The Oregon Steam Navigation Company, Growth of British Columbia Marine Industries IOI k place in i86i, when she entered the water in i862. She was built at Des Chutes, and ran faster and made more money fships, Cyortez, than any steamer that has followed her on that portion of the Columbia. While this assertion may not be of any one of much of a compliment to the steamer's speed, it is saying a great deal for her money-making ability. Her dimensions were: length, 136 feet; beam, 26 feet; depth, 5 feet 9 inches. The engines, I7 x 72 inches, were new from the shops. John Gates"' assisted in the construction and was her first engineer. Leonard White was given command at the start, and was succeeded by Charles Felton, E. W. Baughman, J. H. D. Gray, E. F. Coe," and Thomas and John Stump. The Tenino was operated for all she was worth during the first few years of her existence, and in i867 was so badly strained that she had to be rebuilt. She served acceptably for about ten years after- ward, but finally struck a rock while coming down the river, and, as her hull was old and somewhat decayed, it was decided to remove her engines and place them in another boat, the New Tenino. The steamer Okanogan was also built at the mouth of the Des Chutes, and during the first few years of her existence was commanded by Capt. Charles Felton, with John Gates, engineer. She ran on the upper river in command of Felton, Z -Baughman, Coe, and Fred Wilson until i866, when Captain Stump brought her over Tumwater Falls. She was the first steamer that ever made this trip, and the time from Celilo to the mess-house was twenty-seven minutes. She did but little work on the middle river, and in February, i867, Captain Stump continued the downward journey and piloted her over the Cascades. In shooting the rapids she took a sudden sheer, REMAN and, before the veteran could ing officers were straighten her up, struck a large esident; G. W. JOliN GATES rock almost in their midst. The S. G. Reed and collision tore a big hole in her hull, but the steamer came on safely, leaving he Cascade route as a memento of the accident her name, which has since designated the rock rin Buck making that so nearly caused her destruction. After reaching her destination the le an exploring Okanogan was operated on the Astoria route in command of Capt. James Strang, lve miles of the with William L. Button, engineer, and she followed this trade for several years. down a distance Among the various masters during her long career were Captains Snow, Reed, ate the growing Hughes, Condon, Babbidge and Smith. The opportunities for profit were not so tamer Okanogan, great on the lower river, and the steamer never quite equaled the record made nation, gavethem above, which at one time reached a total of $.5,000 for three consecutive trips. at bulk of freight The Okanogan was a slow-going craft, i i8 feet long, 24 feet beam, and 5 feet :he big company 6 inches hold. Her power was from a pair of 14 x 6o inch engines, which had previously been used in a Sacramento River steamer. She was ugly in appear- and it is doubtful if existence piled up as many heaps of shining gold as CAPT. EUGENF F. CoR itive of his famous ance, but during her active vork of this nature. any of the money gatherers owned by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. Or the Pacific Coast Captain Hoyt continued undisturbed on the Astoria route with the Multnomah, although the steamer or a time, and then :,before he went on Leviathan was put on the lower river in October, with the intention of running regularly. As she was sixteen rh the assistance ot DZharriving at San aa like service with 33As long as steamers ply on Northwestern waters the name and memory of John Gates will be revered alike by the men in mi bonds. The day the engine-room and in the pilot-house. The many labor-saving inventions of this quiet genius now in use on steamboats will the courtroom with prove a lasting monument which time cannot efface; and, while the hand of the master has long been stilled in death, many of the vay to Sandy Hook handsome and swift steamers which he designed are still speeding along the rivers, and experience has proved that his work will our months, and on stand the test of years. Mr. Gates was born in Mercer, Me., in 1829, and came to California in 1849. After working there at his had been promised. trade as a machinist for a short time, he came to Oregon, arriving in i853. His first work in Portland was as engineer for a sawmill nningthe John L. located at the foot of Jefferson Street, but meeting with adversity he soon drifted into the steamboat business, succeeding Jacob nman, it would have Kamm as chief engineer of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It was while in this position that his remarkable inventive reciate the valuable genius displayed itself, and during the first ten years of his service with this company he took out twenty-seven patents on inventions at East to bring out which have proved invaluable in the operation of steamboats. Perhaps the best known and most thoroughly appreciated of these bred to pieces in the appliances was the Gates hydraulic steering gear, without which it would be almost an impossibility to handle the big river and ic the Captain spent Sound steamers of the present day with any degree of proficiency. Beside this an automatic oiler, sectional boiler, spark arrester, .San Francisco and ash pan, cut-off valve, thumb screw for holding wheel ropes, and several patents for steam pumps, attest the wide range of ended his long and his abilities. Among the steamers constructed under his supervision were the Orient, Occident, Altnota, Wide West, Daisy Ainsworth, R. R. Thompson, S. G. Reed, Hassalo, D. S. Baker, Annie Faxon, Oneonta, Harvest Queen, Mountain Queen, Emma Villard, John Gates, Spokane, Bonita, Welcome, and Dixie Thompson. He was for many years inspector of boilers in, was shot in the Hayward, Henry and at the time of his death in i888 was Mayor of the city of Portland. war, and Patterson, ie close of which he 3 Capt. Eugene F. Coe was born in New York in i842, but came to the Pacific Coast when but a boy. He began steamboating v, and, as he had a on the upper Columbia with his brother, running for a while as purser but afterward serving as captain of nearly all of the Oregon top, Patterson shot Steam Navigation Company's steamers on the upper and middle river. Subsequently he went below and ran the R. R. Thompson y killed in a saloon between Portland and the Cascades, and while the Northern Pacific was transferring passengers from Kalama to Portland he had charge of the steamers in this service. He died in Portland, January, 1893, aged fifty-one years.