1880 — May 4, squall, fishing boats capsize, Columbia River mouth, OR, WA –15-20

–200-325 Gibbs, Jim. Oregon’s Salty Coast. Seattle: Superior Publishing Co., 1978, p. 95.
— 36 Wilma. “Several dozen fishermen drown off…mouth of…Columbia River…1880.”*
— 25 Morning Oregonian, Portland. “A Day of Terrors; Twenty-Five Fishermen…” 5-7-1880.
— 15-20 Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. 1993, p. 253.*
— <19 The Astorian, Astoria, OR. “Great Loss of Life.” In Chinook Observer, WA. 12-20-2018.* -- 12 Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, IA. “Twelve Fishermen Drowned.” May 6, 1880, 4. -- 12 Western Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4, June 1880. “Calendar of Events,” p. 136. *Blanchard note on Wilma: The number thirty six is ours based on his article title noting the drowning deaths of “several dozen” fishermen. Three dozen is our attempt to translate “several dozen” into a number. *Blanchard note on Gibbs, 1993: Clearly by 1993 Gibbs changed his 1978 book note on the reported deaths of 200-325 fishermen to 15-20, citing research by Don Marshall, probably from his 1984 book Oregon Shipwrecks. Though there are other death toll estimates above and below this range, we choose to follow Marshall as cited by Gibbs. *Blanchard note on The Astorian: Editor DeWitt Clinton Ireland wrote on May 8, 1880: “From the best sources that we have been able to obtain information, the losses of life by the late storm on this bay, foots up to nineteen men. Some of those still missing may yet come in alive.” Narrative Information Gibbs, 1978: “The morning of May 4, 1880 dawned as a typical spring day on the North Pacific. A gentle breeze was fanning the ocean, ideal conditions for commercial fishing. Virtually every small fishing boat in the area was trolling for salmon or dragging for bottom fish. Boats were spread over a 35 mile area north and south of the entrance to the Columbia River and Willapa Bay [the Bay is on WA side]. “Unknown to anyone but God, a phenomenal freak of weather was in the making. The occupants of the estimated 250 fishing craft, most of which were under sail, were completely oblivious to what was about to happen. Without forewarning, a powerful wind of hurricane force suddenly came out of nowhere changing the peaceful ocean waters into massive, seething billows. Showing no mercy, winds of more than 100 mph contorted the sea’s face and made playthings of the small fishboats. Pummeled, tossed, turned, capsized and swamped, one by one they disappeared from view, terrified fishermen thinking that the end of the world had come. Thrown into the swirling mass of liquid fury to fend for themselves, death to most came quickly…. “Though the majority of severe storms that batter the Northwest coast come from a southerly direction, and seldom in the spring, this sudden fury was unlike anything before experience…it came up ‘like thunder cross the bay’ from a northwesterly direction, most places along the shore being little ruffled by the strange occurrence. Localized, it was a freak, furious mini-hurricane of unprecedented celerity destroying everything in its path…. “For 30 minutes the brutal punishment continued until virtually the entire fleet had been eradicated. Never before and never since has such a strange contingency of weather been witnessed off the Columbia River….estimates of the dead ran from 200 to 325, some claiming the latter figure as conservative. More than 240 fishboats were destroyed…. “In all the annals of Pacific Coast marine history no single peacetime tragedy has taken a heavier toll in lives with the possible exception of the disaster that befell the Canadian Pacific liner SS Princess Sophia, which in a blizzard on Oct. 25, 1918 slipped off Vanderbilt Reef in Southeastern Alaska and plunged to her doom with 343 souls.” (pp. 95-96) Gibbs, 1993: “Fishing Fleet, May 4, 1880, met with tragedy. Research by author Don Marshall has uncovered facts that dispute the long-lasting tales of the wipe out of the fishing fleets of Astoria and Ilwaco and the loss of 200 lives. In actuality, though one of the most devastating storms recorded in the area did destroy several of the craft, the recorded death toll was between 15 and 20. The big hero was Captain W. L. Harris whose little steamer Rip Van Winkle rescued numerous fishermen from their capsized craft, as did the operators of other powered vessels that fought the fury of the storm with winds exceeding 100 mph.” (Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. 1993, p. 253.) Wilma: “On May 4, 1880, several dozen commercial fishermen, between 200 and 350 by some accounts, drown in a gale off the mouth of the Columbia River. The small boats are from the Columbia River and Shoalwater (Willapa) Bay and are surprised by winds from the southwest. This disaster contributes to the reputation of the area off Cape Disappointment and Clatsop Spit as the Graveyard of the Pacific. “Before improvements to navigation and dams, the Columbia River discharged into the Pacific as much as one million cubic feet of water, creating a treacherous and ever-changing series of sand bars and channels. When this current confronted the Japan Current and storms came in from the Pacific, the sea became untenable even for ocean-going craft. “Fishing and canning salmon was big business along the lower Columbia. Some 35 canneries employed 4,000 Chinese workers who were paid $30 each per month. As many as 1,000 to 1,400 boats worked the lower Columbia fishery, some owned by canneries, some by independent fishermen, and some by farmers who supplemented their income at sea. From April 1 to July 31, 1880, 30 million pounds of fish were taken. “Fishermen learned to ride the ebb tide out to the Columbia bar, set their nets, then ride the flood tide back upstream to the canneries to sell their catch. On May 4, 1880 (the San Francisco Chronicle says May 2), early snow melt produced a river flow that overcame the flooding tide. As reported in the Chronicle several months later, "To pull their heavy 24-foot boats against such a current was a feat few of them were capable of, and the only course open to the majority was to face death with fortitude." Instead of being pushed back into the river and safety by the flooding tide, the small boats were swept into massive breakers that formed over the Columbia bar. “Beginning on May 5, 1880, the Daily Astorian began to report drowned and missing fishermen and swamped boats. Within the next several weeks the Astorian reported as many as 23 bodies recovered or missing and 22 boats found swamped or missing. All but one of the named victims operated boats owned by canneries. The number of missing independent fishermen was generally unknown since many of them lived in Washington Territory and would not have been missed in Astoria. As the season progressed, more people were reported by the Astorian as missing or drowned in the river and sea. “On September 4, 1880, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story (picked up by The New York Times) quoting fisherman William Johnson, who put the number at 200. Thomas "Brockney Tom No. 1" McKenna said 250 and Antone Beretta said 300. Stephen Ellis, employed by fish commissioners to hatch young salmon and regarded as a reliable source, called it 350. No account can be considered accurate, considering that there was no established mechanism for tracking the number of men and boats, nor was there any centralized agency responsible for receiving reports of lost mariners.” (Wilma, David. “Several dozen fishermen drown off the mouth of the Columbia River on May 4, 1880.” HistoryLink.org (The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History), 9-7-2006.) May 6: “New York, May 5. – A dispatch from Portland, Oregon, says that while a fleet of fishing boats were returning, after laying their nets opposite Point Adams, at the mouth of Colombia river, a squall came up, and twenty boats were blown upon the bar and many swamped. Twelve fishermen, at least, were drowned.” (Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, IA. “Twelve Fishermen Drowned.” May 6, 1880, 4.) Sources Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Twelve Fishermen Drowned.” May 6, 1880, 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=136896032 Chinook Observer, WA (Matt Winters). “‘This Nest of Dangers’ May 1880: How legends come to be.” 3-29-2018, updated 12-20-2018. Accessed 9-21-2021 at: https://www.chinookobserver.com/life/history/this-nest-of-dangers-may-1880-how-legends-come-to-be/article_dd88b3b8-baba-5dab-a406-51e89748d48a.html Gibbs, James A. Pacific Graveyard. A Narrative of Shipwrecks Where the Columbia River Meets the Pacific Ocean. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1993. Gibbs, Jim. Oregon’s Salty Coast. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1978. Morning Oregonian, Portland. “A Day of Terrors; Twenty-Five Fishermen Drowned; Disasters on the Bar.” 5-7-1880. Quoted in Chinook Observer (Winters), 12-20-2018. Accessed 9-21-2021 at: https://www.chinookobserver.com/life/history/this-nest-of-dangers-may-1880-how-legends-come-to-be/article_dd88b3b8-baba-5dab-a406-51e89748d48a.html Western Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4, June 1880. “Calendar of Events,” p. 136. Google digitized. Accessed 9-21-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=V-ThAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true Wilma, David. “Several dozen fishermen drown off the mouth of the Columbia River on May 4, 1880.” HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, 9-7-2006. Accessed 5-17-2013 at: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm%3FdisplayPage%3Dklondike/essays/Slide_show/Slide_show/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7932