When the wooden-hulled sidewheel steamer S.S. Pacific sank off Washington State near Cape Flattery in 1875, she took with her to the bottom of the sea a strongbox containing $79,220 in addition to gold in the hands of miners estimated to be at least $100,000, worth $11 million today. Miners of the time were accumulating $200 a day worth of gold from the Cassiar Gold Rush in BC, when the average monthly wage was only $25.
Fast forward to 1993, when Jeff Hummel, owner of the salvage company Rockfish Inc. and creator of the Northwest Shipwreck Alliance, began his search for the S.S. Pacific. After years of searching for the shipwreck, Hummel met with success in 2022 by using sonar and a towed camera sled. The wreckage was found approximately 23 miles offshore scattered across a slope about 1,000 to 3,000 feet deep. Rockfish Inc. was given the exclusive rights to salvage the ship, with the ultimate goal of creating a museum to house the artifacts and tell the complete story of the S.S. Pacific. Jeff Hummel and his team expect to begin recovery of artifacts from S.S. Pacific in summer 2024.
While Rockfish Inc. has exclusive salvage rights, members of the public may claim recovered artifacts and even gold if they can prove a connection to what is salvaged. If a claim is granted by the court, the claimant must pay Rockfish a fee for recovering said artifact. To-date, no supported claims have been made by descendants of any passengers or crew of the S.S. Pacific. A preliminary claim was made by a descendant of Francis Garesche, who was a Wells Fargo agent escorting Wells Fargo gold, but no documentation or evidence was provided that Francis Garesche himself owned any gold or had valuables with him on the ship. When the 223-foot coal-powered sidewheeler went down, she took with her 280 tons of coal, 250 hides and 11 casks of furs, 2,000 sacks of oats, 300 bales of hops, 31 barrels of cranberries, and other miscellaneous goods, along with six horses.
Out of the estimated 325 people on board, including crew, paying passengers, Chinese laborers, and children that boarded for free along with others, only two people survived – Neil Hanley the ship’s quartermaster, and Henry Jelly of Ontario. They had managed to climb onto floating broken parts of the ship. Built in 1850, the S.S. Pacific carried passengers on a regular scheduled service between Victoria/Seattle and San Francisco. After departing in poor weather from Esquimalt Harbour near Victoria BC in November of 1875, she collided with the sailing vessel Orpheus about 25 miles southwest of Cape Flattery. The S.S. Pacific was having difficulty earlier remaining on an even keel, and the crew had filled life boats with water to help correct her list. After being struck, she sank within 20 minutes. The Orpheus readied their life boats and made repairs, unaware that the S.S. Pacific had sunk.
There is much anticipation regarding the preparations and salvage operations by Jeff Hummel and his team at Rockfish Inc., we wish them the best in 2024!
S.S. Pacific Image: Wikipedia
