THE "FRENCHMAN"

 

"The Frenchman"
COLONEL De VILLEBOIS MAREUIL
in tow 1912,
Columbia River Bar,
caught on film by the noted 
Captain Orison Beaton
Click image to enlarge.
Original photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

Captain Orison Beaton was born in the lumber town of Port Madison 30  August 1878, one of five children. He ran away from home at the age of fifteen and the world unfolded to him from the decks of Puget Sound steamers. Later, applying for his first job on a tugboat, he was asked his name. "That's too long and doesn't suit a seafaring man," said the skipper. I'll call you Jim." Young Jim worked up to become master of several of the Puget Sound Tugboat Co.'s tugs; it was during this time he also earned himself a reputation as a good marine photographer.

Perhaps his best-known photograph is that of the three-masted French bark COLONEL De VILLEBOIS MAREUIL passing in over the Columbia River Bar in tow of the tugs GOLIAH and TATOOSH in October 1912. Horace McCurdy recounts the experience as told him by Capt. Beaton:" I saw this enormous sea rolling up astern," said the captain, "and from the tug it appeared as if the bark was being engulfed. My camera was ready and I ducked hurriedly out of the pilot house door, snapped the picture and got back inside just as the GOLIAH herself was smothered in foam. Light conditions were very poor and it was necessary to develop the negative an extra long time to bring up an image."

Captain Beaton was the co-author of what has now become known as the Plummer-Beaton collection of marine photographs. He passed away 29 August 1938.

Short Biographies of Photographers Who Helped to Record the Maritime History of the Pacific Northwest.
By Gordon P. Jones
Puget Sound Maritime Historial Association Newsletter Supplement.
November 1966.
From the Library of the Saltwater People Historial Society.

❖ Bark COLONEL De VILLEBOIS MAREUIL ❖ Columbia River Bar

French Bark COLONEL De VILLEBOIS MAREUIL
As she passed in over the Columbia River Bar
October 1912 from tug GOLIAH, 
captured by Captain Orison Beaton!
One of his best-known photos and one
often published in maritime history books,
with Capt. Beaton's name erased.
"I saw this enormous sea rolling up astern, and
from the tug, it appeared as if the bark were being
engulfed. My camera was ready and I ducked
hurriedly out of the pilot house door, snapped the
picture, and got back inside just as the GOLIAH
herself was smothered in foam. Light conditions
were very poor and it was necessary to develop
the negative an extra long time in order to
bring up an image."
Captain's quote caught by H. W. McCurdy.
This print was kindly donated by retired
mariner R. L. Haugland, Seattle, WA.

      "The wind roared loud, and the waves were so heavy that I retreated to my berth and lay down, but I could not keep my mind off the thought of how deep the water was under us. The vessel [at times] seemed as if it were trying to stand on one end. I felt so frightened...
      I spoke to the captain and he did not give me much answer but later came to me and said, 'are you able to go to the forward part of the ship with me?' It seemed almost too frightful to go [but we went and] he helped me to the bow saying, 'kneel down...look under the ship.' It was one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw––such a height of foam and rainbows under it. Then he took me to the other side that was in shadows; and there the water was whirled into the most beautiful shapes, standing out distinct from each other, from the swiftness of the motion. Presently the captain said, 'men don't often speak of these things to each other but I feel the beauty of it. Nights when the vessel is moving fast I come forward and watch here for hours and hours and dream over it.' When I thought of it afterward, I wondered how he could know that the way to answer my fears was to show me what was so beautiful. I was not afraid anymore whatever the vessel did."
Above quote from Leighton, C. C. Life at Puget Sound; Boston. Lee & Shepherd, 1884.