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An old ferry boat that was involved in a dark chapter of wartime transportation history nearly 80 years ago also took a few strange journeys of its own.

The 鈥淕olden State鈥� was a wood-hulled car ferry built in 1926 in California. The vessel was about 227 feet long and could carry 75 cars. It served San Francisco Bay along with a fleet of other ferries crisscrossing the waters until the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened in November 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge opened in May 1937.

In late 1937, the 鈥淕olden State鈥� 鈥� and a number of other no-longer-useful Bay Area ferries 鈥� were sold, and came north to Puget Sound.

The Black Ball Ferry operators 鈥� the privately owned predecessor to the Washington State Ferries 鈥� renamed each of the old California boats using 鈥淐hinook jargon,鈥� the regional language spoken by Indigenous tribes and early traders.

The 鈥淕olden State鈥� became 鈥淜ehloken,鈥� which, in Chinook, means some kind of aquatic bird or waterfowl. A few Chinook dictionaries consulted align with contemporary newspaper accounts, with 鈥淜ehloken鈥� said, at various times, to mean 鈥渟wan鈥� or 鈥渃rane.鈥� It probably does not mean 鈥渨hite dove,鈥� as one old newspaper article said.

The dark chapter that the 鈥淜ehloken鈥� was involved with was the wartime transport of s from Bainbridge Island聽to Seattle on March 30, 1942.

Those Bainbridge Island residents were , and most were taken to Manzanar, an 鈥渋nternment camp鈥� in California. The actions on that long-ago March day amount to the first forcible removal of Japanese and Japanese-Americans under FDR鈥檚 Executive Order 9066 of February 1942.

In those years, a total of about 120,000 people would be incarcerated this way because we were at war with Japan and the Axis Powers. However, unlike our German and Italian enemies, Japanese and Japanese-Americans looked different from European-Americans, and were considered a threat to West Coast security.

鈥淜ehloken鈥� was retired from service in 1972 and sold for $25,000 in 1975. It was moved to the old Houghton Shipyards in Kirkland, and plans were to turn the old ferry into a restaurant or nightclub. While 鈥淜ehloken鈥� sat there along Lake Washington, it often served as a backdrop for team photos of the Seahawks, whose original training facility was built on old shipyard property in 1976.

Unfortunately, the nightclub or restaurant was not to be. An arsonist torched 鈥淜ehloken鈥� in September 1979 and it burned to waterline. Then, in the early 1980s, the remains were hauled to the south end of Whidbey Island and scuttled — intentionally sunk — to create an artificial reef. It鈥檚 now a popular 鈥� and photogenic 鈥� .

Four decades after she was scuttled, is 鈥淜ehloken鈥� now just a collection of burnt timbers and rusting metal many feet below the surface of Puget Sound? Or is the old ferry something more?

One interpretation is that the vessel is an artifact of Japanese incarceration. It was a tool used by the federal government to enforce an ultimately unconstitutional policy that and other organizations are committed to never forgetting. But, another interpretation is that it was just a ferry; if not 鈥淜ehloken,鈥� it could just as easily have been any number of Black Ball vessels called on to do that particular duty on that particular day in 1942.

Frank Abe is a devoted historian of Japanese incarceration and a Japanese American activist who organized in 1978. He鈥檚 produced documentaries and written books 鈥� including a new graphic novel 聽鈥� and studied the World War II time period for most of his adult life.

鈥淚t was just a vehicle,鈥� Abe wrote in an email to 成人X站 Radio. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone blames the vehicle. We blame those who ordered the eviction. I know of no infamy attached to it. It could have been any vessel.鈥�

鈥淥f course,鈥� Abe continued, 鈥渋t鈥檚 easy for me to say 鈥榥o hard feelings鈥� since I wasn鈥檛 there. To us, it鈥檚 historical.鈥�

And, Abe wrote, he knows 鈥渢oddlers who were removed that day who may feel personally shaken to see the actual ferry boat again.鈥�

Like all compelling history, it seems that the story of 鈥淜ehloken鈥� is not easily categorized or filed away. There are many chapters 鈥� California, infrastructure, transportation, Indigenous languages, wartime America, Japanese American incarceration, 1970s entrepreneurism 鈥� and within those chapters, are many stories, and countless interpretations.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea, please email Feliks鈥�here.