Steamer Occident at Albany, Oregon,circa 1880, near Red Crown Mills (white building in right background). A brass band has assembled on the upper deck, indicating a special occasion.
twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, each with bore of 16in (406.4mm) and stroke of 5ft (1.52m) or 5.5ft (1.68m)
Propulsion
stern-wheel
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.[1][2]
Occident was considered a twin vessel to the sternwheeler Orient[3]Occident was described as a freight steamer.[3]
Occident was built at Portland, Oregon in 1875.[4] In the fall of 1888, Occident had a draft of 22 inches.[5]
Occident was given the official merchant vessel registry number 19448.[4]
In 1885, Occident was 154.4ft (47.1m) exclusive of the extension of the main detail over the stern, called the “fantail” on which the stern-wheel was mounted.[4] The beam (width) of the vessel was 35.8ft (10.9m) exclusive of the protective wooden timbers running along the top of the hull called the guards.[4] The depth of hold was 5ft (1.5m).[4]
The overall size of the vessel, in 1885, measured in tons, a unit of volume and not weight, was 586.95 gross tons and 429.76 net tons.[4] In November 1879, Occident was described as having “tastefully furnished” staterooms and berths which were very wide.[6]
Engineering
Occident was driven by a stern-wheel, turned by twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, each with bore of 16in (406.4mm) and a piston stroke of 5ft (1.52m) or 5.5ft (1.68m)[7] In 1879, Occident had two different stern-wheels which could be mounted on the steamer, one used for the seasonal low-water periods, and another for deeper water.[6]
In 1875, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was planning to reenter the steamboat business on the Willamette River, which they had stayed away from since 1864, when an accommodation had been reached between O.S.N. and its then chief competitor on the Willamette, the People’s Transportation Company.[8]
The officers of the new corporation were some of the most prominent businessmen in the state of Oregon: John C. Ainsworth, president; R.R. Thompson, vice-president; Theodore Wygant, Bernard “Barney” Goldsmith, and Frank T. Dodge, directors.[8]
The Willamette River Transportation Company was dissolved, and all of its assets, including the steamer Occident, were transferred to the new corporation.
Operations
Officers
Almost every prominent steamboat men on the Willamette served on Occident at one time or the other.[8] In November 1879 the officers of Occident were: Miles Bell, captain; James Gist, pilot; W.N. Holmes, purser, Charles Jennings, engineer; George Goward, steward.[6] At various times other officers included:[9]
Captain. Henry Carter, Nat H. Lane, Jr.,; John Kelly, George Reynolds, Other captains of Occident included Sherman V. Short,[10] J.D. Tackaberry (d.1900), and William R. Turnbull (1844-1877).
Chief engineer: Charles E Gore, William Lewis, William J. Maher, and E. Vickers (1844-1893).
Mate: George Benson, Alexander J. “A.J.” Spong.
Purser: Frank W. Goodhue.
First assistant engineer: Charles H. Jennings.
Work on the Santiam River
On the morning of Thursday, January 13, 1876, Occident arrived at Jefferson, Oregon, a small settlement in Marion County, Oregon on the Santiam River.[3] Jefferson, at river mile 9.0 was considered the head of navigation on the Santiam.[11]
No steamer had called at Jefferson since the Calliope, several years before.[3] To reach Jefferson “was something of an accomplishment, since the Santiam, rapid and dashing, was practically unnavigable except during extreme high water and then only for a few days at a time.”[12] The entire local population turned out to greet Occident.[3]anvils were beaten as a welcome signal.[3]
The steamer Champion also arrived at Jefferson at about the same time.[13] Both vessels brought in merchandise to the city and took away, between them, several thousand bushells of wheat from the Granger warehouse.[13]
Sinking of the Dayton
Occident at the boat basin in Oregon City, probably in the late 1870s.
On Saturday, May 13, 1876, the sternwheeler Dayton was moored at Oregon City, when Occident, then owned by the Willamette River Transportation and Locks Company came into the boat basin at full steam to unload a cargo of wheat for the Oregon City Mills.[14]Dayton, at 203.4 gross tons, was much smaller than Occident.[15]
While passing the boat yard, where Dayton was moored, Occident threw up a wake which pushed Dayton onto a snag, knocking a hole in the hull, and sinking Dayton almost immediately.[14] The following Monday, May 15, three pumps were placed into Dayton, and worked from the sternwheeler Bonanza.[14] After a full day of pumping, they were able to raise Dayton.[14]
Low water service
On September 1, 1876, which was the start of the usual fall low water period on the Willamette, the steamer Bonanza was placed on a schedule of running three times a week between Salem and Corvallis, connecting with Occident at Salem.[16]
Race with S.T. Church
At about 5:00p.m. on October 31, 1878, Occident and another sternwheeler, S.T. Church arrived at Salem on their way upriver. Both of steamers had departed Portland simultaneously, and raced the whole way to Salem, with Church arriving about 3 minutes before Occident.[17] Both boats then departed upriver to pick up freight, and about 7:00a.m. on the next morning, November 1, they passed by Salem coming downriver.[17]
Sale to Oregon Railway and Navigation Company
In 1879, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, an extremely profitable company, dissolved and sold its entire fleet of steamers, including Occident, and all of its other assets, to a newly formed corporation, the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, which was capitalized at $6,000,000.[18] In this manner, the O.R.&N, as the new company was known, gained control of every significant steamer operating on the Columbia River system.[19]
Rescue of a wood cutter
By November 11, 1876, Occident had switched over to its deep-water stern-wheel.[6] On November 22, 1879, a newspaper, the Salem Daily Talk, reported that on the afternoon of the previous day, November 21, when Occident was coming downriver, just below Eola, Oregon, a man was seen clinging on to a snag in the river.[20]
Captain Miles Bell was in command of Occident, and he ordered the steamer stopped, and a boat put out to rescue the man.[20] It turned out the man, named Ross, had been cutting wood with another man, John Cline, and using a skiff, they were coming downriver to Salem, when the skiff overturned, throwing them into the water.[20]
Ross grasped hold of the snag, but he had been in the water several hours was nearly exhausted by the time Occident came along.[20] His partner Cline had been able to climb back onto the skiff and floated downstream, where he was rescued by a man on the Polk County, Oregon side of the Willamette, just upriver from Salem.[20]
Fast running time
On Friday, January 31, 1880, Occident ran from Portland, Oregon to Corvallis in 14 hours and 30 minutes running time (probably exclusive of time transiting the Willamette Falls Locks), the fastest time yet between those two cities.[21]
On Friday, June 4, 1880, at about 9:00a.m., William R. Gillmore, a deckhand of the Occident, fell overboard and drowned.[22] The incident occurred near the Boonville warehouse, about four miles upriver from Corvallis.[22] Gilmore’s body could not be immediately recovered.[22] The body was found floating in the river on June 26, 1880 about four miles south of Corvallis.[23] Gilmore left a wife and two children in Salem.[22]
On the Tuesday before February 3, 1882, Occident loaded 2,000 sacks of wheat at Corvallis.[24]
In late October 1888, the fall rains were anticipated to soon raise the level of the Willamette River.[26] There was then reported to have been “an enormous quantity of wheat stored along the river awaiting shipment.”[26] This was said to be a greater amount of wheat, by at least 30%, than any other year in the history of the state.[26]
Occident and three other steamers, Bonanza, Champion, and Orient were to transport the accumulated harvest.[26]
All the steamers were reported to be “in excellent condition, having been thoroughly overhauled recently for the winter.”[26] When the water has at its highest, all the steamers could easily proceed as far as Harrisburg, Oregon[26]
The 1888 shipping season opened on October 29, when Occident came up to Salem from Portland in just 12 hours, including time waiting to transit the locks at Oregon City for two other boats to pass.[5]
Disposition
Occident was dismantled in Portland in 1891[7] or 1892.[27] Another source reports that Occident was condemned by the government in 1889 and removed from service.[8]
1 2 Byars, W.H.; Irvine, Clare B., eds. (Oct 30, 1888). "The River is Open Now". Evening Capital Journal. 1 (203). Salem, OR: Capital Journal Pub. Co. p.3, col.1.
1 2 Affleck, Edward L. (2000). "Part One: Chapter Two: Columbia River Waterways — List of Vessels". A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska. Vancouver, BC: Alexander Nicholls Press. p.21. ISBN0-920034-08-X.
↑ Moser, Stephen A. (Feb 1977). "Shipping". Santiam River Navigability Study. Salem, OR: Division. of State Lands, State of Oregon. p.64.
↑ Corning, Howard McKinley (1973). "Paddle Wheels and Smoke Plumes". Willamette Landings -- Ghost Towns of the River (2nded.). Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society. ISBN0875950426.
1 2 "The steamboats Occident and Champion have visited Jefferson …". Willamette Farmer. 7 (52). Salem, OR. Feb 11, 1876. p.8, col.8.
↑ Affleck, Edward L. (2000). "Chapter One: Part Two: Columbia River Waterways — List of Vessels". A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska. Vancouver, BC: Alexander Nicholls Press. p.11. ISBN0-920034-08-X.
↑ "SUMMARY OF STATE NEWS … The steamer Bonanza will hereafter run between Salem and Corvallis …". Oregon City Enterprise. 10 (45). Frank S. Dement. Sep 1, 1876. p.2, col.5.
1 2 3 4 5 "Narrow Escape". Corvallis Gazette (sourcing the Salem Daily Talk, Nov. 22, 1879. Actual publication date of this article is November 28, 1879.). Nov 28, 1879. p.2, col.5. There appears to be an error in the electronic documents of this issue of the newspaper. The document for the first page of the November 21, 1879 issue is correct. The subsequent documents for pages 2–4 are pages 2–4 of the November 28, 1879 issue. The second page, which is the source of this information, has the date November 28, 1879, which is consistent with the news items reported on that page. There are no electronic documents for the November 28, 1879 issue.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Byars, W.H.; Irvine, Clare B., eds. (Oct 25, 1888). "More About the RiverTraffic". Evening Capital Journal. 1 (208). Salem, OR: Capital Journal Pub. Co. p.3, col.2.
↑ Mills, Randall V. (1947). "Appendix A: Steamers of the Columbia River System". Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska. p.198. ISBN0-8032-5874-7. LCCN77007161.
Related Research Articles
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.
Unio was a small sternwheel-driven steamboat which operated on the Willamette and Yamhill rivers from 1861 to 1869. This vessel is primarily remembered for its having been named Unio when built in 1861, in the first year of the American Civil War, and then having the name completed, to Union, by a new, staunchly pro-Union owner, James D. Miller. Union appears to have sunk in 1869, been salvaged, and then dismantled, with the machinery going to a new steamer then being built for service on the Umpqua River.
The People's Transportation Company operated steamboats on the Willamette River and its tributaries, the Yamhill and Tualatin rivers, in the State of Oregon from 1862 to 1871. For a brief time this company operated steamers on the Columbia River, and for about two months in 1864, the company operated a small steamer on the Clackamas River.
Shoo Fly was a sternwheel-driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the 1870s. Originally built as primarily as a freight boat, the vessel was used in other roles, including towing and clearing of snags. Shoo Fly inspired the name of another sternwheeler on the Willamette River, Don't Bother Me.
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, United States.
Enterprise was a sternwheel steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1863 to 1875. This vessel should not be confused with several other steamers named Enterprise which operated in the Pacific Northwest at about the some time.
Alert was a sternwheeler steamboat which operated on the Willamette River, in Oregon, United States, from 1865 to 1875. Originally built for and owned by the Willamette Steam Navigation Co., it was soon acquired by the People's Transportation Company, a steamboat line which held a near-monopoly on Willamette River transportation. This vessel was rebuilt in 1871, and ran until 1875, when it was dismantled.
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.
Alice was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the 1870s and 1880s. Alice was the largest vessel built above Willamette Falls and was considered in its day to be the "Queen of the River". This steamer was rebuilt after near-destruction in a fire at Oregon City, Oregon in May 1873. In 1876, it was withdrawn from the upper Willamette River and transferred to the Columbia River, where it was worked as a towboat moving ocean-going ships to and from Portland and Astoria, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Minnehaha was a sternwheel-driven steamboat which was built in 1866 on Oswego Lake, then known as Sucker Lake, in Oregon, United States. Minnehaha was later transferred to the Willamette and Columbia rivers where it operated for the first part of the 1870s.
Dayton was a steamboat which operated on the Willamette and Columbia rivers from 1868 to 1881. Dayton operated on the Willamette from 1868 to 1876, mostly upriver from Willamette Falls, including a route on the Yamhill River to Dayton, Oregon, after which the steamer was named. From 1876 to 1881, Dayton was employed on a run from Portland to Monticello, W.T., which was located on the site of what is now Longview, Washington.
Senator was a stern-wheel-driven steamboat which operated on the Willamette River in the state of Oregon from 1863 to 1875. Senator is chiefly remembered for its having been destroyed in a fatal boiler explosion in 1875 while making a landing at the Portland, Oregon waterfront in 1875.
Albany was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1868 to 1875. This vessel should not be confused with the later sternwheeler Albany, which ran, also on the Willamette River, from 1896 to 1906, when it was rebuilt and renamed Georgie Burton.
Active was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the upper Willamette River from 1865 to 1872. During its short operational life, Active was owned by several different steamboat companies. It was dismantled in 1872 at Canemah, Oregon.
George Anson Pease was a well-known steamboat captain in the Pacific Northwest region on the United States, who was active from the earliest days of steamboat navigation on the Willamette River in the 1850s. He worked in various roles until the early 1900s, commanding numerous vessels during that time. During a flood in 1861, while in command of the sternwheeler Onward, Pease rescued 40 people from a flood in the area of Salem, Oregon.
Fanny Patton was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River, in Oregon, starting in August 1865. This steamer operated from 1865 to 1880 for various owners, and was a considered a profitable vessel. The steamer was named for the daughter of businessman Edwin N Cook, Frances Mary "Fannie" Cooke (1837–1886). Edwin N. Cook was one of the principals of the People's Transportation Company.
Manzanillo was a stern-wheel driven steamboat built at Portland, Oregon in 1881. Manzanillo was first run on the Columbia River route from Portland to Clatskanie, Oregon and way points along the river. The initial owner of the boat was the People's Freighting Company, but the Shaver family soon acquired control of the vessel, which became the first vessel of what is now Shaver Transportation Company.
Orient was a light-draft sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1875 for the Willamette River Transportation Company, a concern owned by pioneer businessman Ben Holladay. Shortly after its completion, it was acquired by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. Orient was a near-twin vessel of a steamer built at the same time, the Occident.
N.S. Bentley, commonly referred to as simply Bentley, was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette rivers. Launched in East Portland in December 1886, Bentley ran until 1896, when it was rebuilt and renamed Albany. Bentley was owned by the Oregon Pacific Railway, and was used as part of a rail and marine link from Portland to San Francisco, running down the Willamette, then to Yaquina Bay, and then by ocean steamer south to California. In 1896, Bentley was rebuilt and renamed Albany.
References
Printed books
Affleck, Edward L. (2000). A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska. Vancouver, BC: Alexander Nicholls Press. ISBN0-920034-08-X.
Timmen, Fritz (1973). Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers. p.29. ISBN0-87004-221-1. LCCN73150815.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
