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DREADFUL CALAMITY’ilDastraction of Port Angeles and the Custom Ho1Iev Wc find in the Victoria Chronicle, the♦„ following account of the terrible Good which Iy washed away the town of Port Angeles, and.j , caused the loss of two lives.L. The beautiful little American town oft! Port Angeles (or Angels Port), which isl nestled at the foot of one of the loftiestn spurs of the Cascade Range of Mountains. Iiin a direction nearly opposite to our own;i city of Victoria, has been nearly swept away i. by a torrent of water, which burst upon if I suddenly through a gorge or ravine which opens into the rear of the town. The calamity occurred about (J o'clock on Wednes day evening last. The first intimation which the inhabitants had of the dangerL was a rushing roaring sound proceeding •; from the gorge, and on turning their eyes thitherward they saw a great body of water several feet in height, bearing upon its surface or sweeping before it logs, trees and stomps, rushing down npon them. Before they conld even realize their danger the flood was upon and over the greater part of the town. The Custom-house, a large, two story structure, stood exactly in the path of the vast torrent, and was overturned and swept away in a moment. Of the three occupants in the Custom-house at the time, Dr. Gunn, the Collector, was the only one who escaped, llis deputy, Mr. J. W. Anderson and Captain Goodell, an inspector, were overwhelmed with the building and lost their lives. Their bodies, mutilated and swollen, were recovered from the ruins after the water had subsided. The flood next carried away the dwelling of Victor Smith, (ex-collector,) his family narrowly escaping with their lives ; and swept clearinto -he harbor the dwelling of Mr. E. Stanton, whose family were rescued with difficulty by boats. The front portion of the Bough and Beady Saloon, a portion ofi the wharf, and several thousand feet of logs 1 were also swept out to sea. Three or four miles behiud the town, in fertile valleys, several farmers have settled, and it is feared they too have been overwhelmed with the flood. One of these farmers has a wife and four children with him. A person who visited the town on Saturday aays that the picture of ruiu and desolation presented is indescribable. The fragments of houses, and hundreds of trees and stumps lie scattered about in every direction, and in some places they are piled one npon another to the height of thirty feet. The face of the town site fora breadth of at least 100 yards hy one mile long, is completely changed. Tho accident is supposed to have been canned by the late rains melting the wow and ice in the mountains, and causing avalanches into the lakes at the foot hills. These lakes were then overflowed and rushing down th' gorge, carried everything before them. It is said that the Indians told the whit's, when they were laying out their town, that its site was subject to overflow, but no heed was paid to the information. By aome it is thought that the Coatom-hooac will l»e returned to Port Townsend, while other* be lieve that the damage will be repaired and that with proper care the recurrence of a calamity of the kind may be prevented.IIfIJ
Newspaper Details
Seattle Gazette
Seattle, Washington, US
Sat, Dec 26, 1863
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
David W.
WA, USA 08 Dec 2020
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