On the evening of Thursday, November 4, 1875, the steamship Pacific collided with the clipper ship Orpheus off Cape Flattery in Washington. The Orpheus resumed her journey but the Pacific - old, unsafe, and dangerously overcrowded - broke up in minutes and went down, scattering hundreds of men, women, and children into the sea. Exactly how many died will never be known, but the names we know are enough to make this still the worst maritime disaster in the history of the West Coast. Only two men survived, and their first-hand accounts are here. The passengers included many wealthy and famous people, along with gold miners, singers, actors, and an equestrian troupe. One passenger had already survived three other shipwrecks on the same passage. Several were carrying large amounts of gold. The stories of how they came to be aboard that night are as interesting as the disaster itself. In period newspaper articles, letters, diaries, and mysterious notes in bottles, the tales are told.The Captains - Jefferson Davis Howell (brother-in-law of President Jefferson Davis) of the Pacific, and Charles Sawyer of the Orpheus - were both young but very experienced. Who was at fault? Were they drunk? Could the collision have been averted, or more lives saved? Were the ships safe? Were the officers and crews and owners competent? Was there an official cover-up? Was the "last will in a bottle" genuine? We will examine the evidence.Illustrated with photographs and drawings of the ships and participants, this volume examines all aspects of a singular disaster. The poignancy of the deaths, and the devastation felt by so many left behind, made a mark on a generation that they remembered the rest of their lives. In the impact it had on people's lives and imaginations, the sinking of the Pacific was the Titanic of its era.