This list summarizes basic characteristics of steamboats and towed barges placed in service on the Colorado River and its tributaries. The article Steamboats of the Colorado River expands on the topic.
Steamboats on the Lower Colorado River
Name | Type | Year built | Where built | Builders | Launched | Owners | Tons | Length | Beam | Draft | Engines - cargo tonnage | Disposition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cochan | stern | 1899 | Yuma | unknown | Yuma, 1899 | Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 234 | 135' | 31' | 22" loaded, 11" light | Taken from the Gila - 125 tons. | Dismantled Spring, 1910 |
Cocopah I | stern | 1859 | San Francisco | unknown | Gridiron, Sonora, Aug. 1859 | George A. Johnson & Company | unknown | 140' | 29' | 14.5" | unknown - 60 tons, tow 100 ton barge | Dismantled 1867, housing in Port Isabel |
Cocopah II | stern | 1867 | Arizona City | unknown | Arizona City, May 1867 | George A. Johnson & Company, Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 231 | 147.5' | 28' | unknown | unknown - unknown | Dismantled 1881 |
Colorado I | stern | 1855 | San Francisco | John G. North | Estuary, Dec. 1855 | George A. Johnson & Company | unknown | 120' | unknown | unknown | 80 hp - 70 tons | Dismantled April, 1862 |
Colorado II | stern | 1862 | Arizona City | John G. North | Arizona City, 1862 | George A. Johnson & Company, Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 179 | 145' | 29' | 16" | 80 hp from Colorado I - 70 tons | Dismantled 1882 |
Esmerelda | stern | 1862 | San Francisco | Patrick Henry Tiernan | San Francisco, engaged in the upper San Joaquin River trade, sent to Colorado River arriving March, 1864 | Union Line, Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Co., Arizona Navigation Co., George A. Johnson & Company | unknown | 93' | 20' | 33" | unknown - 50 tons, tow 100 ton barge | Dismantled 1868 |
Explorer | stern (iron hull) | 1857 | Philadelphia | Reaney, Neafie & Company | Robinson's Landing, Baja California, 1857 | U. S. ArmyCorps of Topographical Engineers, George A. Johnson & Company | unknown | 54' | 13' | 3' | unknown - unknown | Engine removed 1858, used as a barge until lost 1864. |
General Jesup | side | 1853 | unknown | unknown | Estuary, 1854 | George A. Johnson & Company | unknown | 104' | 17' | 30" | 50 hp - 50 tons | Dismantled, 1859. |
General Rosales | propeller-driven | 1878 | unknown | unknown | Yuma, Arizona July 1878 | Gulf of California Steamship Company | 54 | 96' | 16' | 4' | unknown - unknown | Sent to Guaymas, Sonora, Sept. 1878 |
Gila | stern | 1873 | San Francisco | Patrick Henry Tiernan | Port Isabel, Sonora, 1873 | Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 236 | 149' | 31' | 16.5" (3.8' deep hull) | unknown - 125 tons | Rebuilt as Cochan, 1899 |
Mohave I | stern | 1864 | San Francisco | John G. North | Estuary, May 1864 | George A. Johnson & Company, Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 193 | 135' | 28' | 4' | unknown - up to 225 tons, or tow 2 barges, with 100 tons of cargo | Dismantled 1875, machinery used to equip Onward in 1877 |
Mohave II | stern | 1876 | San Francisco | Patrick Henry Tiernan | Port Isabel, Sonora, May 1876 | Colorado Steam Navigation Company | 188 | 149.5' | 31.5' | 12" | unknown - unknown | Dismantled Jan. 1900 |
Nina Tilden | stern | 1864 | San Francisco | Martin Vice | San Francisco, July 1864, arrived at Colorado River Aug. 1864 | Philadelphia Silver & Copper Mining Co., Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Co., Arizona Navigation Co., George A. Johnson & Company, Colorado Steam Navigation Company | unknown | 97' | 22' | 12" | unknown - 120 tons | Wrecked Sept. 1874, at Port Isabel |
Retta | stern | 1900 | Yuma | unknown | Yuma, 1900 | Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company | unknown | 36' | 6' | unknown | unknown - unknown | Sunk, February, 1905 |
St. Vallier | stern | 1899 | unknown | unknown | Needles, California, Early 1899 | Santa Ana Mining Company, Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company | 94 | 74' | 17' | unknown | unknown - unknown | Sunk, March, 1909 |
San Jorge | screw | 1901 | Chicago | unknown | Yuma, June 1901 | Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company | unknown | 38' | 9' | 18" | unknown - unknown | To the Gulf, July 1901 |
Searchlight | stern | 1902 | Needles | F. L. Hawley | Needles, Dec. 1902 | Colorado River Transportation Company, Colorado Steam Navigation Company, U. S. Reclamation Service | 98 | 91' | 18' | unknown | unknown - unknown | "Lost", 1916 |
Uncle Sam | side | June 1852 | San Francisco | Domingo Marcucci | Estuary, Nov. 1852 | James Turnbull | 40 | 65' | 16' | unknown | 20 hp - 35 tons | Foundered 1853, 6 miles below Fort Yuma |
Unnamed steamer | stern | February 1859 | San Francisco | Henry Owens | Knocked down and sent to the Colorado River Estuary in the schooner Arno. | Gila Mining & Transportation Company | unknown | 125' | 25' | 3.5' | unknown - unknown | Sank with the schooner Arno near Robinson's Landing before it could be unloaded and assembled. April 1859. |
Towed barges of the Lower Colorado River
- Black Crook 1864-1880s, White Fawn 1864-1880s, Barge #1 1864-1900, Barge #2 1865-1900, Barge #3 1865-1900, Barge #4 1872-1900, Pumpkin Seed 1865-1867, Silas J. Lewis 1900-1909, Enterprise 1901-1909
Steamboats on the Green and Upper Colorado Rivers
Name | Type | Year built | Where built | Builders | Launched | Owners | Tons | Length | Beam | Draft | Engines - cargo tonnage | Disposition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black Eagle | screw | 1907 | Green River, Utah | Harry T. Yokey | Green River, Utah Jun. 1907 | Harry T. Yokey | 40' | 6' | 7-8" | Exploded, 1907 | ||
Charles H. Spencer | stern | 1912 | San Francisco | Schultz, Robertson and Schultz | Warm Creek, Arizona Feb. 1912 | Charles H. Spencer | 92.5' | 25' | 18-20" | 100 hp - unknown | Abandoned, Spring 1912 | |
Cliff Dweller | stern | 1905 | Halverson's, Utah | John J. Lumsden, Charles Anderson | Halverson's, Utah, Nov. 1905 | John J. Lumsden | 70' | 20' | 14" | coal-fired - unknown | To Salt Lake, renamed Vista, Apr. 1907 | |
Comet | stern | 1908 | Green River, Wyoming | Holger Larsen | Green River, Wyoming, July 1908 | Green River Navigation Company | 60' | 12' | coal-fired, 2 x 2O hp engines - unknown | Abandoned 1908 | ||
Major Powell | screw | 1891 | unknown | unknown | Green River, Utah, Aug. 1891 | Green Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company | 35' | 8' | 26" | coal-fired (wood on 2nd voyage), 2 x 6 hp - 3 tons | Dismantled, 1894 | |
Undine | stern | 1902 | Rock Island, Illinois | unknown | Green River, Utah, Nov. 1901 | Frank H. Summerhill | 60' | 10' | 12" - 20" | coal-fired, 20 hp - 15 tons | Wrecked May 1902 |
References
- ^ Arizona Miner, May 25, 1864, pg. 3, col. 4
- Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part II, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, February 1895, p. 123
- ^ Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part II, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, February 1895, p. 125
- ^ E. M. North, Evolution of Shipping and Shipbuilding in California VI, February 1899, The Overland Monthly, Vol. XXXIII, January - June 1899, Overland Monthly Publishing Company, San Francisco, 1899.
- Nancy J. Olmsted, Vanished Waters: A History of San Francisco's Mission Bay", Mission Creek Conservancy, 1986, Chapter 7, Steamboat Point, 1851-1864 from foundsf.org accessed February 19, 2015
- Joseph C. Ives, Report Upon the Colorado River of the West, Explored in 1857 and 1858 By Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives, Corps of Topographical Engineers, Under the Direction of the Office of Explorations and Surveys, A. A. Humphreys, Captain Topographical Engineers, in Charge. By Order of the Secretary of War, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861; Part I. General Report.
- Daily Alta California, Volume 18, Number 5946, 21 June 1866, p.1 col.4 Pacific Coast Correspondence. Letter from Arizona
- Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part I, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, January 1895, p. 15; from quod.lib.umich.edu accessed December 14, 2014
- ^ Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part III, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, March 1895, p. 287; from quod.lib.umich.edu accessed December 14, 2014
- Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 17, Number 2500, 1 April 1859 p.5, Col. 2
- The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Friday Morning, May 6, 1859. Volume XXIII, Number 88, p. 1, Col.7 - p. 2, Col. 1
- Sailors Magazine, for the Year ending August 1859, Vol. XXXI, American Seamen's Friend Society, New York, 1859, p.368, Marine Losses May and June
- Cliff Dweller was the gasoline-powered, screw-driven, City of Moab, rebuilt as a coal fired stern-wheel steamboat.
- Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978, pp. 161–165, Appendix A and B
Steamboats in general
- Hunter, Louis C., Steamboats on the Western Rivers, Dover Publications, NY 1947 ISBN 0-486-27863-8
External links
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