Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/180



162 T. C. ELLIOTT

became one of the early millionaires of Oregon, at a time when that classification was rather limited. For his services as director, which were advisory and not administrative, he was paid $1,000.00 per month and as a forceful man of affairs, whose judgment was nearly always correct, especially as to how much the traffic would bear, he was very infrequently opposed. His later years were spent in California. When asked by Hubert Howe Bancroft as to the cause of his success he replied that it was because he had always from the very start believed very strongly in a certain man named Thompson.

Coincident with and necessary to the use of the portage was the use of the river below and above, and brief mention will now be made of the beginnings of navigation on the middle and upper stretches of the Columbia River up to the time the Oregon Steam Navigation Company assumed full control.

The first steamboat to stem the current of the Columbia above the. Cascades was the JAMES P. FLINT, probably so named after a gentleman in San Francisco who was prominent in steamship interests, and possibly had a small interest in her ownership. Her appearance on the river is best indicated by the following item copied (by Mr. Geo. H. Himes) from the Oregon Weekly Times, Portland, Sept. 4th, 1851; "The New Steamer J. P. Flint We learn that this fine steamer, J. O. Van Bergen, Commander, is now making her regular trips between the Cascades and The Dalles, on the upper waters of the Columbia. She is 60 feet long, 12 feet beam, and five feet deep in the hold. Her hull was modeled by Capt. Hanscom, who modeled the steamer Whitcomb. D. A. Plummer, Esq., who was also engaged in building the Whitcomb, has been master constructor of the Flint, and receives great credit for the skill and ability he has evinced, as do all those who were engaged with him and worked under his directions. Such mechanics as Hanscom and Plummer are justly appreciated in Oregon."

Evidently the FLINT did not make enough money above the Cascades for she was taken down over the rapids about