Archives-Committee-Presentation

San Francisco Burning

The California Gold Rush was the catalyst which stimulated the lumber industry on the coast. Large numbers of people came to San Francisco on ships from the east coast and by wagon train from the Midwest and other areas beyond the Sierras. Lumber was in great demand for those who chose to stay in San Francisco, establish a home and an enterprise, capitalizing on the demands for goods from the gold fields. Many established temporary quarters in the ships abandoned in the rush to the gold fields. They also erected tents and ramshackle structures living in close quarters, tempting a conflagration. The fires began with the first substantial destruction occurring on December 24, 1849 with an estimated one million dollars in damage. “This was the first of the great fires which devastated San Francisco, and it was to be speedily followed by still more extensive and disastrous occurrences of a similar character. Scarcely were the ashes cold when preparations were made to erect new buildings on the old sites, and within a few weeks the place was covered as densely as before with houses of every kind” (2). On May 4, 1850 another fire occurred with estimated losses four times the December amount. Fires of various sizes continued until the grandest one of all in 1906. These tragedies on top of the population growth created an insatiable demand for lumber.

Further, the Gold Rush had a domino effect which fed the insatiability, not only for lumber, but other wood products; shingles, cord wood for fireplaces, fence posts for those who left the gold fields and went back into farming and/or ranching. The rapid expansion of railroads demanded wood ties to lay tracks. In addition, a little known product from the lumber industry was the use of the California tanoak tree, whose bark produces a tannin used in the tanning business. The price of lumber rose and many entrepreneurs of the day turned more and more attention to the abundance of lumber in the redwood forests to the immediate north of San Francisco.

Getting There

From the advent of the lumber industry on the Sonoma/Mendocino coast in the mid-19th century until the old growth redwood ran out, shipping was the main method of transporting the lumber as well as other goods and people. Land routes were torturous and at times impassable. They did not accommodate the long distance transportation of large loads. The ship landings which developed along the coast were not much more than small coves. The derogatory name

“dog-holes” was how they were described because it was said they were so tight not even a dog could turn around in them. Undertows, shallow reefs, thick kelp, swells and hidden rocks were ever present hazards with these sites. To deal with the dog hole ports, ships called schooners were developed as vessels used for short hauls. They generally had two masts, were faster, easier to handle, needed smaller crews, made of wood and were less expensive to operate than other sailing ships. Compared to other boats, the schooners were shorter in length, wider, their hull depths were shallower and they were generally under 200 tons. From 1860 to 1884 about 70% of vessels built were sail powered only (3). After 1884 most had steam power. Steam allowed the boats to go even when there was no wind. In addition it allowed the vessel to move up rivers where that was possible. The steam schooners generally still had sails, in case the engine or boiler failed.

The captains or masters of these schooners often had a different role and relationship with their crews than their counterparts on ocean going vessels. The difference can be attributed to the fact trips were much shorter, the food generally better and the crew on board was by choice, not “shanghaied”. Schooner masters worked side by side with the men, were generally liked by the crew, some of whom followed them from ship to ship. Despite the advantages of being seamen on these vessels, the job was difficult and dangerous, with wrecks, groundings and vessel damage being relatively frequent. Consider the unfortunate circumstances which befell the “Archie and Fontie” (pictured above) in a two week period during 1893. This was a two masted sail schooner built in 1890 at Benecia and owned by H.A. Richardson, of the prominent Sonoma Coast family whose name is synonymous with Stewarts Point and whose descendants still live in the area. The ship was named for his sons. In 1893 they were busy hauling lumber products like posts and bark for a company called Higgins and Collins in San Francisco. In mid-June Captain Hansen took over for Captain Nelson.

The Morning Call of June 24, 1893 reports; “It was definitely proven yesterday that the gunners of Fort Point can hit a vessel passing in through the Golden Gate. Just before the damaging shot was fired a shell hummed uncomfortably close to the schooner’s stern. The commander hesitated on keeping on his course, but thinking that the first shot was an accidental one, he sailed on. Much to his astonishment, a few minutes later his vessel was hit. A big 12-inch shell fired from the shore batteries at the top of the hill back of (the fort) carried away the jib gear of the schooner Archie and Fontie when that vessel was putting to sea in the morning, and scared her captain so that he put back to Howard No. 1 for repairs.” Then three days later The Morning Call reports; “Misfortunes never come singly and Captain Hansen of the schooner Archie and Fontie is fully convinced of the truth of this maxim. Sunday afternoon (he) thought he would try to make his destination again. He passed the heads safely, although he imagined he saw all the guns in Fort Point trained on him . . . (He) arrived safely off Stewarts Point. Here he was struck by a squall that carried his main foresail and flying jib away and nearly threw his vessel on its beam ends. With the assistance of a towboat, the Archie and Fontie came back to port to obtain another supply of canvas.” Adding insult to injury the July 6th, 1893 Morning Call advises; “Another catastrophe is associated with the name of the Archie and Fontie, a “hoodoo” schooner as the water-front people are wont to call her. Yersterday the tug Elizabeth hooked on to her with the intention of towing her to a berth. The schooner was heavily laden with redwood posts and was hard to handle. An ebb tide was running which drifted the Elizabeth and her tow in to the scow schooner Frank Lawrence, the boom of the latter colliding with the engine-house of the tug, smashing through the structure and puncturing the boiler of the towboat. In an instant the three vessels were enveloped in a cloud of steam. The crews of

the schooners got as far aft as they possibly could . . . Fortunately no one was injured though an escape from an explosion was considered wonderful.” (4)

A Place To Land

Between Stewarts Point and Point Arena there were a dozen or more landings. At least five more south of Stewarts Point to Fort Ross and no less than 10 more north of Point Arena to Mendocino. In our Sea Ranch community there was one at Bihlers Point west of the Sea Ranch Lodge, another at Del Mar Point and a third, briefly in the vicinity of the area at the end of Fish Rock Road. This latter landing was erected by farmer Joe Tongue.

There were two main methods of loading and unloading the schooners where no wharf existed or even where a wharf did exist. One, the slide or apron chute was composed of an “A” frame supporting a wooden trough with cables. A system of pulleys and wires allowed the chute to be raised and lowered to allow gravity to move the cargo on to a waiting ship. The length of the chute depended on how far away from shore a schooner could safely anchor to be loaded. The chute had a movable plank at the end which was raised or lowered by a man using a lever either on the ship or on the chute. It was called a clapper and was intended to facilitate the hand loading of the cargo by a deckhand.

Another landing/loading method was the wire chute. Here a wire cable was run from shore to some type of anchorage beyond where the ship was moored. References to a ship being “under the wire” indicates this is the approach used at a particular landing site. Cargo was strapped to the wire and the weight of the load would cause it to descend toward the ship. A braking mechanism would control the speed of the descent. Once unloaded on the ship or loaded with cargo for shore, a system of rope/wires and pulleys would return it to land. A variation on this was the sling or trapeze chute. Cargo or people were put in the sling and moved to and from the ship (top of page 4).

Although a few other methodologies were employed, just about every landing used either or both of the above approaches. Some employed steam power to move the apparatus. Some landings also had wharves, but this was a luxury. Fort Ross had a small wharf together with a slide chute. The 1889 Coast Pilot indicated two wharves at Bournes Landing but pictures suggest the wharf may have only been to facilitate the operation of the chutes. Point Arena may have had the only viable wharf for actually docking ships. Bihlers Landing mentioned above had two slide chutes, Del Mar was a wire chute and Joe Tongue’s, a modified wire chute using a steam powered swinging boom. The attached 1889 Coast Pilot chart lists our Mendonoma landings at that point in time with some data about the activity which occurred at those landings.

Besides the dangers of these coves, the schooner captain had to deal with the unpredictable weather, namely storms, the wind and their effect on the ocean. The captain would have to decide whether to ride the storm out at sea or remain in port with additional mooring lines anchoring the boat while he and the crew went ashore. The importance of moorings in these dangerous coves is worthy of note. Although the doghole schooners and their crews were very adept at getting into these tight landings, it was only possible to get in so far. The ship would need to be stabilized so the loading/unloading could take place. Buoys were sited at various spots in the cove. They were usually large logs with an anchor attached to one end to hold the log in place. Crew members of a vessel would then get in a rowboat with a line from the ship coiled in the bottom. They would row to the buoy and attach the other end of the line to the buoy end opposite the end with the anchor line. In rough seas, which ours often are, this could be very challenging. Failing to hook the line on the buoy, put the schooner in danger of grounding or breaking up on the rocks. Metal eye bolts set in rocks above the water line were also used for anchoring lines on shore or in the cove.

Schooner Captains

“Make yourself thoroughly familiar with these instructions, and remember that on your coolness and strict attention to them will greatly depend the chances of bringing you and your people safely to land.” 1889 Coast Pilot (5)

Schooner captains were often foreign born, having learned about sailing in their homeland and/or as part of the crew on the vessel which brought them to the United States. The life stories for most of them seem to be shrouded in the coastal fog in which they travelled. As a representation of the many men who captained the ships which meant so much to sustaining the economic well-being of our coastal towns, following is the story of one captain tied to events on our community’s coast.

Frank Bernard Zaddart was born on May 16, 1861 in Germany. The various voter registrations of the 1890s described Zaddart as 5’ 6 1/4”, fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. Around 1880 when he was 18 or 19 years old he left Germany eventually arriving in the United States. More than likely he was a crew member on the vessel which brought him to California. He became an American citizen on June 9th, 1886 and married Anna Gobel on February 28th, 1888. He and his wife Anna settled on 17th Street in San Francisco close to Mission Bay which is now filled in. At the time they lived there, it was not used any longer for large ships because a bridge had been built across it to access Potrero Hill and areas further south. They were close to his departure location which was noted by an 1896 San Francisco directory to be on the 3rd Street wharf. This is the area where A T & T Park is now located. Later they moved closer to Golden Gate Park in the area where the Castro District is today.

Most likely during the period he left Germany, through his Naturalization he was working as a seaman and studying to become a master mariner, so he could captain a vessel. It appears he may have achieved his goal shortly after he became a citizen. The first indication he achieved master mariner status was a July 1, 1886 report in the Daily Alta California’s “Shipping Intelligence” section. It reported he arrived in San Francisco on June 30th from Fish Rock with a load of lumber. He was 12 days at sea in command of the Ester Cobos. He was only 25 years old. Arrival and departure notices suggest he was on the Ester Cobos through most of 1887. He then had a short stint on the Christina Steffens at the end of 1887. In January of 1888 he took command of the Reliance. On board the Reliance just a week after he was married, he had a harrowing experience which reflects the closeness of the small crews on these ships and illustrates the dangers inherent in attempting to attach or release a ship from buoys or mooring lines. The event is related in excerpts from the March 7, 1888 Daily Alta California;

“The Reliance arrived at Rough and Ready on Tuesday. On Wednesday a good part of the lumber was taken in, but on Thursday the wind sprung up from the southeast, and the schooner had to run out to sea. Rough and Ready, as its name implies, is a peculiar place at any time, but especially so in a southeast gale. The schooner got back to the buoy on Saturday. A line was made fast to it, and two others taken ashore, and the loading went on again. About 2 A.M. Sunday the wind sprung up again from the southeast, and increasing in heavy gusts, warned Captain Zaddart to get a good offing before it was too late.” “. . . Fred Grannamann and Pete Nelsen dropped into the little sixteen-foot boat and pulled to the buoy to let go the line. The wind had increased so much that they cut the shore lines. They were casting off the buoy line when a heavy squall of wind, rain and hail struck

6 the schooner. The line ran through the buoy ring-bolt, hitched around the nose of the boat, jerked her over until she half filled with water and then parted. The boat was adrift.” “. . . they were left with only one (oar) in a boat half full of water, the gale and the sea rising. One . . . bailed the boat out with his hat while the other kept her head to sea. It was no use trying to make the shore. . . so all the men could do was to sit and paddle with their sticks” (torn from the boat’s floorboards after losing both oars). “It was tedious, sickening work. . . “ “. . . they drifted for four hours, until the day broke and they could see Point Arena lighthouse looming up.”

“The schooner Reliance finished loading on Monday. . . “ “Captain Zaddart said he had a hard time when he lost the boat. They were unable to render any assistance to the boat and would not have known where to look for her if they could” (because of the darkness and storm). “It was as much as he could do with Louis, the cook, to manage the schooner, which is about seventy tons.” (Captain Zaddart) “. . . made up his mind that he would never see the two men again.” One can imagine the elation when the two men, rescued at Point Arena showed up at the local San Francisco watering hole, Wieser’s boarding-house at Folsom street wharf. “The meeting between Captain Zaddart, Louis the cook, Fred Grannamann and Pete Nelson was very affecting, and the quartette retold their stories over a good many lager beers last night.”

Research suggests one of Captain Zaddart’s early employers was the Bender Brothers, a partnership announced in 1886 by George and William Bender. They referred to themselves as wholesale and retail dealers of wood and brick. To access north coast timber, they acquired a sail schooner (pictured). On April 17, 1889 the Daily Alta California announced; “At high water last night the new schooner Bender Brothers was launched from Alexander Hay’s yard, at the foot of Sixth street. This fine-looking vessel is intended for the open port trade on this coast, and is owned by Bender Brothers, after whom she is named. Her dimensions are: Length, 84 feet; beam, 20 feet; depth of hold, 7 feet; with a carrying capacity of 120,000 feet of lumber. Captain Zaddart, formerly of the schooner Reliance, will take command.”

The first order of business, however, appears to have been a race. Racing schooners was not that uncommon. A number of references to such races are seen in the newspapers of the day. The Corinthian Yacht Club founded in Tiburon in 1886 encouraged such races. The club remains in existence today and still encourages such contests. Their website states; “. . . our club particularly favors the owner/racer with volunteer crew . . .”

The Daily Alta California on April 29, 1889 commented; “There were two rather interesting races on the bay, yesterday, between schooners. The vessels engaged in the contests were the Bender Brothers, the Nettie Sanberg (sp) and the Portia. The first race was between the Bender Brothers and the Nettie Sanberg (sp), from off Vallejo street wharf to the heads, a distance of about four miles. An easy victory

7 was gained by the Bender Brothers, which then raced the Portia back to a point off Sausalito. Again the Bender Brothers easily won the race, which was for a purse of $500. The winning craft is owned by the gentlemen after whom the schooner was named, while the Sanberg (sp) is owned by C.H. White and others. The Portia was considered the fastest coasting schooner. Captain White felt very sore over his defeat and challenged the Bender Brothers to a contest for $1000 a side. The challenge was accepted and the race will take place tomorrow over a course of four miles from Vallejo street wharf to the Golden Gate.”

Despite the glory brought on by her racing successes, the Bender Brothers was intended to be a working ship for the lumbermen and, to that end, the first evidence it was used as such was on May 10, 1889 when Captain Zaddart departed San Francisco, returning on May 15th from Rough and Ready with 95 cords of wood for Bender Brothers. However, work did not prevent more racing.

The Nettie Sundberg (also spelled Sundborg) was named for Captain Sundberg’s daughter and he apparently won quite a bit of money with her, but not against the Bender Brothers. Both ships were built the same year. No evidence was found that the race for the $1000 purse ever occurred. However, a grander race for a much smaller purse was held three months later. The Daily Alta on July 11, 1889 reports; “Captain Zaddart of the schooner Bender Bros. is rather jovial over the beating he gave the schooner Nettie Sundberg, on the race up to Bihler’s Point. Both vessels left here last Friday morning on the same tide. They got in at Bihler’s Point early next day, the Bender Bros. being one and a half hours ahead. The distance is eighty-one miles and northwest winds prevailed on the trip, with a heavy sea and, toward the end of it, dense fog. The Bender Bros. is eighty-one tons and the Sundberg sixty-three tons, and the race was for $100 a side. It appears that the report of the schooner Maxim, on Friday, that the Sundberg was ahead off Duxbury Reef, was not correct. Captain Zaddart says the Sundberg was at no time ahead.”

Despite his apparent joy in the sporting aspect of being a schooner captain, Frank Zaddart spent a great deal of time sailing the dangerous lumber landings of the Sonoma/Mendocino coast. He continued to command the schooner Bender Brothers on frequent trips to the Sonoma/Mendocino Coast for lumber products on behalf of the ship’s owners William and George Bender until, at least, 1893. He then took over command of the Corinthian. One source (6) suggested this ship had once been the flagship of the Commodore of the Corinthian Yacht Club, a fast boat, winning many pennants. It was then relegated to hauling lumber, no doubt because it could earn much better money in that trade rather than racing. Zaddart still made occasional trips on the Bender Brothers, such as a June 1897 trip to Timber Cove (pictured) for a load of wood. Family-wise, he and wife Anna had four children, three of them living to adulthood. The oldest of the three, William, was born around 1890, two years later daughter Elsie arrived and by 1897 his namesake, Frank.

Steam schooners, by 1897, had become very prevalent. Many of the little sail schooners had steam added despite protests of the “old school” skippers and the animosity which existed between their sail crews and the new crew members added to tend the engines and boilers. The schooners being built were quite a bit larger than the sailing schooners and they all had steam. They spent more time on the ocean and made longer hauls. This was a step up for the sailing captains and Captain Zaddart secured the necessary training

8 from the McNevin Brothers Navigation School. The March 27, 1897 Daily Alta California reported he received his Master Mariner License which allowed him to sail any ocean and pilot San Francisco Bay. He left the little sailing schooners and it appears the steamer South Coast may have been his first command running a route from San Francisco to southern California. Then by 1900 he has moved to the San Pedro making the trip to southern California as well as taking gold seekers north to Nome Alaska.

Around 1901 J.R. Hanify and Co., San Francisco shipping merchants, hired the veteran Captain Zaddart to master their Santa Barbara, “. . . considered one of the best of the smaller coasting vessels running between Los Angeles, (San Francisco) and Seattle.” The Santa Barbara built in 1900, is 170 feet long, is 695 tons and valued at $100,000. Although much too large for any doghole, on October 1, 1905 Captain Zaddart made an unexpected and unintended landing at, maybe, the only doghole he didn’t visit when he was sailing the coast years before. The October 2, 1905 San Francisco Call reports; “Every one was asleep when the little vessel struck” (including Captain Zaddart who had left his mate in charge). “When the crash came there was a wild scramble to the decks. At the first alarm Captain Frank Zaddart rushed on deck and did his best to calm the frightened people. The vessel was jammed hard upon the rocks and the breakers were booming ominously. ‘We are as safe as though we were on shore’, the captain declared. ‘There is positively no danger.’ But the heavy seas rocked the vessel and the lifeboat was ordered launched. Five women were lowered into the boat and pulled ashore through the breakers. A stiff breeze was blowing and the surf was rolling high. The rocks on which the Santa Barbara struck are at the base of a high cliff and the landing was perilous. Several times the breakers threatened to overwhelm the lifeboat.” The ship had “. . . struck on the chute near Del Mar Landing.” (From testimony of the second mate as related in the October 20, 1905 San Francisco Call) Captain Zaddart was found negligent and his license suspended for three months. The Santa Barbara was pulled off the rocks, repaired and Captain Zaddart eventually, once again was put into command.

Sometime after the turn of the century the Zaddart family moved to Alameda which by then had become firmly established as a shipping and ship building, repairing and mooring center. The canal separating Oakland from Alameda had just been completed in 1902. Prior to that Alameda had actually been a peninsula. The Zaddarts joined a large German community that had established itself on Alameda. Frank’s two sons appear to have followed him into the maritime business while daughter Elsie worked at various times as a clerk and a librarian. Captain Zaddart continued commanding the Santa Barbara until 1919. After that he had a variety of assignments, including one in 1929 aboard the Anne Hanify, most likely named for a child, spouse or other relative of the man who put him in charge of the Santa Barbara. Anna Zaddart died sometime before 1930, probably about the time Frank and daughter

Elsie moved from Alameda to Piedmont. Elsie doesn’t appear to have ever married, staying with her father until he died in 1937 or 1938.

The Klamath

Like the Santa Barbara, the Klamath was also a merchant steam vessel. It was built in Fairhaven California for the McCormick Steamship Company. It was larger at 1,083 tons, 201.5 feet long and 41.6 feet wide. It carried merchandise, often lumber, and passengers with a crew of 32. The Klamath could haul 1,200,000 feet of lumber and had accommodations for sixty passengers.

In 1901 when Captain Frank Zaddart had taken command of the Santa Barbara, his first officer was 25 year old Thomas Jamieson. He was born in Scotland and lived in San Francisco in Potrero Hill. He also appears to have maintained an address at the Ferry Building, possibly some type of listing service for mariners looking for work or desiring to become a vessel master. Unlike Zaddart information is lacking on Thomas Jamieson. Census reports seem to show him as part of a family headed by his widowed mother and including his siblings. He appears to be the only one who chose the sea for his career. The 1900 census shows the family in Berkeley, then they’re in the Los Angeles area for the next four census tallys. In 1940 he is shown as the head of the household after his mother died. Perhaps by then he had retired, he was 65, had left San Francisco and had actually moved in with the rest of his siblings. It appears he never married.

As of 1916 he had not taken command of the Klamath (8). The Klamath made stops from San Pedro to the Columbia River area of Washington including stops at Cape Mendocino and Portland. When Captain Jamieson took over the Klamath is uncertain, but as the Klamath left San Francisco for Portland on February 4, 1921, with cargo, 19 passengers and a crew of 34 he was at the helm. February, by many considered the worst month for weather delivered some of its worst that night. Like Zaddart on the Santa Barbara, Captain Jamieson left his mate to carry on alone. Within two hours of departing San Francisco winds had increased to 75 miles per hour causing the ship to struggle against it. A heavy rainstorm reduced visibility considerably. Breakers were seen too late. Instantly upon sighting them, the ship hit the rocks. Jamieson upon coming on the bridge realized the ship was off course. He gave orders to pull the ship back, but the action caused the vessel to hit more rocks destroying its propeller and shaft.

The captain decided the ship couldn’t be saved so he called crew and passengers on deck. Apparently he decided against life boats. “Often . . . a dangerous surf is running which is not perceptible four hundred yards off shore, and the surf when viewed from a vessel never appears as dangerous as it is. Many lives have unnecessarily been lost by the crews of stranded vessels being thus deceived and attempting to land in the ship’s boats. “ “Circumstances may arise, owing to the strength of the current . . . or the danger of the wreck breaking up immediately . . . “ “In such a case a breeches-buoy or life-car will be hauled off instead . . . and

10 you will be hauled ashore through the surf.” (1889 Coast Pilot) (5)

An SOS was sent and picked up by the Curacao and the Everett, but upon arriving they could do nothing and sat by helplessly. Seaman Charles Svenson took the line for the breeches buoy ashore. After rigging it up passengers and crew were brought ashore. A problem arose with a baby, Phil Buckley. It was resolved by putting the infant in a garbage can and tying the can to the back of another seaman who then brought the boy ashore in that manner. The Klamath itself wasn’t so lucky. Attempts to free it failed. Salvage crews took what they could and the ocean took the rest.

Postscript Some Local Color

We already mentioned the 1893 travails encountered by the Archie and Fontie, but for a decade after that string of misfortune, the 77 foot sail schooner maneuvered the dangerous doghole ports along the coast. She eventually met her end at Fisk’s Mill. The April 9,1902 San Francisco Call reported; “The trim little lumber schooner Archie and Fontie was driven ashore and totally wrecked in Sunday night’s storm at Fisks Mill . . . “ She was tied up at the moorings near the end of the lumber chute when the storm broke. So suddenly did the gale spring up that those on board the vessel were unable to get her clear of the moorings. Fisks Mill is a bad place in heavy weather , and when storms threaten, vessels usually run for the open sea. Sunday night’s storm broke without warning, and those aboard had all they could do to save their lives. They reached shore by climbing along the lumber chute . . . “

H.A. Richardson owned other schooners such as the Gracie Belle Richardson, named for his daughter. It was about the same size as the Archie and Fontie, also built in Benicia and used in the lumber trade. She met her fate, at home, in Stewarts Point when her captain decided to stay moored instead of making for the open sea to ride out an approaching storm. Her lines broke and she cracked up on the rocks.

Captain Niels Iversen (of the Iversen Landing doghole port and today’s Iversen Road) also named vessels after his children. First Annie built in 1869 ending her life five years later at Point Arena in 1874, then Arthur built 20 years later in San Francisco. The 90 foot long schooner sailed for 20 years before wrecking at Iversen’s Landing while trying to get to sea in a storm. One man died in this wreck.

Bill The Butcher was named for William Bihler a German immigrant who settled in San Francisco during the Gold Rush days and made quite a bit of money as a butcher fulfilling the great demand for beef at inflated prices, a similar situation to what lumbermen were doing

11 with the price of wood products. Bihler acquired significant acreage, including what would become Sea Ranch, to raise his own cattle. Since much of his property was timber, he established Bihler Landing at the settlement called Black Point after he got into the lumber business. Bill The Butcher made frequent trips to Bowen’s Landing shown above where she wrecked in 1893 when her lines broke driving her into the rocks. She was refloated but capsized off Point Reyes on her way in for repairs. Eventually the schooner was towed in to Oakland Creek (probably San Antonio Creek between the Alameda peninsula at that time and Oakland). However, no further news of her was found. Possibly she was too badly damaged for repairs or was sold and renamed.

The lumber business of William and George Bender went into receivership in 1904. The last reference found of the Bender Brothers schooner hauling lumber along the Mendonoma coast was in 1905. It was converted to steam power and sometime in 1906 or 1907 it was acquired by a C.C. Lutjens of Alameda. In October of 1907 he reported it grounded around Kuskokwim Bay with a load of general merchandise and furs. It apparently was refloated because the November 22, 1910 San Francisco Call indicated it was in the Bering Sea when the volcano Shishaldin on Unimak Island was erupting. It’s heard from again on its arrival on October 8, 1912 in Seattle when it reported whale carcasses adrift in the Bering Sea hampering navigation. In 1913 when owned by J.E. Shields of Seattle, it provided the first record of any commercial salmon fishing in Kuskokwim Bay. The last record found of the little schooner indicated it was nearly destroyed by fire in Seattle on December 1, 1913.

The ships and their crews battling the dangerous coves of our coast provide an exciting chapter to our coastal history. Today, Looking at the commercial and private fishing vessels floating peacefully well off the coast makes the story of the doghole schooners seem like, just that, a story created by a vivid imagination.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. The Annals of San Francisco Frank Soule John H. Gihon Kessinger Publishing

2. Early History of the San Francisco Fire Department http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/fire.html The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

4. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ The Library of Congress Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers

5. Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington By George Davidson, Assistant U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Fourth Edition 1889

6. Nannie Escola Scrapbook Collection Kelley House Museum Mendocino, California “Mendocino Ships A-Z”

8. Rorvik v. North Pac. Lumber Co. 190 Pac. 331; 195 Pac. 163 January 25, 1921 Multnomah, Oregon Judge Robert Tucker Concerning the 8/3/1916 death of C.P. Rorvik, Captain of the Klamath

9. Alaska Shipwrecks http://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-b/

12. The Veridian Digital Library http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc California Digital Newspaper Collection

13. “. . . it is a dangerous-looking place” Sailing Days On The Redwood Coast By Karl Kortum and Roger Olmsted Published for the Pacific Lumber Company By The California Historical Society March, 1971

14. Disaster Log of Ships By Jim Gibbs Bonanza Books – New York

Special Thanks To

Susan Clark for sharing her extensive knowledge of our coast’s history, encouraging my curiosity and for the unique picture of the Klamath as well as the Walter Tock information.

Nancy Freeze, Executive Director of the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino for assistance with my research and the wonderful pictures.

Jack Likins, a veteran Mendonoma Coast diver for pictures and research on the Klamath and for rescuing some very interesting artifacts.

PICTURE SOURCES

Page

1. San Francisco Fire of 1850 http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/fire.html The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

1. Fourth Street Dock 1897 Work on Land & Water, 1880-1920 From www.foundsf.org Historical Essay By Nancy J. Olmsted Image: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Museum (A12.29.727n)

2. Archie and Fontie Bibliography 3

3. Nip and Tuck by most sources, Hardscratch by one (Bibliography 13) Courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

Steamer Gualala loading lumber Courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

4. The Electra and the Alfred riding a storm out in Mendocino Family departing the Irene in Noyo Both courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

5. Captain Zaddart October 4, 1905 San Francisco Call Bibliography 4 Rough and Ready also known as Iversen’s Landing or Ferguson’s Cove Bibliography 3

6. The Bender Brothers Schooner Courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

7. Timber Cove Bibliography 3

8. Wreck of the Santa Barbara Courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

9. Klamath Stranded Donated by Jack Likins Courtesy The Sea Ranch Archives

10. Klamath Wreck Bibliography 11 The Archie and Fontie April 9, 1902 San Francisco Call Bibliography 4

11. Bourns Landing Courtesy of the Kelley House Museum Mendocino, Ca.

THE 1889 COAST PILOT

This book was a navigational guide to ships travelling the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. Excerpts from its information on Bihler’s Point is typical of the descriptions provided: “. . . a double- headed point with steep cliffs fifty to sixty feet high, and bordered by numerous rocks above water. Under the southern of the two points is a very contracted and poor anchorage open from northwest to southeast; a rocky islet on the south shore makes this cove the narrowest on the coast. The three- fathom line reaches in very nearly to the rocky islet. There are two chutes, of which the inner one is not used and the outer one seems a fair place to load at. This chute extends from the bluff to twenty-three feet of water, and a vessel lies broadside to the end with six mooring-lines. There are breakers close under the starboard bow of the vessel at the chute. There are three mooring buoys. The inner one of them is one hundred yards southeast of the outer chute, and lies in five or six fathoms of water, with a rock above water thirty yards northeast and a sunken rock with eleven feet upon it seventy yards southeast. The outermost buoy lies in ten fathoms two hundred and twenty yards south by east . . . from the inner one, and the third buoy lies between this outer one and the northwest point of the cove. This is a summer landing only, and an average of five small schooners per month load wood, posts, tan- bark, and stave-bolts. Three vessels may lie at anchor in the cove but the place is dangerous from October to June.”

Notes On The Chart

Information is primarily from the 1889 Coast Pilot

Landing Sites

These are the landings from Fort Ross to Point Arena mentioned in the 1889 Coast Pilot. Over the years landings came and went. Our Del Mar Landing is not mentioned in this volume, but it is mentioned in the 1917 version; “Del Marr (sp) Landing is located 5 miles northwestward from Black Point, and 2 miles southeastward from the Gualala River. It is unprotected, and wire cable is used for loading.” This suggests there may still have been some use of the landing even though the lumber mill had burnt seven years earlier. Walter Jackson’s map (3) shows a Scott’s Landing and a Buster’s Landing south of Point Arena, but no mention of them appears in this guide.

Buoys and Mooring Lines

Where there is a question mark no information was given but certainly buoys and/or mooring lines existed.

Summer and winter use

Newspaper information on arrivals to and departures from San Francisco which included coastal landings visited, made it clear schooners travelled the coast every month of the year despite the limitations suggested here.

Products

1. Lumber 2. Tan Bark 3. Posts 4. Railroad Ties 5. Cord Wood – at times only “wood” is mentioned which might mean lumber as well. 6. Produce 7. Shingles 8. Stave Bolts

Passengers also travelled on these vessels. Usually they would disembark only at Point Arena and Mendocino.

Chutes

References in the Coast Pilot were generally to “chutes”. These are recorded on the chart as trough chutes, but some could have been wire or a combination of trough and wire.

T – Trough W- Wire Z - Trapeze

Wharfs

Shows number

Annual Shiploads

Where mentioned.

Wrecks

These are the ones listed in Walter Jackson’s book, which are only sail schooners. A few found in the 1889 Coast Pilot are also included. Steamships such as the Klamath wrecked on our coast are not included. The book “Ships of The Redwood Coast” on steam schooners suggests another 10 could be added to this list. Many of the steam schooners were too large for any of the landings along Mendonoma. When they were wrecked it was often the result of a storm or miscalculation about distance to shore by the crew.

Miles From Fort Ross

These are ocean miles, not road miles.