Wrecked: Unsettling Histories from the Graveyard of the Pacific

by Coll Thrush

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 27, 2025

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t care for it. The story of Shipwrecks could have been very fascinating with insights on navigation, topography, commerce, engineering, sailing, regional history, fishing, really any of the factors on why a boat was in the water, why trouble was encountered and any insight on why the region is or isn’t anymore treacherous to seafaring than anywhere else. But that’s not this book,

Instead every shipwreck gets connected back to symbolism on colonialism and the connection to the culture and relationships with indigenous people. It had a couple interesting insights, but otherwise it was a tenuous concept for a book.

Next time write a book on shipwrecks or indigenous people, just pick one

[jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome…. not to be dramatic but it’s kind of the perfect academic monograph to me..

If the Earth is a vessel, it is on the rocks, and whatever we call it, ours is a haunted time. In the Graveyard of the Pacific, we are haunted by the ships, crews, and passengers already lost (and by the birds and otters and clams lost as well), and haunted also by the wrecks that have yet to happen. Our moment is a hinge between a past that has yet to finish with us and a future that may just finish us. If ghosts are "out of time” in one sense of the phrase, so might we be, in yet another.

[Tom Canales · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book if you can get past the insufferable preaching about settler colonialism, systemic white racism, etc.. He does do a good job of bringing attention to the conflicts that inevitable occur when cultures of vastly different world views, and technological means were forced to adapt to each other during the age of exploration and discover, especially between the 15th and 19th centuries. The accounts of the actual shipwrecks in the Graveyard of the Pacific are pretty good but a little scattered. Don't expect a chronological cataloging of wrecks. Once described, they are revisited throughout the book in service to re-enforcing the theme of colonialism, abuse of the indigenous folk and the general douchery of the explorer culture.
BTW, I'd never heard he word "quotidian" until he used it like 5 times in this book.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and compelling look at the Graveyard of the Pacific from a very different perspective.
The pace and content kept me reading. If I could have read in 1 sitting, I would have.
I have read many books about shipwrecks, and this is the first to give a view from an indigenous perspective.
If you are a shipwreck person, fascinated with the histories and tales, this book is a moving and unexpected view.

[Jack Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

a mediocre critical race studies text using the medium of local history to pass the author's diatribes off as relevant. I like what another reviewer said: it's just opinions. Coll writes about a whole lot of nothings and then tries to tell me this says something profound about colonial society, indigenous relations or what have you. EG: A ship sinks to disaster; progressive modernity is existentially refuted!

A joke.

[James Easterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I questioned how he meant to mesh his topics together but for the most part it was a pretty comprehensive book on the graveyard of the Pacific. There is a pretty complete accounting of the shipwrecks, so many! I’ve spent time and been to many of the areas mentioned in this book, so a good read for me.

[MacQuaid Hiller]

Phenomenal scholarship. I read this soon after Native Seattle and it's clear Thrush has come a long way as a writer. This is one of the most readable academic books I've ever read. The individual stories are well told and come together well. Thrush explores the role of oral history in settler society as well as Indigenous, which is something I haven't seen in many other books.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly informative and interesting. The first chapter reads a bit like a textbook but soon launched into the history, background and narratives of those who lived it. Emotionally and proactively written, a recommended read for anyone interested in maritime history and the Pacific graveyard.

[Lily Paivarinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like the premise but feel like the author stayed at the surface level. I wanted to dig deeper into indigenous stories and histories, but this book felt more like shipwreck stories with a few “profound” sentences thrown in. I wanted depth and more history!

[Meghann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lost me at The Goonies =(

[Craig Seasholes · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of PNW shipwrecks from "The Graveyard of the Pacific", told by a talented historian alert to Indigeneous perspective at every turn.