Frolic

The Frolic was a brig which sank northeast of Point Cabrillo, near Caspar, California. Historians have called it "the most significant shipwreck on the west coast". Its shipwreck site, later known as "Pottery Cove" or "Frolic Cove", was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Frolic (brig) in 1991. The ship was built in Baltimore. It was on return from trading in China with a load of porcelain and perhaps opium when it sank. The opium-trading brig Frolic wrecked on a reef north of Point Cabrillo, a few miles from what is now Mendocino in 1850. Agents of Henry Meiggs investigated the wreck for salvageable cargo but found that anything of value had already been taken by the local Pomo people, possibly coming from Buldam near modern Mendocino. However, their investigation led to the discovery of the coast redwood forests of the Mendocino area and the beginning of the timber trade that would drive the local economy for decades. Mendocino itself was founded in 1852 as a logging community for what became the Mendocino Lumber Company, and was originally named Meiggsville after Meiggs. A cannon salvaged by sport divers in 1966, and other artifacts from the wreck, are on display in the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. The cannon was moved to the lighthouse in 2003 after previously being shown in the garden of Kelley House Museum in Mendocino from 1996 to 2003. The Mendocino Co

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