Newell was built at Portland, Oregon for the Shoalwater Transportation Company, making its trial trip on August 26, 1883 under the command of Capt.James P. Whitcomb (1824-1901).

William H. Clough was also a member of Shoalwater Bay Transportation Co.[6] Perry Scott, brother of famous steamboat captain Uriah Bonser Scott, assisted in the fitting out of Gov.

Newell was 111 ft (33.83 m) long exclusive of the extension of the main deck, called the "fantail" on which the sternwheel was mounted.

[4] The boat had a beam of 20 ft (6.10 m), exclusive of the protective timbers running outside of the top of the sides of the hull called guards.

[11] Power was generated by twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, cylinder bore 12 in (304.8 mm) and stroke of 4 ft (1.22 m).

Newell "goes to Gray’s harbor on the first favorable opportunity, where a profitable trade awaits her.

[6] In 1885 Gov Newell was returned to the Columbia River, where it was operated for a short time by Capt.

[11] In a bitter argument that month after Newell had sustained some damage towing a ship downriver to Astoria, Trullinger accused Cox of trying to sink Gov.

[19] The steamer was purchased for $7,500 by a husband and wife team of steamboat captains, Charles O. and Minnie Hill.

[20] The Hills had raised the money themselves from successful trading operations on the Columbia river, starting from small steamers and working up.

[20] Minnie Hill was the first woman west of the Mississippi river to hold a steamboat captain's license, which she obtained on November 30, 1887.

Newell, Charles ran the engineering department while Minnie steered the boat from the pilot house.

[20] In addition to navigating the boat, Minnie Hill ran a general merchandise store on the upper deck, where she was reportedly an "excellent hand at making a shrewd bargain.

Newell was in operation on the lower Columbia river, bringing barges down to Astoria.

[22] On September 24, 1893, when a fire broke out the Pacific Coast grain elevator in Portland, Oregon, and two ships loading grain were moored at the elevator's dock were threatened with destruction, Gov.

[24] In early July 1897, when the Vancouver ferry was out of service for several days, its place was taken by Gov.

Newell could carry passengers, but there were complaints by drovers because the steamer could not accommodate teams.

[25] In early 1896, Frederick Clifford Mossman and his wife, Jennie May, were living on the Gov.

[26] Specifically, Mossman sought $25,000 from Hill, claiming that "his wife was induced to be unfaithful to her marriage vow, through the arts, flattery and persuasion of the defendant" on account of which Mossman claimed to have "suffered great mental distress and that his happy home and the honor and good name of his family have been forever ruined.

"[26] In defense, Charles O. Hill admitted that he had had improper relations with Jennie May Mossman, but it was she who tempted him rather than the other way around, and that the whole affair was an attempt by the Mossmans to get Hill to pay them a large amount of money.

[29] Sediment washed down in floods covered the old hulk, and by 1911 it had become a significant obstacle to harbor dredging operations.