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In early 1906, Robards was on his way home for a vacation. He boarded the Valencia in San Francisco as a passenger. News of his loss reached his family in Montana in late January. On February 1, 1906, the Independent Observer reported:

“Robards Brown, a son of Mrs. Nellie R. Brown of Choteau was among the victims of the ill-fated steamer Valencia. He was about 22 years of age and had been in the employ of the United States geological survey, working at Bakersfield, California. He was on his way home for a vacation.”

His brother-in-law, P. J. Crossen of Choteau, left immediately for Seattle in the hope of finding Robards alive or recovering his body. A dispatch in the Great Falls Tribune (February 3, 1906) noted:

“Patrick Crossen left on Tuesday’s stage for the scene of the recent Valencia wreck near Victoria, B.C., in the hope of finding alive his brother-in-law, Robards Brown, who was a passenger on the ill-fated steamer, or recovering his body in event he was drowned. There is little doubt that young Brown lost his life.”

A later note in the Los Angeles Times (March 22, 1906) confirmed that Robards Brown, “who was a member of Engineer Thorne’s surveying party… was lost on the steamer Valencia, although it was first reported that he had been saved.”

The Valencia Disaster

The Valencia struck the rocks late on the night of January 22, 1906. In the chaotic hours that followed, failed lifeboat launches and crashing waves claimed most lives aboard. Robards Brown did not survive. Like many passengers whose names were not fully documented on early manifests or who traveled alone, his exact movements during the disaster remain unknown. Initial reports offered brief hope that he might have been among the saved, but this was soon disproven.

Recovery and Memorial

Robards Brown’s body was never recovered from the sea. His family’s anxious wait and his brother-in-law’s journey to the wreck site reflect the painful uncertainty faced by many relatives in the weeks after the disaster.