The Ghost Ship of Gray's Harbor
A schooner overdue by nine weeks is discovered wrecked on Peterson's Point, leaving no survivors from its five-man crew.
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.
As the tug Traveler was crossing the Gray's Harbor bar today, Captain Larsen sighted a vessel near the water's edge on Peterson's Point. Upon returning to Hoquiam, the captain learned that the schooner Big River was about nine weeks overdue, and he is now satisfied from his observation of the wreck that it is the Big River, and that the crew of five men had perished. The schooner was owned by A. Anderson of San Francisco and was chartered by the Northwestern Lumber Company to carry a cargo of lumber from the Columbia River. She left San Francisco on January 7 in ballast under the command of Captain Nissen. The tug Printer will go to the scene tomorrow for a formal examination. It is believed the vessel may have been burned at sea and the hull subsequently drifted ashore.
“Captain Larsen sighted a vessel near the water's edge on Peterson's Point... and is now satisfied... that the crew of five men had perished.”
The treacherous nature of the Pacific Northwest coast—specifically the 'Graveyard of the Pacific'—remains a constant hazard for maritime travel, echoing the dangers faced by 19th-century sailors. Just as this story reflects the peril of early regional shipping, the modern Port of Grays Harbor continues to navigate the intense environmental and economic demands of maritime trade.
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