Jonathan Thorn and the Tonquin (Part 1)
he was ready to sail, too many men had deserted for him to set sail. Fortunately for him, twenty-four Sandwich Islanders agreed to join him. They also took on 100 hogs, poultry, goats, and sheep. Sailing through the Pacific was quite stormy. It was still winter and they were pelted with snow, sleet, and hail. The winds were horrendous. In late March of 1811, they reached Tillamook Head on the Oregon coast.
They sailed a few miles farther north. Everyone was anxious to get ashore and away from Thorn. But the mouth of the Columbia is one of the most treacherous areas to navigate and took patience and caution, neither of which applied to Thorn. It was very windy and it was impossible to see where the channel was.
He ordered Fox to take John Martin and three Canadians into a small boat out into the Columbia and take depth readings and plot the channel. Fox didn't want to take the Canadians because they had no experience at ocean navigation. He asked for regular sailors, but Thorn refused. Fox knew it was a death sentence. It didn't take long for a huge wave to capsize the small boat and drown them all.
The next day, Thorn sent three different boats to take the measure of the channel. All three failed. Thorn accused them of incompetence and stupidity. But now the Tonquin itself was in danger. It had drifted too close to the bar and was beating itself up against its own anchor. The waves were battering it cross-wise, threatening to batter it into the reef. Huge waves were coming over the bow. Finally it broke loose and floated to the north bank of the river. Eight men died in these foolish attempts to take depth soundings. Two did survive, a man named Stephen Weeks and one of the Sandwich Islanders.
(SOURCE: Tough Men, Tough Country, Ellis Lucia)
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