SS ''Northerner'' was the first
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
lost in operations by the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...
.
History
''Northerner'' was built in 1847 by
William H. Brown, of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, as a companion to the SS ''Southerner'' for the Spofford & Tileston Company's line of steamers serving
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
and the East Coast of the United States.
In 1850, ''Northerner'' was sold to a Mr. Howard and sent to the Pacific under Captain Waterman. Subsequently, purchased by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company she was initially placed in service between
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
.
![Northerner Sailing Notice DailyAlta January 3 1860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Northerner_Sailing_Notice_DailyAlta_January_3_1860.jpg)
In January, 1851, ''Northerner'' arrived from San Francisco with $2,600,000 in gold dust and treasure on board, and carrying 500 passengers.
In August, 1851 ''Northerner'' broke the shaft of her starboard wheel soon after leaving Panama. She completed the voyage to San Francisco using only one paddle wheel, in 22 days, arriving September 8, 1851, with 20 tons of freight and 350 passengers, including mutineers from the passenger ship ''Commodore Stockton''
who had to be clapped in irons for disorderly conduct by the captain.
After 1853, the ''Northerner'' was placed on a more northerly route, carrying mails and passengers between San Francisco and Oregon as far as 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 ...
and the gold fields at
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
,
arriving for the first time on September 3, 1858.
On October 10, 1858, southbound from Olympia to San Francisco, ''Northerner'' was hit broadside by the Steam Tug ''Resolute'' in Dana's Straits. Since thousands of dollars of damage was done to both vessels,
[*] and it was a clear night in a mile-wide passage, the ship owners filed cross-suits in the Washington Territorial Courts.
The owners of the ''Resolute'' were unsatisfied with the Washington's court decision, and filed their case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
[
]
''Northerner'' sailed for the last time from San Francisco with 108 persons on board at the time of the wreck, 58 passengers and 53 crew.
The ship hit a submerged rock and wrecked January 6, 1860 on
Centerville Beach, California,
a few miles south of the entrance to
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between Sa ...
. Thirty-eight people died: 17 were passengers and 21 crew.
One of those who died was Francis Blomfield, son of the late Bishop of London,
Charles James Blomfield
Charles James Blomfield (29 May 1786 – 5 August 1857) was a British divine and classicist, and a Church of England bishop for 32 years.
Early life and education
Charles James Blomfield was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the eldest son (and ...
. Seventy others made their way through crashing surf to shore
and were aided by local people including
Seth Kinman
Seth Kinman (September 29, 1815 – February 24, 1888) was an early settler of Humboldt County, California, a hunter based in Fort Humboldt, a famous chair maker, and a nationally recognized entertainer. He stood over tall and was known for h ...
and
Arnold Berding.
[*]
The
Centerville Beach Cross marks the resting place of some of the victims whose bodies were recovered.
In December 1863, the U.S. Supreme Court (68 U.S. 682), ruled ''Northerner'' was at fault for steering across the path of the ''Resolute''.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northerner
Merchant ships of the United States
Steamships of the United States
Paddle steamers of the United States
Ships built in New York City
Shipwrecks of the California coast
Maritime incidents in January 1860
History of Humboldt County, California
1847 ships