Wilson G. Hunt (sidewheeler) facts for kids

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The Wilson G. Hunt was a famous steamboat that sailed in the early days of steam travel. People often called her simply the Hunt. She worked on rivers like the Sacramento, Fraser, and Columbia, and also on Puget Sound.

The Hunt had a very long career on the west coast of the United States and Canada. She was very important for moving people and goods during the California Gold Rush. She even carried the Governor and the state's lawmakers when the capital of California moved to Sacramento in 1854.

Contents

• About Wilson G. Hunt
• Building the Steamboat
• California Gold Rush Travel
• Fraser River Gold Rush
• Mail Service and Competition
• Columbia River Service
• More Competition on Puget Sound
• Back to Fraser River
• Vancouver Island Service
• End of the Line

About Wilson G. Hunt

The steamboat was named after a rich businessman from New York named Wilson G. Hunt. He was known for selling cloth and for being a philanthropist, which means he gave money to good causes.

Wilson G. Hunt worked with Peter Cooper on many projects, including the famous Cooper Union college. He was the Treasurer for Cooper Union's board for over 30 years. He even led a big railroad company, the Illinois Central Railroad, for a short time. He was born as Wilson Hunt but added the middle initial 'G' to make his name unique. He lived to be 88 years old.

Building the Steamboat

The Wilson G. Hunt was built in New York in 1849. It was made by the Collyer shipyard for fun trips to Coney Island. The ship was about 185.5 ft (57 m) long and 25.8 ft (8 m) wide.

The Hunt had an old-style "steeple type" steam engine. This engine had a huge single cylinder. It also used a low-pressure boiler, which was thought to be safer than other types at the time. This powerful engine could make the ship travel at 15 knots, which is about 17 miles per hour.

One very unusual thing about the Wilson G. Hunt was its engine housing. It looked like a tall, wooden wedge in the middle of the ship.

Between the wheels and rising high above the cabin was a tall steeple-like frame in which the piston rod rose and fell in guides and moved a pair of connecting rods or pittmans that turned the wheel. Such engines had been common on the Hudson but were becoming rare when the Hunt was built. Normally left exposed, on Hunt the engine was housed, so that the boat appeared to be carrying a tall wooden wedge amidships, thereby not improving the appearance of an otherwise graceful steamer.

This "steeple engine" was the only one of its kind ever used on the West Coast. These engines could be dangerous. If the engine stopped in a certain position, workers had to use a long bar to push the paddle wheel to get it moving again. This was risky because if the engine suddenly started, the bar could fly out and hurt someone.

California Gold Rush Travel

After being built, the Hunt first sailed routes near New York. But soon, news of the California Gold Rush reached New York. So, the Hunt was sent on a long journey around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The trip was very difficult, and the ship almost sank.

She joined the rush of ships and men to the Pacific Coast in the great gold rush, and December of 1849 saw the Coney Island excursion steamer wallowing off Cape Horn, her big paddle wheels alternately flooded with icy, deep-sea rollers or racing through unsubstantial foam.

The Hunt finally arrived in San Francisco in early 1850. The whole journey took 322 days. The first part of the trip to Bermuda was tough, with the ship arriving in bad shape after a big storm.

Once in San Francisco, the Hunt immediately started working on the Sacramento River. She made a lot of money for her owners, earning over $1,000,000 in just one year. Competition between steamboats on the California rivers was fierce. Even though "racing" was not allowed, captains tried their best to be the fastest.

There was a famous incident where a boiler exploded on another steamboat, the New World, during a race with the Wilson G. Hunt. A lawsuit later showed how intense these races were during the Gold Rush.

[The Hunt] was then about a quarter of a mile astern of the New World, and that the boat first arriving at Benicia got from twenty-five to fifty passengers. The pilot of the Hunt says he hardly knows whether the boats were racing, but both were doing their best, and this is confirmed by the assistant pilot, who says the boats were always supposed to come down as fast as possible; the first boat at Benicia gets from twenty-five to fifty passengers. And he adds that at a particular place called 'the slough' the Hunt attempted to pass the New World. Fay, a passenger on board the New World, swears, that on two occasions, before reaching 'the slough' the Hunt attempted to pass the New World, and failed; that to his knowledge these boats had been in the habit of contending for the mastery, and on this occasion both were doing their best. ... Haskell, another passenger, says, 'about ten minutes before the explosion I was standing looking at the engine, we saw the engineer was evidently excited, by his running to a little window to look out at the boat behind. He repeated this ten or fifteen times in a very short time.'

Later, the Hunt's owners joined with others to form the California Steam Navigation Company. Their goal was to control all river transport on the Sacramento river system.

Fraser River Gold Rush

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in Canada spread, the Hunt's owners sent her north. The Hunt arrived in Victoria in August 1858. The local government allowed American steamboats to carry people up the river because there weren't enough British ships.

The Hunt started running on the New Westminster route. Another ship on this route, the Sea Bird, caught fire and was destroyed on September 7, 1858. Two people died. Luckily, the Hunt was close behind and was able to rescue the surviving passengers and crew.

Mail Service and Competition

In October 1858, the Wilson G. Hunt left the Fraser River service. The next year, she worked on Puget Sound. She was hired by John H. Scranton, who had the contract to carry mail on Puget Sound.

The Hunt was a good choice for the route because she had a shallow draft, meaning she didn't need very deep water. This made her better than the previous mail ship, the Constitution. In July 1859, another steamboat, the Julia Barclay, arrived on Puget Sound. John H. Scranton arranged for the Julia to carry the mail. For about a month, the Hunt tried to compete against the Julia on the route from Olympia to Victoria. But the Julia's mail contract gave her an advantage. There wasn't enough business for both ships, so the Hunt was tied up in Victoria for about a year.

Columbia River Service

An advertisement from 1865 for the Wilson G. Huntand other steamboats.

Gold was found in Idaho in the early 1860s. Because of this, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company bought the Hunt in 1862. They took her to the Columbia River. There, the Hunt sailed from Portland, Oregon to the lower Cascades.

On the Columbia River, the Hunt was part of a system of steamboats. These boats carried people and goods around dangerous rapids. People had to get off the boats and carry their things around these rapids. The Hunt's job was to take traffic up to the first portage (place where things are carried) at the Lower Cascades.

The Hunt continued to run on the Columbia River until 1869. She was very busy and profitable during this time. She often carried 50 to 300 passengers, 100 animals, and lots of cargo on a single trip. Even though her running costs were high, the demand for transport on the Columbia was so great that she made a lot of money. In 1869, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company decided to expand to Puget Sound.

More Competition on Puget Sound

The company sent the old steamboat to Puget Sound to compete with other ships. The Hunt arrived in February 1869. She had been rebuilt in Portland in 1865 and was in good shape. However, the company couldn't make much money with her. To avoid more losses, they sold her in October 1869. After this competition ended, the Hunt was sent to San Francisco, where she stayed for ten years.

Back to Fraser River

In 1878, the Hudson's Bay Company had a steamboat called the Enterprise running on the Fraser River. Their main competitor was Captain John Irving. Captain Irving controlled the upper Fraser River routes.

In early 1878, Captain Irving went to San Francisco. He found the Hunt there and bought her for a low price. In February 1878, she was brought north, cleaned up, and repainted. She then started running on the New Westminster route against the Enterprise. The Hunt's Canadian registration number was 72676.

The local newspaper, the Mainland Guardian, was impressed by how good the 30-year-old steamboat looked.

The appearance of the vessel is undoubtedly most imposing. The wheels appear to be much larger than those of the Enterprise, and the new paint and gilding make her look as trim as if she'd just been turned out of a mould. The main saloon is 130 by 26 feet; ladies saloon 35 by 20 feet. The engine, 250 h.p. nominal ... She has 12 staterooms and can dine 100 at one table.

In July 1878, the Canadian government announced that the transcontinental railroad would run through the Fraser River valley. The Wilson G. Hunt carried the first shipment of rails for this railroad to New Westminster. From there, they were taken further upriver. The Hunt continued to do well against the Enterprise in 1878. Later, the Hudson's Bay Company bought the Hunt's old rival, the Olympia. They renamed her Princess Louise and put her on the New Westminster route against the Hunt. The Princess Louise was a much better boat. By late 1879, Captain Irving and the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to work together. They operated the Princess Louise, Wilson G. Hunt, and Enterprise jointly as the Royal Mail Line.

Vancouver Island Service

Captain Joseph Spratt, the last master of the Wilson G. Huntwhen she was working.

The Hunt was repaired a lot in 1879. In 1881, she was sold to Joseph Spratt. He ran steamboats on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Captain Spratt replaced his ship Maude with the Wilson G. Hunt. The Hunt then sailed on the route from Victoria to Comox and Nanaimo.

By the end of 1883, Captain Spratt had to sell his company to Captain Irving's Canadian Pacific Navigation Company. This was partly because the Wilson G. Hunt had serious mechanical problems. Captain Spratt announced that the Wilson G. Hunt was just being taken out for repairs. But actually, she had broken a shaft and was probably too damaged to fix.

There was a story that Captain Spratt had two men bailing water out of the ship to keep her from sinking at the dock while he was selling her. This might have been true. But Captain Spratt knew that Captain Irving was a very smart steamboat captain who had owned the Hunt before. Irving replaced the Hunt on the east coast route with another old steamboat, the Yosemite.

End of the Line

In 1884, the Hunt was laid up (parked) in Victoria's inner harbor. She stayed on the beach until 1890. Then, junk dealers from San Francisco broke her apart where she lay. They burned her to get her metal parts.