The Umatilla Disaster: A Harrowing Sea Rescue
After striking rocks off Cape Flattery in a blinding snowstorm, the crew of the steamship Umatilla survived a perilous escape, aided by local Indigenous people.
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 steamship Umatilla, en route from San Francisco to Seattle, struck rocks south of Cape Flattery on February 9th. Second officer Edward M. Greenleaf reported that a blinding snowstorm and strong currents forced the ship onto the rocks despite the crew's navigation. As the ship took on water and the engine failed, the crew launched lifeboats and a life raft. A portion of the crew, led by Mr. Greenleaf, managed to land on a small island before being assisted by Indigenous people in canoes. Captain Worth and the remainder of the crew were eventually rescued and treated kindly at a local Indian village. The crew eventually reached Seattle on the George K. Starr, while the Umatilla, abandoned and disabled, later sank at Esquimalt. There was no loss of life, a fact the city hailed as a miracle.
“The best of discipline prevailed among the crew. Every man on deck stood at his post and did as he was ordered.”
This 1884 account of a maritime disaster off the Olympic Peninsula highlights the critical reliance on local Indigenous knowledge and assistance for navigation and survival in the Salish Sea—a dynamic that remains central to the region’s maritime history.
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