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| 1846 |
Oregon Territory purchased from Britain. |
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| 1847 |
29th
Congress passes the Mail
Steamer Bill, which provides
for mail delivery to and from the U.S. East Coast
to the West via the Isthmus
of Panama. |
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Click on image to view larger version. |
Using
the Isthmus of Panama
to transport goods
and people between
the East Coast and
West Coast of the
U.S. was far more
direct that the clipper
ship route around
Cape Horn. However,
the ardous four-day
journey across the
isthmus consisted
of traveling by canoe
along the Chagres
River, then by mule
to the Pacific (trail
in red above). In
1855, William Henry
Aspinwall's Panama
Railroad Company began
offering rail service
(rail line in black
above) across the
isthmus. The day-long
trip across the isthmus,
along with more precisely
coordinated steamer
schedules, resulted
in a record 21-day
transit from New York
to San Francisco. |
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| 1848 |
Mexican War ends; U.S. Pacific Coast extends from Puget Sound to San Diego. |
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William
Henry Aspinwall is
successful in a bid
for a 10-year government
contract to deliver
mail between Panama
and Oregon. In April,
the New York Senate
incorporates the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company
to fulfill the contract.
Aspinwall
is elected president
of the company, APL's
earliest predecessor. |
Wm. H. Aspinwall |
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News
of discovery of gold
in California is announced
on the U.S. East Coast by
President Polk on
December 5. |
President Polk |
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Construction
begins on three wooden,
paddle-wheel steamers
for the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company.
The keel of the California is laid in January
in the shipyard of
William H. Webb, and
the steamer is launched
in May. |
Pacific Mail Flag |
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Pacific
Mail's first steamer, California, departs New York on
October 6 to
take its place in
the company's Panama
- Oregon service. |
The California |
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| 1849 |
Gold
Rush begins in earnest;
most 49ers
make the journey to California
by ship because the overland
route is closed by winter
storms and snow. |
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California
reaches San Francisco on
February 28, followed
by her sister ships Oregon
and Panama on April 1
and June 4, respectively. |
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| 1850 |
| California becomes the 48th state. |
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Pacific
Mail opens a West
Coast office in San
Francisco. Company
stock pays dividends
as high as 50%. |
Click on image for more
information about our logos. |
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Congress
of New Granada ratifies
a contract giving the Panama
Railroad Company, controlled
in part by Aspinwall, exclusive
rights for a rail line across
the Isthmus of Panama. |
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Pacific
Mail purchases two
steamers from Empire
City Line in order
to maintain a monopoly
in the Panama-Oregon
trade. |
Pacific Mail’s office in San Francisco. Click on image for larger version. |
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Pacific
Mail begins an expansive
shipbuilding program. The
four resulting vessels are
designed for the needs of
the expanding California
trade. |
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| 1854 |
Commodore Perry opens trade with China and Japan. |
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1855
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Panama
Railroad offers service
between Atlantic and Pacific
sides of the isthmus. The
trip from ocean to ocean
is reduced from four days
to four hours. Coordination
of rail and steamship schedules
results in travel time of
about 21 days between New
York and San Francisco. |
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| 1856 |
William
Henry Aspinwall retires
from the presidency of the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company. |
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| 1861 |
Civil War begins. |
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Steamers are used to transport gold to the East to support the northern cause. |
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| 1864 |
Pacific
Mail's SS Colorado
is launched from the same
shipyard that built her
predecessor, the California.
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| 1865 |
Civil War ends in April. |
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Pacific
Mail purchases its chief
rival, the Atlantic Mail
Steamship Company. In doing
so, Pacific Mail achieves
a through route from New
York to San Francisco. |
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U.S.
government awards the first
mail contract for service
between San Francisco and
the Far East to Pacific
Mail. |
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| 1866 |
Aspinwall,
along with other philanthropists,
founds the SPCA (Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals). |
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Pacific
Mail pulls the Colorado
from the Panama-Oregon service
for use on a new route to
China and Japan. The ship's
hull is reinforced, and
she is given an extra mast
in anticipation of the rough
journey across the Pacific. |
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The Colorado in drydock at Hunter's Point |
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| 1867 |
The Great Republic, a sister ship of the Colorado, provided regular steamer service to Asia. |
On
January 1, Colorado
departs San Francisco
on a voyage that marks
the first regular
service between the
U.S. and Yokohama
and Hong Kong; feeder
service is established
from Yokohama to Hakodate,
Kobe, Nagasaki, and
Shanghai. |
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| 1869 |
Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Promontory Point, Utah. |
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Laying the tracks of change.
Click on image for larger version. |
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Aspinwall co-founds the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. |
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Passenger traffic on ships operating along the Panama route declines. |
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| 1872 |
U.S.
government doubles its subsidy
for Pacific Mail's
trans-Pacific service, but
also mandates more frequent
sailings and a modernization
of the company's fleet. |
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| 1873 |
The City of Peking. Click on image for larger version. |
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Click on image for larger version. |
Pacific
Mail takes delivery
on the first of 11
iron-hulled, screw-propelled
steamers, including
the City
of Peking. These
ships soon take their
place in the company's
thriving trans-Pacific
service. |
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| 1875 |
William Henry Aspinwall dies on January 18, 1875, at age 68. |
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Pacific Mail begins service to Australia and New Zealand. |
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| 1880 |
Steel hulls replace iron in new vessel construction. |
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Electric
lights are installed by
Thomas Edison on the steamer
Columbia, making
it the first ship to have
electricity on board. |
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1893
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Southern
Pacific Railroad acquires
controlling interest
of Pacific Mail.
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| 1895 |
Captain
Robert Dollar purchases his first
ship, a 120-foot steam
schooner called the Newsboy, to transport lumber
from his mill to market.
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Captain R. Dollar, lumber tycoon. |
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| 1896 |
Pacific Mail offers direct service to Honolulu, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Shanghai. |
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