James D. Miller was a steamboat captain in the Pacific Northwest from 1851 to 1903. He became well known for his long length of service, the large number of vessels he commanded, and the many different geographical areas in which he served.
Migration to Oregon
Capt. James D. Miller arrived on the Pacific Coast in 1848. Arriving in Oregon Miller traded his horses and mules for an acre of land just north of Oregon City, Oregon at a place called Clackamas City.
Flatboat navigation on the Willamette
In the spring of 1850, Miller began running a flatboat between Canemah just above Willamette Falls on the Willamette River and Dayton, on the Yamhill River. Miller built a flatboat 65 feet long, which was capable of hauling 350 bushels of wheat. He hired four members of the Klickitat First Nation as crew and poled and rowed the boat up the Yamhill River to Dayton and Lafayette. It took two days to go up from Canemah, and one day to return. Miller charged $35 a ton to haul cargo to upriver farmers, mostly consignments from merchants on the lower Willamette (the part of the river below Willamette Falls). Coming down river Miller charged 50 cents a bushel to carry out the farmers' wheat. His chief expenses were the salaries of his First Nations crew, which were $16 per man for each trip.
Start in steamboating
Miller had been in the flatboat business for about a year when on May 19, 1851, the first steamboat appeared on the upper Willamette. This was the small sidewheeler Hoosier. Although small and crude, Hoosier was capable of hauling much more cargo and wheat than any flatboat. Miller was soon out of business, however he did manage to be hired by Hoosier'''s owner, John Zumwalt. On board Hoosier, Miller worked as the bookkeeper, purser, pilot, deckhand and roustabout.Affleck, Edward L., A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon and Alaska, Alexander Nicholls Press, Vancouver, BC 2000 In the fall of 1856 with his brother-in-law Silas R. Smith, Miller bought Hoosier and the next year built another steamboat Hoosier No. 2 and operated the vessel on the Willamette between Champoeg and Butteville and up the Yamhill River. Later, they rebuilt Hoosier' No. 2 and called her Hoosier No. 3.
In 1858 Miller sold an interest in Hoosier No. 3 to E.M. White and with his associates purchased the sternwheeler James Clinton and ran her until April 23, 1861, when the Clinton was destroyed by a dockside fire at Linn City, Oregon. In 1860 he took the machinery out of Hoosier and placed it in the steam scow Yamhill.
Snake River mines and purchase of the Unio/Union
Soon after this Miller sold his interest in Yamhill to Capt. John T. Apperson, and with Capt. George A. Pease went to the Snake River mines. Meanwhile Apperson had built the sternwheeler Unio whose unusual name derived from Captain Apperson's uncertainty about who might prevail in the American Civil War which had just begun, as well as a significant number of Confederate sympathizers who might be among his customers. Returning from there in December, 1861, Miller bought the Unio from Captain Apperson, and, not caring what his Southern-inclined customers might think, quickly added the final "n" to her name.
House washed away by flood
Miller's home was destroyed, along with most of Linn City, in a flood of the Willamette River on December 1, 1861. Miller's home was thought to be the safest structure in the town, and other people sheltered there. But as the water rose, it became obvious they would have to evacuate the structure, which was done just before the building was swept away.
Steamboat pilot on the Willamette
Except for a short time in 1862, when he was on the Mountain Buck and Julia Barclay, Miller ran Union on the Willamette River until 1866 when the vessel was acquired by the People's Transportation Company. From the Union Miler went as pilot on the Fanny Patton with Capt. George Jerome. After that, Miller moved to the Enterprise (built 1863) with Capt. Sebastian "Bas" Miller, remaining with Enterprise until that vessel was dismantled.One source indicates Enterprise was dismantled in 1875 but this may be too late a date for Miller's service. See Affleck, at 12.