Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/199



In looking over some old Government publications of half a century ago, the writer saw occasional mention of Oregon matters, the reproduction of which will interest old residents of the State, and possibly others of later generation and advent.

In 1856 there were but two steamboat mail routes in the State of Oregon. One of these was between Portland and Astoria, 130 miles, two trips a week, for the service on which the contractor received $7,000 per annum. The other route was between Portland and Oregon City, fourteen miles, two trips a week; $1,100 per annum being paid. At that time there doesn't appear to have been any steamboat mail service in the Territory of Washington. In California were three routes, aggregating 304 miles, six trips per week on each, with aggregate annual compensation of $52,000. Oregon was then interested in one of the few foreign mail steamship routes—No. 4. It called for semi-monthly service from Astoria, by Port Orford and San Francisco, to Panama in New Grenada, supplying Monterey, San Diego, etc., by a separate coastwise steamer from San Francisco in due connection with main line, a distance of 4,200 miles, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company being the contractor, and the annual compensation being $348,250. Contract was made with the Postmaster General and Secretary of the Navy, in accordance with acts of Congress of March 3, 1847, and 1851. On the Atlantic side was a somewhat similar contract, for a semi-monthly service from New York to Havana, New Orleans and Aspinwall, 4,000 miles; M. 0. Roberts, B. R. Mcllvain and Moses Taylor being the contractors, $290,000 being paid for the service, the route