and a few sailors took a life boat and started rowing south. The remaining crew walked to Fort Ross. They eventually made it to San Francisco, and reported the loss of the Frolic.

The wreck is famous for a variety of reasons. The ship was one of the more famous of the ships back in those times. It was a “Baltimore Clipper”. Baltimore Clippers were designed to make long fast voyages, haul precious cargo, and most important of all, it was designed to outrun pirates. Another reason that it became famous is the ship did not sink right away, and the Indians were able to salvage the cargo. For many years evidence of the cargo showed up in the form of the local Indians being seen wearing fine silk and having china plates. Archaeological digs still find pottery and other artifacts from the wreck. Divers salvaged pieces of iron and other remains of the frolic for years. The museum at The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse has many pieces in their collection.

From The National Park Service:
”Her master, Captain Edward Horatio Faucon was the same man Richard Henry Dana admired and had made famous as the captain of the Pilgrim in his 1840 classic, Two Years Before the Mast.”

“Her hold was packed tightly with ornately decorated camphor trunks, fine-colored silks, shiny lacquered ware, tables with inset marble tops, gold filigree jewelry, 21,000 porcelain bowls, candied fruits, silver tinderboxes, a prefabricated two-room house with oyster shell windows, toothbrushes, mother-of-pearl gaming pieces, ivory napkin rings, horn checkers, tortoise shell combs, silk fans, and scores of nested brass weights used by San Francisco merchants to measure their goods. Everything was made in China except 6,109 bottles of Edinburgh ale, brought along to inspire thirsty California gold diggers. Of all the cargo, the ale had come the farthest, nearly two-thirds of the way around the globe.”

Part of the cargo was jars filled with candied kumquats. Those must have been a very welcome treat for the Indians of that time. In the area of the shipwreck, at the locations of old Indian housing sites, they have found porcelain shards as recently as 1984, . Strangely the artifacts that have been found are some of the few remains of the Gold Rush era. Had they not been lost in a shipwreck, they would not be with us today.

One of the things of note, was that the frolic was well known as an opium runner. Some accounts that I have read speculated that they also had a load of opium on board to be sold to the miners. The ship had rot in it's hull and the new steamships were being developed. Some speculate that the ship was scuttled for the insurance money.

Whatever the reason, the ship went on the rocks with a $150.000.00 cargo. The Indian people salvaged it. The must have been a very wealthy tribe for a while. They have found evidence, far and wide, of their trading of the cargo to other tribes. My cousin Penny tells a story about a little baby that died, and the baby was wrapped in the finest of red silk. It was speculated that the silk was from the Frolic. Maybe she will tell us the story...

My poor memory might have embelished the story a little bit. Anyway, Penny has a story about a baby and some shipwreck cloth.









Frolic Cannon
Found, The Wreck of the Frolic.
The Frolic, 1850