Digital Bob Archive

The little steamboat Lone Fisherman - the first of two vessels of that name owned by the Juneau Ferry & Navigation Company - was the real workhorse of the ferry fleet during the company's infant years. Built at Seattle in 1883, she was first used in passenger service on Hood Canal in Washington. In 1889 she was brought north to Gastineau Channel by a man with the unlikely name of Captain W.J. McGlue and used in general towing and charter service.

Soon after the Juneau Ferry & Navigation Company was organized, at the end of 1894, it purchased the Lone Fisherman and substantially rebuilt her upper works to provide more cabin space for passengers. When that was completed, there was a proposal to rename her Cecelia for the older of the two daughters of Captain C.E. Tibbits, the head of the company, and that name was used in the newspapers a few times. For some reason, however, the name was dropped and she continued as the Lone Fisherman.

One of the few ferry mishaps that resulted in the loss of a passenger occurred in the evening on November 28, 1896. The vessel left Douglas for Juneau on schedule at 8:15, and when she was about half way across, Captain Tibits turned the wheel over to the deckhand and went to collect the fares. The deckhand was Shelley Graves, who later became a Juneau merchant, and with him in the pilothouse was a passenger, John Kruzner, who operated a brewery in Douglas. Kruzner, a native of Vienna and about 34 years old, left the pilothouse to go aft and a moment later Graves heard a splash and rang for the engineer to stop.
They searched for an hour but no trace was found of Kruzner.

Captain J.T. Martin, who had been the first man to run a steam ferry on the channel, took command of the Lone Fisherman a part of the time, and other skippers were Captain George Rose and a Captain Bell. Captain Martin was in charge in June, 1900, when the ferry collided with the fishing schooner Trilby, owned by Stephen Vene. The company assumed the blame and repaired the schooner.

A more spectacular accident occurred on a Sunday morning early in November, 1901. As the Lone Fisherman approached the Douglas float, captain Rose gave the signal to reverse, but a key had slipped out of the reversing rod and the vessel ploughed into the wharf. The pilot house was smashed and a steam valve was broken, releasing a cloud of steam that enveloped the whole vessel.

Two of the men passengers jumped overboard from one side of the ferry. The other side was near the float and Mrs. Liljestrand and her two daughters tried to jump to it. One of the girls went into the water but was quickly rescued by the mate and the fireman, as were the two men passengers.

Steam to the engine was shut down and the Lone Fisherman drifted out into the channel and was picked up by the cannery tender Phillip F. Kelly and towed to Juneau. Temporary repairs were made and the ferry missed only one trip.