Topic starter
05/11/2010 3:06 pm
I am an historian in Northern California. I believe I have found the 1849 Riverboat California. It was “snagged” around 1851 on the Sacramento River in what is now Butte County.
I have found that it was 63 tons, was made in Maine and worked the rivers near Newburyport Mass, before sailing around the horn to Sacramento.
It may have had a curved hull and was not flat bottomed. It may have been a side wheeler, but I am not sure.
I also have found a nearby gold rush town and one of the artifacts is a copper sphere the size of ping pong ball and has the number 5 engraved onto the side of it. It appears it also had a holes (5/16” on the top and bottom. Could this have been part of the steam engine for the California?
I was wondering if any of this group has any information on this riverboat or the sister ship Sarah.
Many thanks
Dave Freeman
06/11/2010 8:33 am
Dave,
There is a book called
Paddle-Wheel Days in California
by Jerry Macmullen
published in 1944.
It might contain some information on the boat you´re looking for. Actually I can´t find my copy. Have to search for it.
Carmen
06/11/2010 8:52 am
Found it!
Page 12:
Meanwhile other paddle-wheels were churning salt water, as Eastern steamboats headed for the land where a ship could pay foer herself in a few months´ time. Likewise in 1849 the opposition steamers, the California and the Sarah, competitors on the run between Haverhill and Newburyport, decided to become rivals in a big way and headed for California.
Page 135, Appendix A Steamboats of the California rivers:
California, Side-Wheeler, 763.50 tons, built on East Coast, -1850 (meaning first mentioned in 1850), disposal date -1868 (meaning prior to 1868 when the first official list of American merchant vessels has been put together)
That´s all I found in this book.
Carmen
Topic starter
06/11/2010 2:48 pm
Page 12 is the correct boat. The other boat named "California" is over 700 tons.
The boat I have found is (was) 63 tons. It appears to be about 90 -100 feet long. The site also appears to be a side wheeler. I will get back out there a week from Sunday and probe for the boiler. Would the boiler be located between the paddles?
Topic starter
06/11/2010 3:58 pm
The "California" that I have found, made it's port at "L" Street and the River in Sacramento Ca. (According to the 1851 Sacramento Bussiness Directory.)
08/11/2010 4:39 pm
The boiler or boilers would be forward of the paddlewheels, somewhere between the bow and the paddlewheels. IF it/they are still there, you should be able to find them. Do you know which way the bow is? Is this wreck underwater?
Topic starter
09/11/2010 12:53 am
It appears the bow is facing down stream , at this point. The ship looks to be in a a sink hole on dry land. This Sunday I will go in and probe the site for the boiler. If I can find the boiler or some artifacts on "shore" that dates the site, I can then get a magnetometer.
The sink hole had a very square puddle in between where I think the sidewheels were.
I can send pictures.
Dave Freeman
artois.dave@yahoo
09/11/2010 1:20 am
Hey Carmen, does that book mention anything about the opposition steamer Chin-Du-Wan?
Topic starter
09/11/2010 4:37 am
Page 142 of the "Paddle Wheel Days"
Chin-Du Wan was built by Stephen Davis at Stockton
Davef
09/11/2010 5:00 pm
Would love to see some pictures. Nautical archaeology is one of my passions. I really "dig" it.
Topic starter
09/11/2010 5:03 pm
How do you post a picture?
Davef
Topic starter
11/11/2010 4:54 pm
1851 Sacramento riverboat list
Here is a listing of the riverboats in Sacramneto in 1851. It is from the 1851 Saramento Bussiness Directory.
Davef
Topic starter
11/11/2010 5:13 pm
Here is the sinkhole with the California's size overlayed. It assumes the ship is tilted.
Sunday I go to the site with a 12 foot long probe and try to find the boiler.
Davef
Topic starter
15/11/2010 3:08 am
Today's update on the "Caifornia"
Hi,
My wife and I went to the site of what I think is the California . I have put all of your information and facts from riverboat experts to form a bit of a picture of the boat.
A riverboat, the size of the California , at 63 tons, would be about 100 feet long. This is a perfect match for the sinkhole . The width of the sinkhole is also correct if you allow that the deck and side wheels are tipped about 45 degrees. The side wheeler configuration was typical of an ocean going riverboat. I have also found that the California had a notable passenger in Feb. 28, 1849. The new commander of the military in California , Persifer F. Smith, was a passenger on this boat and was delivered on shore in Monterey Ca, on Feb. 28 1849. The California then entered service between San Francisco and Sacramento until the spring of 1850.
We measured the sink hole and found that this was a perfect match for the California , if the bow is pointed down stream and the ship is tipped into the 1850 river channel.
There is a 15 by 30 foot rectangular depression where the boiler might have been located in this sink hole. I had intended to probe for the boiler today with a 12 foot long probe. But I left it in the truck of the car and that project waits for another day. The whole area is overburden with silt and any iron is beyond the reach of my metal detecting tools.
And this is my update.
Again, thanks for your help,
Davef
Topic starter
17/11/2010 5:16 pm
Here are 2 pictures of the "California" sinkhole
