Vanished in the Night: The Tragedy of 'Long Johnson'
A well-known Port Gamble boatman disappears in the gale, his cries for help lost to the dark sea.
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.
J. I. Gustafson, a Port Gamble boatman commonly known as 'Long Johnson,' is supposed to have been drowned Wednesday night. The next morning his boat was found washed up on the beach about a quarter of a mile east of Port Gamble. During the night, other boatmen heard his voice crying for help, but rescue efforts in the darkness were unavailing as a gale made reaching him in the angry sea impossible. His body has not yet been found. Gustafson was a well-known character in the area who previously worked for Elwell's logging outfit and lived at the Indian village of Boston, a short distance from Port Gamble, while returning home when the accident occurred.
“During the night, other boatmen recognized his voice crying for help, but in the darkness they were unavailing.”
Coastal deaths were a frequent and tragic occurrence for laboring men in 19th-century Puget Sound. While the industrial maritime hazards have changed, the isolation and peril of working on the water remain a constant reality for those in the region's fishing and logging industries.
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