But the perpetrators on board needed some assurance of survival. They wanted a boat that they knew was sturdy enough to take the nine hundred pounds of gold, plus their combined body weight, and make it to shore. Thus, a sturdy craft that was “neither a lifeboat nor a sealing boat” was probably taken onboard with the assistance of the officer.
Just as the Clara Nevada left port, one of the conspirators must have slipped into the boiler room to set the charge. He probably lit the fuse as well. Then, as soon as the Clara Nevada was out of port, the perpetrators began moving the gold into the new getaway lifeboat. But there they got a surprise. At least three stowaways were hiding in the craft: William Hemmings, George Kasey and George Logsdon. At least the stowaways had had the good sense to choose the best lifeboat in which to hide!
With the fuse lit and time at a premium, the conspirators could hardly have spent precious minutes arguing with stowaways. Since they probably didn’t want the stowaways to know what they were doing, they shifted their attention to another lifeboat.
Another reasonable possibility was that the stowaways could have been armed.
The trip and transfer of the gold to the other lifeboat must have been difficult. First, the ship’s timbers were probably coated with ice from the storm. Second, waves were undoubtedly washing the deck. Third, the ship was pitching violently. Fourth, moving nine hundred pounds of metal in these conditions must have been, at the very least, a Herculean labor.
At this moment, there may very well have been another complication: George Foster Beck. Either he was getting cold feet and did not want to conclude the robbery, or he had come on deck to investigate suspicious circumstances. In either case, he was undoubtedly knocked to the deck. There he lay until his corpse or unconscious body was rolled overboard.
Odd as it may seem, there may have been a witness to the machinations of the thieves on deck. In spite of the fact that the Clara Nevada was running with a wind estimated to be as high as ninety miles an hour with towering waves and a snow storm, figures were seen on deck by a passing ship. When the Wolcott passed the Clara Nevada—the former going north against the wind and the latter south—Captain Donaldson of the Excelsior, undoubtedly onboard as a passenger, reported that the decks of the doomed ship were almost deserted. Several figures were seen, and they waved to us. That must have been just an hour or so before the occurrence of the explosion, if such really took place. Does it not seem improbable that no one has escaped to tell the tale? Here we have a qualified eye witness who saw figures on the deck of the Clara Nevada in miserable weather an hour before the explosion.
Just before the thieves escaped, they set fire to the ship to keep the crew and passengers occupied. This contention seems to be supported by the fact that an early investigator to the wreck, Sanderson Reed, stated that he was certain that the fire had started in “different parts of the vessel.”71
Had the fire been confined to one area, I could have been convinced that it could have been an accident. But, as the fire started in many locations, I believe those fires were set on purpose. Those fires must have been ferocious, too. According to the eyewitness on shore, “sudden flames were seen to burst from every part of the ship.” The ship burned for “20 minutes when there occurred a terrific explosion which [could be] plainly heard above the howling of the win [sic].”
Considering the storm and the monstrous waves, the corpse of George Foster Beck may have been rolling back and forth across, or into and out of, the flames quite a number of times, which charred “a portion or his coat and trousers,”72 but did not incinerate the remains. From Flat Bay to the Chilkat Islands, about six or seven miles or twenty or thirty minutes if the ship were going fifteen knots, there was more than enough time to scorch the cadaver before it was washed overboard by the towering swells that were rocking the ship and sweeping the deck.
Had Beck’s body been discovered on Sullivan Island, the corpse would have had an additional ten minutes of burning or may have been swept off the deck when the ship exploded. I doubt that Sullivan Island was the repository of George Foster Beck’s body, however, for the wind was blasting out the north. The body would have ended up with the rest of the Clara Nevada debris, to the south. Sullivan Island is due west of Eldred Rock.
I also discount Shelter Island as a possibility where Beck’s body might have been discovered. Shelter Island is twenty miles to the south of Eldred Rock. For a body to have made it as far south as Shelter Island, the corpse would have had to have missed Point Sherman seven miles away, where most of the debris was found, then stay midchannel for the next twenty miles. More than likely, if any debris had made it around Point Sherman, it probably would have been beached long before it made a few miles down the channel.
I suspect that the perpetrators abandoned the burning ship with the gold between Battery Point and Flat Bay. The ship would have been close to the Chilkat Peninsula and somewhat protected from the blasting north wind. Just as likely, the rendezvous point was either Flat Bay or Seduction Point. Both are somewhat protected from the wind and close enough to Skagway to return easily once the storm passed.
As far as the burning Clara Nevada was concerned, I’m inclined to believe that whoever was steering the ship stayed at the wheel until the very end. When the vessel passed the first of the Chilkat Islands, Talasani, the protection of the Chilkat Peninsula would have disappeared and the flaming vessel would have been running before the full force of the ninety-mile-an-hour storm. If the fire was as ferocious as described, it is hard to believe that anyone was left alive below decks by the time the ship rounded Talasani Island.
As the ship passed the last of the Chilkat Islands, whoever was steering the ship must have known that he was doomed. A fire was raging out of control below deck, and the storm threatened to sweep the ship into the shoals. Yet, by looking at a map, it is apparent that the ship ran almost due south until it hit the reef a few hundred yards north of Eldred Rock. As there was no lighthouse there in 1898, a pilot could not have seen the rock in the darkness.
Since the ship did hit, explode and sink at Eldred Rock, I am inclined to believe that the ship was beached on purpose. As it would have been the first watch, I assume that pilot Ed Kelly would have been steering the ship. Kelly knew of the island, as he had inched past it on his way up this channel just the day before. Kelly probably felt that his only chance of survival was grounding the ship. But before the ship hit the beach at Eldred Rock, the explosion occurred and a blackened hole appeared in the boiler room’s hull wall. Then the ship went down quickly.
I disagree with Sanderson Reed and the Steamboat Inspection Service as to the cause of the explosion. They both felt that the shock of the ship hitting the rock caused lighting oil to spill, thus precipitating the flash of fire. C.F. Stagger also confirmed that the Clara Nevada had “slipped partly off the rock and at high tide is about twenty-four feet under water.” But this statement might be misleading, as Skagway can have thirty-foot tides.
I could believe that the Clara Nevada may have hit a rock on Eldred Rock’s shoals, but she must have been in a trough when the collision occurred. The ship may have hung up momentarily, but it did not remain stationary long.
Further, considering that the channel was experiencing heavy waves that night, it is unlikely that anyone would have seen the fireball had the ship been at the bottom of a trough. The ship more likely was on the crest of a wave when the dynamite exploded. Then, according to estimates, it sank in “three minutes,” at least according to the Seattle Times of February 16.
At least one of the witnesses claimed that the Clara Nevada was stationary before she blew. This could be an accurate statement considering the angle from which the eye witnesses were watching. From Comet, the ship would have been moving directly toward them or at a very slight angle, whether she was being steered or driven by the wind. From that angle, a witness would have no depth perception. As an illustration, consider a person standing in the end zone and watching a football player run dir
ectly toward him. From the position of the viewer, it is not possible to tell if the player is actually moving forward or simply running in place.
Additionally, if the ship did indeed sink in three minutes, the only people who could have survived with that kind of escape time were those who were on deck when the explosion occurred. The most likely people to survive would have been the stowaways. They were already in a lifeboat. It would also be my guess that this lifeboat was only secured to the deck by a rope. There would have been no housing braces for the lifeboat, as it had been brought onboard earlier that day. This must have made it easy for the stowaways to cut it free.
Depending on when they started cutting the boat free, they could have found themselves afloat immediately. There was probably a very limited suction, as the ship was only sinking in twenty-four feet of water. The miracle was that the stowaways were able to get the boat launched at all.
The only other person who could have gotten into this lifeboat would have been the pilot, Ed Kelly. He would have been standing in the pilothouse, about one-third of the way back from the bow. Assuming that the lifeboat would have been on the stern of the vessel, even if Kelly had known that the stowaways were launching the boat, he would have had to run one hundred feet down an icy deck, brace himself against the turbulent waters that were washing the deck and hang onto the railing as the ship crested each wave. That he never made it is understandable.
Then there are the lifeboats. All appear to be accounted for. As far as survivors among those who were below deck, I find it hard to believe that anyone below deck could have survived the fire and the explosion and still made it onto the deck, run as far as thirty yards on a slippery deck, gotten into a lifeboat and set it free into fifteen-foot waves within the three minutes it took the ship to sink. I do not believe that anyone survived the burning and explosion other than the three stowaways and the thieves.
Thus ends the saga of the Clara Nevada.
WHAT ABOUT C.H. LEWIS?
Now—with George Foster Beck dead and George Rogers untraceable—what about C.H. Lewis? If he was innocent of any part of the sabotage, why did he not make an appearance in Skagway and tell his side of the story?
A better question is how he made it back to Seattle without being recognized. After all, he was a well-known sea captain. so it would seem unlikely that he could have just walked aboard another vessel unseen or unrecognized. He was, after all, headed south. The gold rush fleet was loaded going north. Any passenger headed south, particularly in February 1898, would have come under the scrutiny of the crew, if not the captain of the vessel. He may very well have assumed a disguise.
Further, it is just as unbelievable that he could buy a new steamboat without arousing some kind of suspicion and then end up in court suing the owners of the Noyo without someone making the connection between him and the Clara Nevada. After all, Lewis was listed in all the newspapers as having gone down with his ship, so his sudden appearance in Seattle must have raised someone’s eyebrows. But even the McGuire brothers didn’t know that he was alive. The wreck report for the Clara Nevada that was signed on April 22, 1898, specifically listed Lewis as having gone down with the ship.73
Another good question is why Lewis buried his ownership of the William H. Evans. It took me almost two years to find some paperwork on the vessel. It was listed as having been registered in Baltimore, but I could find no further information. I later discovered it was also registered in Port Townsend, Washington. The corporation that bought the ship was located in West Virginia.
I do not believe that Lewis was trying to hide the ownership of his company by incorporating in West Virginia. More than one Alaskan mining company was registered in West Virginia, as was the Alaska Steamship Company. The laws of West Virginia must have been particularly favorable to corporations at that time. Thus there was an entrepreneurial reason for the choice of West Virginia for incorporation.
There is even a reasonable chance that Lewis was not even on board the Clara Nevada the night it went down. J.W. Lansing’s letter to the Seattle Times states that there was a rumor that Lewis was soon to leave the Clara Nevada. No other source confirms this rumor. However, I feel it would have been unlikely for Lewis to abandon his ship in Skagway. If he had planned to skipper his own boat, he would have wanted to leave the Clara Nevada in Seattle, not Skagway. Additionally, according to the Victoria Daily Colonist on February 23, Lewis had “tried his best to obtain a release from command at Juneau,” but there is no indication he succeeded.
Further, if Lewis had not been on the Clara Nevada, I believe that fact would have been mentioned in the newspapers. He was, after all, a seasoned mariner and would have been known by most of the sea captains on that route, if not by many members of the crew of the various steamers as well. If he had not been on the Clara Nevada, at least one of the ships coming south would have brought that fact to the attention of the newspapers or maritime authorities; after all, the hearings into the Clara Nevada lasted well into August 1898, and the Seattle newspapers were using the case to bludgeon each other. If Lewis were known to be alive, how could that fact not have been brought out?
I am also inclined to believe that the Lewis Klondike Exploration Company had already put down earnest money to buy the steamship that was to be named the William H. Evans, and that Lewis was just biding his time, waiting for the ship’s construction to be completed. It was probably Lewis’s intention to return to Seattle on the Clara Nevada and take command of his new ship immediately.
As to the money to buy the William H. Evans, where did Lewis, the survivor of a shipwreck, find the cash needed to buy a brand-new steamer? A new ship was expensive. In February 1898, a ship that was 125 feet long, 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep cost $230,000. While Lewis may have had access to almost $400,000 with his corporation, that money was on the East Coast. The Evans was purchased on the West Coast in February 1898.
Further, even though he had access to the entire $400,000, Lewis apparently chose not to use this money to pay for the Evans. In fact, I find it doubtful that Lewis left the West Coast after the disaster. Instead of tapping his company’s reserves, he found new investors, many of them very small. Thus, I suspect that one of two things happened. First, and least likely, the Lewis Klondike Exploration Company had some of its incorporators abandon the project. This would have left Lewis short on cash. If this falling out had occurred before the Clara Nevada left Seattle, Lewis would have had a strong motive for murder and robbery.
Secondly, and more likely, Lewis decided to raise the money himself on the West Coast. This would have saved him the investment of his own capital, as well as spared him the hurried trip east to bring some cash west. I believe that he raised the money on the West Coast. Since the firm was renamed the Evans Klondike Exploration Company, I therefore believe that Evans was the majority stockholder. If the ship had cost in the neighborhood of $250,000 and Evans owned half the venture, the reason that the company was renamed, that only left $125,000 to be raised.
It would be my guess that construction on the William H. Evans was initiated with a down payment from Lewis in late 1897 or early 1898, 10 percent being a reasonable amount. This would mean that the twenty-five small investors would be paying the balance of $100,000. Individually, they would have had to pay $4,000 apiece, $100,000 in today’s dollars. This would not have been an unreasonable amount to expect from a “small” investor.
Lewis, in essence, probably did not drop a penny of his own money into the Evans. I further surmise that when he was tabulated in the 1900 census in June in Baltimore, he was withdrawing money from his West Virginia company to pay the $13,000 to salvage the Evans. Thus, when the books were closed, I suspect that Lewis himself only paid about $38,000 for the entire Evans imbroglio. Even if Lewis had absorbed all of that loss, he would have had $262,000 left of his original investment. He was still a rich man; everyone else on the Evans was left destitute.
While I am reasonably certain that Lewis was involved with the
robbery and murder, I am just as certain that he did not profit from the crime. There is no solid financial evidence that he did. In fact, I feel that the acquisition of the William H. Evans was probably done with wheeling and dealing, not with stolen gold.
After examining the evidence, I felt that there must have been at least one more person involved. While George Rogers might have handled the escape, and George Foster Beck or C.H. Lewis might have had access to the purser’s safe, there was still a tag end to be resolved. While these men may have been a bit bent, they were not mass murderers. For this very reason, I believe that they were involved. The setting of a modest charge of dynamite indicates that there was concern for the passengers and crew. A more unsavory individual would have set off the entire cargo hold of the explosive if such were on board.
I think there was possibly a fourth person involved, and I believe that person to be the fireman, Paddy MacDonald. I believe that the Paddy MacDonald of the Clara Nevada’s crew was also the same “all round crook” that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police included in their list of “the worst criminals known on this continent,” and he could very well be the old-timer who was mentioned in the Teller News. I believe this for two reasons.
First, I find it hard to accept that there could be two Paddy MacDonalds listed in historical documents at about the same time in the same general area. Paddy MacDonald is, after all, a very unusual name. “Paddy” is an Irish name of endearment, yet MacDonald is Scotch. There were probably not a lot of Scots walking around Alaska with a first name of “Paddy.” Second, I could find no evidence of any other Paddy MacDonald in the historical record in the same time period.
If these two Paddy MacDonalds were the same person, he may have had no qualms about blowing up an entire ship to escape with $165,000. Being a fireman, MacDonald would have had access to the boiler room and could have easily set the charge. I also suspect that he was the one who set fire to the ship, an action I find hard to believe of George Foster Beck or C.H. Lewis. Reflecting upon the barbarity of the crime, this may have been the cause of the dispute with Beck on the heaving deck of the doomed ship.
The Clara Nevada: Gold, Greed, Murder and Alaska's Inside Passage Page 11
