Elwood is probably best known for an incident in 1893, when it was approaching the Madison Street Bridge over the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

[8] Elwood was so lightly built that it could not operate on longer runs on the Columbia such as to the Cascades or Astoria, Oregon.

[1] Elwood departed the Portland & Willamette Valley dock shortly after 4:00 pm., and proceeded a few miles downriver.

[4] The next day, Thursday, May 28, 1891, Elwood left the Kellogg dock in Portland, and was expected to arrive in Salem that same evening to load freight.

[1] At about 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 25, 1891, while carrying passengers and a cargo of 500 sacks of oats, Elwood hit a snag at Ash Island, about 35 miles south of Portland, and sank.

[11] The steamer had just left the mouth of the Yamhill River, and, with mate John Ditmer at the wheel, was running in a stretch of deeper water close to shore known as Ash Island channel.

[11] The current spun the boat around sidewise and the snag ripped a hole half the length of the hull, sinking the vessel cabin-deep, and rendering cargo of oats a total loss.

[10] On Friday, May 13, 1892, Kern was brought before U.S. Commissioner Paul H. Deady the day after the arrest, and he posted bond of $500 to secure his release during the pendency of the case.

[14] Smith had taken over the Salem agency for Elwood from Albert Herren, reportedly a popular steamboat agent, in November 1893.

[15] On April 10, 1894, Willam Armstrong, second engineer, was lost off the Elwood while the boat was en route from Oregon City to Salem.

[19] In early 1894, the Union Pacific Railroad placed a steamboat on the upper Willamette River, the Modoc, to compete with Elwood.

[20] Before placing Modoc into service, the Union Pacific had cooperated with Elwood, allowing the independent steamer to use the railroad's dock at Salem.

[20] However, on April 1, 1892, Union Pacific sent a telegram to their Salem agent, instructing him to no longer allow Elwood to use their dock.

[20] On May 26, 1894, Charles H. Abernethy was reported to come to Salem to close up the business of the Elwood, which he had tied up at his residence at Champoeg.

[2] A non-contemporaneous source states that it was the very successful steamboatman Jacob Kamm who leased Elwood for the Portland – Lewis River route.

[4] Kamm appears to have controlled the Lewis River Transportation company, and he may have purchased rather than leased Elwood.

[5] In August 1895, it was reported that "an immense lot of wheat" was being delivered to the Imperial Mills at Oregon City from landings on the upper Willamette River.

[22] As of August 23, 1895, Elwood had been engaged for ten days carrying wheat from Mission Landing (near St. Paul[23]) and other points on the upper river to the mills at Oregon City.

[24] In late September 1896, Elwood was tied up and undergoing extensive repairs at Jacob Kamm's dock in Portland at Taylor Street.

"[8] To meet the needs for carriage of pickers for the 1897 hops season in the Willamette Valley, Elwood was engaged by the Oregon City Transportation Company, leaving Portland on the morning of August 27, 1897, to carry pickers as far upriver as the water conditions, generally low at the end of the summer, would permit.

[27] On Sunday morning, August 29, 1897, both Elwood and another sternwheeler, Altona, transported a full load of passengers, most of whom were landed at Butteville.

[5] On Monday afternoon, April 18, 1898, Elwood departed Portland in the tow of the tug Relief bound for the Stikine River.

[33] Elwood in tow of Relief was scheduled to depart Astoria, Oregon early in the morning on Wednesday, April 20, 1898, for Puget Sound and thereafter to Alaska.

[33] Relief had completed the tow of the former Willamette River steamer Ramona to the Stikine earlier the same year.

[33] Elwood arrived in Victoria, BC on April 21, 1898, and was expected to depart soon for the north for survey and construction work, with a crew of 15 and Captain Johnson .

[32] By May 8, 1898, Elwood had arrived at Fort Wrangell and departed up the Stikine River bound for Glenora, British Columbia.

[35] Elwood was then one of seven sternwheelers to have steamed up the river for Glenora, which was a four-day round trip from Fort Wrangell.

[36] By the summer of 1898, the Stikine route had failed due to the extreme difficulty of reaching gold fields overland from the steamboat terminus.

[4][42] The Elwood Building, part of the Hassalo on Eighth apartment complex in Portland's Lloyd District, is named after the steamboat.