Tom Sawyer's Wreck: Overview of the Gold Rush–Era Steamship Independence (1853)
Author(s): Miguel A Fernandez
Year: 2023
Summary
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
On 16 February 1853, the SS Independence struck rocks off the southern tip of Isla Margarita, Baja California, took on water and burst into flames before Captain Sampson could beach her. 140 passengers and crew perished of the 430 on board. The survivors were stranded on the island for three days before whaling ships came to their rescue. The Independence was owned by the Vanderbilt line and was shuttling passengers from Nicaragua to San Francisco, with a stop for supplies in Acapulco, Mexico. The site of the wreck was not officially registered until November 2020. This presentation will share details about the ship, the wreck, identification, and stories of historical and cultural interest, such as crew member Tom Sawyer who would go on to befriend Mark Twain in San Francisco. Conference topics addressed include migration, the complexity of social relationships, and the mobility of people and things.
Cite this Record
Tom Sawyer's Wreck: Overview of the Gold Rush–Era Steamship Independence (1853). Miguel A Fernandez. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Lisbon, Portugal. 2023 ( tDAR id: 475697)
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