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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1900)
gr .;,:,:,:V:'rr:r:r:';-":T-;g3 PART THREE v 25wf 'Sit WM. PAGES 25 TO 32 I $ v r vol. xix. life ? i k i-;i j"M$Bn mmmHmmmmammBSiiiailu RELIANCE- iJV. -S f w w - OHIO MULTNOMAH", 1855 Hourly 'JKfanJfoaticn n FV4llamett&- o&-- qS 2zS .. . i. rll vv3w ' 3ii9H As years count, It has not been so very lone since the shores of Simpson's "lovHv river" were a wilderness, untrod save by the moccaslned feet of the Indian who, armed with feathered shaft and bow, threaded the dus?ky gloom in search of game. Less than half a century has elapsed since the placid waters of the Willamette were first disturbed by the noisy inventions of civilized man. But now the canoe, with Its carved and paint ed prow, silent as a dream, slipping along the reed-fringed shallows, or lurk ing In shaded pools; has passed forever. In its place the steamer, spacious and handsomely appointed, makes a commo tion In the once quiet stream and wakes the echoes with churning paddles and shrieks of steam. The evolution of the steamboat on the "Willamette wu a process as Interesting as It was difficult. It is a far cry from the clumsy flatboats and picturesque bateaux of early pioneer days to the swift and serviceable river craft that ply upon the river and Its tributaries in this year 1909. And yet any captain who had experience in those earlier days will tell you, with a sigh and shake of the head, that. In spite of steam and steel and perfected proportions, freighting on the river Is not what it once was. First Orgnnlied Service. It was not until 1S50 that any regularly organized transportation company began to operate upon the "Willamette. Prior to that time small boats and barges, owned by private individuals, or by the 'Hudson's Bay Company, at Vancouver, did most of the carrying, rolnforced, as occasion required, by the large and light canoes of the Indians who peopled the shores of the lower river. All the craft built and owned by that first company wore flatboats that had to be poled or "lined' up stream, and which were, as k rule, manned by Indian crews. It was slow, hard work, getting up the river In those days, and It required the servlco of willing hands and an unlimited store of patience to accomplish the Journey at all. Sometimes, when the na ture of the shore or the swiftness ot the current rendered towing impossible, or poling ineffectual, the great, awkward barge was drawn up stream by means of the willows that drooped and trailed along the river's marge, and to which the dusky boatmen clung. The progress in PORTLAND, OREGON, OLb LOCKS such case was necessarily slow and not altogether unattended with danger. Some times the fragile branches broke and the boat went whirling down the angry tide, for even the "bright "Willamette" shows signs of temper at certain sea sons of the year. A Ilatboat, 65 feet long and heavily laden, was not, one can easily Imagine, the most manageable craft in the world, In time of a freshet. It was not so difficult coming down, of course, although the delightful element of dan ger was not always lacking. In many in stances, horses were employed to furnish the motive power, and in the downward journey the boat was handled usually with sweeps. First Steamer on Upper River. However, this pioneer method of boat lng gave place, in the course of a few years, to steamers. The first of these to ply upon the upper river was built at Salem, in 1851. As a freight carrier she was not a success. Her size was against her. So diminutive was she that two men could careen her, as she lay upon the bank, prior to launching. Her period of usefulness was brief, although her name, "Hoosler," proved so popular that It was long continued, being borne by two of her successors. Her "bones" are said to repose In the bed of the Wil lamette some 300 feet above the head of the locks at Oregon City. The year 1831 wltnesyd, theaflyent of three other boats, the Washington, Mult nomah and Canemah. The first of these was a side-wheel steamer, purchased In San Francisco and brought to the upper Willamette, where, at Canemah, one love ly Junf- morning, she was launched, to run on the Yamhill route for a short sea son. At the close of the season she was taken below the falls and operated there. Two years later she was restored to the upper river, and, finally, for some unre corded reason, she was despatched to the Umpqua, and the Willamette knew her no more. It was no light undertaking In those days, before the construction of the locks, to transfer a steamer from the upper to the lower route, or lce versa. Still It was often found either necessary or desirable to do so, and It was not the fashion In pioneer times to be daunted by difficulty, or to hesitate In the pres ence of an obstacle. A sort of basin had been built on the Oregon City side of the stream, abreast the cataract, and Into this the boat was floated. Thence It was drawn out upon the beach and let down a skidway, by means of ropes and cables and primitive machinery, to the river level below the falls. If it was to be a transference from the lower to the upper route, the process was simply reversed. Multnomah's Advent. The "Multnomah was built In the .East and brought out to Oregon In sections. She was put together at Canemah and launched In June, the same month and year as the Washington. She was not beautiful at least, her portrait does not convey the Idea of grace but she pos sessed both pow er and speed, and was en thusiastically welcomed by the Inhab itants of Corvallls and Its outlying dis tricts, for she was the first boat to as cend to that point, Albany having pre viously been considered the head of navi gation on the river. However, her pas senger accommodations so far exceeded her capacity as a freight carrier that It was not found profitable to operate her upon the Corvallls route, and so, at the ond of the year, she was transferred to Portland and ran .for 12 years upon the lower Willamette and .-Columbia. The Canemah, a somewhat larger and slower craft of local construction, took the place of the Multnomah in the traffic of the upper river. Not a boat that plied the waters of the Willamette in that first decade of steam navigation on the river but had an event ful, If sometimes brief, career. There "was the Shoalwater, whose original title was all but forgotten in the seven years of her existence, during which period shn steamed under four different names. Her .. TT" vCIXYJ3FJEUGENE.7 SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 11, 1900. OREGON CITY life as a river steamer was- one long chapter of accidents, and she finally end ed as a floating sawmill, after having proven a disastrous investment to her owners, in her first capacity. The Walamette, another steamboat of the same date, was considered the most magnificent boat on the Inland waters of the Northwest. She was not, for some reason, a success on the upper river route, and was "lined" over the Falls and taken to the Sacramento, In California. Blown to Atoms. In 1834 the Gazelle was built, at a point on the bank of the river, opposite Oregon City, by a company organized for the purpose ot founding a rival town. Fate apparently frowned upon this ambition. The first boat constructed by the com pany was burned oefore she was fairly completed; the second, the ill-fated Ga zelle, was blown to atoms within 20 days after launching. This disaster involved loss of life, as well as destruction ot property, for her crew, together with a score of passengers, shared her sudden fate. The Enterprise, launched In 1S55, eventu ally found her way northward to the Fraser River. The James Clinton, built the following year, was the first boat to ascend the Willamette as far as- Eugene. She was successfully operated upon this route, giving the people of the upper Valley efficient and satisfactory service until she was, at last, broken up and her machinery shipped to Coos Bay, to become an Integral part of a steamer be ing constructed at that point. The Port land, built the same year as the James Clinton, below the falls, was, when com pleted, taken up and run for a twelve month, under command of Captain Jamie son. The story of the Portland's tragic end Is told by those who witnessed her mad leap over the brink of the foaming cataract at Oregon City. It was the 17th of March, 1857. There had been an accident on the trip down the river, which resulted in an injured rudder. The damage had been temporarily repaired by means of rope lashings. At Canemah, Just above the falls, the boat landed some freight and started to cross to the opposite s,hore. When in midstream, the rope lashing parted, and the craft swung head-on down the river. The cur rent was swift and strong and the engines were powerless In its relentless sweep. Her Dying: Protest. As she went over the falls, her whistle sounded a wild, walling shriek, that was echoed back from the hills beyond the river. It was the craft's dying protest against her untimely fate a fate which was shared by her captain and one of her crew. In the steamer's safe was money to the amount of J2000. The safe with Its contents, to this day, for aught man knbweth to the contrary, reposes on the bed of the Willamette. Agent Frank J. Smith, of The Dalles, Portland & Astoria Navigation Company, who has had many years experience In Inland navigation In the Northwest, and to whom, among others, the writer is In debted for supplying Information for this article, says this concerning the lost eafe: "Time has wrought great changes in the face of the ragged cliff over which the Willamette tumbles, and now the spot where the Portland struck is a shell-like basin, the rim of which appears above the surface and In the center of which is barely 16 feet of water. "Aware of this, some old-time steam boatmen, 35 years after the disaster, left Portland to endeavor to get the safe and its precious contents. There seemed little to contend against, excepting the accumu lation of silt' and debris beneath which the cafe lies burled, for the change in the face of t'ae fall has left' the basin dead , water, without current or cataract. " The treasure-hunters took a full and complete outfit to aid them in their wbrk. but tfieir attempts proved futile." Captain Smith regards it - as unlikely that the safe will ever he recovered. The Elk was a small steamer, built by farmers to run on the'Tamhlll, and chief ly' memorable on account of an effective GB 109.0 boiler explosion, in which, although the destruction of the boat was complete, no one was. fatally Injured. It is chronicled that "two passengers who were plajing cards In the after-cabin at the time w ere lifted bodily and found themselves sitting In a dazed condition, but unhurt, upon the debris which floated near the wreck." The St. Claire was not much more than a steam scow, and ' was available only for freighting purposes, but she achieved fame, by her successful leap In mld-alr over the falls at Oregon City, in the never-to-be-forgotten year of 1SG1. It was during the great flood in December that her captain brought her safely down. In I860, according to the records, a genius at Corvallls concluded that steam boats were too expensive to operate, so he rigged a craft with tread mill ma chinery and cattle and horses for motive power. Coming down the river on her first trip, the vessel ran, or rather walked, ashore, at McGooglan's Slough, where she stayed till the motive power had de voured all the oats and hay aboard. Then the skipper, undeniably a man of original ideas, was forced to sell his oxen and -give up that method of river transporta tion. The Reliance was one of the fastest of the early boats on the Willamette. It Is recorded to her credit that she once made the trip from Oregon City to Salem In six hours and a half, Including the time occupied in making no less than nine landings. Prosperous Days. Those were gay and prosperous days in the history of steamboat traffic on the Willamette. Both the Reliance and her rival In speed, the Active, carried bands of music, and their respective arrivals and departures were notable events, cel ebrated with Joyous acclaim by the in habitants of the towns along the route. When a boat was due at any point on the upper river the farmers and their fami lies gathered there from miles about, and when the hoarse shriek of her steam whistle woke the echoes, as she neared a town, the whole population, even to the babies and the dogs, turned out to wel come her. "Fannie Patton" Is a name dear to the early Inhabitants of Salem. The craft so named was also a Canemah boat, having been built and launched from that pio neer boatyard in August, 1S65, and she was further known as ' Salem's Pride." A corporation of the Capital City owned and operated her and she bore the name of the wife of an honored citizen of the place. Not the least Interesting chapter In the story that might be told of early naviga tion on the ever-beautiful Willamette Is that descriptive of the countless attempts, sometimes successful, but often failures, to supply the small towns upon the tribu taries of the river with steamboat serv ice. The Santlam, the Long Tom and many other streams whose adjacent terri tory Is now effectually tapped by rail way lines, were once considered navigable for light-draft steamers, for varying dis tances from their confluence with the Willamette. The Ohio. The queerest craft that ever plied the waters of any stream was. It Is claimed, the Ohio. She was built, so reads the record of her construction, with a box hull and a flat bottom. When completed her draft was only eight Inches. She was jknown along the river as the "O. H. Ten." Judging from the history of the craft that have been operated on the Willam ette during the last half century, the fate of a Tiver steamer Is either tragic or ig noble. Her term of usefulness isbrief, and' if she escapes fire and flood, sub merged snags and gravel bars for a decade, she Is dismantled and turned into a scow or a barge, dependent upon some still vitalized craft for towage. There are wrecks strewn along the up- per river, and they are not all visible to mortal sight. The members of transport tation companies those, more particularly speaking, organized on the co-operative plan could tell 'many a tale of disap --.r' 'rrz. . ' Vks. -V -Cr- j- . r P ' -t- " t; w-f WRECK OF STEAMER VPM.HOAG pointment and disaster. And as for the steamboat captains themselves, the ex perience of each would fill a good-sized volume, If written out In Interesting de tail. There was a charm about steam boating on the river, In earlier days, that Is largely lacking in these latter times. Gave Good Service. Contrasted with the big, handsomely appointed boats that now come and go on tho Willamette, passing with ease from the lower to the upper river through the splendidly constructed Jocks at Ore gon City, those pioneer steamers were perhaps Insignificant. But when It comes to a comparison of records, when achieve ments are taken into consideration, It Is at once apparent that they were not without distinction. They were built for use, not beauty, and" In their brief but Invariably eventful careers they rendered efficient service, and to this day they are remembered and spoken of with prida and affection by their whilom captains and crews. The people who journeyed up and down the river In their crowded and Inconvenient cabins, and the farmers who watched and waited for their coming and hailed the arrival of a boat as an spoch that brightened the gray monotony of rainy days In Winter, will tell you that no modern mode of travel can yield a tithe of the enjoyment to be gotten out of a trip on the river In those primitive and perilous times, before the locks were built, before the comfortable and spa cious steamers Invaded the upper river, and the railway came with Its Pullman cars and Its other evidences of modern progress. Crnmbllnsr to Decay. Once populous and busy towns like Buena "Vista and Peoria are, under the new and existing order of things, de serted and crumbling to decay. The roomy warehouses that, less than half a century ago, were yearly stored with the cereal products, oats and wheat and bar ley raised and harvested In the Valley of the Willamette, almost to the exclu sion of everything else, are but tottering ruins. Their floors, where. When the car go was taken-on and the boat ready for departure, the deckhands danced with the village maidens, to the sound of the flute and the iolln, are green with mold, or fallen, quite away. The whistle of passing steamboats echoes sadly along the shores 'Where once tho eager crowds gathered to welcome their humble pre decessors; for the finest boat on the river, In this period of rapid progress, is .pow erless to' awaken more than a mlid de gree of Interest In the dwellers' by the waterside. LISCHEN M. MILLER. V gfe rZLk -teaU4TESJCHI hfi S!gMf.pB NO. 46. v Bt f WMw 3g'Vt r dini Mirf-iWTrTMBiMia E6ALITE ojVS, T n - m H "" " p" Ojts . . V ffiW XJT" - I (sill ' SBi