The ''Carrie Ladd'' was an important early steamboat on the lower Columbia and lower Willamette rivers. The vessel established the basic design of the Columbia River steamboat, which was later used throughout the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon.

Design, Ownership and Construction

''Carrie Ladd'' was one of the first steamboats of the Columbia River type. Unlike most other early steamboats ''Carrie Ladd'' was built from scratch, rather from discarded hulls, works, or machinery of previous vessels. The vessel was not particularly large, but had powerful engines, and was probably the best of the steamboats built in Oregon in the 1850s.Mills, Randall V., ''Sternwheelers up the Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country'', at 39-41, 46, 69, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (1977 reprint of 1947 edition) John T. Thomas built ''Carrie Ladd'' for

Jacob Kamm Jacob Kamm (12 December 1823 – 16 December 1912) was a prominent early transportation businessman in Oregon, USA. Early life Kamm was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. His family migrated to America when he was 8 to ...

, Capt. John C. Ainsworth and other co-owners. The vessel was named the Carrie Ladd in honor of the daughter of an early Portland banker who helped arrange the financing for the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...

which later held a monopoly on steam navigation on the Columbia River. ''Carrie Ladd'' was launched at

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in October, 1858. The vessel was fitted up in what was considered to be first-class style for the day. The design of the ''Carrie Ladd'', together with that of the vessel 's predecessor ''

Jennie Clark ''Jennie Clark'', also seen spelled ''Jenny Clark'', was the first sternwheel-driven steamboat to operate on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia. This vessel was commonly known as the ''Jennie'' when it was in service ...

'' established the elements of the Columbia River steamer. The basic elements of the Columbia River steamer, as established by ''Carrie Ladd'' were described by Professor Mills:

Operations

Captain Ainsworth took ''Carrie Ladd'' on her trial trip February 9, 1859, from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

to the lower Cascades by way of Vancouver, Wash. Terr. From Portland to Vancouver was 16 miles along the rivers. It was 53 miles from Portland to the lower Cascades.River mileage is from * Timmen, Fritz, ''Blow for the Landing'', at 228-229, Caxton Press, Caldwell, ID 1973 ''Carrie Ladd'' covered the 16 miles to Vancouver in 1 hour 25 minutes, and the entire 53 miles to the lower Cascades in 5 hours 44 minutes. The return from the Cascades to Portland took 4 hours 38 minutes. These were rapid speeds for the time, especially compared to ground transport in that time of no roads. Originally it was intended to put ''Carrie Ladd'' on the run on the lower

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

from Portland south to

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. However, shortly after the vessel was completed, the owners of ''Carrie Ladd'' formed the Union Transportation Company, the forerunner of the

("OSN"), which was soon to control a monopoly on the river. Union Transportation was a pool of allied steamboat owners restricting competition and allocating the market among the pool members, and the pool assigned ''Carrie Ladd'' to the Columbia River. ''Carrie Ladd'' received a larger share of the Columbia River traffic than any other steamer in the pool. Having excellent power ''Carrie Ladd'' found no difficulty in going right up to foot of the rapids at the Cascades. When the ''Julia Barclay'' was brought to Columbia River from

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

there was a brief spell of competition on the Portland-Cascades route. This soon ended when OSN bought ''Julia''. In the early 1860s, the two steamers ran alternately on the Cascades, each carrying from two hundred to three hundred passengers each time.

Sinking, salvage, and withdrawal from service

On June 3, 1862, while in command of Capt. James Strang on the Columbia river, the ''Carrie Ladd'' struck a rock near Cape Horn, 18 miles below the Cascades, and sank. The passengers were rescued by the ''Mountain Buck'' and taken to the lower Cascades. ''Carrie Ladd'' was raised following her sinking, and resumed service, but the tremendous amount of work to which the vessel was subjected during its early career had weakened the boat, and in 1864 it was converted into a barge. The engines were reused in the ''Nez Perce Chief''. In later years the Carrie Ladd 's boiler went to the ''Mountain Queen''.

Design, Ownership and Construction

Operations

Sinking, salvage, and withdrawal from service

Notes

Further reading