The Carrie Ladd Runs Aground
A steamship meets its fate on a rock at Cape Horn, leaving passengers and crew to abandon the sinking vessel on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
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 Oregonian of Tuesday gives the following particulars of the disaster which occurred to one of the O.S.N. Co.'s steamers: The Carrie Ladd, on her trip to the Cascades yesterday morning, struck on a rock at Cape Horn, and commenced filling so rapidly that she was immediately run ashore on the Washington side. Her passengers had barely time to get ashore before she filled, and she now lies with one side under water. About twenty tons of freight were taken ashore and the balance thrown overboard to lighten the boat. It is thought she cannot be saved. The Mountain Buck, which was coming down, took the Carrie's passengers to the Cascades. Lighters have been sent by the company to attempt to raise the steamer.
“Her passengers had barely time to get ashore before she filled, and she now lies with one side under water.”
Steamboat travel on the Columbia River was the lifeblood of 19th-century regional commerce, though it was fraught with industrial peril. Today, modern maritime navigation and the series of dams on the Columbia have tamed the treacherous waters that once claimed the Carrie Ladd.
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