The early 1790s were pivotal in the history of the Pacific Northwest for several reasons . The British naval expedition under the command of George Vancouver, sent to resolve conflicting claims along the Northwest Coast by Great Britain and Spain, also produced the first accurate charts and maps of the region. The legacy of the Vancouver expedition lives on in the preponderance of place names in the Pacific Northwest having British origins : Puget Sound, Mounts Hood, Rainier, and St. Helens, to name a few
the UARTERDECK
Vol. 17 No. 3 Spring 1991
Regional Maritime Bicentennial Draws Near
The Spanish ultimately lost their claim to the Northwest Coast . Yet their presence remains in Spanish place names, such as in the San Juan Islands, as well as in some of the earliest surveys of the region's natural history and ethnography, conducted during the Malaspina expedition. Driven to explore the northern reaches of the Pacific Coast by fears of Russian encroachment from the north, the Spanish encountered the British along the way. The ensuing controversy over sovereignty helped to open an avenue of opportunity for the newest comers upon the scene, the Americans. Yet, in contrast to the naval presence by the European powers, the early American initiatives on the Northwest Coast were characteristically mercantile in nature.
Exploration incidental to the pursuit of trade had far-reaching implications. On May 11, 1792, Capt. Robert Gray entered the elusive River of the West, thereby helping to establish the first American claim along the Pacific Coast. But such territorial claims carried with them a basic contradiction. The European and American voyagers found here native peoples who had lived along the Northwest Coast for thousands of years before contact with Euro-Americans In this issue of the Quarterdeck, we explore the complex interactions between very different cultures brought about by the maritime fur trade A series of articles about the Lady Washington and ''The Bold Northwestman," the oldest American ballad concerning a Northwestern event, begin on page 4
A review and newsletter from the Columbia River Maritime Museum at 1792 Marine Drive in Astoria, Oregon
Haswell drawing of the ship Columbia Rediviva and the sloop Lady Washington from the title page of his journal of the first voyage, 1787 1789 Original in collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The year 1992 will be of special significance to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Next year we celebrate our 30th anniversary as an institution and the 200th anniversary of Robert Gray's exploration of the Columbia River.
Volume 17 No. 3
Because such dreams cannot live and flourish in a vacuum, cooperation with the surrounding community and at the regional level is the secret for success In this spirit we have been working on several fronts, undertaking to create results for greater good than simply for the Museum alone. Let me give you some examples
"Lady Washington: Little Known Pioneer of the Northwest Coast," by Hewitt Jackson, edited and abridged from an article previously published in 48° North, the Northwest Sailing Magazine, in May 1988; used by permission.
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We are also working with the City of Astoria and the State Marine Board to provide for expansion of the City-owned pier adjacent to the Museum. Should everything go as planned, the current pier will be extended to the west and therefore doubled in size. This will accomplish a number of important goals, both for the City and for the Museum. Expanded pier facilities will make it possible for a proposed second Coast Guard cutter to be assigned to Astoria, and will also provide moorage for visiting historic vessels. A slat-breakwater will be installed to provide an environment for transient recreational boat moorage facilities, something the downtown core area of Astoria is entirely lack-
The Columbia River Bicentennial Commission, composed of Bill Thayer, chair, and board members Bud Forrester, Sen. Joan Dukes, and Rep. Jackie Taylor, represent the Oregon component of a regional effort to celebrate the maritime events of the early 1790s. Bicentennial Coordinator Gary Breckon, assisted by the Commission's Information Officer, Marguerite Wright, will be working closely with Columbia River Maritime Museum staff members on exhibits and proposals in observance of Robert Gray's entry into and exploration of the Columbia River 200 years ago This issue of the Quarterdeck begins a series of articles which will provide historical background on this historic event.
We are working with the City of Astoria to develop a riverfront interpretation project located between the Museum and the old ferry slip at 14th Street, now the site of the Astoria offices of Brix Maritime Corporation, the Columbia River Bar Pilots, and the downriver terminus of the Columbia River Pilots operation. This is to be the demonstration J)roject of the Astoria Waterfront Development Program known locally as the Murase Plan after Murase Associates, the architectural firm responsible for the overall study of Astoria's historic waterfront district. The Columbia River Maritime Museum is contracted to assist with signage and interpretation for a new viewing pier at 14th Street. Additional interpretive panels will be installed along the waterfront in the three blocks leading east towards the Museum. Eventually we hope to have a continuous pedestrian walkway in place which invites visitors to the Museum and to Astoria to walk along and enjoy Astoria's working urban waterfront. The underlying concept is to make the area along the river more accessible to people without destroying its character as a working waterfront.
These are exciting times at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. And we hope you will be pleased by our progress as we move on to the years ahead. Please remember that none of this would or will be possible without your continued support. Our financial health depends on new and renewed memberships to build a firm basis for the future. Your volunteer time at the Museum also helps us stretch the limits of what is possible.
-Jerry Ostermiller Executive Director
Working on the state and regional level, we are preparing for the Columbia River Bicentennial to take place in 1992.
As the Columbia River Maritime Museum enters its 30th year as an institution, we have much to look back on and much to look forward to . Rolf Klep's dream of founding a regional institution of maritime history has become reality, and those of us who are the beneficiaries of his hard work and vision owe him a debt of thanks many times over. There are yet many challenges that lie before us. We cannot afford to rest on the laurels of the past if we expect to remain the finest maritime museum in the West and one of the finest in the country. Your Board and the Museum staff are hard at work to make certain we meet the needs of the present while providing for short and long range development of the institution.
Certainly, 1991 is going to be a big year for the Astoria waterfront and for the Columbia River Maritime Museum. As we move ever closer to the Bicentennial of the Columbia River, our trustees, community leaders, and staff are combining their efforts to make dreams come true . I believe Rolf Klep would be pleased.
from the Wheelhouse
The QUARTERDECK is published four times a year by the Columbia River Maritime Museum, 1792 Marine Dr, Astoria, OR 97103.
Editor, Hobe Kytr. Editorial Staff: Jerry Ostermiller, Anne Witty, Barbara Minard, Rachel Wynne, Amy Ross. Hewitt Jackson, special guest editor and contributor.
As your director, much of my efforts over the past two years have been to put the Museum on a firmer footing. The vigor and enthusiasm of Board President Adm. Jack Williams (U.S.N. Ret.) deserves our appreciation. Jack has served with energy and distinction, and has
QUARTERDECK
Printed at Anchor Graphics, Astoria, Oregon
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ing at the moment. I need not tell you what a boon it would be for the Museum to have a small boat moorage area directly on our doorstep. This project is being pursued by all parties as a 1992 bicentennial "lasting legacy" major permanent enhancement. If all goes well, I anticipate seeing new piling early this fall.
made a personal commitment to support our Museum's internal reorganization. Through his leadership, the Board of Trustees has had an increasingly active role in the pursuit of the dreams we all share as members of the Museum.
Photo and illustration credits: Haswell drawing, page 1, used by permission of Massachusetts Historical Society; line drawing of buy boat Wm. B. Tennison, page 3, courtesy of Calvert Marine Museum; Hewitt Jackson drawing of the sloop Lady Washingon, page 4, used by permission of the artist and the Oregon Historical Society; photos of Louie Smith models, pages 5 and 7, courtesy of Hewitt Jackson; details of lines of Lady Washington as a brigantine, pages 6 and 15, courtesy of Hewitt Jackson; Davidson watercolor, page 8, used by permission of Elizabeth Chapman DuBois; music notation, page 9, from The Rainy Day Songbook, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, 1978, used by permission; photos of McCaffery model, page 11, and Hewitt Jackson, page 13, by Gloria Thiele; Gordon Miller drawing of Ninstints, page 12, from Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site, UBC Press, 1983, used by permission; Row-In graphic, page 16, by Rachel Wynne.
Calvert Marine Museum's three-fold mission to preserve and depict the prominent marine-related features of the lower Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River: its maritime history, marine biology, and prehistoric features.
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Marine Art of the Pacific Northwest Opens June 21
Next year's annual meeting of the Council of American Maritime Museums will take place here at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, in April. In preparation, the CRMM crew consulted with the staff who so ably organized this year's meeting, and sought ideas from other CAMM members for next year's session, for which the theme will be "Education in the Maritime Museum."
A major feature of museum meetings is always the "behind the scenes" tour of museum collections. Calvert Marine Museum staff members were on hand to discuss the development of their brand new building, which now houses a new maritime history exhibit, soon to be joined by an estuarium, showing Chesapeake Bay marine life, and a paleontology exhibit. The combination upholds
Plan to come by the Museum and enjoy the artistic, view of our regional maritime heritage, past and present. The show will continue through November 3, 1991.
-Anne Witty
A fortuitous combination of ideas, experience and a timely donation will result in a venture into the world of contemporary marine art when the next special exhibit opens in the Great Hall. A show featuring the work of North west members of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) will open on June 21, 1991.
Council of American Maritime Museums Annual Meeting
The 1991 meeting was held at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland. In keeping with this year's theme of "Exhibits," the group of about 90 people reviewed slides of new permanent exhibits at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine; the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia; the Calvert Marine Museum; and the Peabody Museum of Salem in Salem, Massachusetts. Lively discussion evaluated the success of each installation and the challenges and process by which the shows came together.
Other high points of the conference included several opportunities to sample local fare, the crabs, oysters, and clams for which the region is justly famous. An 18th-century style Tidewater luncheon at Satterly Plantation was followed by a
Thanks to the creative suggestion and hard work of William T.C. Stevens, himself a noted artist and member of the Museum's Board of Trustees, the Columbia River Maritime Museum will be able to display some of the finest contemporary work of Pacific Northwest regional artists. Mr. Stevens is serving as a voluntary guest curator for the show, making contact with other regional ASMA members and organizing an artistic "jury" to select pieces for exhibit.
In addition to Mr. Stevens' essential help in his capacity of Northwest representative to ASMA, the marine art show will be the first Museum exhibition supported by the Ralph W. and Susie Coe Memorial Endowment. Last year, through Mr. and Mrs. Donald Bray of Castle Rock, Washington, the Museum received a bequest in memory of the Coes, with the stipulation that interest from the fund be used to support annual temporary exhibits. It is largely because of this generous gesture of support for our programs that the Museum is able to present 11 Marine Art of the Pacific Northwest.'' And we look forward to the opportunity to produce temporary exhibits annually in the future, thanks to the Coe endowment.
trip across the Patuxent River, a major tributary of the Chesapeake, on the buy boat Wm B. Tennison (now owned by the Calvert Marine Museum).
Unseasonably cold and rainy weather kept a planned Chesapeake Bay skipjack sail from materializing, but plenty of corridor talk and learning made the 1991 CAMM meeting a memorable experience. We look forward to hosting the Council in Astoria next spring!
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No. 3
In April, the Columbia River Maritime Museum was amply represented at the annual meeting of CAMM, the Council of American Maritime Museums. Director Jerry Ostermiller, Board Vice-President Allen Goudy, Education Coordinator Hobe Kytr, and Curator Anne Witty sallied forth to southern Maryland's Calvert Marine Museum to meet with colleagues from all over the United States and parts of Canada. Mr. Ostermiller serves on the CAMM Executive Board.
The three-day meeting was highlighted by a musical evening with the Menhaden Chanteymen of Beaufort, North Carolina. This group is composed of fishermen who worked in North Carolina's menhaden purse seine fishery. Now retired, they still keep alive the traditional work songs that helped to lighten the heavy labor of hauling in by hand nets filled with tons of fish. For those on the West Coast who don't know a menhaden from an alewife, menhaden belong to the herring family, run in large schools, and are caught primarily for processing into fish meal, fertilizer, and oil. These days they are fished by large catcher boats that literally vacuum the fish into the hold, hence the importance of the traditions maintained by the Menhaden Chanteymen.
-Anne Witty
For many longtime patrons of the Columbia River Maritime Museum, Hewitt Jackson, marine artist and maritime historian, needs no introduction. He is the person responsible for the beautiful and incredibly precise drawings of the ships of discovery in our Fur Trade and Exploration of the Northwest Coast gallery. Over the years, his renderings of the Columbia Rediviva, Discovery, Chatham, Tenny, and Tonquin have elicited more response from the casual visitor and avid historian alike than perhaps any other items in the CRMM's vast collections.
-HobeKytr
Hewitt Jackson and the Era of Discovery
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Hewitt Jackson grew up on the shores of Lake Washington when Bellevue was home to the last American whaling fleet. He went to sea in 1926, where he began drawing sailing craft. He well may be one of the few still living who have been around Cape Horn and Point Barrow, Alaska, in working sail. Hewitt's passion for accuracy of historic detail in his work grew out of personal experience with the real thing, an advantage many latter-day historians and artists will never have, and which has helped him become a leading authority on the days of sail.
When Hewitt Jackson visited Astoria recently to outline possibilities for collaborations in preparation for the Columbia Bicentennial, those of us on staff at the Museum were treated to a rare opportunity to learn more about his working methods. I had been corresponding with him for some number of months concerning our mutual interest in the Lady Washington and ''The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman " The response was, to be frank, a bit overwhelming. Whereas my concern had been to reopen the question of what long has been reputed to be the Northwest's oldest ballad, much of Hewitt Jackson's lifework has been directed toward setting straight the record on the entire era of discovery . Though almost completely self-taught, the depth and breadth of his command of the subject would, could, and has put to shame many a more conventional scholar It becomes readily apparent why the likes of the late Edmund Hayes, president and driving force behind the Oregon Historical Society, and Rolf Klep, renowned marine illustrator and founder of CRMM, went to and relied upon Jackson to really see into the past
From the journals, the oldest available Pacific Coast Pilot, and modern charts, precise anchorages and locations are determined. The point of view, time of year, time of day, and correct sea conditions become the basis for photographic studies of the area. Coastal profiles in hand, conical projections, allowing for the curvature of the earth, and corrections necessary to present the background on a flat surface without distorting what the eye sees are developed. Next time you come to the Museum, examine Hewitt Jackson's work carefully, and don't overlook the background-he certainly didn't.
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Hewitt Jackson is a master at research. The accompanying article demonstrates to what extent such research can be taken. Hewitt begins with the logs and journals of the period, contemporary drawings and descriptions, and builders' specifications. From these, design and characteristics can be determined. Plans drawn out become the basis not just for representation in his own drawings and paintings, but also for reconstruction into ship models of verifiable historical authenticity.
The Lady Washington, Captain Robert Gray, leaving Tillamook Bay on 18 August, 1788. Gray called the bay "Murderer's Harbor" because of the loss of a crew member there. Drawing by Hewitt Jackson. Original in collections of the Oregon Historical Society.
The Lady Washington as a sloop had a main boom over 65 feet in length. An unexpected jibe could spell disaster. Louie Smith model, based on research by Hewitt Jackson.
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Captain Gray was allowing no grass to grow on his bottom As he was preparing the sloop for sea on the 23rd a sail was sighted Haswell notes:
In mid September they were off Nootka Sound searching for Ship Cove, where Captain Cook had refitted some ten years before. A ship's boat under sail was sighted and an offer to help work into Friendly Cove was accepted. There they found the Felice Adventurer, Captain Meares, and the Iphegenia Nubiana, Captain Douglass, English ships working the fur trade under Portuguese colors. They were soon to complete the season's trading and to sail for Canton in China.
On the second [of August}, at 10 AM to our inexpressible joy we saw the Coast of New Albion rainging from NNE to SSE dist[ant} about 7 leagues Sunday we struck soundings in 50 fathem of water over a bottom of fine black sand. (This would have been off northern California, called Drake's New Albion.)
The only record of the first voyage is in the journal of Robert Haswell, who had left Boston as second mate on the Columbia and transferred to the Lady Washington at the Falkland Islands, due to problems with Captain Kendrick. He remarks, upon leaving the islands in late fall approaching winter:
The reports and journals of Captain Cook were followed with more than casual interest by the merchants and captains of Boston and the budding New England ports. Sea otter pelts obtained by the officers and men of Cook's vessels for comfort and warmth were sold later in Canton, China, for fabulous sums. Keen interest soon raised into action. It wasn't long before American ships and traders were on the Northwest Coast. The first voyages were not markedly successful due to a lack oi capital and understanding of the new trade.
There is a description of a large and unique Indian canoe and then, nearly a year out of Boston, the Lady Washington came to anchor in Tillamook Bay, the first Americans to visit the Oregon Coast. Their stay there was short but eventful. Captain Gray's servant, a gigantic native of the Cape Verde Islands, was killed in a skirmish with the Indians. The others on shore retreated to the sloop under the cover of the ship's swivel guns. They named the bay Murderer's Harbor and their adventures and the huge negro entered the legend and folklore of the Pacific Coast. Sailing on the 18th, they struck on the bar, suffering only slight damage to the gudgeons, pintles, and rudder.
The first truly successful and historically important venture to sail from Boston was that of the ship Columbia Rediviva, Captain John Kendrick, and the small sloop Lady Washington, Captain Robert Gray. They sailed from Boston on Sunday the 30th of September in 178 7. The two vessels sailed on a voyage of trade and exploration with the blessing of the federal government, and with sea letters from President Washington himself, a fact of considerable importance in territorial and boundary claims in later years.
My ocatavo edition of Cook's Voyages to the Pacific, 1784, lists among the subscribers to this smaller edition that was so popular among merchants and traders many captains. A reasonable understanding of conditions on the Coast and at Canton could be gleaned from this source.
The passage along the Coast is well described and there are many interesting observations in the journal. By the end of August they had arrived at Clayoquot and begun trading. The natives spoke of a number of ships and captains, but little true information could be gleaned because of the lack of understanding of the local language.
The Lady Washington: Little Known Northwest Coast Pioneer
Nootka was the appointed place of meeting in case the Columbia and the Lady Washington were separated during the voyage. Since the Columbia had not yet arrived, this necessitated a period of waiting . On the 19th, one day after arriving, the Washington was hauled ashore for breaming and paying of her bottom. Captain Meares' blacksmith assisted in repairing the sloop's damaged rudder irons. That same day, Meares' schooner, the Northwest America, the first vessel to be built on the Northwest Coast, was launched and a hilarious good time was had by all hands. The next day Captain Gray hauled the Lady Washington off and moored her while the work of refitting continued
The dreaded cape was rounded and the ships parted company in foul weather on the first of April. The journal relates the routine of the voyage, and we gain a familiarity and practical understanding of the little vessel as they traversed the length of the Pacific Ocean to the Northwest Coast.
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No. 3
At this advanced season of the Year we were lanching forward in a sloop scarsely 90 tuns to make a passage at the same season of the Year when Lord Anson in one of the finest ships in the British Navy mett with allmost insermountable diffi[c}ulties, the account of his Voyage was truely discouraging However for a considerable time we mett with no very heavy gales but the sea generaly very cross and to a mountaineous highth.
Captain Kendrick, being in charge, decided to winter at Nootka, so the vessels were rigged down and semblance of a shore station was set up. The smiths were at work making iron chisels and like items for trade. There were good relations with the Indians and there was good trading for fish, game, and furs as the winter dragged on.
During the summer, Gray found the Columbia still at anchor and rigged down, none of the needed work having been done. She remained a hulk and no trading had been accomplished. We learn of subsequent events from a single sentence in a letter from Captain Gray to the owners, written in Canton, China. There is also a slight mention of the circumstances in John Hoskins' narrative of the second voyage of the Columbia. The two vessels sailed in company to Clayoquot and lay near the present town of Tofino, where there was an exchange of commands sometime in mid July. The Coumbia and Captain Gray sailed for the Sandwich Islands, Canton, and home, the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe.
The Lady Washington as a brigantine; profile and spar details. Research and design by Hewitt Jackson. The brigantine is an easily worked rig for a small crew, there being no spars or sails of dangerously large proportion, as in the sloop configuration.
devered to disswade Capt. Kendrick from it, but to no purpose. 1789, fanuary. Tuesday 13th. we were haled told the ship was onfier we all went onboard directly to give every assista[n]se that lay in our power the fier was near the magazeen ... the coals had dropped down the after hold and set the sails on fier as they lay against the magazien bulkhead it was fortunate it was discovered before it went to an iritrievable length.
some of our gentlemen were on shore and sighted a sail in the offin which by our glasses we soon knew to be the Columbia I concluded at first sight her people were in an advanced state of the scurvy for tho' very moderate and pleasant, her topsails were reefed and her topg[allanjt Masts down on deack. Captain Gray in the longboat immediately went to render them all the assistance that lay in our power: and about 5 oclock in the afternoon she anchored within forty yards of us.
/ /
From Haswell's journal much can be learned of the characteristics of the sloop. She was fast and handy, logging ten knots on occasion. Details are scant, but there is the drawing of the Lady Washington at anchor that decorates the title page of the journal.
By mid March, Gray had the Washington at sea on a trading venture that extended from the Washington Coast, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and to southeastern Alaska. There were adventures and misadventures, including a near disastrous grounding before they returned to Nootka in July. The journal ended several days before this. It is the only record surviving of the first voyage of the two vessels to the Coast.
Captain Kendrick had been for several weeks up to his elbos in morter bulding a brick chimne where the mizon mast had stood tho' he had a good brass stove. its bad consequences we all dredded and en-
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The Washington remained on the Coast, trading the following season, then sailed for China, going to the Portuguese enclave at Macao, below Canton Somewhere along the way Captain Kendrick contrived a sham sale of the vessel to himself, and the little vessel became a fleeting shadow in the history and folklore of the Northwest Coast, the Pacific Islands, China, and Japan.
All was not dull and quiet as a journal entry records:
While the Washington lay in "Dirty Butter Bay" outside of Macao, Captain Kendrick had her re-rigged as a brigantine. There is mention of the captain and his vessel in a number of surviving logs and journals, some unpublished, and it is from these that the ''brig'' versus ''brig-
Many rigging details of the sloop presented problems at first, most being problems of nomenclature and definition. Sloops, hoys, and cutters were much the same in rig, the characteristics of the sloop being a standing bowsprit, jib-boom, and usually a full head. The others sported a running bowsprit that could be "run in" when in a crowded harbor. There are other sloops, properly sloop-of-war, that could be a ship, a ketch, a brig, a snow, or even a sloop.
While sloops of similar build to the Washington comprised the numerical and tonnage bulk of the early American merchant marine, there is little pictorial or other data on them. They were generally kept in the coastal and West Indies trades and every maritime community had its local packet.
antine" question is resolved. The rigging plans had to be built about the details of the sloop with an eye to avoiding major structural changes. There certainly were good reasons for the change of rig. John Boit, Haswell's shipmate on the Lady Washington, remarks on the desirability of it after taking the small sloop Union around the world a few years later .
dimensions, both in size and in placing. The masts and spars were likewise determined from length and beam
Size and dimensions were determined for a vessel "of 90 tuns" by utilizing the methods and measures of the times. She was a nimble, fast, and weatherly craft, and this did tend to influence the selection of data. Length between perpendiculars (between rabbet of stem and after face of rudder post at main or lower deck) was 65 1 4 11 1 beam extreme, 23'3", and the depth of hold was 7 1 8 11 • With this material at hand, the reconstruction of detailed plans began. A "Shipbuilder's Repository" of the period lay down the rules and proportions of sloops and hoys, and she was put together a piece at a time on paper, each timber having a prescribed fractional value of the principal
-Hewitt Jackson
The brigantine plans were developed as research was being done on Captain Kendrick's visit to the Japanese port of Kushimoto in 1791 on his way back to the Northwest Coast from China. This involved scholars from the Smithsonian, Georgetown University, as well as others in Japan, Korea, and China. Many sources, both published and unpublished, were utilized, in the absence of logs and journals of this particular voyage. The "Narrative of Events in the life of John Bartlett, 1790-1792, during voyages to Canton, the Northwest Coast of America, etc 11 proved valuable as he spent a brief period on board the Lady Washington with Captain Kendrick He is reputed to be the author of ''The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman.''
It will be noted that the vessels were not pierced for carriage guns. Evidence indicated that swivels only were carried, they being shipped in fittings similar to oarlocks. These guns were miniature cannon mounted in a fork-like casting that could quickly be moved and dropped into the fittings about the ship. Some were stocked like a musket, many being an enlarged "blunderbuss" that we associate with the early pilgrims.
Due to the historic importance of the Lady Washington and the particular interest expressed by local historical societies, research was undertaken to determine the characteristics and details of the vessel. This followed the studies of the Columbia Rediviva and was, in many ways, a continuation of that project. Interested parties, including the Oregon Historical Society, had contacted Howard I. Chappelle of the Smithsonian Institution regarding material and possible plans of the Columbia, and research into the Lady Washington naturally coincided.
Chappelle had gathered some material but had little time available for such an extensive project. I had contact with him and had submitted sketches for his remarks and comments, but these were limited to the material needed for paintings only. The late Edmund Hayes, President of the Oregon Historical Society, and his longtime friend Samual Elliot Morrison became actively involved Soon I was invited to undertake research and design with Mr. Chappelle and others as advisors and critics. This was done and a set of plans were developed. It must be noted that this work has been added to and revised a bit as time has gone by In the mid 1960s some contemporary drawings of the Columbia were found and acquired that gave a great deal more material on the stern and rig of the ship. Some of this was developed by a light table study that revealed detail that could not be recorded photographically. Copies of an unpublished log in my possession refined things further yet.
1;So A. t..~ FIZ 1i,.'l"', -'---'-----'-------'----'----'-~
While calculations were going on, a weather eye was kept on Haswell's small profile rendering of the Lady Washington on the title page of his journal. I had not thought it particularly worthy of study at first, but continuing research gave good reason for changing this assessment. Far beyond my first impression of it, Haswell' s sketch turned out to be a precise and valuable reference, and it was decided to project it at the scale of the drawings. When this projection was laid over the plans, it was found to match within a very small percent in all particulars. That diminutive drawing was a scale profile drawn from the spar and sail plans that were undoubtedly kept on board.
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No. 3
Louie Smith model of the brigantine Lady Washington. Research by Hewitt Jackson.
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,,_; ~
This was not the first visit to this particular village of the Kunghit Haida by the Lady Washington . Captain Gray had been there in June of 1789, trading peacefully with the inhabitants A few months later, following the exchange of com-
Come All Ye Bold Northwestmen
The hostile encounter described in "The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman" was not an isolated incident, as indicated by this painting by crew member John Davidson of the Columbia Rediviva "Attackted at Juan De Fuca Straits." The painting depicts an event which actually took place on June 9, 1792, in Queen Char lotte Sound. Original on display at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, on loan from Elizabeth Chapman DuBois, a descendant of the Columbia's armorer , Benjamin Popkins.
Believed to be the oldest American ballad concerning a Northwest event, ''The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman'' was a favorite among deep water sailors of the 19th century. It concerns an incident which occurred during the early maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast, presenting a one-sided account of an attack by a village of the Kunghit Haida upon the Lady Washington, Captain John Kendrick, in 1791.
While Captain Kendrick was anchored off Anthony Island during his previous visit of 1789, some of the natives pilfered his freshly laundered linens, which had been hung out to dry alongside the vessel. Kendrick's response was to order a boat to shore. There armed crew members seized the two head chiefs of the village, Koyah ("Raven") and Skulkinanse. The encounter is described in various journals and ship's logs of the period. Captain Kendrick's version is given at length in John Hoskins' Narrative of the second voyage of the Columbia. John Hoskins was supercargo, or owner's agent, on this second voyage
''The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman" is worthy of study for a number of reasons. The incident it describes began a long downward spiral into oblivion for one of the most important villages of the Kunghit or southern Haida of British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands. The village where the incident took place, now known as Ninstints, has been uninhabited for well over a hundred years. Yet when the Lady Washington anchored there two hundred years ago, it occupied the apex of the rich and fascinating cultural complex among the native peoples of the Northwest Coast.
mands, Captain Kendrick also had visited Barrell Sound Had he observed one of Captain James Cook's guiding principles for dealing with the natives, perhaps none of the ensuing events would have transpired. As explained by Charles H. Carey in General History of Oregon, Cook understood that for the native peoples there was a "communal proprietary right'' for everything within their locality, including the right to take wood or water When a vessel gathered food, fuel, or water without permission, the natives considered they had an equal right to help themselves to the strangers' property.
In March of 1791, having lost an entire season of trade while being refitted in China, the Lady Washington called at Japan, the first American vessel to do so. Captain Kendrick arrived back on the Northwest Coast in June, 1791. Shortly thereafter he proceeded to the Queen Charlotte Islands and the aforementioned village of Ninstints on Anthony Island in Houston Stewart Channel (called by Kendrick and Gray "Barrell Sound").
The earliest manuscript version of ''The Bold Northwestman'' was published as a broadside ballad in Boston in the 1830s. Believed lost for many years, upon its rediscovery in the Widener Library by Dr Samuel Elliot Morrison of Harvard University, it became the subject matter for a learned study by Francis Howay, published in the Journal of the Washington State Historical Society in 1929. Judge Howay is also the author of Voyages of the Columbia to the Northwest Coast, 1787-1790 etJ 1790-1793 (Cambridge, 1941), and "Indian Attacks on Maritime Traders of the Northwest Coast 1785-1805," in the Canadian Historical Review, 1925. A second version of the ballad was collected during this century from the Kneeland family of Searsport, Maine, and was first published in the Bulletin of the Folksong Society of the Northeast in 1935.
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Come all ye bold Northwestmen who plough the raging main, Come listen to my story, while I relate the same; 'Twas of the LADY WASHINGTON decoyed as she lay, At Queen Charlotte's Island, in North America.
'Twas on November the second day, in seventeen ninety-one, The natives of this country on board of us did come; And then to buy their furs of them, our captain did begin, But mark what followed after, before it long had been
Our captain then perceiving the ship was in their power, He spoke unto his people, likewise his officers, Go down into the cabin and there some arms prepare, See that they are well loaded, be sure and don't miss fire.
Come all ye bold Northwestmen, wherever you may be, Trust not an Indian savage in North America; For they are all so desirous, your shipping to obtain, That they never will leave it off till most of them are slain.
Come all ye bold Northwestmen who plough the raging main, Come listen to this tragedy, while I relate the same; 'Twas on the LADY WASHINGTON at Cowper where she lay, And by Queen Charlotte's Islands in North America.
Abaft upon our quarter deck two ann chests did stand, And in them there was left the keys by the gunner's careless hand, When quickly they procuring of them did make a prize, Thinking we had no other arms for to defend our lives.
Then down into the cabin straightway we did repair, And to our sad misfortune few guns could we find there; We only found six pistols, a gun and two small swords, And in short time we did agree "blow her up" was the word.
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No. 3
"The Bold Northwestman," circa 1830
Our powder we got ready and gun room open lay, Our soul's we did commit to God prepar'd for a wat'ry grave! We then informed our captain, saying ready now are we, He says a signal I will give, it shall be ''follow me. ''
I'd have you all take warning and always ready be, For to suppress those savages of Northwest America ; For they are so desirous some vessel for to gain, That they never will leave it off till most of them are slain
-as sung by Mr. F.E. Kneeland of Searsport, Maine, learned from his father's singing, and published in the Bulletin of the Folksong Society of the Northeast (Number 10) edited by Phillips Barry (Powell Printing Co , Cambridge, 1935, and reprinted by the American Folklore Society, Philadelphia, 1960).
And now unto old China we 're fastly rolling on, Where we shall drink good punch for which we've suffered long; And when the sixteenth day of Tune around does yearly come , We '11 drink in commemoration what on that day was done
9
All this time upon the quarter deck poor man was forced to stand, With twelve of those curst savages with knives all in their hands; Till one of those blood-thirsty hounds he made a spring below, And then he sung out ''follow me!'' and after him did go.
"The Bold Northwestern Man," circa 1930
And now for to conclude, and make and end to my song, Success to the commander of the LADY WASHINGTON. Success unto his voyages wherever he may go, And may death and destruction always attend his foe.
Up upon our quarter deck, our gun chest there did stand, The keys they being left in them, by our gunner's careless hand; And the natives they perceiving, thought our ship to make a prize, Thinking we had no other means for to protect our lives.
Then into the cabin, straightway we did repair, But to our sad misfortune, no arms could we find there; Except it were two pistols, one gun and two broadswords, And immediately it was agreed; "Fight them off!" it was the word.
Our powder we got ready in our gun room openly, Our souls we did commit to God, our bodies to the clay; All standing in one cabin waiting for a sign, But no sign could be given for fear we should be slain.
Up upon our quarterdeck, our captain there did stand, With twelve of those bold savages with knives drawn in their hands; All pointing at his body, ready to run him through, If we should offer to resist Great God what could we do~
Then with what few arms we had, we rushed on them with main, And by our being spirited, the quarter deck did gain; And the number that we killed of them was seventy and odd, And as many more were wounded, as since we've understood.
On the sixteenth day of Tune, boys, in the year Ninety One, The natives in great numbers on board of us did come, Then for to buy their furs of them our captain did begin, But mark what they attempted before long time had been.
Then with what few fire arms we had we rush 'don deck amain, And by our being resolute, our quarter deck we gain'd; Soon as we gain'd our arm chest, such slaughter then made we, That in less than ten minutes our ship of them was free. Then we threw overboard the dead that on the deck there lay; And found we had nobody hurt, to work we went straightaway; The number kill' d upon our deck that day was sixty good, And as full as many wounded as soon we understood 'Twas early the next morning at the hour of break of day, We sail 'd along abreast the town which we came to straightaway; We call'd on hands to quarters and at the town did play, We made them to return what things they'd stolen that day
This tune is the first version of the ballad to be recorded in the U.S., although apparently two Canadian versions previously had appeared in print. The author would appreciate hearing from anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of these earlier melodies. Music notation above is from The Rainy Day Songbook, Linda Allen editor, published by the Whatcom Museum of History and Art in 1978 .
-from a broadside ballad as published by Leonard Deming of "No 62 Hanover Street, 2d door from Friend Street, Boston," between the years 1831 and 1836.
when he went into the Sound this time the natives appeared to be quite friendly and brought skins for sale as usual the day of the attack there was an extraordinary number of visitors several Chiefs being aboard the arm chests were on the quarterdeck with the keys in them the gunners having been overhauling the arms the Chiefs got on these chests and took the keys out when Coyah tauntingly said to Captain Kendrick pointing to his legs at the same time now put me into your gun carriage the vessel was immediately thronged with natives a woman standing in the main chains urging them on the officers and people all retired below having no arms but what was in possession of the natives save the officers private ones Captain Kendrick tarried on deck endeavouring to pacify the natives and bring them to some terms at the same time edging towards the companion way to secure his retreat to the cabbin a fellow all the time holding a huge marling spike he had stolen fixed into a stick over his head ready to strike the deadly blow whenever orders should be given the other natives with their daggers grasped and only waiting for the word to be given to begin a most savage massacree just as Captain Kendrick had reached the companion way Coyah jumpt down and he immediately jumpt on top of him Coyah then made a pass at him with his dagger but it luckily only went through his jacket and scratched his belly the officers by this time had their arms in readiness and would have ventured on deck with them before but for fear of killing their Captain Captain Kendrick now fired a musket from the cabbin then took a pair of pistols and another musket and went on deck being followed by his officers with the remainder of the arms they had collected the natives on seeing this made a precipitate retreat all but the woman before mentioned in the chains who there continued urging them to action with the greatest ardour until the last moment though her arms had previously been cut by one of the people with a hanger and she was otherways much wounded when she quitted all the natives had left the vessel and she jumpt over board and attempted to swim of but was afterwards shot though the natives had taken the keys of the arm chests yet they did not happen to be lockt they were therefore immediately opened and a constant fire was kept up as long as they could reach the natives with the cannon or small arms after which they chased them in their armed boats making the most dreadful havock by killing all they came across this accounts for the story the natives told us when we were there .
No mention was given at that time to the more recent and far more deadly exchange of 16 June, 1791, perhaps for fear of reprisal, or perhaps, as Hewitt Jackson suggests, to lure another vessel into letting down its guard. Not until they heard of it from Captain Kendrick and the crew of the Lady Washington did those on board the Columbia learn of the bloodbath at Barrell Sound shortly before they arrived
An earlier and much intriguing entry in Hoskins' Narrative provides an important cultural insight into this matter. The ship Columbia, on her second voyage under Captain Robert Gray had visited Barrell Sound in July, 1791, within a month after Captain Kendrick's battle with the natives. Though language limitations clearly colored any understanding of what transpired, it appears that the Kunghit attempted to describe their side of the original altercation with Captain Kendrick over the ships' linens They claimed Kendrick [Howay 1941: p.200):
Captain Kendrick arrived on the 13th of June in latitude 53° 58' north he went into Barrell's Sound where his vessel a few days after his arrival was attacked and actually in possession of the natives nearly an hour when he again recovered his vessel killed and wounded a great many amongst the rest a woman who was a proper amazon. This he attributes to the following cause soon after he sent the Columbia on to China he sailed from Clioquot for Washington's Islands and went into Barrell's sound having been there a short time the natives found means to steal his linnen etca. that had that day been washed this with some other things they had at times robbed him of induced him to take the two Chiefs Coyah and Schulkinanse he dismounted one of his cannon and put one leg of each into the carriage where the arms of the cannon rest and fastened down the clamps threatning at the same time if they did not restore the stolen goods to kill them nearly all the goods were soon returned what was not he made them pay for in skins as this was a means though contrary to his wishes of breaking friendship with them and well knowing if he let those Chiefs go they would sell him no more skins he therefore made them fetch him all their skins and paid them the same price he had done for those before purchased when they had no more the two Chiefs were set at liberty Hoskins' Narrative [Howay, 1941: p.240)
Hoskins' Narrative [Howay, 1941: p.241)
took Coyah, tied a rope around his neck, whipt him, painted his face, cut off his hair, and took away from him a great many skins, and then turned him ashore. Coyah was no longer a Chief, but an "Ahliko," or one of the lower class. They now have no head Chief, but many inferior Chiefs.
10
It would be well to make note here of the importance of the concept of what could be termed ''face'' among the Haida and other peoples of the Northwest Coast The head man of the village [customarily called a chief by Euro-Americans) could arrive at such a position of prestige and social importance only through an elaborate system for the acquisition of power: the potlatch Those interested in this subject, which is both fascinating and complex, are best directed to the rich body of anthropological literature on the cultures of the Northwest Coast In brief, however , humiliation such as is described above indeed would have reduced Koyah to inferior status, and by extension, the entire village along with him. Redress for such an insult from outsiders such as the Americans on the Lady Washington would most likely come through revenge And this vengeance would not have been reserved for the Lady Washington alone In general, it seems that the natives of the Northwest Coast regarded all the vessels of the fur trade as somehow allied, and grievance caused by one could legitimately be taken out on any other vessel should opportunity present itself
10 and t o be in Redyness to make a Salle y uppon Deack when that he Should Give the watch word which was to Foll o w m e.
12 Courer the Chi fe of the Nati ves knowing that he had Suffishe n t Command of deack made a Spring be Low to Sea what force thay was be low. Capt kendrick jumpt Down the hatch uppon the Chifes Back and Coll out Follow Me.
13 by that the Men all made a Salley uppon them the Chife Seaing of this for Makeing of with all his Tribe but in less than five minnit the Ship Compeny Gain the deack from them and Brock Oppen the Arm Chest and killd forty of Dead Oppon the Spot with out Luseing One man.
stanza, the crew early the next morning "sail'd along abreast the town and at the town did play," a detail unmention ed in any of the other accounts. The layout of the village, behind protective rocks in a narrow inlet, tends to cast a bit of doubt on this particular scenario. Could there in fact be more than one episode buried in the text of this ballad? Hostilities between white fur traders and the native population of the Northwest Coast were not uncommon, and in forty years details could easily intermingle.
6 [The natives] thratten 'd to kill them if they made the Least Resistence and Drove them all into the hole.
5 All this time Captn kendrick was on the Qurter Deack with a Peace of bar Iron in his hand treading with them.
3 His Gunner went On the qurter Deack and tould him that the Natives would take the Vessel from them and it was Dangerous to Let So Many of them Come Onbord the Captn Strock the Gunner and Pushd him of the qurter Deack So that he had Not time to take the Keyse Out of the Arms Chest
11 twel ve of the s e Savage s S t ood wi th kn i fes Poi n ting at th e cap tn Bo d y to par vent him from Goin g below.
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No 3
7 All this time the Capn was Convarsing with his men be Low telling them to Muster up all the Arms that thay find
peared in print a hundred years before the other. But is it, therefore, the "original," or simply a version which earlier made its way into print?
Version No. 2, as it came down to us in the 20th century, is clearly in error as to the date of the incident in question. It also demonstrates growing confusion over usage of terminology . (See definitions and notes by Hewitt Jackson, page 13 ) On the other hand, No. 1 appears questionable on some details as well. By 1830, the maritime fur trade of the Northwest Coast was over. The incident to which the ballad refers was forty years past and gone before the earliest version appeared in print. One wonders whether extraneous details might have crept in. For instance, the crew below decks in No. 1 agrees that to "blow her up" was the word Such resolve more resembles the story of the Tonquin in 1812 than the Lady Washington in 1791. In the tenth
2 The Captn was in Lickqur One Day And trusted More in the Natives then his own Peple an would Suffer Great Numbers Of them to Come Onbord
8 [They found} Only two Pisstols One Musket and two Cutlashes .
In many respects the two versions are much the same Version No 1, circa 1830, as Howay remarks, breaks down in rhyme and meter. Simply put, it doesn't scan very well Version No. 2 scans somewhat better, perhaps because it was learned from a singer. In other words, No. 2 comes from an oral tradition. By contrast, No. 1 was hawked by a peddler of broadsides Printed without tune, it was put away and forgotten From a folklorist's point of view, that makes No. 1 somewhat suspect, since another version did survive in the oral tradition . It would be interesting (and impossible at this late date) to learn from what source Leonard Deming got the ballad in the 1830s, and whether the text represents the ballad as sung in the forecastles of the sailing vessels of the period.
Deck details of the Lady Washington as a briganti ne were in large part gleaned by Hewitt Jackson from "The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman. " N ote swivels mounted on the rails . Model by Lloyd MacCaffery, in Hewitt Jackson collection.
The tune sung with version No 2 by the Kneeland family is said to be the oldest traditional American melody associated with the ballad, two others reportedly having been printed in Canada. Stuart Franck, director of the Kendall Whaling Museum in Sharon, Massachusetts, has said that ''the tune is corrupt.' '
Let us return then to the question of the ballad. Comparing our two versions of " The Bold Northwestman," one ap-
11
Another account of the attack on the Lady Washington is found in "Bartlett's Manuscript Journal," 1791. Howay re garded Bartlett as the likely author of ''The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman.'' The Bartlett manuscript is quoted extensively in the footnotes to Howay's treatise on the "Bold Northwestman.'' Selected excerpts, as quoted in footnotes 2-13, (Howay, 1929: pp 115-116) are as follows:
4 When the natives Saw this they tuck Possition of the Arm Chest Emedtly and begin to flock Onbord from the Shore in Great Numbers and made a Tarible Norse whith thear war Songs.
The location named in the first stanza of No 2 is worthy of note. The crews of the maritime fur trading vessels routinely referred to villages by the name of the head chief, in this case Koyah . That name is written in various journals and logs as Coyah, Courer, Coyer, Cowyer, etc Pronounced with a Maine accent, Cowper is not that far removed from Cowyer or Coyer, and can reasonably be said to represent the name of the head chief of the village at that time (Similarly, Ninstints, as the site is known today, is derived from a corruption of the Kunghit Nan stins, meaning "He who is two," after the name of a later head chief during the mid 19th century.) By contrast, "decoyed as she lay" in No. 1 could very well have been derive<l fr om trying to make sense of what the transcriber did not understand to be a proper name .
Today, Ninstints, or Sga'ngwa-i ("Red Cod Island Town") to the Kunghit Haida, is a World Heritage Site, ''of im-
-HobeKytr
Later years brought improved relations with whites, but a prevailing pattern of decline had begun. At its height, Ninstints was comprised of 17-20 lodges, each containing 30-40 individuals. By 1841, a census of the population showed 308 inhabitants. In 1863, a passing vessel dropped off a passenger with smallpox at the village. The ensuing epidemic was followed in the next few years by successive waves of illness. The Raven lineage of Koyah passed into decline, replaced by the Eagle lineage of Nan stins. By 1875, the village was no longer inhabited, though it was still in use as a camping place by the former inhabitants, who had moved to be with their former enemies at Skidegate. In 1892, the southern portion of the village was burned by the Koskimo Indians in the employ of a sealing schooner.
12
portance to the History of Mankind," under a UNESCO declaration of November 27, 1981. An admirable book, Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site by George F. MacDonald, was published by the University of British Columbia Press in 1983, to which this article is indebted.
of all hands. Another vessel, probably the Eleanora, Captain Simon Metcalfe, was quickly subdued, all hands killed save for one who was coaxed out of the rigging and placed into slavery. Hostilities were commenced with the rival village of Chief Skidegate. It is also believed that the seizure of the [efferson by Chief Cumshewa during this time period was in emulation of Koyah's warlike behavior. Finally, in 1795, the Union, Captain John Boit, was attacked under the leadership of Chief "Scorch Eye," who was killed in the attempt, along with at least fifty others.
Perhaps. But in some ways, as we have seen, so is the text. Traditional songs and ballads of the Pacific Northwest are not at all common, and material dating from the early 19th century or possibly even earlier is rare indeed. I do not find the fact that "The Bold Northwestman" may have been sung to a common broadside tune of the period particularly disturbing. The evidence of the vast body of American traditional songs from all periods and regions would indicate that the marriage of lyrics to an existing tune is far more common than creating an entirely new melody with words to match. Over a period of years, melodies and words can be forgotten or half forgotten. If the song has merit, has life, it will be sung. The key here is whether the song has the power to speak with enough clarity that it somehow survives the tricks of memory and the ravages of time. "The Bold Northwestman," from the evidence of having survived at all, passes this test.
In like manner, the arrival of mariners of European descent on this coast signaled the end of rich and varied Native American cultures in this region, many of which, like the Kunghit Haida of Ninstints, succumbed as much to European introduced diseases as to direct violence. Some, like the Clatsops, Chinooks, Cathlamets, and other peoples near the mouth of the Columbia River fell into disarray before outsiders thought their culture worthy of study. When examining the early history and pre-history of this region, there is much we will never know, and we will ever be the poorer for it. I believe this is the real lesson of' 'The Bold Northwestman," and why examining it is a bit like opening a window on an important and not entirely comfortable period of our past.
It is well to view ''The Bold Northwestman'' in the context of the early maritime fur trade. I believe it is equally important to place it in the setting of the cultural misunderstandings and conflicts between the peoples of the Northwest Coast and the Euro Americans who brought their period of glory to an end. In the case of Ninstints, it was a sad ending indeed. Koyah continued his efforts to regain his prestige by engaging in repeated belligerent acts. In 1794, an unidentified English vessel was overrun with loss
"The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman'' and the incident it describes tells an all too familiar story of intercultural conflict and misunderstanding. We should neither glorify it nor excuse it. We will learn nothing by sanitizing it. The introduction of the maritime fur trade to the Northwest Coast extinguished subspecies of sea otters and other fur bearing animals, and altered marine ecosystems in a way we now can only guess.
By and large this does not fit the episode as well as might be expected. It has the feel of being far removed from source and action. From my standpoint as a historian, there is much more to be said in favor of No 1 in all historical details. However, this need not imply that it was the favored song at sea, nor that it was the first version to be commonly known.
In the first verse we find ''Twas of the Lady Washington decoyed as she lay. 11 This has bothered some but I see no problem with it. "Decoyed as she lay," considering the usage of the period, covers the masked intent of the natives and the optimistic but boozy trust of the skipper as well as anything could in so few words.
Quarterdeck, Vol.17 No. 3
Just what the truth was when it came to the matter of the arms chest keys is open to conjecture. Version No. 1 implies the natives got the keys, that the chests remained locked, and that the ship's company had to break open the chests after the sally on deck. Hoskins' Narrative states, '' ... though the natives had taken the keys of the arm chests yet they did not happen to be lokt and they were therfore immediatly opend and a constant fire kept up." The oversight was a costly mistake for the natives and the salvation of ship and crew.
"All standing in one cabin waiting for a sign," (No. 2, stanza 6) is a phrase to be questioned. Bartlett mentions the men being in the hold, the officers aft in the cabin. Hoskins is less clear on this, though he does state that the captain and officers were the first on deck with the few arms at hand-no mention of the others who must have been in the hold. The physical size of the cabin is another factor.
A study of the first version of the "Bold Northwestman" shows every indication of having stemmed from John Bartlett's short stay on board the Lady Washington. The wording of his narrative is strong evidence of this, and may well indicate that he was the author.
A Few Clarifying Remarks and Definitions
"Gun chest" in No. 2 is questionable, as the accepted term was '' arms chest'' or sometimes "arm chest." "Guns" were the carriage cannon regardless of size or type. The "gun room" was that area allowed to the gunner and his mates. "Magazine" would be the accepted designation for the powder room, convenient to the gun room, usually aft in the run of the ship, where it was under the eye of the gunner and officers. There is substantial evidence that the Lady
Washington was armed only with swivels. There is no indication of gunports in the Haswell drawing of her as a sloop.
-Hewitt Jackson
Version No. 2 was obviously sung by many and is real enough by those standards. The date is out of the question as the trading vessels would have left the Coast for the season, or at least been in winter quarters if they had not left highly unlikely from what we know.
The second is a fragment in "John Bartlett's Narrative " From the Bartlett Narrative we can readily see that John Bartlett was never at sea in the Lady Washington with Captain Kendrick, and further, that he obviously did not participate in the disturbance on the coast as has often been asserted. On Christmas Day, 1791, Bartlett shipped on board the Lady Washington, Captain Kendrick, bound for the Northwest Coast. The situation on board is somewhat of a mystery, as he remained with them for just over a couple of weeks. On 16 January, 1792, he joined the Eleanora, Captain Simon Metcalfe, bound for the Isle of France.
When considering the "Ballad of the Bold Northwestman" it is essential that we have an adequate conception of the historical facts surrounding the event, the men and ships involved. The whole is surrounded by a good deal of speculation as there are no surviving logs or journals from the Lady Washington during her wanderings and misadventures under Captain Kendrick There are only a few known records of her activities on the Northwest Coast.
The first is the well-known log by Robert Haswell of the first voyage of the Columbia Rediviva & the Lady Washington, 1787-1789 This young man transferred from the Columbia to the Lady Washington in the Falkland Islands after having difficulties with Captain Kendrick . This is background material at best, but it is the only comprehensive account we have of the first voyage.
The 11 arms'' on board refer to the swivels and like weapons, muskets, fowling pieces, pistols, and the like. The arms chests were on deck and accessible on the quarterdeck, the gunner and officers being responsible for them All things classified as arms were stowed in them when not out in the racks. They were suitable stowage for the swivels and related firearms.
The term ''broadsword'' requires mention In all fairness, it does fit an accepted definition, but the usage is not consistent. The edge arms on board were the "cutlass" and the "hanger," only sometimes referred to as "swords."
The word "decoy" is found from time to time in the military and maritime language of the period. An older definition: ''DECOY'' anything intended to lead into a snare, a lure that misleads and deceives into danger, or into the power of the enemy "
Further accounts of the incident are to be found in other logs and journals. These are, at best, secondhand reports, essentially correct but subject to some embellishments, omissions and possible exaggerations. They, with the remarks of their authors, shed further light on the tragic happening.
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Dr Patricia L. Swenson
Mr. & Mrs. Roy Aspen Leonard Haga Dorothea J. Handran Mr. & Mrs. Harry L. Larson Eleanor Leppinen Mr. & Mrs Ed Lundholm
ROBERT PREST P.L. Nock
Mr & Mrs. Sven Lund
R.M. 'STUB' LANDWEHR
DONALD JOHN WIRKKULA Sandy Brantley
Mr. & Mrs. Ray Ala A J. L'Amie
Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Hjorten
Mr & Mrs. Robert E. Frame Mr. & Mrs. Robert P. Kearney A.J. L'Amie
Mr. & Mrs J.E Bakkensen Mr. & Mrs. Robert E Frame
Mr. & Mrs. John A. Pietila
A.J L'Amie
PATRICIA KATHERINE LOUKAS
LAURA J. LAKSO
FERNE E. DORTHEA PHILLIPS Eleanor Ewenson
Mr. & Mrs Arvid North Mr & Mrs James E. O'Connor
MRS. A. J. SNOW Paula Morrow
WILLIAM HURST
Address City ____ State _______ Zip _ _ 15
ARTHUR HONEYMAN
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew E. Young
AS
Mr. & Mrs. Clarence O. Dreyer Peggy Johanson
Mr. & Mrs. Toivo Mustonen
Cross section of Lady Washington at main mast by Hewitt Jackson.
Quarterdeck, Vol. 17 No. 3
KATHARINE 'K' THORNE Paula Morrow Mr. & Mrs Ruben A. Mund
Mr. & Mrs. Marvin A. Fausett
Mr. & Mrs Gilbert V Kamara Niemi Oil Company
Mr. & Mrs Ed Lundholm
Mailing
FAMILY MEMORIAL Catherine Honeyman Engmark Barbara Honeyman Roll
Paul Stangeland Mr. & Mrs Arnold C. Swanson Mr & Mrs Dan A Thiel Astrid 0. Wooley
THOR M. 'TUBBY' LARSEN Mr. Ernest Kairala
DONALD W KUJALA
HERBERT 'HERB' PALMBERG Mr. & Mrs. George Abrahamsen Astoria Marine Construction Co. Mr. & Mrs. Art Chan Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Knutsen A.J. L'Amie Mr. & Mrs. John S McGowan Mr. & Mrs. Toivo Mustonen Mr. & Mrs. Arvi W . Ostrom Mr. & Mrs. Larry Perkins
Mr. & Mrs William P. Finucane
Roy L. SMART
A.J. L'Amie
RICHARD 'RITCHIE' WIKSTROM
Mr. Mrs.
Mr. & Mrs Vern 0 Larson
ALBERT C. HYDE
OswALD 'OzzIE' NIEMI
DR. FRANK w. RAFFERTY A.J. L'Amie Mr. & Mrs. George Abrahamsen Mr & Mrs. Charles E Hansen Mr. & Mrs Eugene Lowe Mr. & Mrs Arvi W. Ostrom Dorothy 0. Soderberg & Family Mr. & Mrs. Willis Van Dusen
Sign On!
Mr. & Mrs. Ernest J. Barrows Alice N Bechtolt Ed Classen
Mrs J.E. Niemi
Patricia Longnecker Curtis Olson
Wards Cove Packing Company
Mr. & Mrs. John S McGowan
Major Duffy E . Morgan Mr. & Mrs. Arvi W Ostrum
H. WILLIAM 'BILLY' LARSON
Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Matthews Barbara J. Parpala & Family Jean G. Sandoz
Mr. & Mrs Lloyd Classen Dr John Jacobson
/
Mr . & Mrs . Carl E. 'Kelly' Larson A.J L'Amie Dorothy Soderberg & Family
ALLEN R. THOMPSON Paul Stangeland
WESLEY OBER Mr. & Mrs Kenneth Wrenn
Mr. & Mrs. James E. O'Connor
JAMES J 'JAMIE' VIRGILLO, JR. Dr. & Mrs David I. Williams
Allan Maki
Mr. & Mrs. John S McGowan
Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams
Mary Louise Stoner Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams
BETTY M. MORAN
SWEDE JOHNSON
John R . Gilbert
A reception and preview of the show "Marine Art of the Pacific Northwest" will be held on Friday, June 21, 1991, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Great Hall. All members of the Columbia River Maritime Museum are cordially invited. The show will continue during regular Museum hours through November 3rd.
RSVP: 503-325-2323
''
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM 1792 MARINE DRIVE ASTORIA, OREGON 97103
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Astoria, Oregon Permit No. 209
Opens June 21
On Sunday, June 9, 1991, the Columbia River Maritime Museum will once again host the Lower Columbia Row-In for all non-motorized watercraft. Bring your paddles, oars or sails [and your boats, of course) to the Astoria Yacht Club on Youngs Bay. Don't forget one PFD per crew member and a sack lunch. The all-day event begins at 9 a.m. with registration. A boat parade, races, and an excursion up Youngs River will help us inaugurate the summer boating season . A potluck supper at the Yacht Club will begin about 4 :30 p m
Registration from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Marine Art of the Pacific Northwest''
ISSN 0891-2661
Calling All Boaters! 1991 Lower Columbia Row-In Astoria Yacht Club, June 9th
An Invitation to Museum Members
