1829 — March 10, British brig William and Ann “lost on Clatsop Spit” [grounded], OR–26-29

–26-29 Blanchard estimated death toll:

While Gibbs in Pacific Graveyard, notes 46 deaths, he also notes in the same source that others have noted 26, which he also notes in Disaster Log of Ships. The two other sources we locate which provide a fatality estimate note either 26 (Oregonpioneers.com) or 29, Wilma. We choose to employ a range of 26-29 as our best estimate of the loss of life.

–46 Gibbs, James. Pacific Graveyard. 1993, p. 72.
–29 Wilma. “Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwrecks on the Washington Coast.” HistoryLink.org.
–26 Gibbs, James. Pacific Graveyard, 1993, p. 289.*
–26 Gibbs, Jim. Disaster Log of Ships. 1971, p. 44.
–26 Oregonpioneers.com. “Francis Ermatinger Part 2.” Accessed 2-16-2022.

*Gibbs, Pacific Graveyard. On this page, after noting the same loss of life reported on page 72, Gibbs notes that “Some accounts claimed the loss of life to have been twenty-six.”

Narrative Information

Gibbs, Disaster Log of Ships: “…the William & Ann, a British ship was lost on Clatsop Spit March 10, 1829 with the loss of 26…” (Gibbs, Jim. Disaster Log of Ships. 1971, p. 44.)

Gibbs, Pacific Graveyard: “In early March of 1829, the British brig William and Ann, owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company, arrived off the mouth of the Columbia, after a long voyage from London. Falling in company with the American schooner Convoy, of Boston – Captain Thompson, master – the two vessels maneuvered for the crossing of the bar. Coming in on a port tack, the Convoy entered first, with her crew sounding the depths at frequent intervals. When the schooner had cleared the bar, the velocity of the wind had increased two-fold, and refuge was taken in Baker Bay.

“The William and Ann, in command of Captain Hanwell, was nowhere in sight. After several hours of scanning the horizon, the schooner’s lookout yelled from aloft, ‘The Britisher’s in trouble, sir.’ Without hesitation, Captain Thompson called for volunteers, and soon the ship’s boat put out to sea to aid the stricken vessel. Pulling to within a quarter of a mile of the William and Ann, the would-be rescuers became exhausted in their battle against the sea and were forced to abandon the effort and return to the Convoy.

“All night the storm raged. Trapped in the sands off Clatsop Spit, the William and Ann was pounded by overflowing walls of water and her total complement of forty-six persons was carried into the sea.

“When the Convoy anchored off Fort George – as Astoria [OR] was then called – word was received that the Clatsops were salvaging large quantities of goods washed on the beach in the aftermath of the wreck. When that news was sent to Fort Vancouver [WA], a party was immediately organized for a visit to the Clatsop village to recover the goods. The natives made no attempt to hide their gifts from the sea, for when the Hudson’s Bay Company party entered the village, they found a grand array of supplies as well as wooden crates stamp-marked, ‘London, England.’ A demand was made of the chief for the return of the goods, but it was denied….Too small to enforce their demands, the party departed….”

On page 289 Gibbs writes: “William and Ann, British brig, 300 tons, wrecked on Clatsop Spit, March 10, 1829 with an estimated loss of forty-six lives. Some accounts claimed the loss of life to have been twenty-six.” (Gibbs. Pacific Graveyard, 1993, pp. 72-73 and 289.)

Hudson’s Bay Company Archives Winnipeg: “1829, 10 March…Wrecked on the bar of the Columbia River, all hands lost (D.4/93 fo. 68d-70d).”

Oregonpioneers.com. “Francis Ermatinger Part 2.”:
“On March 10, 1829 the Hudson Bay’s Company ship William and Mary broke up on Clatsop Point, and all hands were lost, with the cargo washing ashore. This was claimed by the Clatsop Indians. But a report that the 25 man crew and its captain, John Swan were murdered by the Clatsops was carried to Dr. McLoughlin. Fort George’s clerk, Donald Manson took four men over to the wreckage to investigate. The Clatsops had found and drank the supply of rum, and drunk they abused Manson and his men. When he demanded the return of HBC goods, he was told that anything that washed ashore was theirs. After firing a few shots into the air to disperse the Indians and breaking a couple casks of rum, Manson returned to Fort George empty handed.

“Chief Factor McLoughlin wrote, “..we used every exaction in our power consistent with the caution necessary …. to guard against our being duped by the Indians and made Instruments of their vengeance; still it was only on the 21st June when the only Indian Chief here, whom we had found correct in the Intelligence he had hitherto brought us, informed us that the day previous he had seen the Chief of the Clatsop Village who told him he and his people had picked up from the wreck twenty one bales of Goods but that all the crew had drowned…”

Wilma: “The British bark William and Ann, bearing supplies for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver, wrecked on Clatsop Spit in 1829 and 29 lost their lives.” (Wilma, David. “Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwrecks on the Washington Coast.” 9-12-2006.

Sources

Gibbs, Jim. Disaster Log of Ships: A Pictorial account of shipwrecks, California to Alaska. NY: Bonanza Books, 1971.

Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. A Narrative of Shipwrecks Where the Columbia River Meets the Pacific Ocean. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1950, 1964 and 1993.

Hudson’s Bay Company Archives Winnipeg. “Unit Number: Ship: William and Ann…Area of Service: London-Pacific Northwest.” Accessed 2-16-2022 at: https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/_docs/hbca/ships_histories/william-and-ann.pdf

Oregonpioneers.com. “Francis Ermatinger Part 2.” Accessed 2-16-2022 at:
http://www.oregonpioneers.com/bios/FrancisErmatinger2.pdf

Wikipedia. “Clatsop Spit.” 1-13-2021 last edit. Accessed 2-16-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clatsop_Spit

Wilma, David. “Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwrecks on the Washington Coast.” 9-12-2006. HistoryLink.org (The Free Encyclopedia of Washington State History). Accessed 2-16-2022 at: https://www.historylink.org/File/7936

Additional Sources

Tacoma Public Library Online Digital Collections:

“William and Ann (Brig).

British vessel, 300 tons, wrecked on Clatsop Spit, March 10, 1829, Gibbs, Pacific Graveyard, p. 22, 188. Mr. Gibbs called it a “Bark”. Cedar brig., 161 tons, built in Bermuda in 1818. Purchased by HBC in 1824. Made first northern trading voyage in 1825. Wrecked on the Columbia River Bar, March 10, 1829. Norman R. Hacking and W. Kaye Lamb. The Princess Story, p. 335. Wrecked. North Pacific History Company. History of the Pacific Northwest I, p. 116. Wrecked on Clatsop Spit, 1829. Murray C. Morgan. The Columbia p. 268. Herbert H. Bancroft, History of Oregon. I, p. 40, 41. First to carry goods to Fort Vancouver. Charles H. Carey. General History of Oregon. 1971. I, p. 247. Wrecked, 1829. Charles H. Carey. General History of Oregon. 1971. I, p. 364, 365. Owyhee log. Charles H. Carey. General History of Oregon. 1971. I, p. 416. BLJM, p. 6, 12, 18-22, 29, 31, 34, 36, 38-42, 106, 119. Hudson Bay ship. MWNE, p. 147, 148. Assigned to coastal reconnaissance in 1825. Captain Henry Hanwell. Lost in 1829 on Columbia River Bar. Winther, Oscar. Old Oregon Country. p. 45, 63. Supply ship. Wrecked at mouth of Columbia. Edgar I Stewart, Washington, Northwest Frontier. I, p. 265. Arthur Throckmorton, Oregon Argonauts, merchant adventurers on the western front, p. 8. Alberta B. Fogdall. Royal family of the Columbia…The McLoughlins, p. 84, 251. Wrecked on bar, March 1829. Horace Lyman. History of Oregon. II, p. 379, III, p. 201. Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown. Indians of the Pacific Northwest, p. 57. Hudson’s Bay Ship, Clinton Clinton Snowden, History of Washington, the rise and progress of an American State . History of Washington., i, 465, 466.”

Accessed 2-16-2022 at: https://tacomalibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17061coll11/id/5378/