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Shipwrecks 1840s - 1900

The California Gold Rush changed the face of California forever once gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. The most common way to reach California was around Cape Horn at the tip of South America by ship, and sailing up the coast of the Americas to San Francisco. Passage through the Channel greatly increased during this time, adding passenger ships to the trading and mail service ships already plying the waters. The sudden increase in population through out California at this time marks a new era of human impact on the Channel. The villages and rancheros of the past 7,500 years would soon disappear, and towns and cities influenced by European culture would take hold. This increase in population -both resident and transient through the Channel, would effect life above the surface of the ocean, and at times also below. At least 21 documented remains of shipwrecks have been located by underwater archeologists, and many others that have been reported have yet to have been discovered by physical evidence due to the severe dashing of the ships against the rocks on the outer islands.

Shipwrecks in the Channel and the Anacapa Lighthouse
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