Columbia River Service
Gold had been discovered in Idaho in the early 1860s, which led to the Hunt being bought in 1862 by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and taken to the Columbia River. There the Hunt operated on the route from Portland, Oregon to the lower Cascades in command of Capt. John Wolf. On the Columbia, Hunt was part of a chain of steamers that transported traffic between the portages around the rapids at the Cascades of the Columbia and the second longer set of rapids to the east of The Dalles. Each set of rapids enforced a requirement to portage traffic around the obstacle and control of the portages and ready transport across them was the key to control of the river traffic. Hunt's role in this system was to carry traffic up to the first portage at the Lower Cascades. She continued running on the Columbia until 1869, and during that time enjoyed a flourishing business, repeatedly carrying from 50 to 300 passengers, 100 head of stock and plenty of freight on a single trip. Her operating costs were high, but the demand for transport on the Columbia during the 1860s was so great that she was a very profitable boat. In 1869 the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, having achieved a monopoly on the Columbia River, decided to extend their steamboating ventures to Puget Sound.
Read more about this topic: Wilson G. Hunt (sidewheeler)
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