Alaskan was built in 1883 by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania.

She was a sidewheeler driven by a single cylinder vertical condensing walking-beam steam engine, which gave her high speed.

When she arrived in the Pacific Northwest this design proved unsuited for the conditions, and the ship became a steady money loser.

Occasionally the highly skilled Troup and Pease were able to outrun Telephone, then under the command of the equally-skilled river veterans Capt.

& N transferred Alaskan to Puget Sound where together with Olympian she ran from Tacoma, Seattle, and Port Townsend to Victoria and back.

No gridiron in the Pacific Northwest was big enough to handle Alaskan, so the decision was made to run her down to San Francisco.

[3] Alaskan left Puget Sound, sailing around the Olympic Peninsula, then up the Columbia and Willamette rivers to Portland.

Second Officer Weeks and the crew tried to shove blankets and ticking into the holes to stop the leaks, but the vessel still kept shipping additional tons of water.

[6] By 6:00 p.m. her condition became irretrievable when the port side paddle box tore away, leaving numerous holes in the hull.

By midnight, the boiler fire was extinguished and Alaskan lost all power save for an emergency sail rigged earlier to keep her steadier in the wind.

As the evacuation was going on, a wave broke over the deck and sucked Quartermaster (the seaman who actually steers the ship) Shielderup into the now-exposed side wheel where he was horribly mangled.

Vigilant found Captain Howes still hanging on to the deck fragment, which had been gradually getting smaller as seas tore off pieces.

[1] Captain Howes and his remaining crew were later returned Astoria by the coastal passenger liner Columbia, also operated by O.R.