Digital Bob Archive

The mailboats that plied out of Juneau had a good safety record considering their schedules, the waters they traversed and the weather conditions of this area. But there were mishaps. One of the earliest in which there was loss of life occurred early in 1908, involving the gas boat Fox which was carrying the mail on the route from Juneau to Kake, with calls at half a dozen wayports.

When Charles McConaghey secured the contract for the Kake mail route, he purchased the Fox from the Shakan Salmon Company, a cannery at Shakan on Kosciusko Island. The boat was about 50 feet in length with a 35-horsepower engine. McConaghey ran the boat with one other man, Roscoe States who was sometimes called in the newspapers Captain States although it is not clear that he was in command of the vessel. States was 26 and had grown up in Juneau where his family had arrived in 1884 after his father was named the town's first U.S. Commissioner. He and his brother, Waldo, a year younger, had both chosen maritime careers and had worked on the local ferries and other small craft since they were boys.

On Monday morning, January 12, 1908, the Fox left Juneau on her regular run.
She put mail ashore at Taku Harbor and Snettisham and mail and a passenger at each Sumdum and Windham Bay. She then ran across to the Five Finger light station and put ashore mail and supplies. Very shortly after the Fox left the landing her engine stopped, a not uncommon event with those early gasoline engines. Before it could be started the boat drifted on a rock which punctured the hull. They got the engine going and returned to the landing where they put ashore all the mail and freight as the Fox was sinking fast. She did not go to the bottom but remained awash and was anchored out until help should arrive.

There were snow squalls off and on and two vessels, a steamer and a small gasboat, passed without seeing their signals. It was then decided that States and a man named Russell, a employee of the Lighthouse Service, should take a small sailboat belonging to the station and either intercept another vessel or go in to Juneau for help. The boat was described as well found, with airtight compartments, a water tank, and plenty of provisions. They set sail toward Juneau in a snow squall and were never seen again.

The Fox was due back in Juneau by the 17th but at that time of year and with the weather what it was, it was a couple of days later before the mail boat was considered overdue. Several boats started a search and the Rustler found her at Five Finger and towed her to town. But there was no sign of the missing men. An intensive search began then, probably the largest in this area to that time. Nearly all of the local fleet plus the Army vessel Peterson from William H. Seward at Haines joined in. An oar with Lighthouse Service markings was found in Lynn Canal, and some pieces of wreckage on Grand Island. It was surmised that the boat had capsized while trying to cross Taku Inlet, and the loss of the men was chalked up to the perils of northern seas in winter.