general light draft, or to an increased knowledge of the channels of the mouth of the river, few accidents occurred, and only one American vessel was wrecked at or near the entrance this year;[1] though two French ships were lost during the summer, one on the bar in attempting to enter by the south channel, then changed in its direction from the shifting of the sands, and the other, by carelessness, in the river between Astoria and Tongue Point.[2]
That all this sudden influx of shipping, where so little had ventured before, meant prosperity to Oregon tradesmen is unquestionable. Portland, which Pettygrove had turned his back upon with seventy-five thousand dollars, was now a thriving port, whose
- ↑ The brig Josephine was becalmed, whereupon her anchor was let down; but a gale blowing up in the night she was driven on the sand and dashed to pieces in the breakers. She was loaded with lumber from the Oregon City Mills, which was a total loss to the Island Milling Company. Or. Spectator, Jan. 10, 1850.
- ↑ This latter wreck was of the Silvie de Grasse which brought Thornton home from Boston. She was formerly a packet of 2,000 tons, built of live-oak, and running between New York and Havre. She loaded with lumber for San Francisco, but in descending the river ran upon a rock and split. Eighteen years afterward her figure-head and a part of her hull stood above the water. What was left was then sold to A. S. Mercer, the iron being still in good order, and the locust and oak knees and timbers perfectly sound. Oregonian, in Puget Sound Gazette, April 15, 1867. The wreck on the bar was of L'Etoile du Matin, before mentioned in connection with the return to Oregon of Archbishop Blanchet, and the arrival of the Catholic reënforcement in 1847. Returning to Oregon in 1849, the captain not finding a pilot outside undertook to run in by the south channel, in which attempt he was formerly so successful, but its course having shifted, he soon found his ship fast on the sands, while an American bark that had followed him, but drew 10 feet less water, passed safely in. The small life-boats were all lost in lowering, but after passing through great dangers the ship was worked into Baker Bay without a rudder, with a loosened keel and most of the pumps broken, aid having been rendered by Latta of the Hudson's Bay Company and some Indians. A box rudder was constructed, and the vessel taken to Portland, and landed where the warehouse of Allen and Lewis later stood. The cargo belonged to Francis Menes, who saved most of it, and who opened a store in Oregon City, where he resided four years, finally settling at St Louis on French Prairie. He died December 1867. The hull of the Morning Star was sold to Couch and Flanders, and by them to Charles Hutchins, and was burned for the iron and copper. Eugene La Forrest, in Portland Oregonian, March 28, 1868.
Kelly, was of planking put on diagonally in several thicknesses, with a few temporary sawed timbers and natural crooks, and was sold in San Francisco for $4,000. The General Lane was built at Oregon City by John McClellan, aided by McLoughlin, and ran to San Francisco. Her captain was Gilman, afterward a bar pilot at Astoria. She went directly to Sacramento with a cargo of lumber and farm products. The Pioneer was put together by a company at Astoria. Honolulu Friend, Sept. 1, 1849.
