''Manzanillo'' was a stern-wheel driven steamboat built at

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 ...

in 1881. ''Manzanillo'' was first run on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

route from Portland to

Clatskanie, Oregon Clatskanie is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the Tlatskanai Native American tribe, and the Clatskanie River which flows through the town and empties into the Columbia River about four miles to the north. The p ...

and way points along the river. The initial owner of the boat was the People's Freighting Company, but the Shaver family soon acquired control of the vessel, which became the first vessel of what is now

Shaver Transportation Company The Shaver Transportation Company is an inland water freight transportation company based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States. The company was founded in 1880 and played a major role in the development of freight transport in the Po ...

. ''Manzanillo'' also served on the upper

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 ...

, the lower Willamette (between Portland and

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

. The boat was also reported to have been employed on the

Lake River Lake River is a tributary, about long, of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. River miles are marked and numbered on the relevant map quadrangles: Vancouver, Ridgefield, and St. Helens. It flows north from Vancouver Lake in Vancou ...

. The Shavers sold ''Manzanillo'' in 1892. The new owners ran ''Manzanillo'' for a short time, then dismantled it and reused the engines on a new steamer they built.

Construction

''Manzanillo'' was built in 1881 at

by Capt. Charles Bureau (1840-1936). ''Manzanillo'' was described as "one of the fastest and neatest of the small steamers on the Columbia." ''Manzanillo'' was long, beam, and depth of hold. The overall size of the vessel was 217.23 gross tons and 129.87 registered tons. The official merchant vessel registry number was 91373. The twin single cylinder engines generated nominal 9.6

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. Each cylinder had a bore of 12 inches and a stroke of 60 inches.

Career

Clatskanie service

Charles Bureau operated ''Manzanillo'' on the route from Portland to

, with Henry "Poppy" Pape (1852-1907) as chief engineer. In July 1885, ''Manzanillo'' was owned by the People’s Freighting Company, of which Charles Bureau was president and A.S. Foster was secretary and treasurer. Owners of the Pacific Freighting Company were James W. Shaver (1859-1922),

Henry W. Corbett Henry Winslow Corbett (February 18, 1827March 31, 1903) was an American businessman, politician, civic benefactor, and philanthropist in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spent his early life in the East and New York (state), ...

, Captain Foster, and Captain Bureau. Morisson dock and bridge circa 1890

In July 1885 ''Manzanillo'' departed from the Morrison Street wharf in Portland every other morning at 6:00 a.m. except Sunday, running for Skamokawa, W.T. on Mondays and Fridays, and on Wednesdays for

and way landings, returning to Portland on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Bureau sold ''Manzanillo'' to George McClellan Shaver and Jim Shaver. Jim Shaver worked on ''Manzanillo'' as purser and then as mate, bought one-third of the steamers, and then brought his father George W. Shaver (1832-1900) and brother George M. Shaver (1865-1950) in to buy the entire boat. ''Manzanillo'' became the first vessel in what was to become the Shaver fleet.

Upper Willamette service

In January 1891 ''Manzanillo'' was operating on the Upper Willamette River, making two or three trips a week. In March 1891, ''Manzanillo'' became disabled, apparently with damage to its stern-wheel and machinery. By March 12, 1891, ''Manzanillo'' had been prepared sufficiently to bring it downriver for repair. ''Manzanillo'' was back in operation on the Willamette again by March 22, 1891.

Return to Clatskanie and Lewis River service

On March 27, 1891, it was reported that ''Manzanillo'' had been sold and would be taken off the upper Willamette River and sent back to the Portland and Lewis River route. No purchaser was specified in the report, however in August 1891 the Shaver brothers began advertising service on the ''Manzanillo'', running again from Portland to Clatskanie, Skamokawa, Cathlamet and Westport.

Oregon City route

In the later part of 1891, ''Manzanillo'' was running on the

on the Portland-

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

route, until it was relieved by the Altona on January 1, 1892.

Return to upper Willamette

In October 1892, ''Manzanillo'' was back on the upper Willamette river, carrying grain, flour, hops and merchandise. In 1892, the Shavers sold ''Manzanillo'' to captains Orrin S. Waud (b.1854) and F.B. Jones (b.1838), who operated the boat for a short time. In 1893

Disposition

Waud and Jones arranged to have the machinery and cabin structure transferred to a new steamer they were building, the ''Eugene''. in 1906, these engines later came to be installed in the towboat ''Pronto'', built that year. The Shavers replaced ''Manzanillo'', which had become too small to carry the trade on the Clatskanie route, with a new steamer, ''Geo. W. Shaver''.

Notes

References

Printed sources

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On line collections

* * {{Willamette River Steamboats 1881 ships Steamboats of Oregon Steamboats of the Columbia River Steamboats of the Willamette River Ships built in Portland, Oregon Shaver Transportation Company Transportation in Columbia County, Oregon