Sarah Dixon (sternwheeler)

Sarah Dixon (on right) and G.W. Shaver (on left), at Washington Street dock, Portland, Oregon, 1897.
History
Name: Sarah Dixon
Route: Columbia and lower Willamette rivers.
In service: 1892
Out of service: 1926 or 1930
Identification:
  • US registry #116470 (1894-1906)
  • #203009 (1906-1926/30)
General characteristics
Tonnage:
  • 369 gt; 278 rt (1892-1906)
  • 368 gt; 334 rt (1906-1926/30)
Length:
  • 145 ft (44 m) (1892-1906)
  • 161 ft (49 m) (1906-1926/30).
Beam:
  • 26 ft (8 m) (1892-1906)
  • 29.5 ft (9 m) (1906-1926/30).
Depth:
  • 6.5 ft (2 m) (1892-1906)
  • 7.2 ft (2 m) (1906-1926/30)
Installed power: twin horizontally mounted high-pressure single-cylinder steam engines.
Propulsion: sternwheel

Sarah Dixon was a wooden sternwheel-driven steamboat operated by the Shaver Transportation Company on the Columbia and lower Willamette rivers from 1892 to 1926. Originally Sarah Dixon was built as a mixed use passenger and freight vessel, and was considered a prestige vessel for the time. Later, in 1906, Sarah Dixon was converted to become primarily a towing vessel. Sarah Dixon sustained a serious explosion in 1912, which killed the captain and the first mate. The steamboat was reconstructed, and served until 1926 when it was destroyed by fire while hauled out on a shipway for an additional reconstruction.

Design and construction

Sarah Dixon was built in 1892 at Portland, Oregon by for the Shaver Transportation Company. As built, the dimensions of the vessel were 145 feet (44 m) long, 26-foot (7.9 m) beam, 6.5-foot (2.0 m) depth of hold, 369 gross and 278 registered tons. The hull was built by Johnson & Olson.[1] The cabins were built by Capt. Charles Bureau. The vessel cost about $35,000 to construct.[2] The steamboat was named after the wife of George Washington Shaver, the founder of the business which eventually became Shaver Transportation.[3]

The sternwheel was driven by twin high-pressure single-cylinder steam engines manufactured by Iowa Iron Works of Dubuque, Iowa. The cylinder of each engine had a bore of 14 inches (360 mm) diameter and stroke of 84 inches (2,100 mm).[1] The boiler was built by James Monk, a Portland boilermaker.[2] The official steamboat registry number of the vessel as built was 116470.[1] The vessel was equipped with electric lighting, and steam-powered steering gear and hoisting machinery. The passenger accommodations were considered to be superior. Overall, Sarah Dixon when it was built was considered to be one of the more prestigious vessels to operate on the Columbia river system.[2][4]

Operations

Sarah Dixon as built in 1892, also showing Henry Pape, chief engineer, on left, and George M. Shaver, captain, on right.

Following construction, Sarah Dixon was placed on a route running from down the Willamette and Columbia rivers to Clatskanie, Oregon. In 1894 this route was extended to Astoria, Oregon. George M. Shaver (b. 1865) was placed in command, with Henry Pape as chief engineer.[2] On November 9, 1894, Sarah Dixon, under Capt. George M. Shaver, collided with the Lurline under Capt. James T. Gray, in a thick fog near Kalama, Washington. Damage to both vessels was minor, $50 worth to Lurline and $150 to Sarah Dixon. Even so, following a hearing on December 10, both captains, who were prominent steamboat men, were found to be at fault for violating the navigation rules, and their licenses were suspended for seven days.[5]

In November 1896, Sarah Dixon was the first sternwheeler to pass through the newly completed Cascade Locks at the opening ceremony for the works. The Regulator, owned by the Dalles, Portland, and Astoria Navigation Company (DP&ANC) was also present at the opening of the locks, and the two vessels raced to The Dalles, with Sarah Dixon coming in one-half hour ahead of Regulator. In addition to the two Shaver brothers who were on board as co-captains, another highly experienced steamboat man, Capt. Fred H. Sherman (1858-1954), who from 1901 to 1913 was to command the famous sternwheeler Bailey Gatzert, was serving as pilot (second in command).[6] DP&ANC later offered Shaver Transportation, and Shaver accepted, a subsidy of $250 per month to refrain from competing with DP&ANC on the run to The Dalles. Shaver Transportation returned Sarah Dixon to the Portland-Clatskanie route.[6][7]

In the 1890s, Sarah Dixon was one of the fastest steamboats on the Columbia river. Several times Sarah Dixon was able to beat T.J. Potter, a fast steamer, on the Portland-Astoria run.[8] The Potter's owners, Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N), struck an anti-competitive deal with Shaver Transportation, whereby the Shaver boats, including the Sarah Dixon, would stay off the Portland-Astoria route in return for a monthly subsidy from OR&N.[7]

In 1909, Sarah Dixon and the Regulator were immobilized for six weeks in the lock chamber in the Cascades Locks when the Columbia River froze.[9]

1898 collision

On August 14, 1898, Sarah Dixon collided with a 26-foot (7.9 m) sailing fishing boat, which resulted in the death of one man from the smaller boat. The collision occurred on the Columbia River near Eighteen Mile Island, about 4 miles (6.4 km) upstream from the present town of Hood River, Oregon. The steamer was proceeding east up the river toward The Dalles. The sailboat was proceeding west, down the river. The wind was blowing from the west, at about 25 miles per hour up the river, and so the sailboat had to tack back and forth across the river to make progress against the wind. After the collision, the sailboat sank, and one man on board drowned. In a contested court case, the finding was that the captain of the Sarah Dixon was not at fault, because the sailing vessel had turned unexpectedly, causing an unavoidable collision with the steamer.[10]

1906 reconstruction

Sarah Dixon with shortened upper cabins following 1906 reconstruction.

In 1906, Sarah Dixon was reconstructed. The dimensions of the rebuilt vessel were 161 feet (49 m) long, 29.5-foot (9.0 m) beam, 7.2-foot (2.2 m) depth of hold, 368 gross tons, and 334 registered tons. The new registry number was 203009.[1]

1912 explosion

At midnight on January 18, 1912, a boiler explosion occurred on Sarah Dixon as the vessel was on its regular Portland-Astoria route. Three of the 12 persons on board were killed in the blast. They were Captain Fred Stinson, first mate Arthur Monical, and fireman Silas Knowles. The nine survivors, some of whom were injured, rowed four miles (6 km) downriver to Kalama, Washington, to get help and medical treatment. Although initially the vessel appeared to be a total loss, the company later determined it could be rebuilt into a towing vessel.[11][12]

Disposition

The disposition of Sarah Dixon is reported differently in the sources. One source, which includes a photograph of a fire-damaged vessel, reports Sarah Dixon to have burned at Portland in 1926 while on the ways undergoing reconstruction.[11] Another source reports that Sarah Dixon remained in towing service until 1930 or 1933. At that time, the engines were removed and the vessel was converted into a floating machine shop at the Shaver company docks.[13] The steamboat is also reported to have been abandoned in 1930.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Affleck, Century of Paddlewheelers, at page 24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wright, E.W., Lewis & Dryden's Marine history of the Pacific Northwest, Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., Portland, OR (1895), at page 400. (accessed 07-13-11).
  3. ↑ Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at page 177.
  4. ↑ Timmen, Blow for the Landing, at pages 78 and 79.
  5. ↑ Annual report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service (1904) (accessed 07-13-11).
  6. 1 2 Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at pages 5 and 604.
  7. 1 2 Timmen, Blow for the Landing, at pages 33 to 34.
  8. ↑ Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at page 26.
  9. ↑ Timmen, Blow for the Landing, at page 18 (showing photograph).
  10. ↑ Jacobson v. Dalles, Portland & Astoria Nav. Co., 114 Fed. Rprt. 705 (9th Circuit Ct. of Appeals 1902). (accessed 07-13-11)
  11. 1 2 Marshall, Oregon Shipwrecks, at page 209 and 218.
  12. ↑ Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at page 210.
  13. ↑ Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at pages 120 and 425.

References

Photographs from the collections of the Public Library of Salem, Oregon:
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