The cairn overlooking Van Anda Bay that commemorates the sinking
of the Union Steamship Cheslakee at the Van Anda Wharf in 1913.
For those with eyesight like mine, the plaque reads as below :
UNION STEAMSHIP
CHESLAKEE TRAGEDY
Here the Union
Steamship Cheslakee docked in the early hours of January 7, 1913.
She started out for Powell River but fierce southeast winds made her
list, causing deck cargo to shift and seas to enter open midship
ports. Captain John Cockle returned to the wharf and put 90 people
ashore, some heroically rescued by himself. The ship sank rapidly,
drowning the cook, two loggers, a mother and her child, and two
schoolteachers who would not leave their cabin improperly dressed.
Some believe that anonymous loggers were also drowned, confined
below deck.
The Cheslakee was
salvaged and become the first west coast vessel to be “stretched”
with a new centre section. It was renamed Union Steamship Cheakamus,
served as a troop transport in W.W.II, and was scrapped in the late
1940’s.
We sure enjoyed our Texada trip this summer. It's so close but we haven't been there since we went to the fly-in and Aerocamp eight years ago. My how time flies. - Margy
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