Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-02-28
FINDING SUNKEN GOLD.
How the Wreck of the Brother Jonathan
was Located,


was Located.
John f. Ryan, the San Francisco
diver, tells an interesting story to the
Chronicle of his finding the wreck of the
steamer Brother Jonathan. The Broth
er Jonathan carried down with her
about 81 ,O0O, 900 in gold when she sunk
in 1865 with $50 persons. She was
bound from San Francisco to Portland,
Or, and struck rock ten miles off
shore.
Several years ago, while master of a
steamer on Puget Sound" said Ryan,
'an old man named G. W. Hill, hearing
that was a submarine diver, told me
he was assistant engineer of the Broth
er Jonathan when she foundered, and
was one of the nineteen survivors of
the wreck. He said he could take me
to the scene of the wreck, and was sure
he could locate the exact spot where
she went down. His yarn interested
me, of course, but / was thinking of
care to 90 hunting for lost treasure.
Every little while, however, this old
man would repeat his story, offering to
point out the resting place Of the Broth
er Jonathan provided | would pay him
a few hundred dollars for his trouble.
A few months ago he came TO me again
in Seattle and said he would take me to
the place if l would give him 5000 in
case he located the ship. If we didn't
find her [ would not have to give him
more than his travelling expenses.
"Well, after thinking it over and get
ting all the information | could concern
ing the wreck, and satisfying myself
that there was a great amount of money
l. al T ] LII /,
We soon reached the vicinity of the
place where the ship was seen to go
down, and had her located in several
hundred feet of water in an amazingly
short time. | was down to the vessel,
walked across her deck and felt my way
all around the hull. She lies at such a
depth, however, that there was not
enough light for me to see at all, and |
had to feel my way wherever | went.
II was cropping on the bottom in
hopes of getting some trace of the wreck
when suddenly [ was surprised to find
my way barred by solid surface. l
thought at first | had encountered
big rock, but soon discovered that it was
the hull of a wrecked vessel. After con-
vincing myself that I had located the
way along the hull and passed clear
around the ship. Then | raised my
self and got on deck. Taking one or
two steps [ fell about half my length
into a hole of some kind. This made
me nervous, for [ was in great danger of
getting some of my air tubes out of
order.
Before | Strengthened myself up.
however, | took hold of an article Of
some kind I had kicked loose in my
fall, and which later proved to be
ships bucket. [ then craWled along the
deck few feet and found a piece Of
cloth and other articles, and soon after
signaled to the boat above for ascending
and in few minutes was in the fresh
air again, with the buckets, buttons and
fidence that it would be but a few
months until the Brother Jonathan and
particularly her treasure would be in
some other place than at the bottom of
the Pacific Ocean.
From what ! can learn the gold that
sunk with the wreck was locked up in
different parts of the ship. With the
aid of a light / think | can locate the
treasure If not / will at once proceed
to raise the hull to the surface of the
water. The vessel being in good con-
ditiOn, and as stanch as the day she
sank, | intend to make four huge
collapsable air bags do the work. It
may take more of them, but Pm quite
sure they will do it."
Found or unbound, it is certain that
the Brother Jonathan carried a great
amount of treasure. In charge of
Wells Fargo & Co. there was $3.50, 900,
and about $4,000 with the purser.
Maj. E. w. Eddy Of the United States
Army was on board, with about $4,000
to pay soldiers at Vancouver, Walla
Walla and other Northwestern points.
Besides these sums there was other
treasure which viii easily bring the
total up to 100000. During the past
thirty years no less than twelve organ
lied attempts have been made by
wreckers and divers to locate the
Brother Jonathan, but all have been
complete failures