The Steamer Vancouver brought a band and a crowd to watch Captain James Turnbull launch the newest Columbia River steamer, the Fannie Troup, on Sept. 30, 1864. Built in east Portland by James and W.H. Troup, his son-in-law, the riverboat measured 123 feet long with a 20-foot beam. Its stern paddlewheel measured 17 feet in diameter and 14 feet wide. Captain Turnbull navigated the Fannie Troup until 1874, when he turned it over to the Oregon Navigation Company just before his death.
Born in 1811 in England, James Turnbull owned a St. Louis foundry and machine shop before crossing the plains with his nephew, William Turnbull, in 1852. He worked in a Portland machine shop in 1858. By about 1860, James became associated with two steamers, the Eagle and the Vancouver, transporting farm goods, materials and troops between Fort Vancouver and Portland. About 1867, he hired his nephew, likely as first mate, to work with him on the Fannie Troup. William started a diary and wrote in a May entry that the sternwheeler “brought over 10 tons of freight and 29 mules to Vancouver.”
Along with his tasks as first mate, William Turnbull also worked as the bookkeeper, bill collector and general manager for his uncle. At different times, each skippered the Fannie Troup. William sported a full beard, while his uncle wore chin whiskers and a mustache. While William often recorded complaints of illness, he was healthy enough to accompany engineers to the peak of Mount Hood to determine its actual height, making the climb in under seven hours. Occasionally, he played baseball when the steamer docked at the Alta House, the Vancouver hotel run by Amos and Esther Short.
While newspapers dutifully recorded the movement, rates and cargoes of steamers, some of what we know about steamer crossings is enhanced by the brief journal William kept about his experiences during the six months between April and October 1867, including his experiences with women he spent time with, disclosed only by their first name or initials. A May 1867 entry reads, “Miss Jane came to Vancouver to see me and called at my room.” The next entry notes that she departed. A woman from his uncle’s side seems to have objected to such cavorting. One morning, she sternly awakened him at his room in a Portland hotel.
