James Clinton (sternwheeler)

April 23,1861 Sternwheel. Sparks from a midnight fire in the warehouse and flour mills on the Linn side at Oregon City set this little gal on fire; she burned to the water's edge. She was the first steamboat in Oregon to be lost by such a cause. Her engines went into the Union. Built in 1856 at Canemah, she was the first steamer to ascend the Willamette as far as Eugene. She arrived amid much fanfare on March 12,1857, having dodged snags for three days above Corvallis. On her return voyage, she was loaded with wheat, the sale of which nearly paid for her construction. John Gibson Cochran, Leo White and James Miller captained her at various times. Don Marshall, Ship disasters, Columbia River, tributaries Idaho, Montana, Oregon Shipwrecks.1984, p.203-208

Citation: Tacoma Public Library