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1 LUMBER LANDINGS, DOGHOLE SCHOONERS AND SHIPWRECKS By Harry Lindstrom Copyright 2013 July 20, 2013 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 2 “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 3 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). 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.