''Surprise'' was a steamboat which operated 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 ...

from 1857 to 1864.

Construction

''Surprise'' was built in 1857 at

Canemah, Oregon Canemah was an early settlement in the U.S. state of Oregon located near the Willamette River. Canemah was annexed to Oregon City in 1928. Location The district of Canemah is located on the east side of the Willamette River. At that time, Oregon ...

by Cochrane, Cassidy & Gibson, who had built the ''James Clinton'' the year before. ''Surprise'', reportedly a well-built boat, was , feet long, probably exclusive of the extension of the main deck over the stern, called the fantail, on which the stern-wheel was mounted. The beam was feet and the depth of hold was feet. The steamer’s registered size was 120 tons, a measure of size, not weight.

Engineering

''Surprise'' was a sternwheeler, and the wheel was turned by twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, each with bore of and stroke of .

Operations

''Surprise'' was operated on the upper

by Capt. Theodore T. Wygant. Other partners in the boat were Absalom F. Hedges,

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 ...

merchant, William. C. Dement & Co., Charles C. Felton, J. Harding, and Robert Patton. In April 1858, ''Surprise'' transported the native American leader Tecumtum, also known as Old John, to Fort Vancouver where he was to be held in custody. As of November 1, 1859, ''Surprise'' was running under the control of the Upper Willamette Transportation Line. Other boats controlled by the line were ''Onward'', ''Elk'', and ''Relief''. In December 1859, the line advertised that one of its four boats would leave Canemeh for

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

twice a week, and for Eugene City once a week, with freight and passage “at the usual rates.” Theodore Wygant (b.1831) was the Oregon City agent for the line.

Disposition

''Surprise'' operated on the upper Willamette until 1864 when it was dismantled and the engines installed in a new steamer, ''Senator''.

Notes

References

Printed sources

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Newspaper collections

* {{Willamette River Steamboats People's Transportation Company Steamboats of the Willamette River Ships built in Canemah, Oregon