The Skagit River Claims the Steamer Josephine
A local steamer is reported to be in a 'very perilous position' after sinking in the Skagit River, with its hurricane deck submerged.
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.
A gentleman from the Skagit said last evening that the steamer Josephine was in a very perilous position in the Skagit River. The water was over her hurricane deck.
According to the report, it was not improbable that the steamer would prove a total wreck.
“The water is over her hurricane deck and it is not improbable that she wili prove a total wreck.”
Steamboat travel was the lifeblood of 1880s Washington, but the shifting, silt-heavy rivers like the Skagit were notorious for swallowing vessels whole. Today, while we rely on ferries rather than riverboats, the unpredictable nature of the Pacific Northwest’s waterways remains a persistent hazard for our regional transit.
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