Ramona was built at Portland, Oregon in 1892, and was reconstructed and enlarged in 1896. The vessel was built for the Graham steamboat line, formally called the Oregon City Transportation Company, but also known as the “Yellow Stack Line”. All the steamers of the line had names that ended in -ona: Latona, Ramona, Altona, Leona, Pomona, Oregona, and Grahamona. Ramona was specially fitted for passenger service, and was reported to have the best cabin of any steamer operating on the Willamette.
Willamette river service
From 1892 to 1898 Ramona was worked on the Willamette River. Until 1894, the vessel was run on the lower Willamette from Portland to Oregon City. After 1894 Ramona was transferred to service on the upper Willamette, that is, the portion of the river above Willamette Falls. For most of the first three years of operation, Captain A.J. Sprong was in command, with Horace Campbell serving as chief engineer and E. Wynkoop as purser. One important landing on the Willamette was the Trade Street dock at Salem, Oregon, which was used by Ramona and other steamboats. By the late 1890s however the once-booming steamboat business at Salem was falling off, as railroads began carrying the agricultural product that had once been shipped on the river.
Stikine river operations
In 1898, with the coming of the Alaska Gold Rush, Ramona was sent north to Alaska to run on the Stikine River, where there was an effort being made to develop an alternative "All-Canadian" route to the Klondikegold fields. Ramona went aground on the Stikine and had to be towed off by the Canadian Pacific Railway 's sternwheeler Ogilvie. This was a common type of experience on the Stikine, which was a difficult river to navigate. By the summer of 1898, the Stikine route had failed due to the extreme difficulty of reaching gold fields overland from the steamboat terminus.
Fraser river service
Ramona was transferred to the Fraser River to replace the steamer Edgar. On April 17, 1901, while in service on the Fraser River, Ramona 's boiler exploded, killing at least four people. The incident occurred at Fort Langley. Two were mothers who had goneon deck for fresh air. They were blown off the boatinto the river where they presumably drowned. They had both left their babies in the main cabin; these infants were unharmed. Two deckhands were killed by flying pieces of the boiler. Contemporaneous reports stated that seven additional people suffered what appeared to be fatal injuries.
Disposition
Ramona was repaired following the boiler explosion and returned to service. In October 1903 Ramona struck the Mission railway bridge, but was again repaired and returned to service. Ramona sank on April 22, 1908 at Wharton's Landing near the mouth of the Harrison River. The report of the Canadian steamboat inspector summarized the incident: Historian Affleck stated that Ramona was "an accident-prone steamer."
