Sarah Dixon was a wooden sternwheel-driven steamboat operated by the Shaver Transportation Company on the Columbia and lower Willamette rivers from 1892 to 1926. Originally Sarah Dixon was built as a mixed use passenger and freight vessel, and was considered a prestige vessel for the time.
Sarah Dixon (on right) and G.W. Shaver (on left), at Washington Street dock, Portland, Oregon, 1897.
Sarah Dixon as built in 1892, also showing Henry Pape (or Pope) (1852–1907), known as “Poppy” chief engineer, on left, and George McClellan Shaver (1865–1950), captain, on right.
Advertisement for Sarah Dixon on Clatskanie route, April 28, 1893.
Mount Coffin in 1900, scene of the sinking of Sarah Dixon on December 19, 1900.
Telephone was a sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1884 by Captain Uriah Bonsor "U.B." Scott for service on the Columbia River. Reputedly the fastest steamboat in the world in its time, Telephone served on the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. Telephone was rebuilt at least twice. The first time was after a fire in 1887 which nearly destroyed the vessel. The reconstructed and much larger second vessel was sometimes referred to as Telephone No. 2. The third vessel, Telephone No. 3, built in 1903 and using components from the second steamer was larger but little used during its time on the Columbia river.
Advertisement for steamer Telephone, circa 1887
Telephone No. 3 under reconstruction in June 1903
Advertisement for steamer Telephone, placed September 17, 1905