Grahamona was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1912 for the Oregon City Transportation Company, commonly known as the Yellow Stack Line. Grahamona was specially designed to serve on the shallow waters of the upper Willamette River. It was one of the largest steamboats ever to operate on the upper Willamette. In 1920, Grahamona was sold and the name was changed to Northwestern. In 1939, the vessel was sold again, and transferred to Alaska for service on the Kuskokwim River.
Construction
Grahamona was built for the Oregon City Transportation Company (O.C.T.C.) at the Joseph Supple yard on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The Graham brothers were the sole owners of O.C.T.C. Originally the vessel was to be named Graemona, but it was changed to Grahamona on May 1, 1912. The O.C.T.C. was commonly referred to as the Yellow Stack Line. The names of all of the steamers of the Yellow Stack Line ended with -ona.
As of May 3, 1912, drafting work was underway for the new boat. Materials for the boat were ordered from the concern of Inman-Poulsen. By June 30, 1912, the lower part of the cabin structure (called the "house") was complete, and work was progressing on the upper house.
As launch day approached, Capt. Arthur W. Graham, one of the principals of O.C.T.C., announced that there would be no refreshments, commonly known as a "keg of nails" distributed to guests at the launching of the Grahamona. Graham actually would have preferred to have no public announcement of the launching at all. Some people were calling the new boat the Grandmother.
The launch was scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 4, 1912. The launch was made on time, without any christening or other ceremony. The launch was effected without problem, and the boat slid smoothly into the water.
Dimensions, design, engineering and cost
Dimensions The official registry dimensions for Grahamona were length, measured over the hull, ; beam, again measured over the hull, measured over hull, and depth of hold, . Measurements over the hull did not necessary reflect the full length of the vessel, for example the extension of the main deck over the stern to mount the paddle wheel was not included in the hull length measurement. The overall size of the vessel was measured in tonnage or tons, which for this purpose was a unit of volume and not of weight. Grahamona was 443 gross tons and 413 net tons.
Design Grahamona was built to run on the Willamette River in conjunction with another O.C.T.C. boat, the Pomona. Grahamona and Pomona would work to provide daily passenger steamboat service between Portland, Albany and Corvallis. According to a contemporaneous newspaper report, Grahamona included accommodations for 30 crew. The official U.S. steamboat registry listed the number of crew as 12. The official registry number was 210453.
Grahamona was reported to be introducing a number of design innovations, including white enameled bunks and walls in the crew's quarters, a combination dressing table and life-preserver receptacle in the woman's cabin, and lockers in each officer's stateroom. The walls, the ceiling and the cabin exterior were all built of kiln-dried cedar for lightness of weight. Grahamona was said to have been "the best boat in every way that has been placed on the upper river run" and "fitted in every way as a high class river boat." The boat was 150 feet long, 30-foot beam and 4.6 depth of hold. According to one source, Grahamona could carry 443 passengers. According to another source, the steamer' was licensed to carry 308 passengers on a regular basis, and 412 on excursions. Grahamona could carry 300 tons of cargo while drawing only 3 feet of water. Draft light (carrying no cargo) was 18 inches.
Engineering Grahamona was driven by two twin horizontally mounted steam engines turning a sternwheel that was 17.2 in diameter and 18 feet wide. Each steam engine had a single-cylinder, with each with a bore of and stroke of . The engines and boiler developed 700 indicated horsepower. The engines and wheel were estimated to be able to propel the vessel at a speed of 15 miles per hour.
Cost Grahamona cost about $28,000 to build without fittings. With fittings the cost was about $35,000.
Placed into service
Grahamona was scheduled to begin service running between Portland and Dayton, on the Yamhill River, on September 20, 1912. Service in fact began on Monday, September 24, 1912. The water level in the Willamette was then too low to permit Grahamona to reach Corvallis, so the Portland-Dayton route was selected instead.
Pomona was to be withdrawn for maintenance work once Grahamona was placed in service. The work on Pomona was done at the Supple yard.
Capt. Arthur W. Graham was to be the first master of Grahamona, but the permanent captain was intended to be Clyde Rabbe.
First run to Salem On Thursday, October 24, 1912, the Willamette had risen sufficiently for Grahamona to make its first trip to Salem, Oregon, calling at the O.C.T.C's dock at the foot of Trade Street. The first run to Salem was to be an excursion for businessmen, with the regular run starting Friday, October 25, 1912.
The following Sunday, October 27, 1912, Grahamona took 200 Salem residents on an excursion from Salem south to Lincoln, a small settlement and steamboat landing about 6 miles south of Salem. The local newspaper praised Grahamona and urged residents of Salem to patronize the steamer.
First run to Corvallis On Saturday, November 9, 1912, Grahamona was scheduled to depart Portland, from the O.C.T.C's dock at the foot of Taylor Street, for its first trip to Corvallis. Grahamona arrived in Albany for the first time at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 1912, and proceeded upstream to Corvallis later the same morning. O.C.T.C. planned to have one steamboat, either the Grahamona or the Pomona depart downstream from Corvallis each day, while another departed upstream from Portland, so that there would be daily service each day in both directions.
The Oregona would be placed on the run between Dayton, on the Yamhill River and Portland, which would relieve Pomona and Grahamona from having to make stops at landings between Portland and St. Paul. T.E. Coleman was appointed the O.C.T.C.’s agent in Albany, south of Salem, and he opened up an office and the dock to handle winter traffic for the company.
Problems on the Corvallis run Service to Corvallis required a sufficient level of water in the river. As of December 4, 1912, with recent rainfall the river was 4 feet above low water level, considered, by M.P. Baldwin, of O.C.T.C., to be insufficient to allow Grahamona to proceed further upstream than Salem.
As a result, only one boat, Pomona, was running all the way from Portland to Corvallis. Grahamona went only as far as Salem. Oregona ran from Salem to Corvallis.
By December 17, 1912, the river had deepened sufficiently. Following a one-day delay caused by a mechanical failure, the company was able to put Grahamona on the full Portland-Corvallis run. As of January 2, 1913, the company was advertising regular daily service on the Portland-Corvallis route.
However, business in Corvallis soon proved to be insufficient to justify daily steamer service. On January 16, 1913, O.C.T.C. withdrew Pomona from the Portland-Corvallis run, leaving Grahamona alone on the route, making tri-weekly trips.
At the same time, the company withdrew Oregona from all service, temporarily as it turned out, and assigned Pomona to the Portland-Salem run, serving the city of Dayton, in Yamhill County, on the return trip to Salem. The company's recent decision to construct a third, and expensive boat, the Grahamona, appeared not be supported by sufficient business.
On December 26, 1913, the steamer Oregona collided with the anchored barge Champoeg 12 miles upriver from Portland, causing a hole in the Oregona’s hull. As a result, Oregona filled with water and sank, with the upper deck a foot below the surface of the water. There was no loss of life, and with the aid of Grahamona, most of the cargo was salvaged.
Business falls off sharply By early 1914, business had fallen off so sharply that O.C.T.C. saw no prospect of revival. Arrangements were then under way for the government to purchase the Willamette Falls Locks and operate them on a toll-free basis. O.C.T.C would be the primary beneficiary of this arrangement, but company officials said it would not be enough. Captain A.B. Graham of O.C.T.C. was quoted in February 1914:
Last years of the Yellow Stack Line
Ice at Salem The O.C.T.C.’s dock at Salem was located in a slough off the main river. On December 18, 1914, the entire slough was frozen over with ice 2 to 3 inches thick. To keep the channel open out to the main river, the company had to deploy a launch to keep breaking up the ice every 15 minutes as it formed. The temperature the night before was 19 degrees above zero, lower than the previous lowest temperature recorded, which was 22 degrees.
Precipitation falling as snow and freezing into ice in December 1914 also contributed to a lower water level in the river, which compelled O.C.T.C. to use the smaller Oregona for service between Portland and points in the Willamette Valley. The ice conditions continued until December 26, 1914, when the steamers were able to resume normal operation.
Service to Peoria By mid-January 1915 the water in the river was high enough to allow Grahamona, then the only steamer on the route, to proceed further upriver from Corvallis, to Peoria, on Sunday, January 17, 1915. O.C.T.C. later applied for a government permit to remove trees overhanging the Willamette upriver from Corvallis, as these were said to be a threat to navigation. On Sunday, February 28, 1915, Grahamona was again able to reach Peoria, where it loaded 100 tons of grain. As of March 3, 1915, there was said to have been 800 tons of wheat and oats accumulated at Peoria awaiting transport to Portland.
Labor dispute A widespread strike against shipping firms on the West Coast began in early June, 1916. At about 9:30 p.m. on the night of June 6, 1916, when Grahamona pulled into the O.C.T.C. dock at Salem, Oregon, several persons, apparently sympathetic to the strike, threw rocks at the crew of Grahamona. One deckhand was struck on the harm and seriously injured. Captain Chris Bluhm (c1869-1947) was also injured, when a rock struck him on the leg. Members of Grahamona’s crew grabbed clubs and axes, and pursued the rock throwers.
Low water problems On September 3, 1914, when Grahamona passed through the Oregon City locks, fortunately with little freight aboard, there was only 19 inches of water in the locks, and Grahamona drew 18 inches of water at the time. The water was reported to have been at an unusually low level, which was compounded by the use of water to power the electric turbines at the power plant at Willamette Falls. It was reported that some water would be diverted from the turbines to raise the level in the locks by 4 or 5 inches.
Low water was also reported as the "principal" reason for paring back the Corvallis run by Grahamona to one trip a week in late November 1914, rather than three times a week. As of November 27, 1914, Grahamona would proceed as far as Albany on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and would go to Corvallis only on Saturdays, returning to Portland the following Monday.
Government takeover of the locks Oregon shipping interests had been pressing for a government takeover of the Willamette Falls Locks. This would act in effect as a subsidy to the shipping interests, as the government would operate the locks on a toll-free basis. In 1915, the government did purchase the locks at Willamette Falls, but the prospect of increased business for steamers never materialized. In 1915, the only vessels regularly using the locks, aside from some cordwood barges coming downriver, were the O.C.T.C. boats, Grahamona, Pomona, and Oregona.
Damaged by Morrison Street drawbridge