Design, Ownership and Construction
Carrie Ladd was one of the first steamboats of the Columbia River type. Unlike most other early steamboats Carrie Ladd was built from scratch, rather from discarded hulls, works, or machinery of previous vessels. The vessel was not particularly large, but had powerful engines, and was probably the best of the steamboats built in Oregon in the 1850s. [4] John T. Thomas built Carrie Ladd for Jacob Kamm, Capt. John C. Ainsworth and other co-owners. The vessel was named the Carrie Ladd in honor of the daughter of an early Portland banker who helped arrange the financing for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company which later held a monopoly on steam navigation on the Columbia River. [2]
Carrie Ladd was launched at Oregon City in October, 1858. The vessel was fitted up in what was considered to be first-class style for the day. The design of the Carrie Ladd, together with that of the vessel 's predecessor Jennie Clark established the elements of the Columbia River steamer. [2] The basic elements of the Columbia River steamer, as established by Carrie Ladd were described by Professor Mills:
A sternwheeler, she had a freight deck and cabin, a single tall stack centered, and a pilot house; inside, her cabins opened onto a parlor that could be used as a dining room. At one end, forward, was a 'Ladies Saloon', to which the delicate might retire to be away from tobacco and general male contamination. Boats became longer, and broader, and grander and faster, but they still turned back to the Carrie Ladd for their design. [5]
Operations
Captain Ainsworth took Carrie Ladd on her trial trip February 9, 1859, from Portland, Oregon to the lower Cascades by way of Vancouver, Wash. Terr. [2] From Portland to Vancouver was 16 miles along the rivers. It was 53 miles from Portland to the lower Cascades. [6]
Carrie Ladd covered the 16 miles to Vancouver in 1 hour 25 minutes, and the entire 53 miles to the lower Cascades in 5 hours 44 minutes. The return from the Cascades to Portland took 4 hours 38 minutes. These were rapid speeds for the time, especially compared to ground transport in that time of no roads. Originally it was intended to put Carrie Ladd on the run on the lower Willamette River from Portland south to Oregon City. However, shortly after the vessel was completed, the owners of Carrie Ladd formed the Union Transportation Company, the forerunner of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company ("OSN"), which was soon to control a monopoly on the river. Union Transportation was a pool of allied steamboat owners restricting competition and allocating the market among the pool members, and the pool assigned Carrie Ladd to the Columbia River. [2]
Carrie Ladd received a larger share of the Columbia River traffic than any other steamer in the pool. Having excellent power Carrie Ladd found no difficulty in going right up to foot of the rapids at the Cascades. When the Julia Barclay was brought to Columbia River from Puget Sound there was a brief spell of competition on the Portland-Cascades route. This soon ended when OSN bought Julia. In the early 1860s, the two steamers ran alternately on the Cascades, each carrying from two hundred to three hundred passengers each time. [2]
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in Oregon, though it paid Oregon taxes.
Many steamboats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, from about 1850 to 1981. Major tributaries of the Columbia that formed steamboat routes included the Willamette and Snake rivers. Navigation was impractical between the Snake River and the Canada–US border, due to several rapids, but steamboats also operated along the Wenatchee Reach of the Columbia, in northern Washington, and on the Arrow Lakes of southern British Columbia.
Lurline was a steamboat that served from 1878 to 1930 on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Lurline was a classic example of the Columbia river type of steamboat.
R. R. Thompson was a large sternwheel steamboat designed in the classic Columbia River style. She was named after Robert R. Thompson, one of the shareholders of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, the firm that built the vessel.
Nez Perce Chief was a steamboat that operated on the upper Columbia River, in Washington, U.S., specifically the stretch of the river that began above the Celilo Falls. Her engines came from the Carrie Ladd, an important earlier sternwheeler. Nez Perce Chief also ran up the Snake River to Lewiston, Idaho, a distance of 141 miles from the mouth of the Snake River near Wallula, Wash. Terr.
The Belle of Oregon City, generally referred to as Belle, was built in 1853, and was the first iron steamboat built on the west coast of North America.
Willamette Chief was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1874 for the Willamette River Navigation Company.
Echo was a sternwheel steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from about 1865 to 1873 and was one of the first steamboats to carry what was then considered a large cargo out of Eugene, Oregon.
The river sternwheeler Ramona operated from 1892 to 1908 on the Willamette River in Oregon, on the Stikine River running from Wrangell, Alaska into British Columbia, and the Fraser River, in British Columbia. This vessel should not be confused with the coastal steamship Ramona which also ran in Alaskan waters.
The Multnomah was one of the first steamboats to operate on the Willamette and Yamhill rivers. This vessel should not be confused with the Multnomah, a steamboat built in Portland, Oregon in 1885, which was larger and of a much different design.
Rival was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Willamette River between Oregon City and Portland, Oregon from 1860 to 1868. Rival was intended to be a boat which would promise low fares in an effort to beat a steamboat monopoly which was then in formation.
Governor Grover was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Willamette River during the 1870s. Because of the completion of the Willamette Locks in late 1872, it was possible for vessels such as Governor Grover to be built in Portland, Oregon and then readily navigate the Willamette above Willamette Falls.
Elk was a stern-wheel driven steamboat built on the Willamette River in 1857 at Canemah, Oregon. This steamboat is chiefly remembered for its destruction by a boiler explosion in which by good fortune no one was seriously hurt. A folklore tale later arose about this disaster.
Jennie Clark, also seen spelled Jenny Clark, was the first sternwheel-driven steamboat to operate on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia. This vessel was commonly known as the Jennie when it was in service. The design of the Jennie Clark set a pattern for all future sternwheel steamboats built in the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia.
The Upper Willamette Transportation Line was a line of four inland steamboats that operated from the fall of 1859 to the summer of 1860 on the upper Willamette River in the state of Oregon.
James Clinton was a steamboat which operated on the upper Willamette River from 1856 to 1861. Although the Clinton was said to have been "not a very good boat.", it was the first steamer ever to reach Eugene, Oregon. James Clinton was destroyed in April 1861, when a large fire broke out at Linn City, Oregon in a shoreside structure near to where the vessel was moored.
Oregon was a side-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River in the state of Oregon from 1852 to 1854. The steamer was not economically successful and became a total loss by sinking after a short career.
Wenat was a stern-wheel steamboat that, under the name Swan, was built and operated, briefly, on the Tualatin River, in the state of Oregon. In 1858, Swan was sold, moved to the lower Willamette River, renamed Cowlitz, and placed on a route between Portland, Oregon the Cowlitz River.
Occident was a steamer that operated on the Willamette River and occasionally its tributary, the Santiam River from 1875 to about 1890. Occident was designed primarily for freight work, and did not have passenger accommodations. This Occident should not be confused with the smaller steam launch Occident, apparently propeller-driven, which operated out of Astoria, Oregon in the 1890s.
Relief was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1858 to 1865. Relief ran for a short time on the route from Portland to Oregon City, Oregon. After being bought out by the competition, Relief was lined around Willamette Falls to the upper Willamette, where it became the first steamboat to reach Springfield. This vessel should not be confused with a later vessel, also named Relief, which operated on the Columbia and Lewis rivers from 1906 to 1931.
