Uncle Sam (1852 sidewheeler)

Uncle Sam, was a side-wheel paddle steamer and the first steamboat on the Colorado River in 1852.

History
Name: Uncle Sam
Builder: Domingo Marcucci, San Francisco
Completed: June 1852
Fate: Sank 1853 at Fort Yuma
General characteristics
Type: Paddle steamer
Length: 65 ft (20 m)
Installed power: 20 hp (15 kW) engine
Capacity: 35 tons

In November 1852, Uncle Sam, a 65-foot (20 m) long side-wheel paddle steamer was brought by the schooner Capacity from San Francisco to the Colorado River Delta by the next contractor to supply Fort Yuma, Captain James Turnbull. It had been built in June 1852 in San Francisco by Domingo Marcucci and disassembled for shipment.[1] It was assembled and launched in the estuary, 30 miles (48 km) above the mouth of the Colorado River. Equipped with only a 20-horsepower (15 kW) engine, Uncle Sam could only carry 35 tons of supplies, taking 15 days to make the first 120-mile (190 km) trip.

Uncle Sam made many trips up and down the river for four months to finish carrying all the supplies for the fort, improving its time up river to 12 days. Negligence caused it to sink at its dock below Fort Yuma, and was then washed away and lost before it could be raised, in the spring flood of 1853. Turnbull who meanwhile had returned to the Delta from San Francisco with another cargo and a more powerful engine for the Uncle Sam.[2] He returned to San Francisco, for a new hull, while the army sent wagons to recover the cargo from the delta again. However, Turnbull in financial difficulty, disappeared from the city leaving creditors unpaid. Nevertheless, Turnbull had shown the worth of steamboats to solve Fort Yuma's supply problem.[3]

References
  1. Scott, Erving M. and Others, Evolution of Shipping and Ship-Building in California, Part I, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 25, January 1895, p. 15; from quod.lib.umich.edu accessed December 14, 2014
  2. Sixteen Days later from California, Col.3-4, New York Times, August 10, 1853
  3. Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978, pp.10-11


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