Elwood was a sternwheel steamboat which was built to operate on the Willamette River, in Oregon, but which later operated on the Lewis River in Washington, the Stikine River in Canada, and on Puget Sound. The name of this vessel is sometimes seen spelled "Ellwood". Elwood is probably best known for an incident in 1893, when it was approaching the Madison Street Bridge over the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The bridge swung open to allow the steamer to pass. However, a streetcar coming in from the east end of the bridge failed to notice the bridge was open, and ran off into the river in the Madison Street Bridge disaster.
Construction Elwood was built in 1891 at Portland, Oregon by Johnston & Oleson, for the concern of Jason Eldridge and the three brothers Guy V. Abernethy, Charles H. Abernethy, and George Abernethy, of Champoeg, Oregon. Another source gives the builder as Joseph Pacquart. The Abernethy brothers were descendants of George Abernethy (c1807-1877), provisional governor of Oregon.
The owners placed Elwood on the Willamette River, operating first with Capt. J.L. Smith, who was followed by Capt. R. Young and then by Captain James Lee, who as of 1895 had been in charge of the vessel for about 3 years.
Elwood was intended to operate in opposition to the O.R.&N., and another line, the Oregon Pacific.A non-contemporaneous source states that Elwood was built for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (O.R. & N). . However, based on contemporaneous sources, it appears that Elwood was built to compete against the O.R.&N.
Design, size, engineering and accommodations
Design and size Elwood was intended to be a shallow-draft boat capable of passing the on the lower Willamette and of operating on the upper Willamette river when water levels were down. It was said that Elwood was "built to run on a heavy dew". Elwood was so lightly built that it could not operate on longer runs on the Columbia such as to the Cascades or Astoria, Oregon.
The official steamboat registry number was 136181.
Elwood official registered dimensions were measured over hull (not counting the rather long extension of the main deck which housed the sternwheel), beam, again measured over the hull, and not counting the guards, which were low strakes of timbers placed along the outboard top of the hull as a protective measure. Depth of hold was . The vessel's tonnage, a measure of capacity and not weight, was 510.44 gross tons and 420.54 net tons. The boat drew only of water when light (empty of cargo and passengers). With 100 tons of freight loaded, the vessel was expected to draw only about of water.
Engineering Elwood was powered by twin horizontally mounted steam engines, each with a bore and a 72-inch stroke. The engines were manufactured by Iowa by the Dubuque Iron Works, and were of the Poppet-valve type. The boiler had 186 tubes, each long. The boiler was licensed to produce steam at 165 pounds pressure. Engine room signals were given from the pilot house by speaking tube, and manual and electric bells. There was a fog bell on the upper deck.
Accommodations Elwood had cabins forward and aft, and six staterooms. With a special license, Elwood would be able to legally carry 250 passengers.
Service on the Willamette River
Elwood made its trial trip on Wednesday afternoon, May 27, 1891. Elwood departed the Portland & Willamette Valley dock shortly after 4:00 pm., and proceeded a few miles downriver. The owners had invited on board guests for the trial trip, including a number from Salem, among whom were representatives of the two Salem newspapers.
Robert Young was the first captain of Elwood, and Charles Abernethy was the boat's first manager.
The next day, Thursday, May 28, 1891, Elwood left the Kellogg dock in Portland, and was expected to arrive in Salem that same evening to load freight.
Hit snag and sunk At about 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 25, 1891, while carrying passengers and a cargo of 500 sacks of oats, Elwood hit a snag at Ash Island, about 35 miles south of Portland, and sank. The steamer had just left the mouth of the Yamhill River and, with mate John Ditmer at the wheel, was running in a stretch of deeper water close to shore known as Ash Island channel. Here the vessel ran into a snag which was about one foot under the surface of the water and about 20 feet from shore. The current spun the boat around sidewise and the snag ripped a hole half the length of the hull, sinking the vessel cabin-deep, and rendering cargo of oats a total loss. There was no casualty to the passengers, and they were easily brought off the boat to the river bank.
Total damage was estimated at $1,000, of which $400 represented damage to the cargo. Plans were made immediately to raise Elwood and bring it downriver for repairs.
1892 and 1893 operations
Racing brings criminal charges On May 4, 1892, Elwood left Salem at the same time as the steamer Hoag. A race followed, and the crew of Elwood claimed they won. On Monday, May 9, 1892, E.A. Kern, the chief engineer of Elwood, was arrested and charged with disabling the safety valve on Elwood boiler, so that steam at 195 pounds pressure could be raised, instead of the 165-pound maximum that was allowed on the boiler's certificate. The assistant engineer, T.C. Fitzgerald, was also arrested on similar charges.
On Friday, May 13, 1892, Kern was brought before U.S. Commissioner Paul H. Deady the day after the arrest, and he posted bond of $500 to secure his release during the pendency of the case. If convicted, Kern would have faced a potential file of $200 and a maximum prison sentence of five years. The Morning Oregonian wrote at the time:
Collision with Stark Street Ferry On the evening of October 29, 1892, when Elwood was tied to the wharf at Alder Street, in Portland, the Stark Street Ferry ran into the sternwheeler. Elwood fantail was badly damaged, as was the tackle on the ferry. The ferry was forced to suspend operations for two hours to make repairs. Damage to both vessels was estimated at $25. No one was blamed for the accident, as it was quite dark and the ferry captain thought there was enough room to make a safe landing.
Portland–Albany run As of May 5, 1893, Elwood was running twice a week between Portland and Albany, Oregon.
Madison Street bridge disaster
Elwood was involved in the Madison Street Bridge streetcar disaster, when on the morning of November 1, 1893, the swinging draw section of the Madison Street Bridge, in Portland, opened to allow passage of the boat, and a streetcar on the bridge failed to stop for the open draw.
1894 operations
1894 schedule
As of April 5, 1894, Elwood departed Portland for Salem and Corvallis on Sundays and Wednesdays at 6:00 a.m. Elwood left Salem for Portland Tuesdays and Saturdays at 6:00 a.m. The passenger fare from Salem to Portland was $1.00. Frank J. Smith, with an office at the Trade Street Dock, was the Salem agent for the steamer. Smith had taken over the Salem agency for Elwood from Albert Herren, reportedly a popular steamboat agent, in November 1893.
Loss of an engineer On April 10, 1894, Willam Armstrong, second engineer, was lost off the Elwood while the boat was en route from Oregon City to Salem. The incident occurred near Fairfield, which was 16 miles downriver from Salem.
No one saw Armstrong go overboard. The chief engineer stepped out of the engine room briefly, and when he returned, he noticed Armstrong missing. An oil can was also missing, and Armstrong's cap was on the machinist's bench. The supposition was that Armstrong had gone out on the fan tail to oil the sternwheel bearings, slipped off, and fell into the river. A few days previously Armstrong had told Captain Lee that he could not swim.
On May 10, 1894, Armstrong's body was found in the boom of the old Mission Mill, about 18 miles downriver from where he had been lost. Two wounds on the body's head were thought to be consistent with the theory that he had been struck on the head by the buckets of the paddle wheel. Armstrong's gold watch was found still attached to his vest by the chain. The body was taken to Oregon City, where his parents resided, for burial.
Rate war with Union Pacific In early 1894, the Union Pacific Railroad placed a steamboat on the upper Willamette River, the Modoc, to compete with Elwood. Before placing Modoc into service, the Union Pacific had cooperated with Elwood, allowing the independent steamer to use the railroad's dock at Salem. However, on April 1, 1892, Union Pacific sent a telegram to their Salem agent, instructing him to no longer allow Elwood to use their dock. Elwood owners shifted over immediately to the Oregon Pacific floating wharf. George E. Abernethy was Elwood manager at the time. The fare war reduced shipping rates which benefited the merchants of Salem.
Transfer to Lewis River service On May 26, 1894, Charles H. Abernethy was reported to come to Salem to close up the business of the Elwood, which he had tied up at his residence at Champoeg. Abernethy did not expect to be running the vessel before fall.
In 1894, Elwood was leased by the Lewis River Transportation Service to replace Mascot on the Lewis River run. A non-contemporaneous source states that it was the very successful steamboatman Jacob Kamm who leased Elwood for the Portland – Lewis River route. Kamm appears to have controlled the Lewis River Transportation company, and he may have purchased rather than leased Elwood.
The Abernethy brothers were reported to have lacked the necessary experience in steamboating and to have returned to farming after having been bested by the competition.
1895 wheat harvest in the Willamette valley
In August 1895, it was reported that "an immense lot of wheat" was being delivered to the Imperial Mills at Oregon City from landings on the upper Willamette River. As of August 23, 1895, Elwood had been engaged for ten days carrying wheat from Mission Landing (near St. Paul) and other points on the upper river to the mills at Oregon City.
1896 and 1897 operations
Race with Hattie Belle Despite the 1892 arrest of Engineer Kern for complicity in a steamboat race, Elwood was again involved in a race in 1896, with the sternwheeler Hattie Belle. Hattie Belle entered the Willamette River from the Columbia about 200 yards ahead of Elwood, which overtook Hattie Bell at Post Office Bar. Post Office Bar was a short distance from the mouth of the Willamette. As Elwood passed Hattie Belle, the two vessels came so close together that Hattie Belle was carried along in the suction created by the passage of Elwood, a larger vessel. The two boats ran this manner all the way to the Steel Bridge. This was a distance of 12.1 miles from the mouth of the Willamette. At the Steel Bridge, the two boats separated, and Hattie Belle was able to pull into the dock first.
Reassignment to upper Willamette In late September 1896, Elwood was tied up and undergoing extensive repairs at Jacob Kamm's dock in Portland at Taylor Street. Kamm had not yet decided whether to place Elwood back on the upper Willamette route. There were already about ten steamers operating on the upper Willamette at that time, and it wasn't clear whether there would be enough business to support another. Kamm, however, did not seem to be particularly concerned, saying that "when a man owned steamers, he had to run them somewhere."
Hop season 1897 To meet the needs for carriage of pickers for the 1897 hops season in the Willamette Valley, Elwood was engaged by the Oregon City Transportation Company, leaving Portland on the morning of August 27, 1897, to carry pickers as far upriver as the water conditions, generally low at the end of the summer, would permit.