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L-R; Seattle/Olympia salty writer Gordon Newell and Capt. Shaver with precious cargo aboard steamer PORTLAND. Dated 27 Nov. 1966. Colman Dock, Seattle. Aboard they are transporting the first load of 800 books, weighing 6,200 pounds. Low-res of an original photograph from the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society© |
The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest
"The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest may be the most remarkable book ever published on the West Coast.
It's a big book almost any way you look at it. Its buckrum binding houses 736 pages. Those pages are divided into 61 chapters, crammed with 2,000 pictures and the 950,000 words it took writer Gordon Newell to sketch the story of ships and men of the waterfront and the sea from 1896 to 1965.
These 70 years bridged the eras of sail, of coal, of oil, and now, of nuclear power aboard our ships. They saw booms and busts, hot wars and cool peace, gold rushes, launching and sinking, arrivals, and final departures.
Newell has told his story well, revering maritime history and the people who made it. He has also provided the deft touch of a professional writer and a dash of sardonic humor now and again to give the text a welcome crackle.
The history opens in 1895 with Nippon Yusen Kaisha, in company with the Great Northern Railway and Captain James Griffiths, opening the first regular Japanese steamship service to Seattle. It closes with the death in 1965 of
'Einar Endresen, 83, an old-time sparmaker whose father founded the Endresen Spar & Lumber Co at Aberdeen, which he later managed, furnishing masts and spars to sailing vessels on the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts.'
In between are many well-remembered sea stories of the Northwest–stories such as the construction of the battleship NEBRASKA, the arrival of the 'ton of gold' ship PORTLAND, the fading of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, and the rise of the waterfront unions from blood and grime to positions of responsibility.
Many of the stories are less well-remembered. For instance, the story of the two submarines built in Seattle and bought by the Province of British Columbia at the start of WW I. British Columbia's premier borrowed money from a bank to buy the subs, and Newell comments, 'For a time British Columbia enjoyed the historic distinction of being the only province of Canada to own its own mortgaged Navy.'
Newell memorializes, too, the Puget Sound skipper who went on to become admiral of the Turkish Navy and the ill-starred Skagit sailor who departed this vail by wrapping the anchor rope around his neck and jumping.
The McCurdy Marine History is not just history of Seattle or Puget Sound, of course. Its stated geographic range is from the California border north into the Arctic Ocean.
Newell has done a responsible, commendable job. He was strengthened and guided in this effort by a distinguished sponsor and a conscientious board of review. The book would have been impossible without an 'angel.' That angel and guiding light of the history was wealthy, now retired, Seattle shipbuilder, Horace McCurdy.
Early in 1963, McCurdy established a grant with the Seattle Historical Society for the research and writing of the new History. He picked Newell to do the writing. The grant grew as the book grew. It started at around $50,000 by the time Superior Publishing began distributing the 1,500 volume press run of the McCurdy History. That grant, of course, won't be paid back. Whatever small profits come will go to the Historical Society and to publisher Albert Salisbury for his gamble in putting out the book (Publishers of Lewis and Dryden went broke on it.)
McCurdy is an admitted dewy-eyed lover of things of the seas. He also is a hardheaded businessman. He wanted the best, most authentic history he could buy with his $50,000. To ensure this be assembled a review board of 17 men, all authorities on one or more phases of subjects to be covered in the History. That review board read three progressive manuscripts of the book. Members made suggestions to author Newell and supplied source material. Some even contributed sections for his editing.
The result of McCurdy's and Newell's work and the contributions of the review board, coupled with the rich material of 70 years of Northwest maritime history is a handsome volume as impressive as it looks."
Don Page review published by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer 21 May 1967. This review was extracted from Don't Leave Any Holidays Volume II, H.W. McCurdy. Inscribed copy number 38. Published July 1981. Saltwater People Historical Society collection.
Below, Don Page writes further in the Seattle P-I, 20 Oct. 1974:
"The publishing time and size of Volume I roughly doubled and McCurdy found he'd underrated the cost of playing godfather to a book of Northwest marine history. He financed the book through grants to the Seattle Museum of History and Industry and Museum Director Mrs. Sutton Gustison recalled:
'Every time we ran out of money, we'd call Mr. McCurdy and say, 'We need another thousand,' and he'd always come through.'
Everyone was happy, though, with the finished product. The "McCurdy History" sent saltwater buffs of our part of the world into ecstasy. Superior Publishing was so pleased that it put out a new edition of "Lewis & Dryden's History," to form, with the McCurdy volume, a handsome two-volume set. Newell continued to mix more books in with his Olympia politicking. The museum profited. McCurdy beamed. And a second volume was published to cover the following ten years of marine history to yield a fine three-volume collectible set.
"This book is going to be the last word. It's going to belong to the ages, just like Lincoln." H.W. McCurdy.
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