# Explorer (sternwheeler)

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Stern-wheel steamboat built 1858

***Explorer*** was a small, custom-made [stern-wheel](/source/Stern-wheel) [steamboat](/source/Steamboat) built for [Second lieutenant](/source/Second_lieutenant) [Joseph Christmas Ives](/source/Joseph_Christmas_Ives) and used by him to carry the [U. S. Army](/source/U._S._Army) [Corps of Topographical Engineers](/source/Corps_of_Topographical_Engineers) expedition to explore the [Colorado River](/source/Colorado_River) above [Fort Yuma](/source/Fort_Yuma) in 1858.[1]: 14, 16–23, 162

## History

After inquiring about the cost of chartering one of the Colorado River steamboats of [George Alonzo Johnson](/source/George_Alonzo_Johnson) and finding their rates too high, Lt. Ives ordered a steamboat built in 1857:

- "In the latter part of June I ordered of [Reaney, Neafie & Co.](/source/Neafie_%26_Levy), of [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), an iron steamer, fifty feet long, to be built in sections, and the parts to be so arranged that they could be transported by railroad, as the shortness of time required that it should be sent to California, via the [Isthmus of Panama](/source/Isthmus_of_Panama). About the middle of August the boat was finished, tried upon the Delaware, and found satisfactory, subject to a few alterations only. It was then taken apart, sent to New York, and shipped on board of the California steamer which sailed on the 20th of August for [Aspinwall](/source/Col%C3%B3n%2C_Panama). Mr. A. J. Carroll, of Philadelphia, who had engaged to accompany the expedition as steamboat engineer, went out in charge of the boat." [2]: 21

After being transported by the [Panama Railroad](/source/Panama_Canal_Railway#1855_Panama_Railroad) across the Isthmus to the Pacific Ocean, the *Explorer* was shipped again by steamship from [Panama City](/source/Panama_City) up to San Francisco. From there expedition sailed with the parts of the steamboat on the deck of the [schooner](/source/Schooner) *Monterey* to the [Colorado River Delta](/source/Colorado_River_Delta) where it arrived November 30. There Ives oversaw its reassembly and launch on December 30, 1857, at [Robinson's Landing](/source/Robinson's_Landing), [Baja California](/source/Baja_California). [David C. Robinson](/source/David_C._Robinson), owner of the landing and a pilot for George Alonzo Johnson, was made captain of the boat.[1] : 14, 16–17, 162 [2]: 21–37

After Ives used the *Explorer* to ascend the Colorado River, he sent it back to Fort Yuma with Richardson. There it was put up for auction and sold to George A. Johnson for $1000. He had its engine and paddle wheel removed and used it for a barge to carry firewood to steamboat landings. In 1864 it broke free from it moorings at [Pilot Knob](/source/Pilot_Knob_(Imperial_County%2C_California)) and was carried away 60 miles down river into the Delta where it sank in a slough, sometimes seen by passing steamers, until the river moved away from the location and it was hidden by the delta foliage and lost. Its wreck was found in 1929, by a survey party, in a dried up slough miles away from the new course of the river. A mere skeleton remained, its iron plates long ago removed to make [comales](/source/Comal_(cookware)) for baking tortillas.[1]: 23

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Lingenfelter_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Lingenfelter_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Lingenfelter_1-2) [Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978](http://www.ansac.az.gov/UserFiles/PDF/08182014/X028_FMIBurtellLingenfelterSteamboats/FMI%20Lingenfelter%20Steamboats/Steamboats%20on%20the%20Colorado%20River%201852-1916.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160118031332/http://www.ansac.az.gov/UserFiles/PDF/08182014/X028_FMIBurtellLingenfelterSteamboats/FMI%20Lingenfelter%20Steamboats/Steamboats%20on%20the%20Colorado%20River%201852-1916.pdf) January 18, 2016, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ives_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ives_2-1) [Joseph C. Ives, REPORT UPON THE COLORADO RIVER OF THE WEST, EXPLORED IN 1857 AND 1858 BY LIEUTENANT JOSEPH C. IVES, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, UNDER THE DIRECTION OP THE OFFICE OF EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS, A. A. HUMPHREYS, CAPTAIN TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN CHARGE. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, 1861; PART I. GENERAL REPORT](https://books.google.com/books?id=1xIOAAAAQAAJ).

## External links

- [Southwestexplorations.com: "Ives's steamboat, the *Explorer*, commanded by Captain Robinson, steaming upriver past Chimney Peak, in 1858"](https://southwestexplorations.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/explorer.jpg) — *from a lithograph by expedition artist [Balduin Möllhausen](/source/Balduin_M%C3%B6llhausen)*.

v t e Steamboats of the Colorado River Particular vessels Cochan Cocopah I Cocopah II Colorado I Colorado II Esmerelda Explorer General Jesup General Rosales Gila Mohave I Mohave II Nina Tilden Retta Searchlight St. Vallier San Jorge Uncle Sam Steamboat Lines California Development Company Colorado Steam Navigation Company George A. Johnson & Company Gulf of California Steamship Company Green, Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Company Philadelphia Silver and Copper Mining Company Stacy Brothers Union Line U.S. Reclamation Service Water routes Colorado River Steamboat owners and captains James Turnbull George Alonzo Johnson David C. Robinson Isaac Polhamus Thomas E. Trueworthy John Alexander Mellon Builders Austin Hills Domingo Marcucci John G. North Henry Owens Patrick Henry Tiernan Shipyards Port Isabel, Sonora Yuma, Arizona Territory List of vessels List of Steamboats on the Colorado River Steamboats in other areas Steamboats of California

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Explorer (sternwheeler)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_(sternwheeler)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_(sternwheeler)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.