"Rival" 's first trip was on July 4, 1860, carrying on the the "unbelievable" number of 700 passengers from Oregon City to Vancouver, WA, a distance of by river, which kept Captain Pease "breathing hard from the time he started until he saw them safely ashore". There was a major flood of the Willamette River in late November and early December 1861. On November 30, the "Rival" tried to make her regular run from Oregon City to Portland, but was forced to abandon it after going only a few miles. Above Willamette Falls on the same day the steamer "Onward" started down the river towards Salem, under George Pease, who had sold his interest in "Rival" to Capt. John T. Apperson, two months after "Rival" 's completion, was now in command of "Onward", and what started as a commercial venture that day for "Onward" turned into one of rescue, as the flood had carried away houses which were floating in the river with their occupants on the roofs.