The ship Lucas, which was among the sailing vessels in the passenger trade, left Victoria, October 24th, with 175 disappointed gold-hunters aboard, and when off the Farallones, November 10th, encountered heavy weather and was wrecked. All hands were rescued by the United States steamer Active, Captain Alden, and were taken to San Francisco. The vessel and cargo were a total loss. Wright

At the time of her loss, Lucas was owned by her captain, a man named Dagget, and Leonidas Haskell, an early San Francisco merchant and squatter at Black Point, now Fort Mason. The ship left Victoria, British Columbia, with 180 passengers on board, most disappointed gold-seekers from the rush at the Frasier River. Running south for several days in fog without aid of accurate sightings, she struck a rock in the dead of night, and broached to as the ocean sells hit her. An attempt to free her by kedging the anchor failed, and people commenced to abandon ship by boat, by swimming, and by ropes brought a "few hundred yards" to shore by swimmers, as the "crew worked nobly to save the passengers."

Within an hour of running on the rocks, only the topsail yards of Lucas were visible, and daylight revealed that the ship had run upon "Seal Rock" to the southward and eastward of the main Farallon Island, distant about 300 yards." The keepers of the recently established Farrallon Island Lighthouse cared for the survivors to the best of their ability until the U.S. Survey Steamer Active picked them up. Between 15 and 30 people lost their lives. The Alta California reported, "as near as we can learn, this is the first vessel lost on these islands. Delgado & Huller [2]