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43-636: Hattie Hansen was built in 1893 on Lake Washington by the Edward F. Lee Shipyard at Sand Point. She was ordered by Capt. J.C. O'Connor for service on the lake. Before construction was complete, O'Connor sold her to Ole L. Hansen (1875–1940), one of the Hansen family which operated steamboats on Puget Sound. Later in 1893 Hattie Hansen was brought out to the sound through the Duwamish River , which at that time connected to Lake Washington. Her new owners,

86-425: A launch to Victoria. The tug William Joliffe went out to the wreck scene, but could recover only one or two bodies. (This is according to McCurdy; Jarvis in testimony given shortly after the event stated that no bodies were ever recovered.) Wreckage washed up on nearby beaches, including both her two lifeboats still in their davits. All aboard were presumed drowned, an estimated 20 people. A thorough official inquiry

129-721: A marine surveyor, bought Sechelt at Vancouver, formed the Sechelt Towage Company, and then brought the vessel over to Vancouver Island . Although he had had experience as an officer on oceangoing vessels, Captain James had not long operated inland steamships, having arrived in British Columbia only in late 1909. James and Jarvis then set up business as the British Columbia Steamship Company. In 1910 or early 1911, they chartered

172-578: A propeller blade and the possibility it posed for damage to the ship.) In any case, Stromgren had wanted to talk with Captain James on March 24, so he went down to the Grand Trunk Pacific dock, where he found that Sechelt had been shifted over to the Canadian Pacific Railway dock. It was blowing hard and raining, so he did not think Sechelt would go out and decided to speak with Captain James later. He did not learn until

215-477: A similar vessel to Sechelt , capsized and sank quickly following a collision in Elliott Bay , and although there were survivors, like Sechelt no lifeboats could be launched and many people were trapped inside and dragged down with the vessel. Lake Washington Lake Washington ( Lushootseed : x̌ačuʔ ) is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle , Washington, United States. It

258-633: Is long, narrow and finger-like. Ribbon lakes are excavated by glaciers. As the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet flowed south near the end of the Late Pleistocene , it met bands of harder and softer rock. Erosion of the softer rock was faster and a linear depression was created in the flow direction. When the glacier melted, the lake filled with the meltwater, which was retained by moraine deposits. A dam can also be created by

301-601: Is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington , after Lake Chelan . It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south, and Kenmore on the north, and encloses Mercer Island . The lake is fed by the Sammamish River at its north end and the Cedar River at its south. Lake Washington has been known to

344-607: The Canadian Northern , and about 12,240 pounds of freight, including steel rails. She reached the government quarantine station dock at William Head, discharged about 13 passengers and freight, then left the quarantine dock at 3:58 PM. As she steamed around Beechy Head she was hit by high wind and seas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What happened next remains uncertain. Either her engine or steering gear failed, or Captain James decided to turn back. The only witnesses to

387-796: The Duwamish and other Indigenous peoples living on the lake for millennia as x̌ačuʔ (lit. "lake" in Lushootseed ). At the time of European settlement, it was recorded as At-sar-kal in a map sketched by engineer Abiel W. Tinkham ; and the Chinook Jargon name, Hyas Chuck ("great/large water"), was also used. Other English names historically used for the lake include Lake Geneva by Isaac N. Ebey ; and Lake Duwamish in railroad surveys under Governor Isaac Stevens . Lake Washington received its present name in 1854 after Thomas Mercer suggested it be named after George Washington , as

430-581: The Everett – Coupeville route, under Captain A.H. Curtis, where she ran until the ferry Whidby was placed on the route, and she was sold to a Canadian firm. The new Canadian owners renamed the vessel Sechelt , after the town , peninsula and inlet in British Columbia, all ultimately named after the Shishalh people, one of the First Nations of British Columbia . Sechelt was first placed on

473-932: The Vancouver –Sechelt route up the Strait of Georgia , under the command of Captain Robert Reginald Clarke. Captain Leopold Arther Bernays also commanded Sechelt from June to about the end of September or October. In 1910 Sechelt had some difficulties on this route, striking a reef at the Vancouver harbor entrance in August and going ashore at Bowen Island in November. In January 1911, Captain H.B. James, of Victoria , together with his lifelong friend and former shipmate Harold Gray Jarvis,

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516-490: The 24th he characterized as "fresh" but not a gale. He said that on March 24, 1911, he had been aboard the vessel before she sailed. All the cargo was stowed as low as possible on the main deck, and no cargo was carried on the upper deck, nor did they ever carry cargo on the upper deck. He could not give an opinion as to the cause of the loss of the vessel, but thought it must have been due to a sudden accident or mechanical problem which caused her to veer out of control broadside to

559-732: The Cedar supplying most of the water. Seasonal changes in the flow of the Sammamish are moderated by a weir at the Lake Sammamish inlet. The lake is drained by the Lake Washington Ship Canal . In addition, there are numerous small creeks and rivers which feed the lake, including: Historically, construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal drastically changed the inflow and outflow of

602-678: The Hansen family, put her on the route from Seattle to Dogfish Bay (or Liberty Bay as local residents prefer). Captain J.J. Hansen served as her master. In 1898 she was switched over to the Hood Canal mail route for a time, later returning to the Seattle– Poulsbo route, where she stayed until 1902. Her last master on the Poulsbo run was Captain Alf Hostmark (1875–1953). J.F. Curtis and Sons bought Hattie Hansen in 1903 and put her on

645-754: The SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge) carries State Route 520 from Seattle's Montlake neighborhood to Medina while the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the Third Lake Washington Bridge (officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge) carry Interstate 90 from Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood to Mercer Island . The East Channel Bridge carries Interstate 90 from Mercer Island to Bellevue . The Evergreen Point, Lacey V. Murrow, and Third Lake Washington bridges are

688-468: The Strait and he had never at any time seen Sechelt out of trim. William Turpel, owner of a marine railway in Victoria, testified that his company had hauled Sechelt out of the water ten days before the sinking, on March 14, to repair her propeller, which, because one blade had been lost, required the removal of the opposite blade to keep the shaft in balance. In his opinion, without plenty of ballast,

731-526: The bands of harder rock either side of the softer rock. There is usually a river at both ends of a ribbon lake, one being the inlet, and the other the outlet, but in the case of present-day Lake Washington, inlet rivers are at both ends, and a man-made outlet is in the middle. The lake was previously drained by the Black river to the south. The main inflowing rivers are the Sammamish and Cedar Rivers, with

774-571: The boat was too tall and narrow to be a good sea boat. Harold G. Jarvis, her surviving owner, testified to the contrary, that he felt, as an experienced seaman, that Sechelt was perfectly suitable for the Victoria–Sooke run and that when he and Captain James had inspected her when she was hauled out at Turpel's yard, they both found her to be in "first-class" condition. He did not consider the vessel top-heavy, and stated she had made several trips just before her loss in worse weather conditions, which on

817-640: The bridge's concept or design. Concrete floating bridges continue to remain a viable means for the conveyance of vehicle traffic over Lake Washington. In 1950, approximately one year after the tolls were removed from the Murrow bridge, the inland ferry system on the lake came to an end, having operated since the 1880s. The cities and towns bordering the lake, going clockwise from the west, are Seattle , Lake Forest Park , Kenmore , Kirkland , Yarrow Point , Hunts Point , Medina , Bellevue , Beaux Arts Village , and Renton . The city of Mercer Island occupies

860-479: The call at 7:56 PM. They blew the emergency whistle, and five minutes later Captain Thomas Riley took out the government steamer Madge to go to the scene ( Madge , a quarantine vessel, was chosen because she always had steam up, as a ship might arrive at any time.) When they got there, they cruised around in the dark for about two hours looking for bodies or wreckage, but found none. The station also sent

903-565: The captain, who was convicted of manslaughter. The same tug, William Joliffe , that went out to Sechelt also went to the wreck of the Iroquois. The much larger steamer Clallam was lost in January 1904 in waters near the site of the sinking of Sechelt in somewhat similar weather conditions, and its loss was mentioned in the proceedings investigating the Sechelt disaster. In 1906 Dix ,

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946-543: The desirable fish populations declined, and masses of dead algae accumulated on the shores of the lake. After significant pollution, the October 5, 1963 issue of the Post Intelligencer referred to the lake as "Lake Stinko". Citizen concern led to the creation of a system that diverted the treatment-plant effluents into nearby Puget Sound, where tidal flushing would mix them with open-ocean water. The diversion

989-494: The emplacement of the pilings or towers necessary for the construction of a causeway or suspension bridge . The bridges consist of hollow concrete pontoons that float atop the lake, anchored with cables to each other and to weights on the lake bottom. The roadway is constructed atop these concrete pontoons. Three floating bridges cross Lake Washington: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (officially

1032-442: The engine was working, apparently the result of the loss of two of her propeller blades. The engineer considered Sechelt unstable unless she were well-ballasted, and if cargo were carried only on the main deck (instead of in the hold, which was entirely used for a coal bunker except for some ballast forward), in his opinion her instability would increase. The engineer testified that he had left Sechelt for this reason. Kick described

1075-413: The house then, I could not see any of the black part of the steamer's hull. She was then heading to westward. About a minute after that she sank down and I did not see any more of her; she sank quick. ...I have been here all of my life and know the waters well in this vicinity. A strong gale and the rips are very dangerous. The last I saw of the steamer was her smoke stack as she went down. I ran 2 ½ miles to

1118-515: The island of the same name, in the southern half of the lake. Around 1900, Seattle began discharging sewage into Lake Washington. During the 1940s and 1950s, eleven sewage treatment plants were sending state-of-the-art treated water into the lake at a rate of 20 million gallons per day. At the same time, phosphate-based detergents came into wide use. The lake responded to the massive input of nutrients by developing unpleasant blooms of noxious blue-green algae ( cyanobacteria ). The water lost its clarity,

1161-622: The lake. Before construction of the canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the Black River , which joined the Duwamish River and emptied into Elliott Bay . When the canal was opened the level of the lake dropped nearly nine feet (2.7 m). The canal became the lake's sole outlet, causing the Black River to dry up and disappear. Before construction, the Sammamish River was the primary source of water for Lake Washington, and

1204-536: The longest, second longest, and fifth longest floating bridges in the world, respectively. Many questioned the wisdom of concrete floating bridge technology after the sinking of a portion of the Lacey V. Murrow bridge on November 25, 1990. However, a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) investigation revealed that the incident resulted from the improper handling of hydrodemolition water being used during bridge renovations, rather than in any basic flaw in

1247-479: The lowering of the lake slightly increased its flow. As part of the ship canal project, the Cedar River was diverted into Lake Washington to become the lake's primary source. The Montlake Cut , part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal , connects the lake to Lake Union and ultimately Puget Sound . Concrete floating bridges are employed to span the lake because Lake Washington's depth and muddy bottom prevented

1290-553: The new Washington Territory had been named the year before. The lake provides boating and sport fishing opportunities. Some fish species found in its waters include sockeye salmon , coho salmon , Chinook salmon , rainbow trout , largemouth bass , smallmouth bass , yellow perch , and black crappie . Lake Washington has two passenger seaplane bases : Kenmore Air Harbor on its north end; and Will Rogers – Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base on its south end, adjacent to Renton Municipal Airport . A ribbon lake , Lake Washington

1333-408: The next day that Sechelt had gone out and been lost. Had he been in command he would never had taken her out. With some exceptions, he considered Sechelt to have been in good condition. Harold Brown, who had been acting as booking agent for Sechelt , not surprisingly disagreed with Engineer Kick, testifying that he thought a vessel of Sechelt ' s type could have handled the sea conditions on

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1376-466: The post office and told of the disaster by telephone. From this account, given by Henry Charles at his house, the examiner concluded that Sechelt had sunk about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of South Bedford Island (a bare rock) in 40 fathoms (240 ft) of water. All aboard were lost. Having seen the disaster, Henry Charles ran to Rocky Point, where there was a telephone link to the quarantine station at William Head. The quarantine station received

1419-468: The sea being on her side. She still kept on going off for about five minutes. Then the first big sea struck her on the side (the right side) and made her lie on her left side about that much (indicating about 45̊) She still kept going towards where the big seas were, big breakers, when the second sea struck her and laid her over more. Then a third sea struck her and laid her over on her side. About two minutes after she came back on an even keel. I could only see

1462-508: The sinking were Henry Charles and his wife Anna Charles, people of the First Nations living on Beacher Bay Reserve. Henry Charles had substantial sea experience working as a fisherman and on schooners. In later testimony, he described the sinking as follows: A week before last Friday (March 24th) about 5 p.m. I was sitting in my house looking out of the window to seaward when I saw a small steamer coming around Church Point going west. It

1505-493: The small steel-hulled twin-propeller steamer Tasmanian for a month to run on the route from Victoria to Sooke as a test to see if the business warranted the purchase of a larger vessel. Both James and Jarvis had licenses as master mariners. They then put Sechelt on the Victoria–Sooke route, and she made her first run on March 1, 1911, under Captain Caral Stromgren. Sooke was a town with a sheltered small harbor near

1548-413: The southern end of Vancouver Island , and the route there from Victoria required Sechelt to cross the eastern part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca , a notoriously dangerous body of water, which had in 1904 claimed the then-new steamboat Clallam , a much larger, newer, and stronger-built vessel than Sechelt . Clallam ' s sinking in nearly the same waters was well known in shipping circles and there

1591-681: The weather conditions on the day of the sinking but ascribed the accident entirely to the vessel's instability. [A] heavy gale prevailed the whole of the day and would cause a heavy sea in the Straits, dangerous to most small craft even in thorough good working order and stability, which the Sechelt was not in my opinion. Captain Caral Stromgren, Sechelt ' s "regular" captain, stated that he had been ill, so Captain James had relieved him. (Jarvis testified later that he and James had fired Stromgren, apparently related to his unawareness that he had lost

1634-435: The wind. There is no record of the inquiry's decision readily to hand. One authority states no clear determination could be made as to the cause of sinking. Less than three weeks later, on April 10, 1911, the steamer Iroquois sunk in similar circumstances in the Strait of Georgia. In that case, the ship's cargo, having been poorly stowed, shifted when the vessel encountered a squall. This time there were survivors, including

1677-468: Was blowing hard from the west and big sea on into which the steamer was bucking. There was a strong ebb tide and heavy tide rips. The steamer was about 500 yards (460 m) off the small island when she was going southwesterly (South Bedford Island). When she had passed about 100 yards (91 m) west of the island she changed her course towards the American side about south straight. She was rolling then

1720-482: Was completed in 1968, and the lake responded quickly. The algal blooms diminished, the water regained its clarity, and by 1975, recovery was complete. Careful studies by a group of limnologists from the University of Washington showed that phosphate was the culprit. Since then, Lake Washington has undergone major improvements, drastically improving the ecology and water quality, making the water twice as clear as it

1763-712: Was good and all went well. On her return on March 2, she was laid up for some alteration work to her cabins. Also, it appears that she had lost a propeller blade on the trip to Sooke. Although in theory Captain Stromgren was the "regular master" of Sechelt , in fact he made only one trip in Sechelt –this first one–and, due in part to Stromgren's illness, James made 18 trips on the Sooke run in Sechelt . On Friday, March 24, 1911, with Captain H.B. James in command, Sechelt departed Victoria harbor at 2:30 PM. Aboard were her crew of four, an estimated 33 passengers, mostly workers on

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1806-520: Was launched as to the causes of the wreck. The preliminary inquiry was conducted by Captain Charles Eddie, Examiner of Masters and Mates, of the Port of Vancouver. On March 30, 1911, Augustus Charles Kick, an experienced man who had served as Sechelt ' s chief engineer from about March 4 to March 17, 1911, testified that her bilge pumps were inadequate and she tended to ship a lot of water when

1849-560: Was talk that Sechelt was not fit for the route. The vessel ran in the narrow passage between Race Rocks Lighthouse and the mainland, which was often hazardous in any conditions, but particularly on an ebb tide. As a condition of her insurance, just before James and Jarvis bought the vessel, her underwriters had required a thorough overhaul out of the water, which cost $ 6,000, the entire vessel having an insured value of $ 9,000. On her first trip to Sooke, on March 1, 1911, Sechelt carried only four passengers and two tons of freight. The weather

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