1887 — Early Apr, Amer. ship St. Stephens (Seattle for S.F., CA), lost in gale off Cape Flattery WA-22-27

–27 Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History…to 1905 (Vol. X). 1905, p. 452.
–27 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss…” 8-30-1929, D3.
–22 Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: 1968, p. 230.
— 5 Captain Douglass, wife and three children
–17 Crew
–22 Morning Oregonian, Portland. “Last Half Century. Many disasters to sailing vessels…” 7-23-1907, 5.

Narrative Information

Gibbs: “St. Stephens, American ship, Seattle for San Francisco with coal, struck by a severe gale off Cape Flattery. Vessel was reported missing with Captain Douglass, his wife, three children, and a crew of 17, early in 1887. Vancouver Island Indians reported that the battered hulk washed up on a reef off Kyuquot Sound, B.C., on April 9, and the following day two Whitehall boats came ashore empty. Still later, a compass case containing the private correspondence of Captain Douglass was discovered in the area.” (Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: 1968, p. 230.)

Harper’s Encyclopedia (Lossing, editor): “Wrecks….American ship St. Stephens, from Port Townsend to San Francisco, founders at sea; twenty-seven lives lost…April, 1887.”

Wright: “…in April, 1887, the St. Stephens was lost off Vancouver Island [BC], not one surviving to tell the story of the last struggle with the waves.” (Wright (Ed.). Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. 1895, 349.)

Newspapers

April 13, 1887, Sacramento Daily: “San Francisco, April 12th. – It is believed now that sixty persons perished at sea in the severe gale that has swept this coast from Puget Sound to San Diego. The report of the sinking of the coal-laden ship St. Stephens is confirmed, and all on board must have been lost. She went down off Cape Flattery. The Captain of the Enoch Talbott telegraphs from Seattle that he saw the ship go down. He had all he could do to take care of his own ship at the time. The St. Stephen was a stanch vessel, 1,300 tons, and had made two voyages to Europe with grain from this port. The incoming Captains report the storm the severest for many years.” (Sacramento Daily Record-Union, CA. “Great Loss of Life.” 4-13-1887, p. 1.)

July 23, 1907, Portland Morning Oregonian: “St. Stephen. American ship, from Seattle for San Francisco, wrecked on reef off Clayoquot Sound, west coast Vancouver Island, 1pril, 1887; 22 lives lost.” (Morning Oregonian, Portland. “Last Half Century. Many disasters to sailing vessels…” 7-23-1907, p. 5.)

Aug 30, 1929, Oakland Tribune: “St. Stephen, lost at sea while en route to San Francisco in April, 1887, with 27 lost.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss…” 8-30-1929, D3.)

Sources

Gibbs, James A. Shipwrecks off Juan de Fuca. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1968.

Lossing, Benson John (Editor). Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1905 (Vol. X). NY: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1905. Digitized by Google. Accessed 6-27-2022 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=yvzXAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=stephen&f=true

Morning Oregonian, Portland. “Last Half Century. Many disasters to sailing vessels…” 7-23-1907, p. 5. Accessed 6-27-2022 from University of Oregon Libraries “Historic Oregon Newspapers” site at: https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1907-07-23/ed-1/seq-5/ocr/

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Shipwreck One of Worst Since Janeiro’s Loss, 1901.” 8-30-1929, D3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105413307

Sacramento Daily Record-Union, CA. “Great Loss of Life.” 4-13-1887, p. 1. Accessed 6-27-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sacramento-daily-record-union-apr-13-1887-p-1/

Wright, E. W. (Ed.). Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, OR: Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., 1895, 349. Digitized by Google. Accessed 6-27-2022 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=seRDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false