1898 — June 28, storm, Steamer Jessie swamped, Kuskokwim River mouth, AK — 18

–18 AK Bureau Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.
–18 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.”
–18 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” J.
–18 Daily Republican, Decatur, IL. “Events of a Year.” 12-31-1898, p. 14.
–18 Eau Claire Leader, WI. “Steamer Lost….the Jessie…Kuskokwim River.” 8-11-1898, p. 1.
–18 Hamilton Daily Republican-News, OH. “Whole Party Is Lost.” Aug 10, 1898, p. 4.
–18 Levi, Steven C. Boom and Bust in the Alaska Goldfields. 2008, p. 134.
–18 Tornfelt and Burwell. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore. US Dept. of Interior, 1992, 49.

Narrative Information

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: “Jun 28, 1898. Small steamer Jessie… Swamped at mouth of Kuskokwim River. 18 lost.” (Alaska Bureau Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “1898…Jessie…WC [west-central area]…65 Ton Freight Steam…18 [lives lost]…1 [survivor].” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.”)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Jessie (1898). The 65 ton small freight steamer Jessie was lost with all but one of her passengers and crew of 19 at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River June 28, 1898. The vessel was reported swamped in turbulent waters. News of the tragedy was brought to Saint Michael by a trader named Ling. He reported that the 18 miners who were aboard from the Columbia Exploration Company were either lost in the wreck or massacred by Indians. The Indians were said to have also looted or destroyed the Minerva, a barge which the Jessie had been towing along with another unknown barge. Lost were captain J T Murphy of Bowling Green KY, E S Lines of Seattle, A C Stetson of Seattle, R P Frierson of Gallatin TN, W T Payton of Gallatin TN, C H Mitchell of Gallatin TN, H C Hart of Gallatin TN, engineer Kessler from Wisconsin, Mr Smallhouse of Louisville, Eli Knudson of Genesee ID, H C Hadron of Seattle, O E Aurud of Seattle, Dave Allen of Kentucky, Moravian Missionary Reverend H Weber with wife and child, two Indian pilots and a Japanese cook.

“Mapping and Location: West central Alaska 60 N 162 15 W Chart 16006.

“Sources: 1. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 2. The H W McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest (1966) Pg 42, 3. The Morning Oregonian (September 13, 1898) “Eighteen Were Lost” Pg 3.” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” J.)

Levi: “In spite of the staggering influx of non-Natives, very few cases of violence by Natives on whites. Such cases were, in fact, few and far between and the best known were often based on hearsay. In June or July of 1898, for instance, the steamer Jessie was swamped on the Kuskaniwill River near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. The sinking of the Jessie was one of the great unsolved maritime mysteries of the Alaska Gold Rush. The vessel was on its way up to the gold fields with 18 passengers and towing two barges, the Minerva and a second whose name has been lost in the swirling sands of time. The ships were never seen again and at the time it was assumed that they had been swamped in a storm and drowned. Later there were rumors that some of the passengers had survived the swamping and had made it to shore where they had been massacred by the local Natives….” (Levi. Boom and Bust…Alaska Goldfields. 2008, p. 134.)

Black and White: A Monthly Magazine of Facts for Insurance Policy Investors, 1899: “Mrs. Mollie L. Frierson has filed suit at Chattanooga, Tenn., to recover $12,000 on a life insurance policy held by her son, Robert P. Frierson. Young Frierson was a lawyer who started to the Laska gold fields on the ill-fated steamer Jessie which was lost with all on board, in Alaskan waters. Frierson and a party of a dozen Tennesseans and Kentuckians all carried life insurance. The company refuses to pay on the ground that Frierson’s death is not established. Other suits will be filed.” (Black and White: A Monthly Magazine of Facts for Insurance Policy Investors. Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Apr 15, 1899, p. 25.)

Newspapers

Aug 10: “Seattle, Wash., Aug. 10. – Further details state there were 18 persons on the river steamer Jessie of the Columbian Exploration company, which foundered in the Kuskokwim river, Alaska, during a severe storm, July 28. It is thought all were lost. The steamer Jessie at the time of the disaster had in tow the barge Minerva, loaded with supplies.

“The news of the disaster was brought to the headquarters of the Alaska Commercial company by Indians, who had found the loaded barge belonging to the party partly wrecked. The Indians assert that the steamer foundered and that all of her party perished in the storm that swept down on them before they were well into the river, and only a few hours after they had left the steamer Lakme, on which they had gone north. The Indians confiscated the supplies. The party consisted of the following persons:

E. S. Lines, Seattle;
A. C. Staston, Seattle;
V. J. Murphey, Bowling Green, Ky.;
Rob P. Frierson [Gallatin, TN],
W. T. Payton [Gallatin, TN],
C. H. Mitchell [Gallatin, TN], and
H. C. Clifford Hare, Gallatin, Tenn.;
Engineer Kenslock, Milwaukee;
____ Smallhouse, Louisville, Ky.;
Eli Knudson, Genesee, Ida.;
Harry C. Hadreon [unclear; Seattle]
O. E. Arrod, Settle;
Doc Allen, Kentucky;
Rev. R. Weber, Moravian missionary, wife and child;
Two Indian guides.

“The expedition was composed of a number of well-to-do young men of Kentucky and Tennessee families, who joined the others in Seattle. They were furnished with the steamer Jessie and the barge Minerva by Richard Chilcott of this city.

“The party left Seattle May 31, on the steam schooner Lakme. The Jessie was a strongly built stern-wheel boat, 50 feet long and 14¼ beam. She had powerful engines. She had a low deck house with a small pilot house on top. The barge was an open affair to be used to carry supplies. They left at 10 o’clock and by 2 were out of sight of the Lakme, which proceeded to St. Michaels’s. The rest of the story comes from the Indians.

“The mouth of the Kuskokwim, like that of many other Alaskan rivers, is very wide, and with the wind from a proper direction gets exceedingly rough. A storm came up before the Jessie and tow reached anchorage. A few days later the Indians found the barge partly wrecked on the north shore of the river. A few days later they found a hastily constructed raft. Nothing was seen or heard of steamer or passengers. All are believed to have been lost….” (Eau Claire Leader, WI. “Steamer Lost. Believed All on…Jessie Were Drowned in Kuskokwim River.” 8-11-1898, p. 1.)

Aug 10: “Seattle, Wash., Aug. 10. – Further details state there were eighteen persons on the river steamer Jessie V., of the Columbian Explorative Co., which foundered in the Kushkotawim [sic.] river, Alaska, during a severe storm July 28. It is thought all were lost. The steamer Jessie at the time of the disaster had in tow the barge Minerva loaded with supplies.

“The news of the disaster was brought to the headquarters of the Alaska Commercial Co. by Indians, who had found the loaded barge belonging to the party partly wrecked. The Indians assert that the steamer foundered and that all of her party perished in the storm that swept down on them before they were well into the river, and only a few hours after they had left the steamer Lakme on which they had gone north. The Indians confiscated the supplies.” (Hamilton Daily Republican-News, OH. “Whole Party Is Lost.” Aug 10, 1898, p. 4.)

Sources

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses. Accessed 7-18-2011 at: https://www.boem.gov/about-boem/alaskas-worst-all-time-shipping-losses

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1800-1899.” Accessed 11-14-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1800-1899/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” Accessed 11-14-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-j/

Black and White: A Monthly Magazine of Facts for Insurance Policy Investors. Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Apr 15, 1899. Digitized by Google. Accessed 11-14-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=PAAOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Daily Republican, Decatur, IL. “Events of a Year.” 12-31-1898, p. 14. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=6253387

Eau Claire Leader, WI. “Steamer Lost. Believed All on Board the Jessie Were Drowned in Kuskokwim River.” 8-11-1898, 1. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=100725148

Hamilton Daily Republican-News, OH. “Whole Party Is Lost [Steamer Jessie V.].” 8-10-1898, p. 4. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=71438375

Levi, Steven C. Boom and Bust in the Alaska Goldfields A Multicultural Adventure. Praeger, 2008. Partially digitized by Google and accessed 11-14-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=nfT9MGYCRs8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Tornfelt, Evert E. and Michael Burwell. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, 1992. Accessed 11-2-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shipwrecks_of_the_Alaskan_Shelf_and_Shor/8YUTAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Shipwrecks+of+the+Alaskan+Shelf+and+Shore&printsec=frontcover