The Porpoise and the Cow: A Nautical Disaster in Tacoma
A schooner, a one-eyed cow, and a cargo-hoisting gone horribly wrong—a day on the Tacoma waterfront that ended in broken bunks and a damp bovine.
A queer-looking craft was wafted into Tacoma port yesterday on a frosty breeze: the Porpoise, a two-masted schooner of about thirty tons burden. A cargo of livestock, consisting of a one-eyed milch cow, had been shipped from Port Angeles. The animal had never been to sea and was standing in the hold with her head sticking out of the hatch.
Mr. Peasley, who had paid $20 for her transport, met the boat at the dock, but the captain refused to hire stevedores to offload the beast. 'Shove her out yourself. It's your cow,' the captain retorted. The two men bickered until a derrick was found. A canvas sling was passed under the cow's stomach, and the captain and mate began to grind the windlass.
As the cow rose, the chain caught in the pulley, leaving the animal suspended in mid-air. Her back arched, her eyes bulged, and she groaned in agony. When the mate climbed the mast to pry the gear loose, it let go with a rush. The cow crashed through the roof of the schooner's cabin with a noise like a railroad collision. Once inside, she reared and plunged until she had destroyed the cabin's furniture, bunks, and mattresses, before finally jumping overboard. Held by her sling, she was eventually fished out of the water and landed safely on the dock. The captain then set sail for Port Angeles to repair his ruined ship, declaring he would never carry a cow again.
“Her back was arched up like the back of a tomcat preparing for hostilities, her tail became rigid, her blind eye bulged out until it looked like a poached egg.”
While Tacoma's waterfront has evolved from a rugged industrial harbor for schooners into a sophisticated container port, the city still contends with the unpredictable logistics of moving goods. This chaotic episode captures the era's 'Wild West' approach to maritime shipping, where infrastructure was often improvised and animal welfare was secondary to the success of a contract.
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