SS Northerner was the first paddle steamer

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 lost in operations by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company

Pacific Mail Steamship Company

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...

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History

Northerner was built in 1847 by William H. Brown, of New York City

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, as a companion to the SS Southerner for the Spofford & Tileston Company's line of steamers serving Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 and the East Coast of the United States. In 1850, Northerner was sold to a Mr. Howard and sent to the Pacific under Captain Waterman. Subsequently purchased by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company she was initially placed in service between San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 and Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

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In January, 1851, Northerner arrived from San Francisco with $2,600,000 in gold dust and treasure on board, and carrying 500 passengers. In August, 1851 Northerner broke the shaft of her starboard wheel soon after leaving Panama. She completed the voyage to San Francisco using only one paddle wheel, in 22 days, arriving September 8, 1851, with 20 tons of freight and 350 passengers, including mutineers from the Commodore Stockton who had to be clapped in irons for disorderly conduct by the captain.

After 1853, she was placed on a more northerly route, carrying mails and passengers between San Francisco and Oregon as far as the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 and the gold fields at Fraser River

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush

The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...

, arriving for the first time on September 3, 1858.

On October 10, 1858, southbound from Olympia to San Francisco, Northerner was hit broadside by the Steam Tug Resolute in Dana's Straights. Since thousands of dollars of damage was done to both vessels, and it was a clear night in a mile-wide passage, the ship owners filed cross-suits in the Washington Territorial Courts. The owners of the Resolute were unsatisfied with the Washington's court decision, and filed their case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Northerner was wrecked January 6, 1860 on Centerville Beach, California

Centerville, Humboldt County, California

Centerville is a former settlement in Humboldt County, California. It was located west of Ferndale, at an elevation of 13 feet ....

, where the Centerville Beach Cross

Centerville Beach Cross

On January 6, 1860 the SS Northerner, owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company struck a rock near Cape Mendocino and wrecked on Centerville Beach, in Humboldt County, California.-History:...

marks the resting place of the victims whose bodies were recovered.

In December 1863, the U.S. Supreme Court (68 U.S. 682), ruled Northerner was at fault for steering across the path of the Resolute.