Clark County History: Swan Disaster

After a day celebrating the grand opening of the new bridge crossing the Columbia River at Longview, the longest in the country in 1930, nearly 300 carousers partied onboard the Swan. Some danced on the upper deck; others played cards or enjoyed the cruise back to Vancouver towed along by the tugboat Dix. Among them were members of Clark County’s delegation for the bridge’s opening the day prior.

At nearly 10 p.m., the lumber schooner Davenport rammed the partying boat. Without warning, the party ferry lurched. Waltz music filled the upper deck as downed dancers tumbled across the darkened dance floor, screaming. Lesla Scott recalled she’d just accepted a dance when she heard four quick whistle blasts and quickly found herself flat on the floor.

Fearing the Swan was sinking, passengers scrambled into the two lifeboats. Some jumped overboard, while others acted heroically, saving others. Five of the passengers were declared dead and three missing.

On March 31, the New York Times carried an Associated Press story, “Steamer Rams Barge of Merrymakers in Dark.” A bold headline in The Columbian declared eight dead, making the collision the worst catastrophe on the Columbia River. Once home, the horrified survivors related their tragedy to local reporters.

An unidentified person saved 60-year-old Nettie Hagerdoin of Vancouver. Later, she was declared drowned. The blow pitched Mrs. Arthur English into the water, where falling planks bashed her. Dix deckhand Jack Hoffman drowned. Leroy Kern, asleep in a deck chair, awoke in the water unharmed.

The wreck broke some passengers’ bones, split others’ heads and sent many into shock while leaving others unscathed, like H.S. Demming of the School for the Blind, who jumped overboard and was soon rescued.

Pvt. Clarence Ortega, 7th Industry Band member, helped rescue the bruised Mrs. George Callender. Dan DuBois was standing watching a card game on the lower deck. The crash hurled him into a wall, dislocating his hip. A chewing gum vendor summoned two men who pulled him to the Swan’s edge, sliding him into the water. Interviewed while hospitalized, Dan DuBois of Orchards claimed florist John Larson had kept him afloat as both struggled. Larson let go of DuBois and sank. DuBois grabbed a pipe along the broken bow, hanging there until a fishing launch rescued him and a traumatized soldier.

Rescuing passengers and getting them aboard the Davenport steamer took about an hour. The Swan carried no passenger list, making a complete check of those onboard difficult. The tug and remnants of the Swan were lashed to the steamship Davenport. Tugs and passenger boats took passengers to Ridgefield and St. Helen’s, Ore. Assistance poured in. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway sent a train to help. Helpful citizens drove the stranded passengers home. The Vancouver Barracks ordered a military truck to haul the wet and bruised back to Vancouver. Sheriff Robert McCrite sent officers to transport others.

Mrs. Stanley Stone’s body was found 4 miles downriver near Woodland, clinging to a deck chair, apparently drowned. Boats dragged the Columbia for bodies but never found Pvt. Cleo Brown, who’d been standing at the bow.