The Clara Nevada: Gold, Greed, Murder and Alaska’s Inside Passage

February 5, 1898. Witnesses report a giant orange fireball reflected in the glacial waters of Alaska s Lynn Canal. At the height of Klondike gold fever, the Clara Nevada disappeared into an epic storm taking passengers and priceless cargo with her. Was the explosion an accident or a robbery gone wrong? Did Captain C.H. Lewis make off with $165,000 ($13.6 million in today s currency) in raw gold? Or was the sinking a case of a sea-weary steamer meeting an untimely end? Alaska historian Steven C. Levi combs the archives to piece together the true account of the Clara Nevada s final voyage, attempting to solve the riddle of the lost steamer that resurfaced ten years after that tragic night and became known as Alaska s ghost ship.