1873 – Jan 27~, steamer George S. Wright hits rocks?, Queen Charlotte Sound, BC, Can–34

— 34 Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks…Losses of Life…
–>33 Wright (ed.). Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. 1895, 204-205.
–12 passengers [named below]
–21 crew [named below]
— ? Lytle/Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 264.

Narrative Information

Alaskashipwreck.com: “GEORGE S WRIGHT (1873) Five years after the purchase of Alaska the George S Wright became the first major shipwreck. The 116 foot steamer departed Sitka January 20, 1873 with officers of the garrison and other passengers aboard headed for Portland. The crew from captain to coal passers consisted of 21 souls and approximately 13 passengers were aboard. The steamer made stops at Tongass and Klawock sailing for Nanaimo January 25, 1873. It has been supposed that the vessel struck a rock somewhere near Cape Caution in the Queen Charlotte Sound about the 27th of January. One report states the vessel struck Devils Reef in the Sea Otter group. Wreckage of the George S Wright was found from Queen Charlotte Sound to Prince of Wales Island. Reports later surfaced that some survivors of the wreck had been captured and murdered by Haida Indians. Crewmembers lost with the George S Wright were captain Thomas J Ainsley, purser B F Weidler, chief engineer John Sutton, second engineer James Minor, first mate David Noonan, seaman P Clawson, seaman Owen McGough, seaman James Irwin, seaman Gus Proffe, seaman J Jansen, steward Chris Adam, cook Pedro Selvo, waiter C Hevenichi, pantryman Moses Batiste, an Indian messboy and two other Indians. Included in the passengers was paymaster Major John S Walker with his wife and son, U S Army Captain Henry C Dodge and George A Eades collector for the Port of Sitka. Captain Ainsley was engaged to be married to a young lady from Jackson, Michigan. The loss was a complete mystery. In the summer of 1875 the remains of paymaster Major John S Walker were found with a life preserver still attached on an island at the entrance to Port Bazan on Dall Island. In the spring of 1877 the Free Press of Nanaimo, British Columbia reported the arrest of several Wakena Indians for the murder of fifteen survivors of the wrecked George S Wright. A story had surfaced detailing the loss of the George S Wright. The vessel was said to have encountered a terrible storm in the Queen Charlotte Sound where intruding waves exploded her boiler. One Wakena Indian who had been employed as a coal passer on the steamer and fifteen others escaped into a life raft and made shore on one of two small islands near the disaster. A fire was built to warm the survivors which subsequently attracted a group of Wakena Indians. With the help of the Wakena coal passer all the rest of the survivors were massacred in their sleep. The story was substantiated with the arrest of the coal passer and two other Wakena Indians who were said to have confessed to the murders when arrested in 1877.

“Mapping and Location: Southeast Alaska British Columbia Unknown

“Additional Information: Length 116.7, Breadth 25, Depth 10.5, Tonnage 214.94, Home Port San Francisco, ON 10743, SL HVFN, HP 125

“Sources: 1. Marine Disasters of the Alaska Routes (1916) Pg 23, 2. New York Times (August 5, 1877), 3. Lewis and Dryden Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1961) Pgs 204-5, 4. Public Service and Resources of Alaska (1879) Morris, 5. The Press (October 13, 1875) “The Late Major John S Walker” Pg 1, 6. The Daily Citizen (March 15, 1877) “Shipwreck and Disaster”, 7. Merchant Vessels of the U S (1868) Pg 95.” (Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks and Losses of Life in Alaskan Waters.)

Lytle and Holdcamper: “George S. Wright…289 [tons]…(U) [unknown cause of loss]…1 27 1873…North Pacific…(U) [unknown loss of life].” (Lytle, compiler, Holdcamper, Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 264.)

Wright: “Early in 1873 the steamer George . Wright disappeared while on a trip from Alaska to Portland [OR], and though strenuous efforts have been made to learn the exact fate which overtook the steamer, her crew and passengers, the mystery has never been fathomed, and, like many similar calamities of lesser importance, all that can be said is that she sailed away and no message ever came to quite the heartaches of those whose friends and relatives perished with her. The George S. Wright occupies a permanent place in Northwestern marine annals through having been a Puget Sound production and having spent her entire existence in the waters of the North Pacific. She was launched at Port Ludlow [WA] September 1, 1863, for John T. Wright, who named her in honor of his brother. She was one hundred and sixteen feet seven inches long, twenty-five feet beam, ten feet six inches hold….

“She sailed from Portland on her last trip early in January, coaled at Nanaimo, and proceeded to Alaska. Arriving at Sitka, she discharged her cargo and started on the return trip, having as passengers Major Walker and wife, Lieutenant Rogers and servant, Charles Waldron, Charles Kincaid, Mr. Sinsheimer, quartermaster’s clerk at Sitka, and an unknown cooper. At Tongas, John Williams of Victoria, S. Millotitch and a man named Hogan and his son were taken aboard [12 passengers].

“After leaving Sitka the steamer went to Kluvok, where Waldron had a fishing station. Here she loaded eight hundred barrels of salmon, one hundred barrels of oil, a few bundles of skins and furs, sailing for Nanaimo, January 25th. Her crew consisted of Thomas J. Ainsley, captain; B. F. Weidler, purser; John Sutton, chief engineer; James Minor, second engineer; Daniel Noonan, first officer; William Price, second officer; P. Clawson, Owen McGough, firemen; Edward Johnson, Archibald Dunn, James Irwin, Gus Proffe, J. Jenson, seamen; Chris Adams, steward; Pedro Salvo, Jewell Michels, cooks; C. Hevendehi, waiter; Moses Baptist, pantryman; Indian Jim, messboy; Indian Jack and Jim, coal-passers [21 crew]….

“The supposition has always been that she struck an unmarked rock near that point [Cape Caution] about January 27th, and that, if any of the passengers or crew reached shore, they were butchered by the natives….” (Wright (ed.). Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. 1895, pp. 204-205.)
Sources

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. A Comprehensive Accounting of Alaska Shipwrecks and Losses of Life in Alaskan Waters. Accessed 10-31-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-g/

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=7

Wright, E. W. (editor). Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. “Chapter X, pp. 204-205. Portland, OR: The Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., 1895. Accessed 10-31-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lewis_Dryden_s_Marine_History_of_the_Pac/seRDAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22george%20s%20wright%22