Tragedy on the Pacific Coast
A boat carrying two men home to the Point William lighthouse swamped in the rough waters of Pacific County.
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.
We learn from a private letter received by Dr. Warbass from H. K. Stevens, Esq., of Oysterville, Pacific county, that Capt. Wm. B. Wells and a man by the name of Clyne were drowned by the swamping of their boat while returning from Oysterville to Point William lighthouse. The boat was washed ashore near Capt. Wells' house at Point William, containing the goods with which they embarked. The bodies of the unfortunate men had not been found at last dates. Their loss will be severely felt. Capt. Wells leaves a family.
“The bodies of the unfortunate men had not been found at last dates. Their loss will be severely felt.”
Coastal travel in 19th-century Washington was often a perilous necessity, and small tragedies like this ripple through the historical record of our seaside communities. Today, the geography of the Shoalwater Bay region remains treacherous, though the methods of transit have shifted from small private craft to more reliable infrastructure.
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