This site will be under Continual construction for several years. New information is found all the time. We will add what we know at this point and as new material is found we will add or change.
Check Back Often
1860s Sauvie Island
​
“A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by future descendants”
Lord Macaulay
(a British Historian and Politician 1800-1859)
"That Ohio Group"
​
During the late 1880's a group of rivermen from Ohio were prominent in the steamboat business in Oregon. They were known as "that Ohio group." Several of these men were part of the Bonser family. Captain Uriah Bonser Scott, known as "Ubiquotus" Scott, and Perry Scott were grandson's of Isaac Bonser and nephew’s of John Bonser of Sauvie Island. Newton Scott was the son of Perry Scott. These Bonsers left their mark on the Pacific Northwest.
​
Captain Uriah Bonser Scott was called "One of the Empire Builders of the great Northwest. In his obituary he was described as "the foremost of the Columbia River pioneer boatmen." He came to Oregon in 1873 and by 1875 he had formed the U. B. Scott Steamboat Company. His brother Perry Scott and his nephew Isaac Newton Scott worked with him as engineers.
​
They built a boat called the “Telephone" that was considered one of the best money makers that ever operated on the river. (Lockley, 1928) Uriah B. was the leader of the Columbia River and Puget Sound Navigation Company. It was incorporated in 1891 and Uriah was the president until 1912, the year before his death.
​
Perry Scott was known as "the best known marine engineer in the Northwest." Some of the boats built and ran by these men were; the “Ohio”, which was the first light-draft steamer in this area. It was a great financial success and opened many doors for Captain Scott and his brother. Other notable boats were the “Telephone”, the “Fleetwood”, the “Bailey Gatzert” and the “Flyer”.
​