1886 — March 15, steamer Beda springs leak and founders off Cape Perpetua, OR — 11
— 11 Butte Daily Miner, MT. “Eleven Men Drowned.” 3-20-1886, p. 1, col. 2.
— 11 Critic, Logansport, IN. “News of the Week,” March 28, 1886, p. 3.
— 11 Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats. Annual Report of…1886, p. 8.
— 11 U.S. Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of Operations of…June 30,1886. 1887, p. 439.
Narrative Information
Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats: “March 15, 1886. – The freight steamer Beda foundered off the coast of Oregon. The officers and crew took to the life-boats. The master, Peter Halley, with five men in one boat, has not been heard of since. The first officer with the remainder of the crew, in another boat, succeeded in making a landing near Umpqua River on the 17th, but two only of their number reached shore alive. In all, eleven of her crew of thirteen are believed to be lost.” (Annual Rpt. of…Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats (US)…1886. 1887, p. 8.)
U.S. Life-Saving Service: “Mar 15…Beda…Am. Str…371 [tons]…Columbia River [bound from]…San Francisco, Cal. [bound to]…total [loss]…Railroad iron [cargo]…11 [loss of life]…At sea [location]…Missing.” (Annual Report…June 30,1886. 1887, p. 439
Newspaper
March 19: “Eleven Men Drowned
“Marshfield, Oregon, March 19. – The steamer ‘Beda,’ loaded with railroad iron, sprang a leak and foundered on the fifteenth inst., forty miles off Cape Perpetua. She carried a crew of thirteen men including Capt. Healy. Only two saved, Lewis Lancelt and John Thrawl, who were picked up and reached here on the tug ‘Fearless’ to-day.” (Butte Daily Miner, MT. 3-20-1886, p. 1, col. 2.)
March 28: “The steamer Beda, loaded with railroad iron, sprung a leak and foundered on the 15th inst., forty miles off Cape Perpetua, Pacific Ocean. The Beda carried a crew of thirteen men, including Captain Healey, only two of whom were saved. They were picked up by the tug Fearless and brought to Portland, Oregon.” (Logansport Critic. “News of the Week,” 3-28-1886, p. 3.)
Sources
Butte Daily Miner, MT. “Eleven Men Drowned.” 3-20-1886, p. 1, col. 2. Accessed 1-27-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/butte-city-daily-miner-mar-20-1886-p-1/
Critic, Logansport, IN. “News of the Week” [Steamer Beda], 3-28-1886. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83091540
Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats (U.S.) to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1886 (Treasury Department Document No. 900, Steamboat Inspection, dated 10-18-1886). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1886. Accessed 1-27-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=169&q1=vernon
United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1886 (Treasury Department Document No. 991). Washington.: GPO, 1887. Google Digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=9HgDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false