Page 3 - 2022 Summer SWHS Newsletter

Fifteen people were rescued,
however 8 people died, includ- The Weekly Star
ing Bailey, whose body was Friday, Nov. 21, 1919
never found. It was the worst
steamboat disaster on the Sound Capt. Henry Bailey Dead
up to that point. Capt. Henry Bailey of the White
An inquest determined that Pass steamer Nasutlin died at Mayo
the boiler had gone dry, which Landing on the Stewart River Octo-
caused the explosion. ber 27 from stomach trouble, with
* * * which he had been suffering for
In 1879 Henry married Cla- a number of years. The body was
rissa Hamblett of San Juan taken to Dawson overland and will
Island, who like him had an be shipped to Seattle for burial. He
indigenous mother and white Bailey captained steamboats such as the Philip B. was 64 years of age and leaves a
father. (Though listed on some Low (above) on the Yukon River run to Dawson City. wife, three sons and one daughter to
census records as white, Henry mourn his loss. The family home is
was proud of his Snohomish Tribe her- Little towns along the coast, includ- in Ballard, Wash.
itage and filed tribal enrollment papers ing Langley, were drying up for want The deceased was one of the pi-
in 1918, as did his half-sister Laura of work that the steamers brought. oneer steamboatmen of the Upper
Bailey Jewett.) Then gold was found in the Klondike Yukon river and for three years has
been one of the most valued employ-
In 1887, Captain Bailey was the and the economy went from bust to ees of the White Pass company....
skipper of the Skagit Chief, with a boom almost overnight. Capt. Bailey was one of the most
stop at Clinton on Saturdays. He then After 20 years captaining steamboats genial and companionable of men,
became captain of the steamer State of on the Sound and nearby rivers, Bailey made friends of all with whom he
Washington in 1889, so named when signed on with the Klondike Corpo- came in contact, and it will be with
WA Territory became a State. ration Ltd. and later the White Pass feelings of deepest sorrow that they
He must have passed his childhood Company in Canada. will hear of his untimely passing.
home at Cultus Bay quite frequently In 1898, he was in command of the The following is a chronological
over the years on his many runs. Philip B. Low, delivering government account of Captain Bailey’s activi-
supplies to Fort Selkirk at Dawson City ties from the summer of 1898 until
North to the gold fields in the Yukon Territory. close of navigation, 1919:
From 1893 to 1897 the United States Though in ill health, Henry Bailey • 1898, master of steamer Phillip B. Low,
was in an economic depression. What continued working until ice forced his lower Yukon river.
hit the Mosquito Fleet harder, was a steamboat to pull in at the silver min- • 1899, pilot of steamer Eldorado, upper
new railroad which ran along the Sound ing town of Mayo in late October 1919. Yukon river.
coastline, significantly cutting the need It was there that he died. He is buried • 1900, pilot of steamer Sybil, upper Yukon
for moving freight by steamboats. at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle. • 1901-2, pilot of steamers Ora and the
Thistle. upper Yukon river.
• 1903, master of steamer Casca, upper
Yukon river.
• 1904, master of Columbia river steam-
ers, Eastern Washington.
• 1905, pilot of steamer Schwatka, lower
Yukon river.
• 1907-8, master of Columbia river
steamers, Eastern Washington.
• 1908-9-10, master of steamer Tonsina,
Copper river, Southwestern Alaska.
• 1911-12, master of Columbia river
steamer, Eastern Washington.
• 1913-14-15-16, master of steamers
Norcom and Vidette of Sidestreams
Navigation Co., Dawson.
The 1888 sternwheeler Henry Bailey was named in honor of Capt. Henry Bailey. Among • 1917-18-19, master of steamers Selkirk
her crew was a young purser named Joshua Green, who soon became a steamboat and Nasutlin, upper Yukon river.
magnate and was later the founder of People’s National Bank of Washington.
3