Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/379

 rs in gold.

The first board of directors, elected December 29, i860, were as follows: J. C. Ainsworth, J. S. Ruckle, D. F. Bradford, S. G. Reed, and L. W. Coe. These were supposed to represent the different interests that composed the new company. On June 8th, L. W. Coe resigned as director and R. R. Thomp- son was elected in his place. Very soon after the legal organization of the company, the rich placer gold mines of Idaho territory, eastern Washington ter- ritory, and western Montana were discovered, and a rush of miners and freight up the Columbia river was the consequence. The new company was greatly overtaxed to do the business that was forced upon them. They had but few boats, most of them very indifferent, the "Carrie Ladd" being the best in the new line. The portage at the Cascades was owned by rival and hostile par- ties, yet both were interested in the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, and occupied seats on the board. These parties regarded their portage interests as of paramount importance. They looked upon the company as simply auxiliary to their other and larger interests. The portage at The Dalles was at the for- mation of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company made by teams to the mouth of the Deschutes river, a distance of about twenty miles, and was at that time principally controlled by O. Humason and his associates. The freight for the new mining country was so extensive that at times the whole portage at the Cascades was lined with freight from one end to the other; the result was, of course, heavy losses caused by damage and a system of robbery impossible to prevent. They paid damages to freight in a single month amounting to over $10,000. The most of this occurred on the portage, yet it was invariably charged to the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The steamboat men real- ized the disadvantage under which they labored, as they were simply interested in a line of steamers that were wholly dependent on the portages, which were in the hands of rivals. They could see that the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- pany must control the portages, or the portages must control and swallow up the company ; or in other words, the whole interest must be as one. The ques- tion then was simply as to the mastery ; and here commenced the struggle. At this time the Bradfords' means of transportation over their portage was a very indifferent wooden tramway from what was known as the middle landing to the upper Cascades on the Washington side.

Ruckle's means of transportation on the Oregon side was a wooden tram- way the whole length of the portage ; the lower half, or from the middle landing down, was of iron strap and over this portion of the road he ran a small en- gine. The cars on the upper part of the road were hauled by mules as they were on the Bradford road. IDuring the high stage of water, say from May to August, the steamers could not run to the middle landing, consequently Ruckle transported the freight at such times over the entire portage for which he received one-half the through freight from Portland to The Dalles, and as Bradford had no tramway below the middle landing, he could not claim from Ruckle a division of portage earnings on the lower half of his road. This an- noyed Bradford exceedingly, as Ruckle's income from this source with the im- mense freight that was then moving was very great.

J. C. Ainsworth and those who were looking to the interest of the steam- boat men, now absorbed The Dalles portage. They stocked the road with teams and wagons at a cost of about $100,000. This immense caravan was taxed to its utmost capacity, as was everything else that they owned. The next step was to bring the board of directors to see the necessity of building a rail- road from The Dalles to Celilo and to convince them that the company could safely undertake it. J. C. Ainsworth was dispatched to San Francisco. He found that the house of Coleman & Company had about twenty miles of rail- road iron, which could be procured by paying freight and charges. He made arrangements to take all of the iron, as they could not divide the lot. The Dalles railroad would only require fourteen miles, so this would be enough for the Cascades portage as well. Arrangements were made for the shipment of