A provocative retelling of shipwreck tales from the Northwest Coast The Northwest Coast of North America is a treacherous place. Unforgiving coastlines, powerful currents, unpredictable weather, and features such as the notorious Columbia River bar have resulted in more than two thousand shipwrecks, earning the coastal areas of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island the moniker “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Beginning with a Spanish galleon that came ashore in northern Oregon in 1693 and continuing into the recent past, Wrecked includes stories of many vessels that met their fate along the rugged coast and the meanings made of these events by both Indigenous and settler survivors and observers. Commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place-names, and the remains of the ships themselves, the shipwrecks have created a rich archive. Whether in the form of a fur-trading schooner that was destroyed in 1811, a passenger liner lost in 1906, or an almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999, shipwrecks on the Northwest Coast opens up conversations about colonialism and Indigenous persistence. Thrush’s retelling of shipwreck tales highlights the ways in which the three central myths of settler colonialism—the disappearance of Indigenous people, the control of an endlessly abundant nature, and the idea that the past would stay past—proved to be untrue. As a critical cultural history of this iconic element of the region, Wrecked demonstrates how the history of shipwrecks reveals the fraught and unfinished business of colonization on the Northwest Coast.

The sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912 captured the world's attention a hundred years ago and still holds it today. Although it was bound for New York, more than 100 passengers aboard the ocean-liner were headed for Canada. Titanic Lives delves into the unique stories of ten of those passengers. Some were rich, like railroad tycoon Charles Melville Hays and a scion of Montreal's Molson family. Others were not, and would have been lost to history had they not been a part of this unforgettable story. From the scandalous romance between Montreal's Quigg Baxter and his French showgirl mistress, to one woman's search for her toddler and husband as the life boats were being launched from the decks, this book gives its readers a glimpse into the lives of those who took that fateful voyage on the Titanic. You will hear about Paul Chevre, renowned French artist travelling to Montreal to reveal his latest sculpture, and Arthur Peuchen, the wealthy chemist and lumber king whose last-minute decision to board the Titanic turned him into both a hero and a target. Be it nursemaid, cabaret dancer or ex-soldier, Rob Rondeau weaves together the unique and compelling stories of ten people sharing one common thread -- they were all on board the Titanic , destination Canada.

A provocative retelling of shipwreck tales from the Northwest Coast The Northwest Coast of North America is a treacherous place. Unforgiving coastlines, powerful currents, unpredictable weather, and features such as the notorious Columbia River bar have resulted in more than two thousand shipwrecks, earning the coastal areas of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island the moniker “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Beginning with a Spanish galleon that came ashore in northern Oregon in 1693 and continuing into the recent past, Wrecked includes stories of many vessels that met their fate along the rugged coast and the meanings made of these events by both Indigenous and settler survivors and observers. Commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place-names, and the remains of the ships themselves, the shipwrecks have created a rich archive. Whether in the form of a fur-trading schooner that was destroyed in 1811, a passenger liner lost in 1906, or an almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999, shipwrecks on the Northwest Coast opens up conversations about colonialism and Indigenous persistence. Thrush’s retelling of shipwreck tales highlights the ways in which the three central myths of settler colonialism—the disappearance of Indigenous people, the control of an endlessly abundant nature, and the idea that the past would stay past—proved to be untrue. As a critical cultural history of this iconic element of the region, Wrecked demonstrates how the history of shipwrecks reveals the fraught and unfinished business of colonization on the Northwest Coast.