Wilson G. Hunt (sidewheeler)

"Wilson G. Hunt" was a a steamboat that ran in the early days of steam navigation on Puget Sound and Sacramento, Fraser, and Columbia Rivers. She was generally known as the "Hunt" during her years of operation. She had a long career on the west coast of the United States and Canada, and played an important transportation role in the California Gold Rush.

Design and Construction

The steamer "Wilson G. Hunt" was built in New York in 1849 for the excursion trade to Coney Island. She had an old style "steeple engine" with an enormous single cylinder of 36" bore by 108" inch stroke. She was named after a wealthy New York businessman. The "Hunt" had a low-pressure boiler,MacMullen, Jerry, "Paddlewheel Days in California", at 20, 50, 75, Stanford Press, Palo Alto, CA 1944] , which at the time was advertised as being safer then high-pressure boats.The most unusual feature of the "Wilson G. Hunt" was the unusual steeple housing for her engine, which looked like an enormous slice of cheese:

The "Hunt"'s steeple engine was the only recorded use of this type on the West Coast. With this type of engine, as well as the more common walking beam type, there were special mechanical dangers. If the engine, powered by a single piston, should ever hang at dead center, the only way to move the piston to discharge the steam was to lever the paddle wheel forward with a long bar. This was extremely dangerous, as should the piston start pumping again, the bar could be flung out of the control of the men pushing it, killing them or breaking bones.

California Gold Rush steamer

For a while the "Hunt" ran on the New York to Haverstam route.Newell, Gordon R., "Ships of the Inland Sea -- The Story of the Puget Sound Steamboats", at 20-21, Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960)] Shortly after her completion word of the California Gold Rush reached New York and the "Hunt"was sent round the Horn to San Francisco. The vessel nearly sank on the way."Hunt" finally arrived in San Francisco early in 1850Timmen, Fritz, "Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West", at 158-59, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973 ISBN 0-87004-221-1] The journey took 322 days. On arrival in San Francisco "Hunt" was immediately placed in the Sacramento River trade, and proceeded to make a fortune for her owners, the California Steam Navigation Company, clearing in a single year over $1,000,000. Her first owners were Richard Chenery and R.M. Jessup. Competition was fierce on the California rivers, and while "racing" as such was forbidden, steamboat captains were expected to "do their best" which in practice amounted to the same thing."The Steamboat New World, Edward Minturn, William Menzie and William H. Webb, Claimants and Appellants, vs. Frederick G. King", 57 U.S. 469 (1854)] A boiler explosion occurred on board the sidewheeler "New World" just above Benicia, California during a race with the "Wilson G. Hunt". The resultant lawsult generated a clear picture what such a contest was like during the gold rush times in California:Later "Hunt"'s owners combined with Charles Minturn, Capt. David Van Pelt, and others to form the California Steam Navigation Company, with the objective of forming a monopoly on river transport on the Sacramento river system.

Fraser River Gold Rush

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached California, "Hunt"'s owners sent her north to take advantage of the situation. "Hunt" arrived in Victoria in the middle of August, 1858.Carey, Roland, "The Sound of Steamers", at 42-43, 49, Alderbrook Publishing, Seattle, WA 1965] Because there was a shortage of British vessels, the colonial government at Victoria had decided to license American steamers to move the resultant gold rush traffic up the river.Hacking, Norman R., and Lamb, W. Kaye, "The Princess Story -- A Century and a Half of West Coast Shipping", at 55, 75, 77, 83-84, 101-103, and 338, Mitchell Press, Vancouver BC 1974 ] . and ran for a short time on the New Westminster route. Another vessel running on the same route was the "Sea Bird", which on September 7, 1858, caught fire en route and was destroyed, with the loss of two lives.Downs, Art, "Paddlewheels on the Frontier -- The Story of British Columbia and Yukon Sternwheel Steamers". at 27-29, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1972] Fortunately the "Hunt" was not far behind her and was able to take off her surviving passengers and crew.

Mails and early rate war on Puget Sound

In October 1858, "Wilson G. Hunt" was withdrawn from the Fraser River service and the following year plied on Puget Sound under Capt. A.M. Burns, with Daniel B. Foster as purser. "Hunt" had been chartered by the Olympia steamboat agent John H. Scranton, who held the mail contract for Puget Sound. Previously the mails had been carried by the steamer "Constitution" but she had been taken off the route to be repaired preparatory to being transferred to San Francisco. The shallow-draft inland steamer "Hunt" was regarded as being more suitable for the route than the deeper-draft ocean-going "Constitution". In July 1859, the sternwheeler "Julia Barclay" was brought around to Puget Sound from the Columbia River, arriving on July 9 in Olympia, Washington. John H. Scranton had arranged to have her carry the mail contract which he continued to hold. For about a month Captain Burns tried to complete against the "Julia" on the Olympia to Victoria run, but "Julia"'s mail contract gave her an advantage and when there wasn't enough business to sustain both boats, the "Hunt" was tied up in Victoria for about about a year.

Columbia River service

Gold had been discovered in Idaho in the early 1860s, which led to the "Hunt" being bought in 1862 by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and taken to the Columbia. There the "Hunt" operated on the route from Portland, Oregon to the lower Cascades in command of Capt. John Wolf. On the Columbia, "Hunt" was part of a chain of steamers that transported traffic between the portages around the rapids at the Cascades of the Columbia and the second longer set of rapids to the east of The Dalles. Each set of rapids enforced a requirement to portage traffic around the obstacle and control of the portages and ready transport across them was the key to control of the river traffic.Asay, Jeff, "Union Pacific Northwest -- The Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company", at pages 7 to 21, Pacific Fast Mail, Edmond, WA 1991 ISBN 0-915713-21-7] "Hunt"'s role in this system was to carry traffic up to the first portage at the Lower Cascades. She continued running on the Columbia until 1869, and during that time enjoyed a flourishing business, repeatedly carrying from 50 to 300 passengers, 100 head of stock and plenty of freight on a single trip. Her operating costs were high, but the demand for transport on the Columbia during the 1860s was so great that she was a very profitable boat. In 1869 the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, having achieved a monopoly on the Columbia River, decided to extend their steamboating ventures to Puget Sound.

Renewed rate war on Puget Sound

The monopoly sent the old steamer around to run in opposition to Duncan B Finch and the Wright family, who were operating the "Eliza Anderson", reputedly one the slowest but most profitable vessels ever to traverse the Sound. "Hunt" arrived in February [Carey, Roland, "The Steamboat Landing on Elliot Bay", Alderbrook Publishing, Seattle, WA 1962] 1869 in command of Capt. W. I. Waitt, with Josiah Myrick, purser, Frank Dodge, freight clerk, Thomas Smith, chief engineer ; James Gallegher, assistant, J. Smith, mate, and J. J. Holland, carpenter. The "Hunt" had been rebuilt in Portland in I865 and was in good condition, but the company could not do much with her, and to save themselves from further loss sold her to Finch in October, 1869. Finch and the Wrights had, in the meantime, built the steamer "Olympia", afterward called the "Princess Louise", and when the competition ended, the "Hunt" was sent to San Francisco where she remained for ten years.

Return to Canada

Fraser River service

In 1878, the Hudson's Bay Company was running the "Enterprise" on the Fraser River run from Victoria. The Company's rival on this route was Captain John Irving, who held a monopoly on steamboat traffic on the upper Fraser routes but was hindered by the Company's activity on the lower river. In early 1878, Captain Irving travelled to San Francisco, where he found the "Hunt" and bought her for a cheap price. In February 1878 she was brought up by Captain Stoddard, cleaned up, repainted, and placed on the New Westminster route against "Enterprise". New Westminster's newspaper, the "Mainland Guardian" was impressed by the appearance of the then 30 year old steamer:In July 1878 the Canadian government announced its decision that the transcontinental railroad would run down the Fraser River valley. There were over 5,000 tons of rails that had been piled up at Esquimalt for the construction of the Canadian Pacific's extension on Vancouver Island. On July 23, 1878, "Wilson G. Hunt" transported the first shipment of these rails to New Westminster, where they were loaded on "Royal City" and taken up to Yale. During 1878 the "Hunt" , under captains Irving, Insley, and Rudlin, continued to do well against the "Enterprise". In October 1878 Hudson's Bay Company bought "Hunt"'s old rival, "Olympia", renamed her "Princess Louise" and after a put her on the New Westminster run against the "Hunt" "Princess Louise" was a far superior boat, and by the fall of 1879 the Company forced Captain Irving to come to terms, under which he and the Company operated "Princess Louise", " Wilson G. Hunt" and "Enterprise" jointly under Irving's management as the Royal Mail Line. Turner, Robert D., "Pacific Princesses -- An Illustrated History of Canadian Pacific Railway's Princess Fleet on the Northwest Coast", at pages 4 to 11, Sono Nis Press, Victoria, BC 1976 ISBN 0-919462-04-9]

Vancouver Island service

"Hunt" was extensively repaired in 1879, and in 1881 was sold to Joseph Spratt, who was running the steamboats "Maude" and "Caribou and Fly" on the east coast of Vancouver Island as the East Coast Mail Line. Captain Spratt replaced "Maude" with "Wilson G. Hunt" on the route from Victoria to Comox and Nanaimo by way of the Gulf Islands and Chemainus. By the end of 1883, Captain Spratt was forced to sell his East Coast Mail Company to Captain Irving's Canadian Pacific Navigation Company, in part because of serious mechanical problems with "Wilson G. Hunt". While the public announcement by Captain Spratt, issued in the Victoria "Colonist" on December 8, 1883, was that the "Wilson G. Hunt" was only being withdrawn for repairs, in fact she had broken a shaft and was probably beyond repair. There was a story that Captain Spratt had two men bailing her out to keep her from sinking at the dock in Victoria while he negotiated the sale to Captain Irving This may have been true, but Spratt surely did not intend thereby to attempt to fool the astute Irving, who as Spratt well knew, was an excellent steamboat captain and had owned and commanded the "Hunt" before him. Irving replaced "Hunt" on the east coast route with "Yosemite", another former California Gold Rush sidewheeler.

crapped and burned for metal

in 1884, "Hunt" was laid up in Victoria's inner harbor. She stayed on the beach in front of Cook's shipyard until 1890, when she was broken up where she lay by the San Francisco junk dealers Cohn & Co., and burned for her metal. [Timmen, at 159, clearly states that the "Wilson G. Hunt" proceeded to San Francisco in 1890 under her own power and was there broken up by Cohn & Co. This is contrary to Hacking, at 103, who states just as clearly that she was broken up and burned where she lay on the beach in Victoria.]

Notes

Further reading

* Faber, Jim, "Steamer's Wake -- Voyaging down the old marine highways of Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columbia River", Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 ISBN 0-9615811-0-7
* Gibbs, Jim, and Williamson, Joe, "Maritime Memories of Puget Sound", Schiffer Publishing, West Chester PA 1987 ISBN 0-88740-044-2
* Newell, Gordon R., and Williamson, Joe, "Pacific Steamboats" Bonanza Press, New York, NY 1958