The Graveyard
of the Pacific is a nickname for a stretch of the coastal region in the Pacific
Northwest, from Tillamook Bay on the Oregon
Coast northward to Cape Scott Provincial Park
on Vancouver Island . The unpredictable weather
conditions and coast characteristics have caused a significant number of
shipwrecks in this area.
Map of the Graveyard of the Pacific
The region's seas are frequently subject to heavy and unpredictable weather year round combined with the rugged rockbound coastline, especially along Vancouver Island and its northwestern tip atCape Scott
More than 2000 vessels and 700 lives have been lost near the Columbia Bar alone. One book about regional wrecks lists 484 wrecks at the south and west sides ofVancouver Island .
Combinations of fog, wind, storm, current and wave had crashed hundreds of ships in the region by the middle of the twentieth century, including famous wrecks in regional history. Charts of the region show its famous, and dangerous, landmarks:
The term is believed to have originated from the earliest days of the maritime fur trade, not only as increasing numbers of traders' ships began to be wrecked, but also because of the ongoing state of incipient warfare in the area between Russia, Spain, Great Britain, and native tribal peoples, making it one of the most dangerous and deadly regions to trade in the Pacific for political as well as climatic reasons.
The rate of major wrecks has decreased considerably since the 1920s, but several lives are still lost each year.
Description
The region's seas are frequently subject to heavy and unpredictable weather year round combined with the rugged rockbound coastline, especially along Vancouver Island and its northwestern tip at
More than 2000 vessels and 700 lives have been lost near the Columbia Bar alone. One book about regional wrecks lists 484 wrecks at the south and west sides of
Combinations of fog, wind, storm, current and wave had crashed hundreds of ships in the region by the middle of the twentieth century, including famous wrecks in regional history. Charts of the region show its famous, and dangerous, landmarks:
- Columbia Bar: a giant sandbar at the mouth of
the
- Reefs and rocks lining the west coast of
The term is believed to have originated from the earliest days of the maritime fur trade, not only as increasing numbers of traders' ships began to be wrecked, but also because of the ongoing state of incipient warfare in the area between Russia, Spain, Great Britain, and native tribal peoples, making it one of the most dangerous and deadly regions to trade in the Pacific for political as well as climatic reasons.
The rate of major wrecks has decreased considerably since the 1920s, but several lives are still lost each year.
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