The Unluckiest Farmer on the Swinomish Flats
Samuel Calhoun had already lost a fortune in grain. Then the steamer Dispatch capsized with another $1,000 of his crop aboard.
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.
Mr. Samuel Calhoun is perhaps the most unfortunate man in this part of the country. Fourteen years ago he became a pioneer on the Swinomish Flats, back of the town of La Conner, since which time his losses, in a series of mishaps, have amounted to over $10,000 — enough to make an independent fortune for an ordinary mortal. Last year he lost nearly all his extensive grain crop by the sinking of the steamship Puget, and the other day the little steamer Dispatch capsized and sank with about $1,000 worth of his grain on board while loading at the farm. In this case, however, there is a prospect of Mr. Calhoun recovering half if not all the loss by compromise with or suit against the steamer, which is now tied up at Seattle by attachment.
“Mr. Samuel Calhoun is perhaps the most unfortunate man in this part of the country.”
Calhoun’s run of bad luck is a reminder that farm income has always depended on someone else’s boats, warehouses and weather. The Swinomish Flats near La Conner are still farmed, but the steamer landings are gone — and crop losses now travel through very different supply chains.
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