The navigation of the Willamette was much impeded by rocks and rapids. On the Clackamas rapids below Oregon City, thirty thousand dollars was expended in removing obstructions to steamers, and the channel was also cleared to Salem in 1852. The Tualatin River was made navigable for some distance by private enterprise. A canal was made to connect
the Columbia. McCracken says he paid two ounces of gold-dust for a passage on the Columbia from Astoria to Portland which lasted two days, sleeping on the upper deck, the steamer having a great many on board. Portland, MS., 4. When the Whitcomb began running the fare was reduced to $15. John McCracken came to Oregon from California, where he had been in mercantile pursuits at Stockton, in November 1849. He began business in Oregon City in 1850, selling liquors, and was interested in the Island mill. He subsequently removed to Portland, where he became a large owner in shipping, steamboats, and merchandising. His wife was a daughter of Dr Barclay of Oregon City, formerly of the H. B. Co.
From the summer of 1851, steamboats multiplied, though the fashion of them was not very commodious, nor were they elegant in their appointment, but they served the purpose, for which they were introduced, of expediting travel.
The third river steamboat was the Black Hawk, a small iron propeller brought out from New York, and run between Portland and Oregon City, the Lot Whitcomb being too deep to get over the Clackamas rapids. The Willamette, a steam schooner belonging to Howland and Aspinwall, arrived in March 1853, by sailing vessel, being put together on the upper Willamette, finished in the autumn, and run for a season, after which she was brought over the falls, and used to carry the mail from Astoria to Portland; but the arrival of the steamship Columbia, which went to Portland with the mails, rendered her services unnecessary, and she was sold to a company composed of Murray, Hoyt, Breck, and others, who took her to California, where she ran as an opposition boat on the Sacramento, and was finally sold to the California Steam Navigation Company. The Willamette was a side-wheel steamer and finished in fine style, but not adapted to the navigation of the Willamette River. Athey's Workshops, MS., 5; Or. Spectator, Sept. 30, 1851. The Hoosier, built to run on the upper river, was finished in May 1851, and the Yamhill in August. In the autumn of the same year a small iron steamer, called the Bully Washington, was placed on the lower river. This boat was subsequently taken to the Umpqua, where she ran until a better one, the Hinsdale, owned by Hinsdale and Lane, was built. The Multnomah was also built this year, followed by the Gazelle, in 1852, handsomely finished, for the upper river trade. She ran a few months and blew up, killing two persons and injuring others. The Castle and the Oregon were also running at this time. On the Upper Columbia, between the Cascades and The Dalles, the steamer James P. Flint was put on in the autumn of 1851. She was owned by D. F. Bradford and others. She struck a rock and sunk while bringing down the immigration of 1852, but was raised and repaired. She was commanded by Van Berger, mate J. W. Watkins. Dalles Mountaineer, May 28, 1869. The Belle and the Eagle, two small iron steamers, were running on the Columbia about this time. The Belle was built at Oregon City for Wells and Williams. The Eagle was brought to Oregon by John Irving, who died in Victoria in 1874. The Fashion ran to the Cascades to connect with the Flint. Further facts concerning the history of steamboating will be brought out in another part of this work, this brief abstract being intended only to show the progress made from 1850 to 1853.
