The C.A. Thayer, shown here fishing cod in the Bering Sea, Alaska, was built at the Bendixen shipyard in Eureka, California in 1896 as a lumber schooner. She delivered Douglas fir as far away as Fiji before starting a second career fishing in the 1930s. She is now on display, fully restored in San Francisco. The five-masted sailing schooner, the Active, was one of the many lumber schooners built along the Oregon, Washington, and California coasts during the latter half of the 19th century. They carried the prime Douglas fir timber down the west coast of the Americas and as far away as Asia. The artist knew one of the crewmembers who ‘passed judgment’ on the painting as it was being completed. Steam schooners, like Olson & Mahoney’s 608 ton J. Marhoffer carried more cargo on deck than under the hatches. The Marhoffer, built in Aberdeen, WA in 1907, stranded on the Oregon coast in 1910.
The Virginia V is the last of the “Mosquito Fleet”, small, steam ferry boats that criss-crossed Puget Sound in the early years of the 20th century carrying passengers and produce to market before there was the present network of roads. She is still active and is fully restored. This is a scene from Port Gamble, Washington, one of the many lumber mills found throughout Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest during the last half of the 19th and into the early 20th century. Pictured are two “Downeasters”, tall ships built on the east coast that carried Puget Sound lumber down the west coast and as far away as Asia. The Wawona, was built at the Bendixen shipyard in Eureka, California in 1897 as a lumber schooner. She delivered Douglas fir around the Pacific Rim before starting a second career in the 1930s fishing cod in the Bering Sea, Alaska. She is shown here entering Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, Washington. The steam tug at her stern, the Beaver, was the first tugboat in Puget Sound. She now lays in Lake Union, Seattle awaiting restoration.
The Sophie Christianson was a four-masted cod schooner owned by the Pacific Coast Codfish Company, headquartered in Poulsbo, WA. She is shown leaving for the Bering Sea from the Bell Street pier in 1938, assisted by the harbor tug Anna Foss. This painting of the C. A. Thayer depicts her going through Unimak Pass, Alaska on her way to the cod fishing grounds in the Bering Sea. This is a scene from Port Blakely, on Bainbridge Island, Washington, one of the many lumber mills found throughout Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest during the last half of the 19th and into the early 20th century. Pictured are two “Down Easters”, tall ships built on the east coast that carried Puget Sound lumber down the west coast and as far away as the Asia.

                   

Click Image to Enlarge