Remembrance Through Tragedy: A Snapshot of Yesler’s Wharf by Madeline Diemer
Seattle Washington is home to the Museum of History and Industry, an institution dedicated to chronicling the rich past of the Puget Sound region. It is home to many of the area’s most significant historical pieces. Yet tucked within the museum’s expansive “Maritime Seattle” exhibit, is an artifact of seemingly no importance. Measuring only 4.25 x 6.25 in, it is a black and white photographic print, mounted on cardboard and taken in 1875. (SS Pacific…) The image was donated by the Carkeek family, a prominent Seattle family in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and it is not credited to any known photographer. It is simply a snapshot of Seattle’s steamship industry in the 1870s and a lesson about how even the most inconsequential things can be remembered through tragedy.
The photograph itself is very unassuming. The focus of the image is three ships, all docked at Yesler’s wharf in Seattle. The first ship, on the left-hand side, is the SS Pacific, a steamship first launched in 1850. The bow of the ship faces the camera, and the masts, smokestack, and paddle wheel are visible in the background. To the right of the SS Pacific, also facing the camera but further back, is the SS San Salvador, another steamship built in 1864. Its masts and smokestacks are also visible. The final ship in the picture is only partially visible, where its bow peaks into the image on the right-hand side. This is the bark, Harriet Hunt. All three ships are tethered to a dock, and the silhouette of dockworkers is just visible in the background. In the foreground of the image is the murky water of the Pugid Sound, and the background shows an evergreen tree line. This picture is an average scene from the busy world of the steamship industry in the 1870s. What sets apart this image in particular is what happens after the scene, and what is remembered about the contents of the picture.
Nothing more is known about the SS San Salvador or the Harriet Hunt, besides that that is included in or along with the image. Adam Lyon, an associate from the Museum of History and Industry, when questioned about the two ships, replied: “Unfortunately, we do not have any more information about the ships in the picture”. (2024) They have been forgotten to time and lost in every way except in this image. This is significant because the history of Yesler’s Wharf and the SS Pacific are not at all forgotten. Instead, there is a large amount of information available about them. This is where the idea of tragedy fortifying memory comes into play. The story of Yesler’s Wharf and the SS Pacific are not happy ones. They are barred by destruction, disaster, and eventually total loss.
Yesler’s Wharf began as a makeshift pier on Elliot Bay in Seattle Washington, constructed by Henry Yesler in 1854 to support his successful steam-powered mill. (Caldbick, 2023) In 1859, Yesler began to strengthen and expand the wharf, and by 1875, the mill had become the most prosperous of Yesler’s endeavors. The photograph shows the wharf at this stage in its development. In the next few years, Yesler’s Wharf had grown to be the largest and most significant wharf on Elliot Bay. Yet this success was short-lived. In 1879, a fire started in one of the rooms in a nearby hotel. It quickly spread along the waterfront, and eventually reached Yesler’s property. Most of the wharf was destroyed along with one of the mills. In the following years, Yesler rebuilt his destroyed mill and built another entirely on the wharf. This third mill would burn down in 1887. At this point, the wharf had taken a beating but was still going strong considering its ability to remain the most successful wharf on the bay. Yet in 1889, everything would change. The Great Seattle Fire reached the waterfront of Elliot Bay on June 6, 1889. This was something Yesler’s Wharf could not escape. The fire completely destroyed the wharf, burning even the pilings down to the waterline. Henry Yesler attempted to rebuild the wharf and return it to its former glory, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. By the early 1900s, the wharf was removed and it was replaced by piers. Today, the only visual memory of Yesler’s Wharf is in the form of black and white photographs, just like the one donated to the Museum of History and Industry by the Carkeek family.
In a similar fashion to Yesler’s Wharf, the SS Pacific would be no stranger to tragedy. Undeniably the most famous ship in the image, the SS Pacific found great success though almost all of its time on the ocean. Built in New York in 1950, the ship was an “876-ton side-wheel passenger steamship, 223 feet long and 33 feet six inches across the beam” (McClary, 2009). The ship found its earliest success in the gold rush. “In January 1848, prospectors discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, California, setting off a mad scramble for the Pacific coast later that year.” (Waite, 32). The gold rush drove America westward, and along with hopeful citizens, newly arrived emigrants, and southern slaves, steamships began heading to the Pacific coast. Waite’s emphasis on the movement west for the promise of gold aligns with the early travels of the SS Pacific. The ship began a run between the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco, continuing for a few years before moving to a run between San Fransisco and the Columbia River. In 1861, the SS Pacific struck a large rock and sank. The ship was then raised and repaired and continued working until it was retired in 1872. The discovery of gold in British Columbia resulted in SS Pacific’s resurrection, and it began working again under the Pacific Mail Line with a planned run between San Francisco, Victoria B.C., Seattle, and Tacoma. On November 4th, 1875, loaded passengers and cargo in Victoria B.C. before embarking on a trip to San Francisco. The ship was overloaded with people and cargo, holding around 275 people (surpassing the ship’s 253-person limit) and around $79,200 worth of gold as well as lots of other cargo. The ship had left about an hour late that day, but by 8:00 pm it was approaching Washington’s Cape Flattery without any issues. Yet as 10:00 approached, in almost complete darkness, the SS Pacific made contact with another ship. The SS Pacific struck a wooden-hulled sailing vessel named the Orpheus on its starboard side. The Orpheus sailed away almost entirely undamaged, although the SS Pacific would not be so lucky. The ship began rapidly taking in water and began to sink. Within hours, the ship was fully destroyed. There were only two survivors. James Delgado makes the argument that the SS Pacific was not structurally fit to be sailing. He quotes the Victoria coroners jury who noted "A very slight blow, the shock of which should not have damaged the Pacific if she had been a sound and substantial vessel." (Delgado, 2013) This supports the testimony of the two survivors and witnesses from the nearby town of Port Townsend who claimed the ship’s hull had been badly rotten. The final picture of the SS Pacific is the one taken at Yesler’s Wharf. It is the last visual memory of the ship, and it is an eerie reminder of everything that can happen in a single year. The slightly twisted form of the ship’s hull in the image serves as a sickening foreshadowing of the steamship’s untimely end.
The image titled SS Pacific, SS San Salvador, and bark Harriet Hunt docked at Yesler's Wharf, Seattle, 1875, is one that will go down in history as being both infamously daunting and historically righteous. It essentially captures the calm before two great tragedies, while simultaneously preserving the memory of two almost completely forgotten pieces of history. The image’s significance cannot be overlooked and neither can the luck that brought it into existence. Trying to determine the audience for this image is difficult. With little information about where the image came from, there is no way to say for sure who this picture was taken for. It is possible that the picture serves an industry-related role, taken to record the performance at the wharf. It is also possible that the image was captured by a dockworker or another worker who arrived at the wharf on a ship. It is just as likely that this picture was taken by chance, perhaps by someone walking by or visiting the wharf. Yet regardless of who took the photograph, its significance cannot be overlooked. The image is a glimpse into the past and the memory of four pieces of Pacific Ocean history. The San Salvador and the Harriet Hunt would slip from the American memory had this picture not been preserved. In the same way, the tragic loss of Yesler’s Wharf and the SS Pacific would have no connecting factors if not for the image. Yet, most importantly, the connection between tragedy and remembrance would not be fortified. The SS Pacific and Yesler’s Wharf are remembered, but they are remembered because of the horrible fates that befell them. The San Salvador and the Harriet Hunt are almost forgotten, and perhaps that is because their existence was not cut short by terrible happenings.
Bibliography:
Caldbick, John. “Historylink.org.” Historylink.org, 2 May 2023, https://www.historylink.org/file/22715.
Delgado, James. “Loss of the Steamship Pacific.” Canadian Liter, 2013.
Lyon, Adam. Received by Madeline Diemer, 16 Feb. 2024.
McClary, Daryl C. “Historylink.org.” Historylink.org, 13 Feb. 2009, https://historylink.org/File/8914.
SS Pacific, SS San Salvador, and Bark Harriet Hunt Docked at Yesler’s Wharf, Seattle, 1875. 1875, https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/imlsmohai/id/9372/rec/6.
Waite, Kevin. West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire. University of North Carolina Press, 2021.