Hassalo (sternwheeler 1880)
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Hassalo |
| Owner: |
 Oregon Railway and Navigation Company
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| Route: | Columbia River, Puget Sound |
| Out of service: | 1898 |
| Fate: | Dismantled |
| Notes: | Ran the Cascades of the Columbia on May 26, 1888 at speeds approaching 60 mi (97 km) an hour. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | inland steamboat passenger/freighter (later towboat) |
| Tonnage: | 462 |
| Length: | 160 ft (49 m) |
| Beam: | 30 ft (9 m) |
| Decks: | three (freight, passenger, hurricane) |
| Installed power: | twin steam engines, 17" diameter, 60"stroke |
| Propulsion: | sternwheel |
The steamboat Hassalo operated from 1880 to 1898 on the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Hassalo became famous for running the Cascades of the Columbia on May 26, 1888 at a speed approaching 60 miles (97 km) an hour. This vessel should not be confused with other steamboats with the same or a similar name, including Hassalo (1899) and Hassaloe (1857).
Hassalo was built at The Dalles, Oregon in 1880. She was the first steamboat built for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. which had recently bought out the powerful monopoly Oregon Steam Navigation Co. Hassalo was 160 ft (49 m) long, 30 ft (9 m), 6 ft (2 m) depth of hold, and rated at 462 tons. Hassalo was built entirely of wood, driven by a sternwheel which in turn drew its power from twin single-cylinder steam engines, each of 17" bore and 60" stroke.
Hassalo ran on the “Middle” Columbia river, that is, the reach between the Cascades and the Dalles, Oregon. The Columbia river was only freely navigable up to the Cascades of the Columbia, a stretch of rapids in the Columbia Gorge that has since been submerged by water pooling behind Bonneville Dam. Above the Cascades there was a stretch of navigable river going east about 40 miles (64 km) to The Dalles. This reach was called the “Middle River.” After that, navigation was further impeded by a longer series of rapids, the most important of which was Celilo Falls.
Before rail lines were built, travellers bound from Portland, Oregon for Idaho or the Inland Empire generally went by way of the Columbia River. This route was like a series of giant stairsteps. First, traffic proceeded by steamboat up to the Cascades, where rapids blocked the river to all upstream traffic and made downstream traffic extremely hazardous. This then required transfer to a portage railroad (first hauled by mules, later by steam engines), which proceeded to the top of the Cascades. Travellers then boarded another steamboat to proceed up river to the Dalles, where the process would be repeated for a 13-mile (21 km) portage around Celilo Falls and the other rapids upriver from the Dalles, which like the Cascades were unnavigable both upstream and downstream. This, the middle river, was the route Hassalo ran on from 1880 to 1888. Hassalo’s first captain on the middle river was Fred Wilson, followed by H.F. Coe, then Captain John McNulty for the last five years on the Columbia.
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Wikipedia