Historical research services, books, and projects by Ron S. Filion.

Buried Ships of San Francisco

As news of the California gold discovery spread in 1848, over a thousand ships descended on the small village of Yerba Buena — and many never left. This book tells the stories, with maps and images, of more than 180 gold rush era vessels reported to have met their demise in San Francisco, an unknown number of which still lie beneath the streets of the Financial District today.

Buried Ships of San Francisco book cover

Eaten by Cannibals

The true tales of a Victorian aristocratic couple — a millionaire's daughter and a Hungarian count — who set sail from San Francisco in 1893 aboard their luxury yacht, the Tolna. Their five-year journey across the Pacific and Indian Oceans is told through sensationalist newspaper articles, excerpts from Eila's diaries, and translations of Rudolph's own books.

Eaten by Cannibals book cover