Author: California Steam Navigation Company
Title: Steamboat Helen Hensley Billhead
Description: Stockton, CA, California Steam Navigation Company, 1861. Printed document, partially filled in manuscript in brown ink; 4 1/4 x 6 3/4; pale-blue stock, printed and ruled in black; old, intersecting crease lines; a bit of age toning along creases; in very good condition. The California Steam Navigation Company was founded and incorporated in 1854 with the purpose of consolidating competing steamship companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and along the San Joaquin and the Sacramento rivers. It quickly became very successful and gained near-monopoly of the trade by buying out bancrupted competitors. It would later also offer ocean routes from San Francisco to British Columbia and south to San Diego. Despite its early success, the rise of railroads began negatively impacting the company's profits and in 1871 - its assets were purchased by the Pacific Railroad and it ceased to exist. The Helen Hensley - a sidewheel steamer - was one of the original vessels consolidated into the company in 1854. The boat was built by Samuel J. Hensley (1817 - 1866), President of the California Steam Navigation Company. He had come overland to California from Kentucky in 1843 and had struck it rich during the Gold Rush. He would play an important role in early California politics and ultimately - in California achieving statehood. Very good .

Keywords: California, Americana


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