Rainier (bark)

This American bark, 499 tons, struck by a furious gale off Cape Flattery, January 3, 1882. In command of Captain John H. Wolf, she sailed from Port Townsend for Honolulu, December 31, 1881. After a northerly gale struck, she began leaking badly. On January 5, while all hands were at the pumps, a gigantic sea stove the cabin, shifted the deckload of lumber, and threw the craft on ber beam ends. Captain Wolf was hurled against the mizzen stay and killed; he had broken his back and fractured his skull. The masts were cut away and the vessel righted. The crew lashed themselves to the poop, where they remained tfll January 24. They survived on five sacks of potatoes, one sack of flour, and a gallon of vinegar. The gaunt survivors were picked up by the brig Orient off the Oregon Coast. J.A. Gibbs, Shipwrecks off Juan De Fuca Portland: Binfords and Mort, 1968.

Citation: Tacoma Public Library

Rainier (bark)

A well known lumber vessel, the bark Rainier, met her fate in January, 1882, in command of Capt. John H. Wolf. She sailed from Port Townsend for Honolulu, December 31, I88i, and ran into a gale January 3d, which started her to leaking badly. On the fifth, while all hands were at the pumps, the vessel was struck by a heavy sea, which stove in the cabin, shifted the deck load and threw the craft on her beam ends. Captain Wolf was thrown against the mizzen stay, fracturing his skull and breaking his back. He died half an hour afterward. The masts were cut away, and the ship righted. The crew lashed themselves to the poop, where they remained until the twenty-fourth, subsisting on five sacks of potatoes, one sack of flour and two gallons of vinegar. On the morning of the twenty-second the brig Orient, Captain Williams, bound for the Umpqua, fell in with the wreck in latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes north, longitude 126 24' west. A heavy sea prevented the rescue for two days, but on the twenty-fourth they were take

Citation: Tacoma Public Library