The Midnight Rescue at Crawford & Harrington Wharf
A desperate cry from the dark waters of the Seattle waterfront led to a daring rescue—and a surprising discovery about the survivor.
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.
At about 10 o'clock on Sunday night, just as the proprietors of the American Hotel were about closing up for the night, they were startled by someone, evidently in great distress, calling for help. Hearing the lantern, one of the proprietors plunged out into the darkness followed by a number of others. Following in the direction of the sound, they soon found themselves on Crawford & Harrington wharf, and immediately observed a man in the water below struggling with all his might to keep his head above water, and holding on to a roll of Oregon blankets like grim death. Procuring a rope they threw it over, and the fellow caught at it like a trout at a fly. Getting another rope they quickly formed a slipknot, and letting it down over the first cord, and passing it over the body of the fellow below, they drew the noose tight and hauled the chap up. On bringing him into the glimmer of the lantern, they were surprised to find that the victim was a Chinaman. His first words when he got his breath again were, 'Oh, me blanket, me blanket, catchee me blanket.' What on earth the lone fellow was doing on that wharf at that time of night is known only to himself.
“Hearing the lantern, one of the proprietors plunged out into the darkness followed by a number of others.”
The precarious existence of unhoused or transient populations on Seattle's waterfront is a thread that runs deep into the city's history. While the racial framing of this 1877 report reflects the era's xenophobia, the immediate, human impulse of the hotel owners to save a drowning man remains a stark reminder of the city's complex social landscape at the edge of the Pacific.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.