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Witnesses swore in Port Townsend that the steamer Pacific was rotten when she sailed. Now the very inspectors who certified her seaworthy are investigating her loss — in secret.
“It would be a very strange thing to have so grave a matter as the loss of two hundred lives made the subject of a private inquiry.”
A new federal law mandates harsh restrictions and identification requirements for Chinese laborers, forcing them to exit and enter through only six designated ports, including Port Townsend.
“Any Chinese person... found unlawfully in the United States may be arrested upon a warrant issued... and when found and adjudged to be one not lawfully entitled to reside in the United States, such person shall be removed.”
Revenue officers report nearly one hundred Chinese laborers crossing the northern frontier by boat as current enforcement resources prove inadequate.
“The Collector also stated that nearly one hundred Chinamen had landed at various points on the northern frontier... and that he is powerless to prevent this unless his force is largely increased.”
Frank Fuller, convicted of killing Catholic Archbishop Seghers in the Alaskan wilderness, speaks to reporters as he is transported by steamship from Port Townsend to McNeil Island.
A government inspector uncovers a vast operation allegedly smuggling Chinese migrants and opium into the Pacific Northwest, implicating customs officials and steamship lines.
“They were not common inspectors of customs, the charges stated, but men of the highest standing.”
A boarding master tries to ship five strikebreakers onto an Alaska salmon schooner at Port Townsend. Twelve union men are waiting in the water, and the fight that follows leaves every non-union sailor hurt and swimming for shore.
“Knives, revolvers and clubs were drawn and unsparingly used. The non-unionists were routed, and after losing all their effects overboard returned to shore.”
Governor Pickering journeys to investigate a near-bombardment of Port Townsend by a federal revenue steamer.
“the circumstances connected with the recent threatened bombardment of that town by the steamer Shubrick.”
A passenger's desperate leap into a crowded lifeboat leads to the death of twenty women and children.
“By God, that boat don't leave without me.”
A maritime disaster in the Straits claims the lives of dozens, including prominent Tacoma residents, sparking a federal investigation.
“The remains of Miss Harris came ashore at Beacon Hill park... while the corpse of Miss Diprose was found in lifeboat No. 1.”
A devastating storm claims the lives of dozens as the Puget Sound Navigation Company’s new steamer founders in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“Those who were strong enough to make their way to the tug or to hold on to life rafts until help arrived were saved, but the great majority went down and were seen no more.”
A saloon becomes a battleground as a labor dispute over shipping jobs descends into a violent, armed confrontation.
“At 10 o'clock tonight, when the telegraph office closed, indications pointed to a riot and further bloodshed before morning.”
A royal daughter from the Gambier Islands, held in forced labor in Port Townsend, finds her way to freedom through the help of a sympathetic sergeant.
“Louisa’s terrible tale awakened the sympathies of the stern old sergeant.”
An attempt to torch the U.S. Custom House in Port Townsend raises eyebrows as officials fear a whistleblower’s evidence of corruption was destroyed.
Customs records showed a young Washington district building an Oriental trade from scratch, even as falling wheat and lumber values masked the boom in raw tonnage.
“The tabular statement ... speaks for itself and places us second only to New York in amount of clearances and entrances.”
In a stunning display of civic outrage, local attorneys and property owners present sworn affidavits to the state legislature alleging that Superior Court Judge Morris B. Sachs regularly gambled on illegal faro games and prejudged cases before hearing them.
Jefferson County’s legal establishment formally accuses their Superior Court judge of frequenting gambling houses and pre-judging cases.
“Such judicial officers to maintain their usefulness should possess the confidence of the people, and to that end should have not only clean hands but also clean names.”
A young woman’s struggle for survival and a legal showdown in 1887 Port Townsend reveal the brutal realities hidden behind the closed doors of boarding houses.
“Their relations were publicly known in Port Townsend, and the only reason that their life was made publicly known was the desperation of the girl’s state.”
Twelve people, including ten Chinese laborers and two young girls, are believed to have perished in the treacherous straits separating Victoria from the American side during a high-stakes human smuggling operation.
“These latter were aged 19 and 13 and were bought in Victoria for $1,100 and $1,300 respectively—the fact of this barter being exposed fully in the Colonist at the time.”
Louis Pesardi followed his estranged wife from Seattle to Port Townsend, then shot himself when she refused to return—a domestic tragedy reported as a love story.
“He said that he loved her better than his life, and that since she had refused to live with him he wanted to die.”
A sweeping investigation into corruption at the Customs House leads to the indictment of the collector and several inspectors for facilitating illegal entries.
“The indictment contains ten counts.”
A two-hour standoff between striking sailors and city officials paralyzes Port Townsend, leading to arrests and a near-riot.
“Paddy McGlynn and William Furlong were the two ringleaders who incited the seamen to violence; they defied the officers and openly threatened to burn the city.”
A smuggler on the Puget Sound recounts a brutal night of human trafficking and violence, offering a chilling glimpse into the lawless reality of the 1880s maritime border.
“The Italian would strike him on the head with a heavy instrument, throw him overboard, and then call out another victim.”
A Canadian man is jailed after a gruesome discovery near Victoria harbor, linked to an elopement with a Tahitian princess.
“The face and limbs were badly disfigured. From remnants of the clothing, height and weight, Chief Hickman believes the corpse was that of Hesse.”
A tense standoff erupts as local citizens arm themselves to prevent Coast Seamen's Union members from boarding the steamer Sumatra, leading to arrests and imminent bloodshed.
In a Port Townsend hotel, a sailor displays the improvised wire hook that kept survivors of the wrecked whaler James Allen alive after the disaster in Bering Sea.
“The hook was baited with human flesh.”
Customs officials seized the steamer Umatilla to enforce a federal court order, ultimately compelling the shipping company to return a Chinese woman to China under the restrictive immigration laws of 1892.
“We had to give in to the collector's arbitrary demands.”
A Seattle couple's travel plans are halted by the Chinese Restriction Act, sparking a legal struggle for their right to move freely.
“This is another instance of the practical working of the Restriction Act.”
A former mayor, Chilean consul and dry-dock promoter worth half a million dollars sits in superior court while his emaciated wife describes a year of morphine, delusion and a pocket watch set on the table between them.
“De Lion quietly opened his watch and said she had fifteen minutes to confess her infidelity before he took her life.”
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
A state legislative committee moves to impeach Superior Court Judge Morris B. Sachs after reports surface of him frequenting saloons, playing faro, and ruling on cases involving family members.
“The conduct disqualified the said Morris B. Sachs from discharging the duties of his said office faithfully and impartially, to the great disgrace of the administration of public justice.”
The port faces a health crisis after an Indian crew member is landed ashore with smallpox, sparking panic and strict quarantine measures.
“Intense excitement prevails on account of the Dakota putting the Indian crew ashore here.”
Customs inspectors engage in a high-stakes boat chase after catching smugglers unloading contraband in the dead of night.
“When they saw the officer approaching they dropped a heavy valise, ran to the beach, embarked in a skiff and put off to a sloop out in the bay.”
A customs official and a boatman ambushed a crew of sailors returning to shore at Point Hudson, leading to a senseless shooting that left a seaman's life hanging in the balance.
“Williamson was somewhat astonished at this unlooked-for hostility on the part of the boatman.”
A federal investigation uncovers a massive scheme to hide contraband in the bilges and barrels of a Pacific steamship, revealing a deep culture of corruption in the Sound’s maritime trade.
“A revenue measure that yields little and costs much is unwise, but one that is self-destructive is mere folly.”
Captain George D. Korts faces an official inquiry into the catastrophic loss of the vessel, revealing a series of navigational errors and failed rescue attempts.
“The ship showed signs of breaking up about an hour after. It was impossible to get to the ship to rescue the men; saw four seamen in the fore rigging and five on the port side of the house.”
Mary Phelps was permanently maimed when a crew removed a hatch aboard the City of Panama. When the vessel reached Port Townsend, U.S. Marshal Hopkins seized it—prompting citizens to raise a $100,000 bond.
“The bones of one of her arms were splintered into numerous fragments, some of them protruding through the flesh... She is yet a sufferer and, we are informed, will always be an invalid by reason of this accident.”
While town officials debated for years, one enterprising citizen took matters into his own hands and built the city’s first private waterworks system.
“For a long time the question has been asked by nearly all newcomers: 'Why do we not have waterworks?'”
A federal grand jury uncovers a decade-long scheme of extortion and record-tampering at the Port Townsend custom house, where officials pocketed fees and forced local shipping firms to play along.
“For every payment made to the collector... he is required to give a receipt on blanks furnished by the government. These are printed on blue paper... But the Port Townsend custom house, except in rare instances, never issued these blue receipts.”
A young family seeking shelter from a gale-force windstorm in the woods meets a sudden, heartbreaking end when a falling tree strikes their home.
“The swaying of the trees in the storm so frightened them that they left the dwelling for some place of safety.”
A British bark, found abandoned and dismantled, leaves a maritime mystery in its wake.
“The hull has been towed to Victoria. The fate of the crew is a mystery.”
A wave of paranoia hits the Pacific Coast as authorities hunt for a fugitive sailor linked to a fatal San Francisco bombing.
“Last night over 150 members slept on the floor and in the corridors of the union headquarters.”
A missing payment of gold coin in a shipping manifest sparks a corruption investigation in Port Townsend, shaking public faith in the local customs office.
“One transaction which looks very black on its face has leaked out. It is nothing less than failure to remit for customs receipts.”
A Chinese resident is detained in Port Townsend despite possessing a Geary Act certificate, illustrating the arbitrary cruelty of federal exclusion laws.
Federal Judge Hanford orders the steam collier Willamette to pay $30,000 for a fatal 1892 collision with the steamer Premier.
“The Willamette, instead of pursuing her proper course, keeping on the east side of the inlet, deviated to the westward and took a course aimed with fatal accuracy toward the approaching Premier.”
A British gunboat captures twelve Indigenous prisoners following violent disorder fueled by the illegal supply of American spirits across the border.
“The disorder arose from whisky, which is systematically supplied to British Indians at Port Townsend on the American side.”
Corruption and petty politics in the state's executive committee leave Washington's resources unrepresented at the Chicago World's Fair.
“The blame rests upon the so-called executive committee, which would have been more appropriately known as the 'place-hunting committee.'”
After a violent street confrontation involving an iron wrench, Dr. I. R. Herrick has died, leaving a judge accused of the killing in precarious condition.
“The jury found that the shooting was done by Judge Carusi under great provocation, as Dr. Herrick had repeatedly struck the judge on the head with an iron wrench.”
A brilliant young con artist once known as the 'Kid Mayor' has fled the Washington Territory after his real identity—and a trail of fraudulent bonds—finally caught up with him.
“He was, as one of his friends once remarked, 'the smartest kid on this continent,' and he knew it.”
A Superior Court judge abruptly shutters his court amid intense pressure from the local bar association and calls for his impeachment.
“It having come to my knowledge through the newspapers that there have been charges made against me... I deem it due to my own feelings... to refuse to further hear any cause.”
A teenage girl escapes her abusive uncle and aunt in Port Angeles, only to be detained by Port Townsend police while trying to return to the only home she ever knew.
“She exhibited a huge lump upon her head, which she said had been inflicted by her aunt with a stick on Friday.”
A Norwegian laborer, recently arrived in Port Townsend with a large sum of money, commits a desperate act of self-strangulation while in city jail.
“He... deliberately strangled himself to death. He had not been alone fifteen minutes when the jailer found his corpse.”
A survivor of a tragic drowning incident at Fort Townsend writes to defend the character of his fallen comrades against charges of intoxication.
“They struggled hard to save each other, each one of them, regardless of his own life, and to say they were drunk wrongs the dead and gives pain to the living.”
A local judge grapples with the harsh realities and administrative conflicts of the 1892 Chinese Exclusion Act.
A local Democratic club launches a full-scale mutiny against the Collector of Customs, accusing him of cronyism and financial improprieties.
“Beneath the collector's feet there has been a volcano of Democratic indignation, and today's call indicates the force of the explosion.”
A sudden shift in the wind leaves three sailors clinging to their swamped sloop for five hours in the cold waters off the Olympic Peninsula before rescue arrives.
“The crew stayed by the boat and were in the water five hours before help came.”
To avoid being seized by creditors after a collision, the steamer Premier was secretly floated and moved across the border into British waters.
“The Premier did not come into the harbor but succeeded in getting to Victoria, out of jurisdiction of the American courts.”
After learning of a smallpox outbreak in British Columbia, a group of Kuyoquot Indians preparing to work the canneries turns back to protect their communities from contagion.
“You King George Indians mustn't come here and bring sick.”
A Puget Sound pilot is found cutting wood for a living because the lack of regulation has made the profession impossible to sustain.
“I met one yesterday about a mile back here cutting cordwood. I spoke to him and asked him why he was not down the Straits looking for ships.”
Elizabeth Scott is suing the city for $5,000, alleging that a police officer broke her wrist for the 'crime' of smiling at the Chief of Police during a parade.
“The only excuse or pretense which said Policeman Stone had to take her into custody was because she smiled at Chief of Police Delaney.”
In 1860, twenty-four Port Townsend citizens chartered a sloop to save $5 on fares to Olympia. When intercepted by a revenue cutter, their captain opened fire with a brass howitzer—only to discover he’d just threatened the U.S. government.
After losing his status as Public Printer, the newspaper editor takes up the cause of the embattled Port Townsend Collector of Customs, Victor Smith.
“Characters for honesty and integrity that have been built up in the eastern communities by the persevering toil of years, are not to be swept away at one dash of the pen.”
An observant traveler visits Port Townsend and finds a community reeling from political retaliation and questionable pulpit interpretations.
“All of a sudden the congregation were enlightened by being told that the serpent that lured Eve to taste of the forbidden fruit was no more nor less than an Ourang Outang.”
In a stunning display of patronage politics in September 1876, federal employees in Port Townsend marched in lockstep to defeat local opposition, proving that government jobs were still the ultimate political currency.
A raucous meeting of the Young Men's Democratic Club in Port Townsend erupts in chaos as members pass scathing resolutions condemning Collector of Customs James C. Saunders for cronyism and alleged corruption.
“That the said James C. Saunders is a person unworthy of political, business or social confidence of the Democrats and citizens of this county; that he is guilty of the most manifest and contemptuous disloyalty to his political party; that he is a traitor to his trust, and that he is a common liar.”
A Port Townsend editor told the new town trustees to fix existing roads before launching grand new ones—after neighbors had to unload Peter Smith's wagon to free it.
“Before entering upon gigantic plans for opening new roads, they first put those that are now public thoroughfares in a passable condition.”
After years of traveling from China to Alaska, a woman known as Ida Williams attempts to end her life in Port Townsend.
“Conflicting stories are told regarding this matter, and great attempts have been made to suppress the facts.”
A shooting incident involving the 'Duke of York' and his family sparks outrage in Port Townsend, revealing the complex, fading status of local Indigenous leaders in the frontier era.
“The old Duke is very proud of the attention, and struts and prances round, and brags to every Indian he meets that his wife is the first Indian woman who has received such attentions at the hands of the whites.”
In September 1876, Port Townsend citizens met at the Old Court House to demand accountability after the steamer Dakota brought smallpox into their port.
“Allowing said vessel to come alongside the wharf at this place knowingly with the smallpox on board ... was a direct violation of the health laws of this Territory.”
The Ship Owners' Association of the Pacific Coast is moving to break the power of the sailors' union on Puget Sound by opening branch offices for non-union hiring.
“The Ship Owners' Association of the Pacific coast is quietly preparing to inaugurate a vigorous warfare against the sailors' union on Puget sound.”
A pioneer fisherman faces manslaughter charges after a tragic, unintended killing of a close friend.
“The men had always been the best of friends, and both were considered honest, hard-working fellows.”
Tensions boil over on the Puget Sound as sailors fight a planned wage reduction, leading to a massive standoff in Port Townsend.
“The sailors will not submit to the proposed reduction without a struggle, and shipping will suffer meanwhile.”
A steamship's distress call near Port Townsend has triggered a massive legal battle over salvage rights and the true peril of the Pacific.
“The Puebla is roughly valued at $500,000 and she had onboard gold and silver bullion from Alaska to the amount of $200,000.”
A.M. Pettygrove comes back to the town he laid out in 1851, and the Argus retells how a flipped coin gave Portland its name, how a claim was sold for $5,000 in cash and leather, and how a Puget Sound bluff became a city.
“"They finally decided to toss up a piece of money. Mr. Pettygrove winning the toss, named it after the capital of his native State."”
A long-standing quarrel between two ex-soldiers in Port Townsend culminates in a fatal shootout on the beach.
“The two men drew their pistols and fired at about the same time. One bullet struck Lavelle in the right breast, penetrating his lung, and the other bullet clipped Edgell's hat above the right ear.”
Citizens of Port Townsend are reeling after reports that the Custom-House is being moved to satisfy political land speculators.
“For the credit of the Government, we hope it may not prove true that it has formed a co-partnership with Mr. Collector Victor Smith, 'or any other man,' to embark in harum-like speculations.”
A Chinese merchant battles in federal court after immigration authorities refused his wife entry to the United States.
“The certificate of his wife was not satisfactory and she was ordered deported.”
An English capitalist’s suit against Alaska millionaires turned a Port Townsend sailing into a Pacific Coast sensation, with charges of swapped ore, gold-soaked drill cores, and a forceful denial from Capt. James Carroll.
““It would have taken more than a ton of gold to have salted the mine, had we been so disposed.””
A survivor recounts the terrifying process of being drugged and forced onto a deep-sea vessel, exposing the dark side of local maritime labor practices.
“While he was in Port Townsend several months ago, having a celebration after several weeks in the logging camps he was doped and put aboard the ship Americana.”
Federal authorities reject the residency status of Chinese British subjects, sparking a test case for immigration restrictions.
“The naturalization of Chinese persons by an adjacent country would not qualify such person to enter the United States.”
Tensions rise at Port Townsend as federal authorities clash over how to enforce restrictive sealing laws on local schooners.
“The owners of the sealing vessels claim the Bering sea officers are very arbitrary, and that their rulings are subjecting their crafts to unnecessary hardships.”
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