Niantic was a whaleship that brought fortune-seekers to Yerba Buena (later renamed San Francisco) during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Run aground and converted into a storeship and hotel, she was a prominent landmark in the booming city for several years. The site of Niantic beside the Transamerica Pyramid is now a California Historical Landmark. Artifacts excavated in 1978 and the ship's log from her last voyage are on display in the San Francisco Maritime Museum.
Early years
The Niantic was built in 1832 in Connecticut; it was originally intended for trade with China. The owners in 1840 appear to have been N. L. and G. Griswold of New York. In 1840, the Niantic sailed, with Captain Doty in command (Captain Robert Bennett Forbes acting), with tea and silk from Port of Canton to an unstated destination (perhaps New York) via Anjer (Anyer), Indonesia, just missing a blockade by the British in Canton as part of the First Opium War. "Probably this was the last and most profitable voyage of Niantic as a merchant ship."
In 1844, the Niantic was bought by C. T. Deering for whaling. In June, 1844, she sailed from Sag Harbor, Captain Slate in command, for a Pacific whaling cruise, including New Zealand whaling grounds. The cruise lasted nearly three years until February 1, 1847, when the Niantic returned to Sag Harbor.
In 1847, the Niantic was purchased by Burr & Smith of Warren, Rhode Island. On September 16, 1848, she sailed from Warren, Captain Henry Cleaveland of West Tisbury, Massachusetts (Martha's Vineyard) in command, and headed for the northwest Pacific. Captain Cleaveland's sons, James and Daniel Cleaveland, were first and second mates, respectively. They all belonged to the Cleaveland whaling family, based in Nantucket, which shares the origin of its name with that of the ship, named after the Niantic people, in their own tongue the "Nehantucket".
Peru, Panama, and the race to California, 1849
After rounding Cape Horn in January 1849, Niantic put into Paita (Payta), Peru on March 8, and received a letter there from the American consul in Panama requesting them to carry passengers from Panama to San Francisco. Large numbers of people (in some accounts referred to as Argonauts) had crossed the Isthmus of Panama and were waiting on the Pacific coast for transportation to California; the gold rush had begun. The vessel was immediately modified to carry passengers above and below the weather deck. They departed Paita for Panama on 25 March taking 150 mules, barrels of potatoes, a large amount of lumber, and other supplies.
Arriving on the Panama coast April 8, Niantic spent nearly four weeks in preparations. She departed for San Francisco May 2 with 248 passengers; 20 are reported to have been accommodated in the captain's cabin alone. Sixteen passengers paid $250 each, and the remaining paid $150, or an unrecorded amount. Thus, the total passenger fees probably amounted to $38,500. One slave was included among the passengers. Two passengers died en route.
Experience whaling in the Pacific and familiarity with its winds gave Cleaveland an advantage over other ships in the race to San Francisco; for 28 days he headed generally southwest, against the vocal objections of dismayed passengers, before catching the southeast trade winds beginning May 24, and finally turning northwest May 30. Niantic was thus one of the first ships to bring gold seekers to San Francisco, arriving at 11 pm July 5, 1849.
Storeship and hotel
In San Francisco harbor, most of the crew deserted to join the gold rush. Niantics log records that five of the crew deserted on the first day, nine on the second day, three more deserted on the fourth day and two were arrested by the US Sloop of War for assaulting Captain Cleaveland with a knife, and five were released on the sixth day (including one released by Warren). This may have left a crew as small as five to finish unloading the ship. Niantics log ends the next day, 12 July 1849.
Without a crew to sail, and with more ships arriving daily, Niantics officers were instructed by her owners, probably through an agent in San Francisco, to sell the vessel. With the aid of her empty whale oil barrels tied to her hull for extra buoyancy, the ship was floated on a high tide into shallow water, just offshore from the intersection of Clay and Montgomery Streets. Now hard aground, Niantic was converted for use variously as a warehouse, store, offices, and hotel.
"Over the gaping wound in her stout oaken side, where a doorway was cut for a public entrance, was inscribed the hospitable legend, 'Rest for the weary and storage for trunks.'"