Leif Erickson

Built at Stanwood, the 42-foot steamer Leif Erickson carried passengers, mail, and light freight on the Sidney-Seattle route. In 1888, the Gorst family arrived in Seattle from Belle Prairie, Minnesota. John Gorst purchased a small scow and a sail boat to tow it. The scow was loaded with their family possessions and lumber for a new house at the head of Sinclair Inlet, site of the future town that would be named after them. The captain of the Leif Erickson, seeing them unable to get out of Elliot Bay with their burden, offered a tow to Sidney, and that is how the family arrived. The Leif Erickson’s brief career ended on a chilly night in December of 1888 when some spilled Christmas spirits dribbled into the engine space, starting a fire. The flames soon spread to some dynamite smuggled onto the boat and blew the little steamer asunder after all aboard jumped into the frigid waters. Seven were drowned; twenty-nine were rescued.

(Sidney [Port Orchard] – Seattle)