The Great Fleet of the Northwest
As Seattle's harbor crowds with vessels, a maritime shift signals a new era for local tugboat commerce.
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.
The harbor at Seattle is crowded with sail, the scene of the arrivals of the past 24 hours, which are awaiting tugs to take them to their respective loading ports. A perfect swarm of vessels arrived the latter part of the week, and many others are reported off Cape Flattery. A fact worthy of comment is that many of the vessels destined for British Columbia ports come to Port Townsend to secure towage to their loading ports, where heretofore they have stopped at Royal Roads. A captain of one of the vessels that has taken this departure said that in the future, the great bulk of ships going to ports on the other side would adopt this course. They find it much cheaper to tow from here rather than from Royal Roads. This will greatly enhance the volume of business among the Sound tug boats. Seattle has nearly double the number of vessels loading during the week, while the Tacoma fleet remains the same as last week.
“A perfect swarm of vessels arrived the latter part of the week, and many others are reported off Cape Flattery.”
This report captures the moment Seattle began to assert its dominance over regional maritime infrastructure, specifically by undercutting the Canadian port at Royal Roads. It serves as a reminder that Seattle’s status as a 'gateway' was not inevitable, but the result of aggressive, competitive bidding for the region's shipping traffic.
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