Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/544

 to cut off trade from Portland by running the boat to Vancouver and Oregon City, as well as to all points on the Columbia river.

Up to this period, Captain John H. Couch had been the most efficient support that Portland had received in concentrating trade, especially the oceangoing sailing vessels. Couch's influence was never fully comprehended in this contest. He had made the acquaintance of hundreds of sea captains and was favorably known wherever these captains sailed their ships; and the fact that he had always discharged his own ship here influenced all his acquaintances on the seas to also "sail for Portland, Oregon."

But now the townsite proprietors—Coffin, Chapman and Lownsdale—must bestir themselves. They were compelled to meet the opposition of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and destroy it one way or another, or be ruined. And by this time (1850) although growing slowly, Portland had gathered in quite a village population of active, earnest men, who not only had their own property interests at stake, but had a genuine friendship for the townsite proprietors. And it was decided that a long pull, and a strong pull, and a pull all together, was the thing to do and get in a steamship in the interest of Portland. This sentiment being conveyed down to San Francisco, the side-wheel steamer Gold Hunter took in a cargo for Portland, Oregon, and came up to see how the town looked. This was the first ocean-going steamship that ever tied up at Portland. It was in fact a gold hunter, and was for sale. Immediately every friend of Portland got busy. Hope and enthusiasm took the place of anxiety and fear in the face of the towns-people, and courage once more filled up the shrinking purse. The price and terms for the ship were ascertained. Sixty thousand dollars would purchase a controlling interest in the ship, and run her between Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco. Twenty-one thousand dollars of this was raised and paid in an hour, of which sum Coffin, Chapman and Lownsdale put up eighteen thousand six hundred dollars.

And while this transaction revived the hopes and confidence of many, and strengthened the courage of all, it did not end the contest. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, with ample capital, set to work to undermine the bulwarks put up by the Portlanders, and bought out some of the interests of Portland stockholders in the Gold Hunter, again giving San Francisco the whip-hand. And after a few trips to Portland the Gold Hunter was treacherously sent down to South America, mortgaged and sold for a trifle of her value to get rid of all the Portland stockholders. It was a bitter lesson to Portland, and withal most dishonorable on the part of pretended friends and open enemies. But it had proved one thing, and that was that Portland would fight for the rights of the town, and that the town was a force that was not to be despised for weakness or want of courage. In the meantime, Portland had been making allies on the land side. A fairly passable wagon road had been opened out to Tualatin Plains and on up the valley to Yamhill and Polk counties, by which the farmers of all that region could haul their product to Portland.

Although the money was gone, the investment in the steamship had not been wholly lost. It had been proved that an ocean-going steamship could safely and successfully come to Portland with full cargoes and could get full cargoes of produce and safely go out to sea again. The steamships were not getting cargoes at St. Helens, as Whitcomb's steamboat carried the produce to them, and it did not get enough to load them. Whitcomb could get nothing at Milwaukie but