Advertisement for Oregon, placed March 10, 1854 | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Oregon |
Owner | Ben Simpson and others |
Route | Upper Willamette River |
In service | 1852 |
Out of service | 1854 |
Fate | Sunk after striking snag, total loss |
General characteristics | |
Type | inland steamship |
Length | 120 ft (36.6 m) exclusive of fantail |
Beam | 22 ft (6.7 m) exclusive of guards |
Depth | 5 ft (2 m) depth of hold |
Installed power | steam engine |
Propulsion | side-wheel |
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.
Oregon was built at Fairfield, Oregon in the summer of 1852. [1] Fairfield was located 16 miles (26 km) downstream from Salem, Oregon, and was once one of the most important wheat shipping points on the Willamette River. [2] Ben Simpson, the held of the original ownership syndicate, was also the builder. [1] Construction was supervised in the summer of 1852 by George A. Pease (1830-1918). [1]
Oregon was 120 feet long. [3] The beam (width) of the steamer was 22 feet (6.7 m), probably exclusive of the guards. [3] The depth of hold was 5 feet. [3]
Oregon was described as a small sidewheeler and a poor money earner. [4]
Upon completion, Parker and J.D. Shields served as captains. [1] George A. Pease was the pilot of the Oregon until July 1853. [1] Another report states that Jacob Wortman, later president of the First National Bank of McMinnville, was the captain of Oregon, starting in 1853. [5] Fare from Oregon City to Corvallis, Oregon was then $30 for a trip. [5]
Starting on December 3, 1853, the "fast running steamer" Oregon was advertised as making regular runs from Oregon to Marysville, as Corvallis was then known, and way landings. [6]
On March 4, 1854, the steamer Oregon was reported to have been purchased by the Willamette Falls Mill and Transport Company, sometimes referred to as the Willamette Falls Company. [7]
On March 17, 1854, the Willamette Falls Company placed into service a new steamer, the side-wheeler Gazelle, giving the company, briefly, two steamers operating above Willamette Falls. [3] [8]
Shortly after Gazelle was placed in operation, Oregon was sunk and became a total loss. Oregon hit a snag just down river from Salem, and began sinking. [9] Word was passed to Gazelle, which steamed upriver and stood by as Oregon was filling with water. [9]
Cargo from the Oregon was loaded onto Gazelle to lighten Oregon to better allow salvaging. [9] Suddenly Oregon broke free of the snag, drifted downstream, ran up on a sandbar and sank so deeply that only a part of the upper works were visible above the water. [9] Oregon was a total loss. [9]
Gazelle itself was destroyed by a boiler explosion only a short time later, on April 8, 1854, ending the brief steamboat operations of the Willamette Falls Company [8]
Gazelle was an early sidewheeler on the Willamette River in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. She did not operate long, suffering a catastrophic boiler explosion on April 8, 1854, less than a month after her trial voyage. This was the worst such explosion ever to occur in the Pacific Northwest states. The wrecked Gazelle was rebuilt and operated for a few years, first briefly as the unpowered barge Sarah Hoyt and then, with boilers installed, as the steamer Señorita. A victim of the explosion was D.P. Fuller, age 28, who is buried in Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.
The Willamette Steam Navigation Company (W.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in October 1865 to challenge the monopoly on Willamette River inland steam navigation that the People's Transportation Company was attempting to establish.
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.
The steamboat Oregona operated on the Willamette River, the Columbia River and the Yamhill River from 1904 to 1936. From 1924 to 1936 this vessel was known as the Interstate.
Portland was a side wheel steamer built at Portland, Oregon in the summer of 1853. This vessel was chiefly remembered for its dramatic destruction in 1857 by being washed over Willamette Falls, an incident which killed its captain and a deckhand. The death of the captain, Arthur Jamieson, was one of at least four brothers, all steamboat officers, who were killed in three separate steamboating accidents occurring between 1857 and 1861 in Oregon and in British Columbia.
Wallamet was a sidewheel-driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette and Columbia rivers in Oregon and later on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in California. Built in a Mississippi river style that was not suited to the conditions of these rivers, and suffering from construction defects, Wallamet was not a financially successful vessel. The name of this vessel is often seen spelled as Willamette.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Surprise was a steamboat which operated on the upper Willamette River from 1857 to 1864.