Lot Whitcomb (sidewheeler)

Lot Whitcomb
History
Name:	Lot Whitcomb
Route:	Columbia River, Willamette River, San Francisco Bay, Sacramento River
Launched:	December 25, 1850
In service:	1851
Out of service:	1868
General characteristics
Type:	inland steamship
Tonnage:	600
Length:	160 ft (49 m)
Beam:	24 ft (7 m)
Draught:	3 ft (0.91 m)
Depth:	5.8 ft (2 m) depth of hold
Decks:	three (boiler (or cargo), passenger, hurricane)
Installed power:	single-cylinder walking beam steam engine, 17" bore, 84" stroke, 140 horsepower.
Propulsion:	sidewheels
Speed:	about 12 miles an hour

Launched in 1850, Lot Whitcomb, later known as Annie Abernathy, was the first steam-powered craft built on the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. She was one of the first steam-driven vessels to run on the inland waters of Oregon, and contributed to the rapid economic development of the region. She also served for many years on the Sacramento River.

Lot Whitcomb was built at Milwaukie, Oregon, on the Willamette River. Her initial owners were S.S. White, Berryman Jennings, and Lot Whitcomb, who conceived the steamer as a way to establish Milwaukie, then engaged in rivalry with Portland and other towns along the river, as the premier city in the region. As construction continued, the original owners sold shares in the vessel to various people in the area, and some of the stock was paid for in livestock or produce, which was in turn consumed by the workmen building the vessel, whose wages were mostly in arrears. Lot Whitcomb himself had mortgaged just about everything he had to raise the funds to build the ship.

Lot Whitcomb was built in the tradition of Hudson River steamboats, with some influence from the Mississippi style. (The distinctive Columbia River type of boat would not emerge for about another 8 years. She had twin boilers set well forward, with twin stacks. Her pilot house was set aft of the stacks. Her sidewheels were set well aft, with large wheel housings extending well above the hurricane deck. Unlike many of the Mississippi boats, Lot Whitcomb was plain without much ornament, and painted completely white, with her name in large letters on the paddlewheel housings. She had a ladies cabin and dining hall, two things which her rival Columbia lacked. The vessel's pilot house was set above the Texas, and was nearly in the middle of the vessel.

The vessel was 160 ft (49 m) long, 24 ft (7 m) on the beam, with 5.7 ft (2 m) depth of hold. Her paddlewheels were 18 ft (5 m) in diameter. She had a single cylinder walking-beam steam engine, with a 17" bore and an 84" stroke. The engine generated 140 horsepower, which could drive the vessel at a rate of about 12 miles per hour. The machinery was brought out to the west coast from New Orleans and was originally intended to power a steamboat on the Sacramento River.

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Wikipedia