The Tragedy of Wynooche Charley
A local Indigenous man loses his life in a sudden accident at the Cosmopolis wharf, leaving the community to mourn a familiar figure.
The Herald is indebted to Captain Smith of the steamer Aberdeen for the following bit of news: Monday, while the Aberdeen was at Cosmopolis, he noticed Wynooche Charley, an Indian well known hereabouts, standing on the wharf with his little boy. Something attracted his attention and he noticed in looking round again, Charley had disappeared from where he stood a moment before. The boat was only ten or twelve feet distance, and an immediate effort was made to save him, as he had fallen overboard; but without success. It is thought he was taken suddenly ill, and in falling struck his head against the boomstick alongside the wharf, and was thereby rendered unconscious and carried away by the undertow.
“He noticed in looking round again, Charley had disappeared from where he stood a moment before.”
The waterfronts of Aberdeen and Cosmopolis were once perilous, bustling hubs where sudden, tragic accidents were common. Today, these same areas reflect a very different industrial character, but the history of Grays Harbor remains deeply tied to the workers and Indigenous residents who navigated its treacherous currents.
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