Grave of Captain Thompson

Captain Thompson’s Grave

An isolated gravesite on Thompson Spit, west of Diamond Point in Clallam County, Washington, is marked by a wooden cross inside an iron railing. The cross, almost certainly not the original marker, is inscribed “IN MEMORY OF CAP(T) THOMPSON DIED 1860.”

Local accounts agree that an individual known only as Captain Thompson died of smallpox in 1860 while aboard a vessel that had left San Francisco in 1859. The ship—sources disagree whether it was named Glimpse or What Cheer—is said to have bypassed Portland because of the outbreak. Crew members buried him on the beach. Discarded clothing and blankets from the ship are reported to have carried the disease to nearby Makah and Klallam people, many of whom died. At least five additional graves of smallpox victims are said to lie about 100 yards away. Tradition also holds that wolves later consumed some of the remains.

The land on which the grave sits was patented by cash sale to John Camp (listed in some records as John F. Camp) in 1930. Older USGS topographic maps label the location simply “Grave.” Later editions drop the grave symbol but retain the name Thompson Spit. Neither an early Puget Sound T-sheet nor contemporaneous county atlases mark the site, and it is not obvious on shoreline aerial photographs.

The only photographs on file come from the Clallam County Genealogical Society. The property is privately owned; therefore, the marker's current condition is unknown. A 2014 Mountaineers trip report stated that the cross and railing were still standing at that time. No further identification of Captain Thompson has been established.