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Stereograph of Stern-wheel steamer Cascade in the Columbia Gorge in 1867
History
Name	Cascade
Owner	Oregon Steam Navigation Company
Port of registry	Portland, Oregon
Route	Lower Columbia River
Builder	Washington Territory Transportation Company
In service	1865
Out of service	1870
Identification	U.S. registry 5263
Fate	Abandoned
General characteristics
Type	inland multi-purpose
Tonnage	401.25 [gross tonnage
Length	155 ft (47.2 m)
Beam	27.5 ft (8.4 m)
Depth	5.9 ft (2 m) depth of hold
Installed power	twin single-cylinder steam engines
Propulsion	sternwheel
Speed	15 miles per hour

The Cascade (also seen as Cascades) was a sternwheel-driven steamboat build in Oregon which operated on the lower Columbia and the lower Willamette rivers. The vessel ran from 1864 to 1870, mainly under the ownership of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company.

Decision to build

In 1864, which was reported to have been a good year for business in the Washington Territory, three entrepreneurs named Donohue, and Captains William Kohl, and Alexander P. Ankeny, formed the Washington Territory Transportation Company.. The company’s objective was to compete with the Oregon Steam Navigation Company for steamboat business on the Columbia River.. To this end, the company built, at Utsalady, W.T., on Camano Island a sternwheeler named Cascade (or Cascades).

Construction and performance

Cascade was able to reach 15 miles per hour and had a large carrying capacity.. The merchant vessel registry number was 5263. The vessel measured out at a gross tonnage of 401.25. Tonnage in this instance was a measure of size and not weight. The steam engines generated 94 horsepower.

In a non-contemporaneous source (1895) Cascade was reported to have been the first sternwheeler with a wheelhouse, which was an innovation by engineer John Gates. This may have been true for the Columbia river, but in fact the sternwheeler Enterprise, built at Canemah, Oregon in 1863, also had a wheelhouse, but was operated solely on the upper Willamette River.

The dimensions of the steamer were : length 155 ft (47.2 m); beam 27.5 ft (8.4 m); depth of hold 5.9 ft (2 m).. The engines first used had cylinders that were sixteen inches in diameter with a piston stroke of seventy-two inches. The replacement engines in 1865 were eighteen and a half by seventy-two inches.

Transfer to the Columbia River

Upon completion, Cascade was sent to the Columbia River carrying machinery for two other steamers which the owners expected to build on the Columbia.

Cascade arrived at Portland on September 5,1864 and immediately began a refit, making a trial trip on January 23, 1865, with Captain Van Bergen at the wheel. . Before Cascade could engage in serious competition, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company started paying her owners a monthly stipend on condition that they would keep Cascade idle..

Operation by Oregon Steam Navigation Company

In July 1865 OSN purchased Cascade outright, installed larger engines in the vessel, and placed it on the route running from Portland to the Cascades rapics in the Columbia Gorge. Officers on the steamer at the time were John H. Wolf, captain; N. B. Ingalls, purser; James Galloway, chief engineer ; Louis Piper, pilot ; and William Smith, mate.

As of September 22, 1865, Cascade was running daily (except Sundays) on the lower Columbia River from Portland, Oregon to the depot of the Cascades portage railroad at the foot of the Cascade Rapids. Cascade would depart from the depot at 5:00 a.m. bound for the Portland under the command of Captain John Wolfe (or Wolf). The portage railroad connected at the top of the Cascade Rapids with the steamer Oneonta, J. McNulty commanding, which would then carry passengers and freight east upstream to The Dalles. From The Dalles, another portage railroad skirted the Celilo Rapids to connect with steamers that carried traffic further upriver to Wallula, W.T..

Disposition

In 1870 according to non-contemporaneos sources, Cascade was either abandoned or dismantled..

Contemporaneous sources report differently. In November 1870, Cascade was being rebuilt in Portland at the OSN “boneyard.”. . A new hull was built, and staterooms were added along the entire length of the cabin.. The upper berths in the staterooms were single, and the lower ones were double. The rebuilt vessel would differ from other steamboats in that the aft part of the cabin would be open to allow passengers a better view of the passing scenery.. The engines were being cleaned, and were to be replaced when the decking was complete.

, Cascade was reconstructed in 1870 and placed on the run to Astoria.

Notes

1. ^ Wright, Edgar W., ed. (1895). "Ch. VI The Golden Days of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company". Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, OR: Lewis and Dryden Printing Co. p. 123. LCCN 28001147.
2. ^ U.S. Treasury Dept, Statistics Bureau (1875). Annual List of Merchant Vessels (FY end Jun 30, 1874). Vol. 7. Wash. DC: GPO. 49.
3. ^ Oregon Steam Navig. Co. (Nov 10, 1865). Cowne, E.G.; Halloran, J. (eds.). "Fall Arrangement". Daily Mountaineer (advertisement). Vol. 6, no. 78. The Dalles, OR. p.1, col.2.
4. Mills, Randall V. (1947). Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska. ISBN 0-8032-5874-7. LCCN 77007161.
5. ^ "General News ... Portland … From the Herald: The steamer Cascade is being repaired …". Oregon Weekly Statesman (item). Vol. 20, no. 17. Salem, OR. Nov 30, 1870. p.1, col.5.
6. "State News ... Portland". Oregon Weekly Statesman (item). Vol. 20, no. 18. Salem, OR. Dec 7, 1870. p.3, col.4.

References

• Mills, Randall V. (1947). Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska. ISBN 0-8032-5874-7. LCCN 77007161.
• Wright, E.W., ed. (1895). Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, OR: Lewis and Dryden Printing Co. LCCN 28001147.

• 1864 ships
• Ships built in Washington (state)
• Oregon Steam Navigation Company
• Steamboats of the Columbia River
• Sternwheelers of Washington (state)