"Ghost Ship" Pictures: Gold Rush-Era Wreck Found

The A.J. Goddard Afloat

Photograph #P34-009 courtesy Charles H. Metcalf Collection, Alaska State Library

The A.J. Goddard (pictured on Lake Bennett in the 1890s) was a type of steam-powered paddleboat that towed barges on the Yukon's lakes and rivers during the Klondike gold rush of the late 1800s to early 1900s. At that time, an economic depression in the U.S. sent thousands of people streaming northward to stake gold claims in Canada's rugged interior.

The sunken wreck of the 50-foot-long (15.2-meter-long), African Queen-like boat--built in pieces in San Francisco and later assembled in Canada--is the only known relic of such a unique, wilderness-ready construction, Pollack said.

Published November 24, 2009

Large Windlass

Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid

A windlass--a steam-powered device that hauled up the A.J. Goddard's anchor--was found, mostly intact, on the boat's stern in June 2009 (above).

The windlass was extremely large for such a relatively small boat, project leader Pollack said.

Other than the pilot house, which broke off during the storm's powerful winds, the archaeologists were amazed to find the boat undamaged--almost like it had been "parked on shore," Pollack said.

Published November 24, 2009

Paddle Wheel

Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid

A diver examines the A.J. Goddard's steam-powered paddle wheel in June 2009.

At the time of the ship's 1901 sinking, the boat was on one of its last runs of the season, project leader Pollack said. Around October, high winds usually start whipping over the Yukon's lakes, making boating unsafe.

When such a storm overtook the Goddard, the wool-clothed crewmen had little chance of surviving the 40-degree-Fahrenheit (4.4-degree-Celsius) waters. Yet two men--who grabbed onto the detached pilot house--were later rescued, "half frozen," by a trapper in a nearby cabin, Pollack said. The captain, whose body was retrieved in 1902, was buried not far from the lake. The other bodies were never found.

Published November 24, 2009

Sunken Forge

Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid

A metal-working forge powered by coal or charcoal (pictured submerged in June 2009) was used to make tools or other machinery, suggesting that the A.J. Goddard's crew was extremely self-sufficient, project leader Pollack said.

"They were on the Yukon in 1901 [in] the wilderness ... If something broke, they had to fix it."

Also, among the cooking utensils Pollack and his team found large leg bones that almost certainly belonged to moose, a common source of meat in the region. "If you're going out for a week on the river, you're going to take your vittles."

Published November 24, 2009

Chilkoot Pass

Photograph by W.E. Garrett, National Geographic Stock

After the newly minted A.J. Goddard's parts left San Francisco, they were shipped north to Skagway, Alaska, and then likely hauled over the Chilkoot Pass in the Coast Mountains (pictured, men traverse the pass in an undated photograph).

Project leader Pollack said it's possible the boat traveled over another pass, but the trip would have been perilous either way: The Coast Mountains' peaks "look like something you'd see in a mountaineering magazine," Pollack said.

Haulers relied on horses to carry parts up and down the steep mountain trails, giving the A.J. Goddard's other possible route "the pleasant name" of Dead Horse Pass, he added.

Published November 24, 2009

The Vidette

Photograph courtesy John Pollack

Ferocious Yukon storms brought untimely ends to many other vessels during the gold rush, including the circa-1898 Vidette (pictured in an undated photograph), which sank in the fall of 1917.

At least 25 large sternwheelers--a couple a year--were lost during that period, project leader Pollack said.

Published November 24, 2009

A Search Complete

Photograph courtesy Donnie Reid

Nautical archaeologist Doug Davidge (pictured in the Yukon in June 2009) searched for the A. J. Goddard's wreck for 20 years before finding it in July 2008.

Project leader Pollack and his team had first picked up a sonar reading of a sunken ship in June 2008, but the scientists didn't have time to track the signal. Davidge, of Whitehorse, Yukon, went back to the site a month later and immediately identified the ghost ship.

"He phoned me up and said, John, we got it," Pollack recalled.

See video of the A. J. Goddard shipwreck >>

Published November 24, 2009