IT IS THE start of a new year. Have you made any resolutions? Maybe you thought of Matthew 7:12, “In everything treat people the same way you want them to treat you.”
We often read about a tragedy. Then we read about another tragedy that follows on its heels. It sometimes seems that tragedy begets tragedy.
This story started on July 3, 1894. There was heavy fog on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The sailing bark R. M. Ham was outbound from Seattle late at night. The captain mistook the Dungeness lighthouse for the Race Rock light and made way toward it. Unbeknownst to the captain, the Race Rock light was down for repairs.
The R. M. Ham became beached on Dungeness Spit, burying her keel deep in the sand. The next day, several tugs were dispatched to aid. But the wave action was imbedding the R. M. Ham deeper in the sand. The vessel and its cargo may end up a total loss.
On July 16, 1894, at about 9 a.m., three men sailed a small fishing sloop from Port Angeles to Dungeness to look at the efforts at Dungeness to salvage the R. M. Ham. The men were John H. Johnson, John Dippold and August Nelson. After a short inspection, they began their return to Port Angeles.
The wind picked up that afternoon and soon was at gale forces. As a result, their small sloop capsized. They almost made it back to Port Angeles. But by late afternoon, the three men were clinging to their capsized boat off the mouth of Morse Creek.
Their cries for help were heard by Henry Kriebel, who leased the Morse ranch at the mouth of Morse Creek. He looked in the direction of the cries of distress and saw three men clinging to a capsized boat. It was being tossed about by angry waves.
What did Kriebel do? Nothing. Through the remainder of the afternoon and evening, Kriebel did nothing to aid the men. It was not until the next morning that Kriebel let the people of Port Angeles know he had heard their cries for help. Kriebel’s inaction was seen by many as criminal. Kriebel was labeled as inhuman, indifferent and unfeeling.
To add salt to the wound, it was later discovered that Kriebel’s farmhand also turned a deaf ear to their cries for help.
Upon the news, a search party consisting of Walter Dyke and Dougal Campbell was dispatched. The search party saw the capsized boat near Siebert’s Creek about 500 feet from shore. Only Nelson was seen. Johnson and Dippold had been lost during the night. Nelson was trying to push the sloop to the shore with a pole.
The rescuers recognized Nelson and shouted to him. They let him know that they would get a boat and come out to him. The newspaper reported that Nelson “was so overpowered by joy, that for a moment he seemed to lose his mental poise.” Nelson took off his coat and dove into the water to swim ashore. He swam about 50 feet then disappeared into the water. I think Nelson was overcome by hypothermia by the time he was found. Hypothermia is known to result in confusion and impaired judgement.
Dyke and Campbell swam their horses out as far as they could, but there was no sign of Nelson. Searches were made, but the bodies of the three men were never recovered. Three more victims were swallowed up by the strait. August Nelson and John Dippold were single men. John Johnson was married and had two children, a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy.
Could it all have turned out different if Kriebel had attempted some sort of aid? We really do not know. The men may have been lost anyway. Yet attempting to aid them would have been the right thing to do.
It becomes difficult to live in a community with such a despicable reputation. He was known as the “Morse Creek milkman.” After all this, would you buy milk from him? For Kriebel, it was time to move on and make a fresh start.
On Dec. 7, 1894, the newspaper announced that “Henry Kriebel, the Morse Creek milkman, has removed with his family to California.” The newspaper was only partially correct. Mrs. Kriebel remained in Port Angeles. Henry essentially abandoned his wife.
In late December 1894, Kriebel was injured while attempting to board a moving train in the San Francisco rail yard. His injuries included several broken bones, including his skull. Ironically, people living near the railroad depot heard his cries for help. He was soon found and taken to a hospital. I wonder if Kriebel was reminded about the time he failed to render aid to others in need?
Kriebel’s wife remained living in Port Angeles at Fourth and Chambers streets. There was not much of a support system in place. Life was hard for a single mother of three children. Even though Kriebel found work, he sent very little back to support his wife.
Mrs. Kriebel’s difficulties were exacerbated by the fact she spoke very little English. The Kriebels were immigrants from Germany.
Lois Johnson (John Johnson’s wife) moved to Santa Clara, Calif., soon after her husband’s death. She wanted to be close to her mother. Mrs. Johnson never recovered from the shock of her husband’s tragic death. On May 15, 1896, Lois died from consumption (tuberculosis). On May 24, 1895, the Olympic-Leader, a local newspaper, wrote, “The weary heart is resting now, resting with her husband, in ‘the land that is fairer than day.’ Many friends here will drop a tear to the memory.”
For Mrs. Kriebel, the last straw came in early June 1896. Mrs. Kriebel received a letter from her husband. It contained $20, of which $19 was to go to a man he owed money to. She could have the remaining dollar. If that was not enough, his letter also stated he wanted a divorce. Mrs. Kriebel’s despondency was too much to carry.
On June 11, 1896, Mrs. Kriebel’s children spent much of the day around Charley Jones, who was cutting wood. Around 4 p.m., one of the daughters was crying. After Charley calmed her down, the girl told him her mother was dead. The daughter took Charley into the house where there was a trap door in the kitchen. Under that door was the well. Mrs. Kriebel had apparently jumped in and committed suicide.
Henry Kriebel was notified and said he would send $30 for funeral costs. I doubt he sent anything. Sadly, Mrs. Kriebel’s body is interred at Ocean View Cemetery in an unmarked grave. No one bought her a grave marker.
Yes, I think the world would be better off if we treated others the way we want to be treated.
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John McNutt is a descendant of Clallam County pioneers and treasurer of the North Olympic History Center Board of Directors. He can be reached at woodrowsilly@gmail.com.
McNutt’s Clallam history column appears the first Saturday of every month.
