Senator (sternwheeler)

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Senator was a stern-wheeled steamboat that ran on the Willamette River in Oregon from 1863 to 1875. It was built in Milwaukie in 1863 by John T. Thomas for steamboat captain Joseph Kellogg. The boat’s trial trip was on January 22, 1864. The hull measured about 123 feet long and 21 feet wide, with a 5-foot-deep hold and a 17-foot-diameter stern wheel. Its engines were two single-cylinder steam engines (bore 12.25 inches, stroke 48 inches) powered by machinery taken from the earlier steamer Surprise.

Kellogg soon sold Senator to the People’s Transportation Company, though he remained in command until 1867. After that, captains included George A. Pease, E. W. Baughman, and Charles H. Kellogg, and by 1871 it was operated by the Willamette Transportation Company. Senator served on Portland-to-Oregon City routes with connections to towns such as Salem and Albany, and at times was involved in plans to bypass the Willamette Falls barrier.

In November 1871, while carrying a heavy cargo, Senator became unmanageable in the Clackamas Rapids and sank briefly; the cargo was salvaged and the steamer could be repaired. On May 6, 1875, a boiler explosion occurred as Senator was docking at the Portland waterfront. The cabin was destroyed, and several people were killed, including Captain Daniel McGill and purser Joseph Losey; others were injured. The steamer Vancouver assisted with rescues. The explosion was blamed on a pump failure that caused cold water to mix with hot boiler surfaces, producing a deadly overpressure. The boiler, built in 1857 and inspected in 1874, had been considered strong. Engineer John V. Smith was charged with manslaughter but was acquitted; the disaster weighed on him for years.