Shipwreck news from The Daily Morning Astorian, June 12, 1884:

Capt. Samuel H. Morrison embarked in August 1883 sailing a new ship, the Rainier, on its maiden voyage, with his daughter and her new husband, the ship’s mate, aboard for their bridal tour.

While sailing along on Jan. 2, 1884, in waters near the Marshall Islands charted as clear, and nowhere near land, they ran hard aground on a reef. The ship soon started breaking up.

Happily, native islanders saw the wreck and convinced all aboard to come to their island of Ujae, where they were treated kindly.

On Jan. 10, five men sailed to Jaluit, 400 miles away, in the ship’s longboat. As soon as possible, the remaining sailors began to build a 40-foot schooner, and also sailed for Jaluit, with the captain, 11 sailors and two natives aboard. The rest remained on Ujae, waiting to be picked up. 

Remarkably, everyone wound up being rescued, and, after a circuitous sailing route through the Far East, they safely wound up in San Francisco on June 4. There was only one fatality,  a man who died of a medical condition.

“From my observation, and what I learned from the traders,” the captain opined, “the charts of all the coral reefs and islands of the Marshall group and surroundings should be blotted out, and marked ‘position and existence doubtful’ until they have been surveyed. The Essex was 14 hours hunting for Ujae after her arrival at the position laid down on the charts.” (Painting: Mogens Ege)