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Beaver (1873 sternwheeler)

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Beaver (sternwheel steamboat)
History
OwnerWillamette Transportation Co.,[1] Willamette Falls Locks and Canal Co.[2]
RouteWillamette, lower Columbia, and Stikine rivers[2]
LaunchedAugust 21, 1873,[2] at Portland[1][3]
In service1873
IdentificationUS registry # 2889
FateMay 17, 1878, hit rock and sank on Stikine River
General characteristics
TypeShallow draft inland passenger/freighter
Tonnage292 gross register tons
Length125 ft (38.1 m)[2]
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)[2]
Depth5.0 ft (1.5 m) depth of hold
Installed powerSteam, twin high pressure horizontally mounted, single-cylinder engines, 14-inch bore by 48-inch stroke, 13 hp (9.7 kW) nominal[2]
Propulsionsternwheel[1]

Beaver was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1873 for the Willamette Transportation Company.

Service history

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In 1875 Beaver passed into the ownership of the Willamette Falls Locks and Canal Company. Beaver worked on the Willamette River and then on the Columbia River on the run from Portland, Oregon to Astoria, Oregon.

In June 1876 Beaver was sold to Uriah Nelson and taken north to the Stikine River to serve traffic generated by the Cassiar Gold Rush.

On May 17, 1878 Beaver struck a rock 60 miles (97 km) below Glenora, British Columbia. The boat was wrecked but her machinery was salvaged.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Mills, Randall V., Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country, at 103, 143, 190, University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE (1977 reprint of 1947 ed.) ISBN 0-8032-5874-7
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Affleck, Edward L., A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska, at 8, Alexander Nicholls Press, Vancouver, BC 2000 ISBN 0-920034-08-X
  3. ^ Corning, Howard McKinley, Willamette Landings -- Ghost Towns on the River, at 127, Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR (2d Ed. 1973) ISBN 0-87595-042-6