twin horizontally-mounted single-cylinder steam engines, each with bore of 16in (406mm) and stroke of 6ft (1.83m)
Propulsion:
stern-wheel
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.
Orient served until 1892 on the Willamette and Yamhill rivers, after which it was sold for a small amount to a new owner who thought the steamer could be put to some use. Orient was operated until 1894, and had tendency to sink during its last years in service.
In April 1893, Orient sank after a collision with a bridge in Portland, Oregon in 1893, sank again on the Cowlitz River in March 1894, and then in September 1894 was completely destroyed by fire while efforts were being made to return Orient to service.
Construction
Orient was designed to have a shallow draft so that it could operate during low water seasons on the upper Willamette River.[1]Orient was built at the same time as the similar Occident.[2]
Both vessels were built in 1875.[3]John J. Holland, chief builder for O.S.N., supervised construction of Orient.[4]Orient and Occident were known as the “Willamette Twins.”[2]
They were considered first class western steamboats at the time they were built.[5]
Dimensions
Steamer Occident, near twin of Orient, at Albany, Oregon circa 1880. Note the wide beam on the vessel and the stacked cordwood fuel on the dock.
Orient and Occident were both 154ft (46.94m) long measured over the hull, exclusive of the extension of the main deck over the stern, called the “fantail” on which the stern-wheel was mounted.[3] Both vessels had a beam of 22ft (6.71m) exclusive of the long protective timbers along the upper portion of the hull called the guards, and a depth of hold of 5.0ft (1.52m).[3]
Orient could carry about 600 tons of freight.[5] According to a newspaper report from the time they were built, “their great length and breadth of beam will enable them to toat gobs of freight.”[6]
Orient's gross tonnage (a measure of size and not weight) was 586.95 in 1878.[7] The registered tonnage was 429.76 in 1889.[8] The official merchant vessel registry number was 19449.[7]
Machinery
Orient was driven by a stern-wheel which was turned by two horizontally mounted single-cylinder steam engines, each with a bore of 16in (406mm) and stroke of 7ft (2.13m).[3] The engines had come from the upper Columbia river steamer Spray, which had been built in 1862.[9] The boilers were wood-fired, and it was necessary for the steamer to stop at wood depots along its route to “wood up”.[10]
Wooding up could be dangerous, as the wood was split into large baulks and generally had to be carried up a narrow gangplank on to the steamer. Loss of life could occur if a crew man fell into the river while wooding up. In an accident in early October 1878, most of the crew of Orient were thrown into the water while wooding up when a wharf depot gave way.[10] No one was drowned, but one crewman sustained injuries from being struck by a large piece of wood.[10]
Early career
Orient made its trial trip on August 10, 1875.[3] In November 1875 Orient, under Captain Lucien E. Pratt, took the place of E.N. Cooke on the run between Portland and Oregon City.[1]E.N. Cooke was then owned by the Oregon Steamship Company, in which pioneer businessman Ben Holladay held the controlling interest.[4]
Cooke was to take Ben Holladay on a pleasure excursion to the Skipanon River in Clatsop County, after which the Cooke would be taken out of service for repairs.[1] With no other boat to replace the Cooke, the Holladay concern requested that O.S.N. place the new steamer Orient on the route temporarily.[4]
New ownership
At the end of December 1875, Oregon Steam Navigation Co. set up a new corporate subsidiary, the Willamette River Transportation & Locks Company, and transferred substantial assets, including the Orient, to the new corporation.[3]
Willamette Transportation & Locks Co. was incorporated in late December 1875 with a capital stock of $1,000,000 in shares of $100.[11] The new company was organized to do business on the Willamette River and its tributaries and the lower Columbia River.[12] The directors were all prominent business and steamboatmen: Capt. John C. Ainsworth, Robert R.Thompson,[13] Capt. Theodore Wygant, Bernard “Barnie” Goldsmith and Capt. Frank T. Dodge.[12]
By this consolidation competition on the Willamette and lower Columbia rivers is practically played out, notwithstanding the promises made by certain parties. The Canal & Locks Co. has thus consolidated with the O.S.N. Co., the oldest and most grinding monopoly in the state. Next.[12]
Orient ran for Willamette Transportation & Locks Co. until 1879, when it came back into the direct control of Oregon Steam Navigation Co.[3]
In September 1877, during low water, Orient was operating on the Yamhill River to Dayton, Oregon.[14] A report of the time stated:
The Yamhill River, never offering ample breadth or depth of water for the purposes of commerce, is at this season extremely low, the banks on either side almost touching the boat, as, puffing, backing, steaming along the tortuous channel, she makes her slow way to Dayton, and, after tarrying a short time to discharge freight and passengers, steams a mile or two further up the river in order to find a place where she can turn round before taking on the wheat that awaits her.”[14]
Officers
Pioneer steamboat captain George Jerome was in charge of Orient for ten years, and when he died in November 1886, his place was taken by captains Sherman V. Short and John C. Gore.[3] Jerome was a highly regarded man. Following his funeral at the First Congregational Church in Portland, his remains were carried on Orient (then under the ownership of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company up the Willamette River to River View Cemetery.[15]
Transfer to Oregon Railway and Navigation Co.
In June 1879, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, one of the most successful companies in the history of Oregon, voluntarily dissolved and sold all of its assets including Orient and a number of other steamboats, to the newly formed Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.[16]
Exploding cigar incident
On the Tuesday before May 13, 1880, someone gave Purser K. Phillips, of Orient, an exploding cigar and then asked the purser some questions about the boat.[17] Some time later the purser lit the cigar, and in a few minutes it exploded as he held it in his left hand.[17] The initial report was that the purser's hand was mangled and his left eye was put out.[17] Had he been smoking the cigar he would have been killed.[17]
The incident initially appeared to have been related to a criminal case in which the purser was an important witness.[17] A later report stated that the purser's injuries were not as severe as initially reported, and that the incident was an example of a dangerous trick which had recently gained popularity of loading cigars with gunpowder.[18]
Later operations
In 1885 Orient was running on the Yamhill River and the upper Willamette, in competition with two other sternwheelers, the A.A. McCully, running under Captain Zebulon J. Hatch (1846-1913), and the Salem, owned by Captain Ernest W. Spencer (1852-1930).[19][20][21]
In January 1890, Orient was forced to suspend operations on the Willamette River, being laid up in winter quarters at Evans, Oregon, about ten miles up river from Oregon City, near New Era, Oregon.[22] All traffic on the Willamette was then idle.[22] Ice had blocked the gorge just upriver from Oregon City for a few days.
By the Sunday morning before January 13, 1990, the ice had washed over Willamette Falls and the river was clear again.[23]Orient was able to raise steam and reached the Ash Street dock in Portland a few hours later at 12:30p.m.[23] The sudden clearing of the ice was attributed to a heavy rainfall on the Saturday night before.[23]
Sale in 1892
In 1892, Orient, worn out from work on the Willamette, was sold to Captain Thomas Callahan (b.1836) for $1,500.[3][24] Callahan rebuilt Orient.[3] Callahan put the steamer in general freight and jobbing work.
Collision with Morrison Street Bridge
On April 12, 1893, Orient struck the draw of the Morrison Bridge in Portland, tore a hole in its hull, and sank.[3][25]
The accident occurred at about 1:15p.m. on April 12, when Orient, with Captain Callahan at the wheel, was bound downstream at full speed headed toward the both the Madison Street and Morrison Street bridges.[5] (The Madison Bridge has since replaced by the Hawthorne Bridge).
The steamer whistled to signal the bridge tenders to open the draws at the Madison Street Bridge and the downstream Morrison Bridge.[5]Orient, carrying no passengers, was bound for the Lewis River to pick up a load of lumber for a barrel factory in Portland.[5]
The Madison Street bridge tender opened the draw in time, but the pilot on Orient miscalculated the steamer's course, and the side of the boat hit the draw pier.[5] This knocked the steamer off course, so when it came to the Morrison Bridge, it was not headed straight through the draw.[5] As a result, the steamer hit the stone abutment on the east side of the draw span of the Morrison Bridge.[5] This knocked a hole in the right side of the steamer about 25 feet back from the bow.[5]
The force of the river's current swung the Orient’s bow across the river channel where it became jammed into the draw pier.[5] The steamer stayed in this position for some time, but eventually drifted loose and floated downstream.[5]
Hundreds of people watched, crowding onto docks and piers, as the Orient, with steam was still up in the boiler, but in a sinking condition, was able to across to the wharves along the west side of the river and tie it up.[5] However the forward part of the boat became entangled with the cable for the Stark Street Ferry as the steamer sank to the bottom of the river.[5] With difficulty Orient was raised.[3]
Final sinking and loss by fire
A few months later, in 1894, Orient sank again, this time in the Cowlitz River.[3] According to one source, Orient had struck a rock at high water.[26] As the water receded, Orient was left out on the river bank. According to another, more contemporaneous source, Orient struck a snag on the Cowlitz River on March 22, 1894, and sank.[27] With no cargo on board the damage was reported to be $1,000.[27]
Crews were sent to move the old steamer, but before the vessel could be hauled off the river bank, it was destroyed by fire.[26] This is reported to have occurred at Caitlin, Washington, on September 8, 1894.[27] Damage was reported to be $10,000.[27]
1 2 Mills, Randall V. (1947). "Ch. 9 As the Sparks Fly Upwards". Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska. p.120. ISBN0-8032-5874-7. LCCN77007161.
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.
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.
Onward was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Tualatin River from 1867 to 1873, on Sucker Lake, now known as Oswego Lake, from 1873 to 1874, on the Cowlitz and Lewis rivers. This vessel should not be confused with the similar sternwheeler Onward built in 1858 at Canemah, Oregon and dismantled in 1865.
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.
No Wonder was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette, Columbia and Cowlitz rivers from 1889 to 1930. No Wonder was originally built in 1877 as Wonder, which was dismantled in 1888, with components being shifted over to a new hull, which when launched in late 1889 was called No Wonder.
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), who married Thomas McFadden Patton in 1854. 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.
Governor Newell was a sternwheel-driven steamboat that operated from 1883 to 1902 in the Pacific Northwest.
References
Printed sources
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.
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