Stranded (21 page)

Considering how little about the
Princess Sophia
is in the public consciousness, a surprising amount of information relating to the shipwreck exists to this day. The primary sources of information I relied upon were the Canadian and American inquiries into the sinking. The
Official Inquiry into the Loss of the
Princess Sophia
, 1919
, is now conveniently available online, and contains hundreds of pages of first-hand accounts. Another, even more extensive, resource is the American inquiry,
United States Court of Appeals Case #6390, I.M. BRACE vs. CANADIAN PACIFIC.
Much of it repeats the information present in the Canadian inquiry, but American investigators pressed witnesses repeatedly and with a kind of force not generally present in the Canadian inquiry.

I also drew upon two other contemporary sources, namely Bill Morrison and Ken Coates' excellent
Sinking of the
Princess Sophia, and Betty O'Keefe and Ian MacDonald's
The Final Voyage of the
Princess Sophia
.
For a portrait of Skagway and Alaska during the beginning of the gold rush, J. Bernard Moore's
Skagway in Days Primeval
was absolutely invaluable. It turns out some things in Skagway never change: the mosquitoes were just as bad in 1887 as they are today. You can visit Moore's homestead in Skagway, and see the desk where he penned his memoirs. He seems like a neat guy who, regrettably, suffered through a difficult marriage and lost most of his money in the years after he left Skagway.

Another invaluable source of information came from Lea Edgar, librarian and archivist at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, who furnished me with entire file folders filled with old newspaper cuttings, letters, archival photographs, and other materials that have been slowly but steadily collected and rounded up by people across the country over the years. It is from these archives that a faded, unclear photocopy of
Princess Sophia
's general arrangement plans were found, along with numerous press clippings relating to her launch in Scotland and subsequent entry into service on the west coast.

With my hands strapped into latex gloves that seemed to be two sizes too small, I slowly worked my way through the vast mountain of information until I arrived at a letter penned by Captain Locke on January 2, 1918, and mailed that afternoon. Written on Canadian Pacific stationery, it told me quite a bit about Leonard Locke the man: his handwriting was impeccable. Flawless, even. This was the work of a cautious, measured man. Ten months later, those very qualities would work against the experienced mariner in ways he could have never anticipated.

Of course, except for the testimony of the would-be rescuers and the various wireless messages that were passed among the ships, we really don't know exactly what happened aboard the
Princess Sophia
in those last hours on Vanderbilt Reef. I made a conscious choice to attempt to portray what was happening on the ship; who was doing what, where people were. Based on what is known about the folks on board the ship from the friends, colleagues, and loved ones they left behind, and the testimony of people like Selmer Jacobson, who actually dove down to the wreck in the weeks following the sinking, I felt I could draw some reasonable (and careful) conclusions about where people were, and what they were doing, by connecting the dots between these known facts. It's not difficult to imagine, for example, that Walter Barnes would have remained in or near the cargo holds for most of the ordeal, given how attached he was to his beloved horse, Old Billy.

I also made a conscious choice to avoid the trial and to “time jump” as little as possible. The trial was so extensive and filled with information that an entire book could be written just on those proceedings alone. Those hours up on the reef were what fascinated me most. Therefore, I've focused more on the facts surrounding
Princess Sophia
's journey from Skagway, and the plight of her would-be rescuers.

There is also no substitute for actually travelling to Alaska. Over the course of writing this book I made four trips north, travelling to Skagway and Juneau multiple times on numerous ships in my attempts to sail the waters of Lynn Canal as much as possible. It's a curious stretch of water, and the more I sailed it the more it unsettled me. The winds that whip down that canal, from the ghost town of Dyea, can catch you off guard even in the middle of July.

For those who are travelling to southeast Alaska, there are some fabulous bookstores that still dedicate themselves to providing interesting publications on the unique history of Alaska. They are:

• Hearthside Books: 254 Front Street, Juneau, Alaska
  
• Old Harbor Books: 201 Lincoln Street, Sitka, Alaska
  
• Parnassus Books: 105 Stedman Street, Ketchikan, Alaska.
  
• Skaguay News Depot & Books: 264 Broadway Street, Skagway, Alaska
  

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank those who gave their encouragement, lent a hand, or just humoured me as I stayed up until all hours sifting through articles and redrawing deck plans. Special thanks for their kind support and assistance during the production of this book — which is a bit like giving birth to a child — go to: Brad Ball, Margaret Bryant, Camille Drevillon, Carrie Gleason, Cheryl Hawley, Peter Knego, Aileen Laurel, Karen McMullin, Kimberly Plumridge, Adrian Raeside, Cheyenne Sanchez, Maureen and Peter Saunders, Alicia Saunders, and Caitlyn Stewart.

Copyright © Aaron Saunders, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Editor: Cheryl Hawley

Design: Courtney Horner

Cover Design: Courtney Horner

Cover image: Aaron Saunders

Back cover image: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-133388

Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy

Unless otherwise noted all photos were taken by the author.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Saunders, Aaron, 1982-, author

Stranded : Alaska's worst maritime disaster nearly

happened twice / Aaron Saunders.

Includes index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-4597-3154-7 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-4597-3155-4 (pdf).--

ISBN 978-1-4597-3156-1 (epub)

1. Princess Sophia (Ship). 2. Star Princess (Ship). 3. Shipwrecks--

Alaska--Pacific Coast. I. Title.

G530.P83S29 2015 909.09164'34 C2015-900899-9

C2015-900900-6

We acknowledge the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts
and the
Ontario Arts Council
for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the
Government of Canada
through the
Canada Book Fund
and
Livres Canada Books
, and the
Government of Ontario
through the
Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit
and the
Ontario Media Development Corporation
.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

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