Gazelle was an early sidewheeler on the Willamette River

Willamette River

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...

 in what is now the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. She did not operate long, suffering a catastrophic boiler explosion less than a month after her trial voyage.

Design and construction

Gazelle was built at the now vanished town of Linn City

Linn City, Oregon

Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:...

, which was located on the west side of the Willamette River across from Oregon City

Oregon City, Oregon

Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...

. She was driven by two steam engines, each one turning one of her sidewheels. Gazelles builders were doing business as the Willamette Falls Canal, Milling and Transportation Company.

Reaching the upper river

Built below Willamette Falls

Willamette Falls

The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...

, Gazelle was intended to run on the Willamette
River above the falls, to serve the growing population in the Willamette Valley

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...

. To reach the upper river, Gazelle was lifted above the falls and launched on the upper Willamette at Canemah

Canemah, Oregon

Canemah was an early settlement in the U.S. state of Oregon located near Willamette Falls on the Willamette River. It is now a district within Oregon City.-Location:...

.

Operations

Gazelle made her trial run above the falls on March 18, 1854. Her first captain was Robert Hereford. The Oregon City newspaper was enthusiastic about the new steamer:

During the voyage, Gazelle stood by as Oregon was sinking after hitting a snag just below Salem. Cargo from the Oregon was loaded onto Gazelle to lighten Oregon to better allow her salvaging. Suddenly Oregon broke free of the snag, drifted downstream, ran up on a sandbar and sank so deeply that only a part of her upperworks were visible above the water. Oregon, also a new steamer, was a total loss. On the way back down, Gazelle ran over a log and broke some paddle buckets, which however was not serious damage, and in fact was one of the strengths of the paddlewheel design over the propeller on inland waters.

Destruction

On April 8, 1854, at 6:30 a.m., Gazelle had come over to Canemah from the long wharf built above the Falls on the western side of the river above Linn City. This was to be her first regular run after the trip up river where she'd attempted to assist the Oregon. That morning, she was bound for Corvallis. Gazelle had been at the Canemah dock for about ten minutes. To make a speedy departure, the engineer had tied down the safety valve to build up steam. About 60 people were on board at 6:40 a.m. when Gazelles engineer, Moses Toner, jumped off the boat, on to dock, and took off running. About a minute later both boilers exploded. At least twenty people were instantly killed, and everyone else was injured, including four people who died later. The sidewheeler Wallamet had been lying alongside Gazelle, her works were seriously damaged, and her pilot J.M. Pudge was killed in the explosion. The whole town of Canemah came running to the rescue, and boats had to be launched to rescue the living people and recover the bodies floating in the river. Captain Hereford was injured but survived. The coroner's jury blamed the engineer's "gross and culpable' negligence in keeping too much steam, and allowing the water level in the boilers to get too low.

Partial salvage

The hull sank at the dock, but was later sold. Her new owners raised the hull, lined it over the Falls, and rebuilt it to become first the Sarah Hoyt and then the Senorita The engines were salvaged and installed in Senorita''.

Memorial

Many years later a memorial plaque was placed on a rock outcropping overlooking the Willamette River and the long-abandoned Canemah landing, which stated: