John McNulty (steamboat captain) facts for kids

McNulty

John McNulty was a brave and skilled steamboat captain who lived around the 1860s. He was famous for navigating steamboats on the mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest.

Early Life and Steamboat Adventures

John McNulty was born in Dublin, Ireland, on March 21, 1830. He started working on ships when he was just a boy. After sailing the world's oceans for many years, John McNulty arrived in Portland, Oregon, in 1852.

Soon after arriving, he began working on steamboats on the Pacific Northwest's rivers, starting with a boat called the Fashion. From 1860, John McNulty became a steamboat captain for two important companies: the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.

For about 30 years, Captain McNulty was trusted with guiding steamboats through the very dangerous middle part of the Columbia River. This area had two of the river's most significant and risky rapids: the Cascades and The Dalles. These rapids were one after the other, making navigation very tricky.

Captain McNulty was the first captain of the steamboat R.R. Thompson on the middle river. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company also often trusted its steamboat Idaho to Captain McNulty's expert command while it operated on the middle river. Some even say that the U.S. state of Idaho was named after this impressive boat! People said that Captain McNulty's career was "exceedingly fortunate and free of accidents," which shows how skilled he was.

Why River Travel Changed

It was always considered too risky to carry passengers, their belongings, or goods directly over the Columbia River rapids. Instead, these items had to be carried around the rapids on land. Meanwhile, the steamboat captain and a small crew would carefully guide the empty steamboat through the dangerous Cascades and Dalles.

Towards the end of the 1800s, railroads began to be built along the rivers of the Pacific Northwest and around the rapids. This meant that trains could transport people and goods more safely and often more cheaply. Because of this, the exciting time of steamboat river transport slowly came to an end.

McNulty's Amazing Record Run

After railroads became more popular, one of the first steamboats to leave the dangerous middle river was the R.R. Thompson. This boat was moved to work on the lower Columbia River, Willamette River, and Puget Sound, where shipping was still profitable.

On June 3, 1882, Captain McNulty was ordered to take the R.R. Thompson through the Cascades to the lower Columbia River. He chose his trusted first officer, William Johnson, engineer William Doran, and assistant George Fuller to be his crew for this special trip.

The R.R. Thompson: A Giant Boat

When McNulty guided the Thompson to the lower river, he showed off his incredible talent as a riverboat pilot. He no longer had to worry about passengers or their cargo. He entered the dangerous 6-mile-long Cascade rapids at full speed.

The R.R. Thompson was a very large boat, 215 feet long and weighing 1158 tons. It was not a shallow boat; its hull went 9.5 feet deep into the water, which meant it could hit hidden rocks or riverbanks in the rapids. The Thompson was built for passenger comfort and to carry a lot of cargo. It was not designed to be a fast boat, even in calm waters. It was known as a "palace boat" because of its spacious rooms, carpets, and fancy walls.

Setting an Unbeatable Record

Despite the R.R. Thompson's large size and clumsy design, Captain McNulty guided it through the hazards of the Cascades in an astonishing 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This meant the boat was moving at about a mile a minute (60 miles per hour) through the water! This was an amazing achievement for a steamboat.

John McNulty's record for the fastest steamboat trip through the Cascades rapids was never beaten by any other captain. No one, not even captains of smaller, faster, or more agile steamboats, could match his time. For example, Captain James W. Troup tried to beat Captain McNulty's record with the much more nimble steamboat Hassalo, but he was not successful.

Legacy

John McNulty's grave in St. Helens, Oregon has a special historical marker. The community of McNulty, Oregon is also named after this pioneering Pacific Northwest riverboat captain.