In early February, 1890, Three Sisters was stranded just upriver from Oregon City. On Wednesday, February 5, 1890, the river measured three feet higher than the great flood of 1862. The breakwater at the boat basin just above Willamette Falls was washed away. To save Three Sisters, which was at Oregon City at the time, up river from the falls, it was necessary to pull the vessel into the bank as closely as possible. The next day, Thursday, February 6, the water level feet off sharply, by three feet, leaving the steamer stranded out of the water on the road between Oregon City and Canemah, Oregon.