''Onward'' was an early steamboat on the

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 ...

built at Canemah, Oregon in 1858. This vessel should not be confused other steamboats named ''Onward'', including in particular the ''Onward'' of 1867, a similar but somewhat smaller vessel built at Tualatin Landing, which operated on the

Tualatin River The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon in the United States. The river is about long, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland at the northwest corner of the W ...

under Capt.

Joseph Kellogg Joseph Kellogg was a well-known steamboat captain and businessman of Portland, Oregon. Early life Joseph Kellogg was born in Canada on June 12, 1812. His father Orrin Kellogg (September 4, 1790 – February 14, 1872) was born in St. Albans, Ver ...

.Timmen, Fritz, ''Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West'', at 89-90, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973

Design, construction and ownership

''Onward'' was the successor of the ''Enterprise'' in Capt. Archibald Jamieson's line of steamers. She was built at Canemah with the proceeds from the sale of the ''Enterprise'' to Capt. Tom Wright, and was intended to compete with the ''Surprise'', which had preceded her a few months. Jamieson ran her until 1860, when he sold her to Jacob Kamm, Josiah Myrick, James Strang, and George A. Pease. With Pease in command, ''Onward'' proved a money-maker from the start, paying $14,000 in dividends the first year. Kamm and Myrick were both shareholders in the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company Incorporation (business), incorporated in 1860 in Washington (U.S. state), Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Was ...

and it was at this time that the steamer came under the control of that powerful combination. Pease ran her until about 1863, when the boat was transferred to the

People's Transportation Company The People's Transportation Company operated steamboats on the Willamette River and its tributaries, the Yamhill and Tualatin rivers, in the State of Oregon from 1862 to 1871. For a brief time this company operated steamers on the Columbia Riv ...

and Capt. George Jerome took command. She was a serviceable boat and was considered to be very well powered, with large engines and a new style locomotive boiler.Wright, E.W., ed., ''Lewis & Dryden Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at 75-76 and 91, Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., Portland, OR 1895
/ref>

Rescue mission during 1861 floods

During the great flood of the Willamette River in November and December 1861, which among other things destroyed

Champoeg Champoeg ( , historically Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the W ...

and Linn City, the steamer was able to run through the streets of Salem to rescue people. For ''Onward'' this started out as a routine upriver journey from Canemah. The river was cluttered with debris from riverside houses and landings that had been washed downstream by the flood. By the time ''Onward'' reached Salem, her ordinary commercial operation turned into one of rescuing people from the flooded city.Corning, Howard McKinley, ''Willamette Landings -- Ghost Towns on the River'', at 45, 122, and 174-75, Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR (2d Ed. 1973)

Transfer to People's Transportation Company

''Onward'' was operated by the

, or "O.S.N.", which was on its way to achieving a monopoly on river transport on both the Columbia and Willamette rivers. In the 1860s there were in Oregon no railroads of any length and roads of any kind were crude and difficult. All modern transport proceeded on the rivers, and control over the rivers would have given O.S.N. effective commercial dominion over the entire Pacific Northwest region of the United States. O.S.N beat back or bought out all challengers until the

was organized and put up such hot competition for O.S.N. that a deal was reached whereby People's would stay off the Columbia river, O.S.N. would stay off the Willamette, People's would get a cash subsidy from O.S.N., and the two companies would swap boats, O.S.N. to receive People's boats on the Columbia, and People's to gain O.S.N.'s boats on the Willamette, which included ''Onward''.

Notes

{{Oregon Steam Navigation Company Steamboats of Oregon Steamboats of the Willamette River Oregon Steam Navigation Company People's Transportation Company Upper Willamette Transportation Line