The Last Stand of the David Haley: Wreckers Burn a Tacoma Landmark for Scrap
Seattle wreckers traveled to Puget Sound to strip the iron and copper from the historic shipwreck of the David Haley, destroying a local landmark in the process.
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.
WRECKERS FROM SEATTLE CAME TO TACOMA AND BURNED UP YESTERDAY THE HULL OF THE OLD BARQUE DAVID H. HALEY, WRECKED AT THE MOUTH OF THE STRAIT ELEVEN YEARS AGO.
The object in this destroying this old landmark was to obtain the iron and copper it contained. It resisted the old Seattle, the victim of the last attempt made to remove the Haley. Not one of the wrecks was as successful as the manner in which the northeaster winds, prevailing after her wreck, had imbedded her in the sand.
She is the last vessel that has met with misfortune in the straits.
This 1888 account of 'wreckers' stripping a ship for scrap highlights an early era of industrial resource extraction where historic artifacts were valued only for their raw materials. It mirrors modern debates over maritime salvage rights and the preservation of underwater cultural heritage, where the line between legitimate recovery and looting remains contentious.
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