Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson Pacific Coastal Liners, Superior Publishing Co.: Seattle, WA, (Bonanza Books, Crown Publishing: NY), 1959, 192 pp., 1860s
p. 15 "[The Gold Rush] . . . set an unfortunate pattern for the Pacific Coast steamship service for the next half century. Shipowners who made fortunes running decrepit, overloaded old tubs up and down the coast during gold rush days saw no reason to change their tactics when gold rush hysteria gave way to solid growth and development along the new frontier. The custom of making the Pacific Coast a dumping ground for tender old hulks which had already lived out their normal life-spans on the Atlantic was to cost a great many human lives.
" . . .
p. 20 "Having drained the profits of two major gold rushes, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company withdrew from the coastwise trade in 1861, concentrating on its trans-Pacific service. The pioneer company's northern route was sold to a new shipping firm, The California, Oregon & Mexican Steamship Company. This was the salt water link in the Western transportation network of Ben Holladay, designed to connect with his river steamers on the Columbia and his Overland Stage Line at Wallulla. Holladay took over from the Pacific Mail the steamers, Cortez, Oregon, Sierra Nevada, Republic, and Panama and operated them amiably with the California Steam Navigation Company's. Both Holladay and the leading lights of California Steam were cold-blooded realists who were fully aware that rate wars and races wre more spectacular than profitable. They preferred a good, old-fashioned conspiracy to fix rates . . .
"This happy arrangement continued for several years, but in 1866 a Maine Yankee named Patton upset the corporate apple carts of California Steam and California, Oregon & Mexico Steamship Company . . . Bringing out the big side-wheeler Montana from New England, he hoisted the house flag of the Anchor Line and set about making life miserable for the big companies . . .
p. 21 "The new company was somewhat handicapped by its one-ship status . . . There was a great deal of travel along the Pacific Coast during this era, but no profit for any of the steamship companies. Unable to scare the stubborn Patton off, Holladay offered financial terms which no self-respecting New Englander could turn down. The eventual result was the North Pacific Transportation Company, a combination . . . Rates needless to say went up to their previous level and by 1869 the North Pacific Transportation Company was operating ten side-wheelers and six propeller steamers north from San Francisco. Its fleet included the Active, John L. Stephens, Moses Taylor (known to her passengers as Rolling Moses), Oriflamme, Orizaba, Pacific, Panama, Senator . . .
p. 22 "California Steam, noted for its blithe disregard of human life where profits were involved, was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound in 1865 . . . Footnote 3: A total of 31 Pacific Mail steamships were wrecked between 1853 and 1915, all but two in the Pacific. Nearly two thousand lives were lost in these disasters . . .