Sarah Dixon (sternwheeler)

Sarah Dixon (on right) and G.W. Shaver (on left), at Washington Street dock, Portland, Oregon, 1897.
History
Name:	Sarah Dixon
Owner:	People’s Freighting Co.1892-1895; Shaver Transportation Co.(1895-1934)
Operator:	Open River Transportation Co. (1908 charter)
Route:	Columbia and lower Willamette rivers.
Builder:	Johnson & Olsen (1892 hull), Charles Bureau (1892 cabins); Portland Shipbuilding Co. (1906 reconstruction)
Cost:	$35,000 or $45,000
Launched:	February 3, 1892
Maiden voyage:	April 3, 1892
In service:	1892
Out of service:	1934
Identification:	US registry #116470 (1894-1906) #203009 (1906-1934)
Fate:	Converted to floating machine shop in 1934, later abandoned circa 1950.
General characteristics
Type:	inland multiple use
Tonnage:	369 gt; 278 rt (1892-1906) 368 gt; 334 rt (1906-1934)
Length:	145 ft (44 m)(1892-1906) 161 ft (49 m)(1906-1934)
Beam:	26 ft (8 m)(1892-1906) 29.5 ft (9 m)(1906-1934)
Draft:	26 ft (8 m)(1892-1906)
Depth:	6.5 ft (2 m)(1892-1906) 7.2 ft (2 m)(1906-1934)
Installed power:	twin horizontally mounted high-pressure single-cylinder steam engines. 400 horsepower (1906)
Propulsion:	sternwheel
Speed:	17 to 18 miles per hour (estimated maximum)
Capacity:	200 passengers officially, carried as many as 300 on occasion.
Crew:	8 to 12 or more

Sarah Dixon was a wooden sternwheel-driven steamboat operated by the Shaver Transportation Company on the Columbia and lower Willamette rivers from 1892 to 1926. Originally Sarah Dixon was built as a mixed use passenger and freight vessel, and was considered a prestige vessel for the time.

Later, in 1906, Sarah Dixon was converted to become primarily a towing vessel. Sarah Dixon sustained a serious explosion in 1912, which killed the captain and the first mate. The steamboat was reconstructed, and served until 1926 when it was destroyed by fire while hauled out on a shipway for an additional reconstruction.

After the 1926 reconstruction, Sarah Dixon remained in service, primarily as a towing and freighting vessel, until 1934, when its machinery was removed and the vessel was converted to a floating machine shop.

The unpowered Sarah Dixon functioned in this capacity until 1949, when its wooden hull was becoming too weak to be relied upon. Sometime in 1950 or later, it was taken from Portland up the Columbia River to Paterson, Washington, where it eventually sank on its own.

Sarah Dixon was built in 1892 at Portland, Oregon for the People’s Freighting Company, which in 1895 was incorporated as the Shaver Transportation Company. G.W. Evans (b.1856) supervised construction.

As built, the dimensions of the vessel were 145 feet (44 m) long, 26-foot (7.9 m) beam, 6.5-foot (2.0 m) depth of hold, 369 gross and 278 registered tons. The hull was built by Johnson & Olsen at Smith’s mill.

The cabins were built by Capt. Charles Bureau (1840-1936) The texas and the pilot house were reported to resemble those of the fast steamer Telephone.

The vessel cost about $35,000 to construct. Another report gives the cost to complete the steamer as $45,000.

The steamboat was named after Sarah Dixon Shaver (1832-1910) wife of George Washington Shaver (1832-1900), the founder of a business which eventually became Shaver Transportation Company.