Load of lard

The wreck of the 343-foot Russian cargo ship Vaslav Vorovsky on April 3, 1941, occurred when the ship’s steering mechanism jammed while outbound on the Columbia River Bar. The ship ran aground on Peacock Spit, not far from Cape Disappointment on the Washington coast.

No lives were lost, and the 37-person crew was rescued. Capt. J. Tokareff insisted on staying aboard, but wisely skedaddled after 24 hours. The ship quickly broke up and disgorged some machinery and tools and her legacy, thousands of cases of lard that washed ashore.

The Chinook Observer noted that the Capital Journal picked up the story of the wreck, most notably the illegal lard scavenging that ensued. An enterprising soldier at Fort Canby drove his car along a railroad trestle from the fort to the end of the Sand Island Jetty and filled his car with 56-pound boxes of lard.

To retreat, he had to drive in reverse. He was thrown in the hoosegow for his efforts — not for the thievery, mind you, but for driving on the trestle. While he was locked up, someone stole his stolen lard and sold it for $1 a case in Ilwaco.

And they weren’t the only scavengers, by far. There were a lot of home-made pies and pastries for many years thereafter on the Long Beach Peninsula, thanks to the Vaslav Vorovsky.