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Tugboat book's first edition proves popular By John Dodge - 03/15/2009 The Olympian More Info on This Book: Tugboats on Puget Sound
Fowler and Lake Union-based tugboat captain Mark Freeman co-wrote a book entitled "Tugboats of Puget Sound," the latest in the Images of America series by Arcadia Publishing, which specializes in regional-history books that are heavy on photographs and lean on text. The first printing of 1,500 copies sold out one week after the book debuted in early February. A second printing is due out shortly. "People just love tugboats, especially in Olympia," Fowler said. "It looks like tugboat history sells, even in a tough economy." Tugboats, those maritime workhorses that tow barges and maneuver larger ships into the cramped quarters of harbors, inlets and bays, appeared in the Northwest after the California gold rush in 1849, the authors noted. Competition grows As the region grew and Puget Sound was the leading highway for commerce, competition among tugboat companies grew fierce. Tugs based in Port Townsend in the late 1800s would race out to greet square-riggers and sailing cargo ships as they entered Puget Sound. Sometimes, the first tug on the scene got the job. Other times, a bidding war among tugboat captains ensued, Fowler said. The competition for jobs explains in part the origin of organized tugboat races that began in Seattle in the late 1930s and continue as the centerpiece of Harbor Days, Olympia's Labor Day weekend festival on the lower Budd Inlet waterfront. Harbor Days tugboat races began in 1975 and represent the longest-continuing series of races in Puget Sound. A book featuring more than 200 historic images would be lacking without a photo of the Sandman, the venerable Olympia tugboat that has been restored and sits at its historical moorage at Budd Inlet's Percival Landing at the southernmost point of Puget Sound. It's fitting that the photo of the Sandman displayed in the book is by Carl Cook, the late Olympia photographer whose love of South Sound and all things maritime can't be disputed. The authors also snuck a picture of the Sandman jockeying for position in the 1980 Harbor Day races onto the cover of their popular book. The tugboat book is the second book Fowler has contributed to Arcadia's Images of America series. The first, "Tall Ships on Puget Sound," was published in 2007. So far, in the race for readership, the tugs have the lead on the tall ships. "Tugboats on Puget Sound" ($21.99) is available at South Sound and online bookstores and through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling 888-313-2665. • • • At ball games and other public gatherings across the country every day, thousands of people stand and doff their hats when our national anthem is played. Ever wonder about the origins of this custom? Turns out credit goes to Rossell G. O'Brien, Olympia's 15th mayor. The modest debut of the custom occurred Oct. 18, 1893, at a meeting of the Washington Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S.A., a Civil War veterans organization, in the Hotel Bostwick in Tacoma. O'Brien, an Irish-born Civil War veteran who rose to the rank of brigadier general, proposed a motion that everyone stand and remove their hats during the playing of the anthem. Fellow legion members obliged and went on to promote the custom across the country. The custom caught on, but it wasn't until January 1973, nearly 60 years after his death, that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing the former Olympia mayor as the originator of this national habit. That was seven years after the Olympia City Council paid tribute to him in the form of a resolution. In addition, a plaque honoring O'Brien was mounted in July 1970 at the Hotel Bostwick, which still stands as a retail and apartment facility in the old city hall historic district across the street from the Pantages Theater. O'Brien moved to the Washington Territory in 1870, serving as clerk of the Territorial Supreme Court and as a United States commissioner. In 1882, he organized the first National Guard in the territory, serving as commander. His community service included election to the Olympia City Council in 1882 and his one year as mayor in 1892. Anyone with photos or more information about O'Brien should contact City of Olympia communications manager Cathie Butler at 360-753-8361. She's collecting biographical information and photographs of former Olympia mayors and elected officials to post on the city's Web site during the city's 150th birthday year. Buy It Now: Tugboats on Puget Sound $21.99 Book Review By Michael J. Mjelde - 06/01/2009 Sea Chest: June 2009 Edition More Info on This Book: Tugboats on Puget Sound
This book covers 150 years of tugboating on Puget Sound. It is divided into five distinct sections, starting with its early beginnings. First were sidewheel, wooden-hulled steamers with their low pressure boi lers, fol lowed by many screw-propelled, steam, and later diesel-powered towboats. Representative examples of some of these early sidewheel vessels that authors Chuck Fowler and Capt. Mark Freeman have featured are: Pope and Talbot’s GOLIAH, Hudson Bay Co.’s BEAVER, and Port Blakely Mill Co.’s FAVORITE. As work boat technology improved, the sidewheelers were replaced by screw-propelled vessels. Some of these are represented by photographs of units of the fleet of the Puget Sound Tug Boat Co., which operated on Puget Sound and off shore up to and including World War I. Selected photographs of such screw steamers as WANDERER, TYEE, and RICHARD HOLYOKE are interspersed throughout the text. Included with these photographs are texts providing thumbnail histories of each vessel—extending past World War II and their various sales to other companies and eventual demise. The authors have been careful to provide a variety of images of these early boats, featuring them under construction, underway, hauled out on marine railways, or towing vessels. Included are two paintings by Bellingham marine artist and PSMHS member Steve Mayo, showing RICHARD HOLYOKE and WANDERER at their very best .To provide an overview of the tugboating industry on Puget Sound from World War II to the present, the authors have selected a series of images of Puget Sound Tug and Barge Co.’s NEPTUNE. NEPTUNE is remembered as the most famous command of the late Capt. Ray Quinn. Also included are photos of various units of the American Tugboat, Bellingham Tugboat, and Gilkey Bros. fleets, many of which later merged into the Foss fleet (now Foss Maritime, which built tractor tugs such as GARTH FOSS in the 1990s). Crowley Maritime currently uses ship assist vessels l ike TIOGA at Seat t le and Tacoma. Many of these vessels, as well as their fleet mates, are featured in the latter part of the book. Also, there are photos of former tugs like the 100-plus-year-old SAND MAN which have been restored to their former glory. Fowler and Freeman have included images drawn from the archives of Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, University of Washington, Museum of History and Industry, Bainbridge Island Historical Society, Tacoma Public Library, etc., as well as the private sector such as Foss Maritime, Crowley Maritime, and the extensive images from these collections collected by Mark Freeman over the years. They have also included some excellent images taken by the two authors themselves. A special 14-page feature, containing photographs and captions, covers 93 years of tugboat history lived by the Freeman family and their predecessors—who originally formed the Freemont Towing Company. The strength of this publication is in the selection as well as the quality reproduction of many historic images interspersed throughout the volume. There are some errors in some of the caption dates in the first printing, but it is our understanding that corrections are being made in subsequent printings by the publisher. There is one caption which perpetuates an error made in earlier ship picture books that should be noted. The image of the Norwegian bark GANGES under tow appears on page 20. Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson's Pacific Tugboats, published in 1957, was apparently used as reference by the authors and ident i f ies the tugs towing GANGES as HAROLD C and YELLOW JACKET. Whereas, the March issue of The Sea Chest featured an article on the only visit of GANGES to Puget Sound. This provides proof that the tugs were units from the PSTB Co. fleet—the screw steamers MAGIC and DOLPHIN. It is our understanding that this caption is also being corrected in the second printing. The packet of 15 historic postcards is drawn from some of the best images featured in the book. It ranges from the historic tug ARTHUR FOSS to a classic image of three Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company tugs—RETRIEVER, GOLIAH, and RESTLESS—all running with a “bone in their teeth” on Elliott Bay. The book is well worth adding to your maritime library, and the postcards are a great gift for distribution to your friends. Buy It Now: Tugboats on Puget Sound $21.99 |
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