poring over daily business at headquarters, struggled to keep up. He scribbled a note to a friend in San Francisco: “I scarcely have time to eat, and everyone connected with the company is hurried as much.” The hard work paid off, and by the end of 1862 revenue was even higher than in the previous year. Flush with the company’s cash, Ainsworth indulged in his passion for steamboats like never before. During the first four years of the OSN’s operations, Ainsworth assisted in the design or purchase of approximately 16 river steamers. Of these, the sidewheelers were the largest and most commodious. Most impressive was the 225foot New World, which dwarfed every other watercraft on the river at the time and whose passenger cabin featured red Oregon Steam Navigation Co. common stock certificate No. 3105, issued May 15th, 1874. Ainsworth’s signature is at bottom right. In 1872, the OSN sold the majority of its stock to the Northern Pacific Railroad, which subsequently ran into financial trouble, and the OSN was able to buy back a controlling interest at an average discount of 75% per share. SEA HISTORY 179, SUMMER 2022
upholstered seats, marble tables, and brass chandeliers. In 1865, the OSN appropriated $500,000 for their largest marine engineering project: a 270-foot ocean-going steamship, complete with masts, rigging, and twin 35-foot-wide paddlewheels, commissioned to inaugurate a coastal shipping service between San Francisco and Portland. When the Oregonian was launched from a New York shipyard and sailed
courtesy university archives
carleton watkins collection, oregon historical society
Sidewheeler Oneonta, launched in 1863 to serve alongside at least two other steamers on the OSN’s Cascades-Dalles route. This 150-foot-long, 500-ton vessel is perhaps the best manifestation of Ainsworth and Kamm’s affinity for the Mississippi River design. When she was transferred downriver in 1870, the honor of piloting her through the Cascades rapids was given to Ainsworth.
around Cape Horn for San Francisco, Portland newspapers reported that she broke the existing record for the voyage. As the nation recovered from the Civil War, Ainsworth continued to build and buy steamboats, expand the OSN, and accumulate personal wealth. The company chased the traffic, which chased the gold and silver strikes of the interior Northwest. Shipyards turned out new steamboats faster than ever, in as little as four months on one occasion, to capitalize on the dramatic increases in demand. By 1867, the OSN gained access to the Canadian, Salt Lake, and Missouri River markets through its navigation of uncharted lakes and rivers. Competition on the river was not an issue, for the OSN enjoyed a monopoly over hundreds of miles of inland water traffic. Ainsworth, ever-vigilant about and hostile toward those who schemed to encroach on the OSN’s market share, quickly took advantage of legal loopholes and arranged subsidy agreements with new steamboat owners to prevent them from operating on the OSN’s routes. Ainsworth and the board often bought competitors outright, rolling their assets into the company to serve their expansion goals. Ainsworth’s initiatives continued to make both profits and history into the 1870s. The OSN went on to build modern railroads, telegraph lines, shipping canals, and numerous commercial buildings throughout the Columbia and Willamette River systems. Steamboat construction continued, exclusively using the sternwheeler
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