Tale of Piracy Under

two Fags

*

By
DON MUNDY

*

Back in Colonial Days, Carefree Jemmy Jones Made Maritime History on the

4 Pacific Coast—Got Into More Trouble Than Anyone Since.

THE STRANGE MIXTURE of adven-
turers who were lured west by the Cali-
fornia gold rush in 1849, and then surged
northward into British Columbia when
gold was found on the Fraser River, posed
some queer problems for the small police
force of the Crown Colony.

Among these queer characters Captain
James Jones—or ‘““Jemmy’ Jones, as he
was always styled—holds a place all his
own, and the piratical flavour of his
greatest exploit made him famous the
length of the Pacific Coast.

A Welshman by birth, he left his native
“mountains in early life in search of his
father, whom he finally found in the coal
mines of Pennsylvania. But his innate
love of adventure soon led him overland
to Salt Lake City with a party of Mor-
mons.

The gold excitement in California drew
him across the mountains. The young
Welshman seems to have had no great
success as a gold miner. He knew more
about coal mining, and this tempted him
north to the newly opened mine at Belling-
ham Bay, where he made money for the
first time in his life, and found a chance to
indulge his suddenly developed liking for
the sea, a liking destined to involve him
in all his adventures and troubles.

His first venture in seafaring was to
buy the little trading schooner Emily Par-
ker, with which to trade between Victoria
and ports on Puget Sound, He had no
training as a navigator, and his record
shows he learned the hard way. His title
“of Captain was merely complimentary.

The Emily Parker went aground and
burned in Ross Bay. But the start of the
gold rush to the Fraser found him owning
two schooners, the Wild Pigeon and the
Carolena. He seemed to find this paid
better than searching for gold. At this
time the newspapers treated Jemmy Jones
as an enterprising young man helping to
develop coastal trade. His star was still
in the ascendant.

Jemmy’s shortcomings as a navigator
came out when the Wild Pigeon was
caught by a squall in Victoria harbour.
Her sails were all set and she promptly
capsized with several passengers on board,
including a woman and her two daughters.
One girl struck out boldly for shore, but
the others hung on and waited for men

SEVENTEENTH EDITION

to put out in small boats from shore to
rescue them. The mother was painfully
hurt by a hot stove falling on her when
the vessel went over.

A few months later Jemmy had the
saine misfortune when in command of the
Carolena in Puget Sound.

Jemmy Jones was still on the right side
of the law, and in May, 1859, won friends
on the American side of the line for his
bold conduct during a raid by northern
Indians.

While sailing from Port Townsend to
Victoria he sighted about eighty or ninety
Indians in canoes. From an Indian on
board the Carolena who talked with the
war party, Jones was led to believe they
meant mischief to the lighthouse keeper
on Smith Island in revenge for the recent
arrest of two Indians by the United States
revenue cutter Jefferson Davis.

Jemmy put back with the schooner and
managed to embark a man and his wife
before the Indians arrived. The light-
house keeper decided to remain at his
post in the hope of being able to defend
himself until the Carolena could return
from Port Townsend with a party of
volunteers to deal with the Indians.

INDIANS ATTACK LIGHTHOUSE

The Indian war party came out in theit
canoes prepared to fight. Mindful of how

many times trading schooners had been
boarded by Indians and the crews mas-
sacred, Jemmy now made good use of
the remarkable sailing qualities of the
Carolena—(the schooner once carried a
cargo of coal from Nanaimo to Victoria
at a speed never bettered in fifty years).

Jemmy managed to keep to windward
of the canoes and finally land the party on
the island. The lone man was safe, hav-
ing refused the coaxing of the Indians to
come out of the lighthouse.

How well Jemmy Jones stood with
authorities on the British side of the line
is shown in connection with the next
accident to the Carolena. Jemmy was sail-
ing from Victoria to Esquimalt when he
was struck by a gale some distance beyond
Macaulay Point. It drove the schooner
ashore and she soon filled and went down.
Jemmy and his crew of five Indians swam
ashore.

Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Maitland
sent two boats with sailors from H.M.S.
Topaze, to salvage the Carolena. They cut
away the masts and sails, and by evening
had succeeded in raising the schooner
and anchored her in a place of safety.

Jemmy Jones’ ill-luck continued—the
Carolena was back in service only a few
weeks when she went onthe rocks at
Protection Point near Nanaimo. Jemmy
sent to Nanaimo for help. He had many

Victoria from Songhees Reserve in the early 60's.

—Photo Courtesy Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.+C.

Page Nine