This intrepid old vessel sits partially submerged in the harbor at Gold Beach, Oregon. I painted the original from a photo I took in 1996. At that time I didn't even know her name. Later I learned that the Mary D. Hume, built in 1880, had a long and illustrious career. In 1997 the original of this painting won the People's Choice Award at the Watercolor Society of Oregon Show in Joseph Oregon: the original was purchased by a private collector in 1998.

      "The Mary D. Hume was built in 1880 by R.D. Hume, an influential entrepreneur instrumental in the development of the towns of Wedderburn and Gold Beach. He named the ship after his wife, Mary Duncan Hume. The keel, a single stick of hand-hewn fir, measured 10 inches by 36 inches and 140 feet long. According to accounts in a local newspaper in 1880, it was 'the longest piece of timber ever floated down the Rogue River.'
      "The Mary D. Hume began life as a trader, with auxiliary rigging, to carry passengers and raw goods such as oil, lumber, and canned salmon from South coast ports to northern California coastal towns and ultimately San Francisco. She returned with dry goods, clothing, mining machinery and tools, as well as performers for a local theater. Often she carried shipments of opium for Mr. Hume's Chinese cannery workers....
      "At a speed of nine knots, the trip from Gold Beach to San Francisco took about a week, costing $12 one way and $20 round trip. Any storage space needed by passengers was an extra $5.
      "In the 1880's, navigating from the Pacific into the river channels was, more often than not, a treacherous and time consuming business, due to the impassable sandbars that formed after storms and high tides. R.D. Hume could be seen holding up a sign in from of his store reading 'O.K. to COME IN' or 'NOT O.K.' Many times the Mary D. Hume could be seen "lying-to" outside the harbor waiting for the swift high tide to allow her to enter "stern foremost" so as to be heading seaward when the tide shifted and the river current carried her from port to open sea.
      "The Mary D. Hume's life was as varied and stormy as the seas she traversed. In her lifetime she has had many owners and even more assignments. In 1889, she was sold to the Pacific Steam Whaling Company and outfitted as a whaler. Though the smallest of the fleet, she was the most successful American whaler to date, bringing in more than $400,000 of baleen. She is known to have one of the longest whaling voyages recorded - more than six and one-half years.
      "In her time the Mary D. Hume has never had a name change. Most ships changed names whenever they changed owners, some more often than that. She was run aground countless times and even sank in Alaskan waters in the ice of Nushagak River and was raised and repaired in Seattle in 1904.
      "The Mary D. Hume went through her first 74 years as a steamer and was converted to diesel power in 1954. She served as cannery tender, a tugboat, fishing boat, and a log-towing vessel after her profitable whaling ventures.
      "Upon her retirement as a tugboat, her owners, the Crowley Maritime corp., decided the Mary D. Hume should be returned to her home port in Gold Beach and presented as a gift to the Curry County Historical Society. In August 1978, she made her final voyage home from Puget Sound. Under her own power she crossed the bar while residents of Gold Beach and Wedderburn gathered to watch and welcome her home. A year later in 1979, the Mary D. Hume was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
      "A cradle was built in 1985 to lift the Mary D. Hume from the water so renovation could continue. The cradle was partially damaged on the first day of the move and could not bear the weight of the vessel. The remaining portion collapsed when the tide receded. The Mary D. Hume catapulted forward, smashing the rest of the rigging and sank to the bottom in about four feet of water. She was still well enough above water so that at low tide tourists and residents could board her and walk the decks. Now, however, the timbers are too rotten for anyone to board her.
      "Time is running out for the Mary D. Hume. No one can guess how many more fierce winter storms she can endure. Even though she has been stripped of every adornment and piece of brass, she still is an inviting subject for artists to sketch and photographers to capture on film as a picturesque relic of the past and part of the colorful history of this area. Lane Hall painted the original of this print from a photograph he took in 1996."

     --- This information was taken from an article in the January/February 1998 OREGON COAST written by Carole Menezes.