A stamp issued by the United States in 1950 to commemorate the centenary of the establishment of the State of California shows the paddle-steamer Oregon, one of the first three vessels of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Her consorts were the California and the Panama, which is shown on a U.S. Canal Zone stamp issued in 1949 and was described in "Sea Breezes," Oct 1949. These three steamers were laid down early in 1848 and were completed by the end of that year. Built by Smith and Dimon, New York, the Oregon was a wooden ship of about 1,100 tons on dimesions 200ft. x 33.1ft. x 30ft. She was barque-rigged and had a side-lever engine of 200 n.h.p. driving paddles which were 26ft. in diameter. In 1869 .her engine was removed and she ended her days under sail.
Sea Breezes Dec/53
SG994