The Human Cargo of the 'Wolcott'
A government customs vessel intercepts a fishing boat off Smith Island, revealing a harrowing attempt to smuggle nine men into Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday forenoon, the government pleasure vessel Wolcott came into port having on board Special Agent H.A. Hersch and two prisoners. The prisoners were taken in charge by United States Marshal Hamilton, who escorted them to the courthouse where Chief Justice Jones held an examination. Captain Beecher testified in substance that he had set out from Port Townsend in the Wolcott on government business, and that when off Smith Island a suspicious-looking fishing smack was sighted. The steamer bore down on the boat and, coming alongside, asked the men on deck what they had on board. One of them replied, 'Chinamen,' and sure enough, nine Chinamen were found crowded into a little low cabin. The whole lot were taken on board and brought to this city. The white men gave their names as Nicholas Peter and Christian Hmatty. They said they were fishermen and lived in Victoria, that the Chinamen had agreed to pay them $10 a piece to be landed in Seattle, and that they found the man who owned the boat and agreed to give him one third of the money for the use of the boat. They declared this to be their first offense and pleaded poverty as an excuse for what they had done. Jones held them in the sum of $500 each to appear before the Grand Jury and remanded the nine Chinamen to the custody of the United States Marshal to be sent back to British Columbia as soon as the United States government provides the necessary funds to pay the head tax required by the British authorities. In the meantime, they will board at the expense of Uncle Sam at the penitentiary on McNeil Island.
“One of them replied 'Chinamen,' and sure enough, nine Chinamen were found crowded into a little low cabin.”
This incident highlights the era's brutal intersection of exclusionary immigration laws and human exploitation—a recurring tension in Pacific Northwest history. Today, the debate over how Washington’s ports and borders shape human lives remains as contentious as it was in 1887, echoing the same struggle between restrictive policy and desperate migration.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.