Digital Bob Archive

The beach of Douglas Island inside Mayflower Island was used in early years as a place for repairing damaged vessels, large and small. Mostly they were small steamboats and schooners, but there was an occasional large one, too; large, at least, for that day. Gastineau Channel had two attractions for large vessels in need of repairs: two sawmills that could furnish lumber, and a machine shop at the Treadwell Mine.

The first of the large ones we know about was the side-paddle steamer Ancon, in October, 1886. Even at that early date a good many tourists, or excursionists as they were then known, were making the round trip to Alaska on the steamers. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company had two steamers on the Alaska run that summer, the Ancon and the Idaho, and for the benefit of the round-tripper, they went into Glacier Bay each trip.

On September 13, heading into the bay for the last time that season, the Ancon found an uncharted rock off Point Gustavus. She was considerably damaged and taking water, but her skipper, Captain James Carroll managed to get her off the rock and to beach her a couple of miles inside the bay before water put out her fires. She carried a steam launch and it was sent to Killisnoo with word of the mishap and from Killisnoo the news went to Sitka where the navy vessel Pinta was at anchor. Her skipper gathered lumber and canvas and other patching material and steamed away for Glacier Bay.

Included in the Ancon's cargo for Killisnoo were 200 complete barrels and staves, hoops and heads for 800 more. Captain Carroll put all hands to work lashing the 200 barrels under the guards and around the paddle boxes, and putting together the other 800 and stuffing them into the hold. The Pinta arrived, transferred the patching material, then took the passengers first to see Muir Glacier, then to Juneau. By the time she returned to the wreck, the Idaho had arrived, having learned of the wreck at Sitka. On the way she had picked up 2,500 more barrels at Killisnoo to provide additional flotation.

Escorted by the Pinta and Idaho, the Ancon reached Gastineau Channel safely, unloaded the barrels on the Treadwell dock and went on the beach inside Mayflower Island for further patching. She backed off the beach on October 15, loaded the barrels once more, took them to Killisnoo, made her long-delayed stop at Sitka and went on south to Portland under her own power.

While the Pinta was here, her officers sounded the area inside Mayflower Island and described it as a snug anchorage for a steamboat. Later that anchorage was pretty well filled with tailings from the Treadwell mines and had to be dredged to make the Douglas boat harbor.

As for the Ancon, she was soon back in service and had three more years on the Alaska run before she became a permanent wreck at Loring, near Ketchikan.