Idaho (sidewheeler)

The sidewheeler ''Idaho'' was a steamboat that ran on the Columbia River and Puget Sound from 1860 to 1898. There is some confusion as to the origins of the name; many historians have proposed it is the inspiration for the name of the State of Idaho. Considerable doubt has been cast on this due to the fact that it is unclear if the boat was named before or after the idea of 'Idaho' as a territory name was proposed. John Ruckel also allegedly stated he had named the boat after a Native American term meaning 'Gem of the Mountains' he got from a mining friend from what is now Colorado territory. This steamer should not be confused with the many other vessels of the same name, including the sternwheeler ''Idaho'' built in 1903 for service on Lake Coeur d'AleneHult, Ruby El, ''Steamboats in the Timber'', at 144-45, Binfords and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1968) and the steamship ''Idaho'' of the Pacific Coast Steamship Line which sank near Port Townsend, Washington.Newell, Gordon R., ''Coastal Liners'', at 183, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1959

Design and construction

''Idaho'' was built on at the Upper Cascades on the Columbia River by John J. Holland (1843–1893) for John Ruckel. Holland, who was then only a very young man, later went on to build many famous steamboats, including in 1890 his masterpiece, the ''Bailey Gatzert''Newell, Gordon R., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at 12, 14, 15, 50, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA 1966

Operations

Soon after she was launched, ''Idaho'' was acquired by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, and ran on the middle Columbia. This was a stretch of the river that ran between the rapids at the Cascades and The Dalles, where another longer stretch of rapids began. Because the rapids were not generally navigable, all traffic had to be routed around the rapids on portages, first paths and roads, then on railways. This meant that no single steamboat could run up the whole river. The ''Idaho''s role was to transport people and freight on the middle Columbia, bracketed by the rapids at the Cascades and by Celilo Falls to the east. She ran on this route with the small sidewheeler ''Dalles'' and the larger ''Iris''.Timmen, Fritz, ''Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West'', at 11, 32, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973

''Idaho'' made a lot of money on the middle Columbia, when she was generally under the command of Captain John McNulty. The profits from ''Idaho''s work allowed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company to build more and bigger steamers, including the ''Oneonta'' and ''Daisy Ainsworth''. One of the most important positions on any steamboat was the purser, who was in charge of collecting fares, paying debts and wages, and in general running the business affairs of the vessel. During the times when steamboats were the center of commerce, the position of purser was a sought-after and lucrative post. One of the early pursers on the ''Idaho'' was George H. Knaggs, who also served on many other steamboats in the Pacific Northwest.Wright, E.W., ed., ''Lewis and Dryden Marine History of the Northwest'', at 60, 91-92, 191, 270, 287, 297, Lewis and Dryden Printers, Portland, OR 1895 ''Idaho'' was rebuilt in 1869.

In 1880, the shareholders of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company sold out to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. As railroads were constructed through from Portland to The Dalles, the steamboats of the middle river, including the ''Idaho'' could not compete and they were taken down through the Cascades Rapids one by one. ''Idaho'' was taken through on July 11, 1881 under the command of master steamboat captain James W. Troup.

Following her run through the Cascades, ''Idaho'' was taken down to Portland, Oregon, where she was hauled out of the water and completely rebuilt on a new hull. Her paddle wheels were replaced, and new cabin space and a new pilot house were added. The total cost of the reconstruction was $20,000.

Transfer to Puget Sound

As the O.R. & N completed its railroad line up the Columbia, the company management realized that this would put out of work most of their steamboats on the middle river, including the ''Idaho''. The only near place where these boats could be employed was Puget Sound, and the company began to expand its operations there. First, in May 1881 they bought the Starr Navigation Company, thereby acquiring the largest steamboat fleet on the sound, including among others, the ''George E. Starr''. Next they began bringing the redundant boats from their Columbia River fleet around the Olympic Peninsula to Puget Sound.Carey, Roland, ''The Sound of Steamers'', at 76-80, Alderbrook Publishing, Seattle, WA 1965 Taking a shallow draft lightly built inland-vessel on this route was a difficult task. The storms and sea conditions in this area of the Pacific Ocean were so bad that it became known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. Just crossing the Columbia Bar was dangerous even to large seagoing vessels.

The first boat brought around was the sternwheeler ''Welcome'', with Capt. George S. Messegee (1837–1911), in command. ''Welcome'' was taken up in August 1881 the tow of the tug ''Tacoma''. Captain Messegee then returned to the Columbia River to take the ''Idaho'' around. Originally the company had planned to have ''Idaho'' towed around just as ''Welcome'' had been, but when the company learned the towing charges would be $1,000, they ordered Captain Messegee to take ''Idaho'' up under her own power. Messegee took command of Idaho on October 22, 1881, the day she was launched following her reconstruction. In case of engine failure on the trip to Puget Sound, Messegee rigged up a square sail and a jib on the vessel.

At 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 19, 1882, ''Idaho'' left Portland on her voyage to Puget Sound, heading down first the Willamette River and then the Columbia, reaching Astoria, Oregon at 3:30 that afternoon. The next day, Monday the 20th, Messegee tried taking ''Idaho'' out from Astoria and west to the mouth of the Columbia, but conditions were so bad that the bar could not be safely crossed, and the vessel returned to Astoria. On Tuesday, Messegee took ''Idaho'' downriver again, and pulled into Baker Bay, near the Columbia Bar and the town of Ilwaco. On Wednesday, February 22, at 6:00 a.m. a second attempt to cross the bar failed, and ''Idaho'' returned to Baker Bay at 8:00 a.m., where Messegee and the assistant engineer Reuben Smith disembarked and went up to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse to watch the sea conditions. At 11:00 a.m. they judged the seas to be sufficiently calm to allow the ''Idaho'' to cross the bar, so they returned to the vessel, and took her over the bar, encountering heavy seas as they did so. Once past the bar, ''Idaho'' ran fast on her own power, reaching Port Townsend the next day, February 23, 1882. This was the fastest time yet for any steamer brought around to the Sound from the Columbia River.

Service on Puget Sound

''Idaho'' went into service immediately on the Tacoma to Port Townsend route, under Capt. Cyrus Orr, former mate of the ''North Pacific''. In 1883, the O.R. & N advertised her as

An example of cargo carried by ''Idaho'' out of Tacoma on one trip was 450 tons of coal, 410 sacks of potatoes, 550 bundles of hoops, 2245 bundles of barrel staves, 15 sacks of onions, and five bales of hides.

In 1890 ''Idaho'' was sold to Capt. James Hastings who put on the route from Seattle to Everett, Washington and the Snohomish River. ''Idaho'' did not succeed on this route, and was then sold to Capt. Curtis D. Brownfield, who put her on the Seattle to Blaine route. On May 18, 1894, she was sold to Captain D.B. Jackson, who, doing business as the Northwestern Steamship Company (as known as the Washington Steamship Company), put her on the run from Seattle to Port Townsend by way of the mill ports (Port Gamble, Port Ludlow, etc.) ''Idahos pilot during her ownership by the Washington line was Everett B. Coffin, later to become one of the most famous steamship captains of in the Northwest as captain of ''Flyer'' and the steel express passenger ''Tacoma''.Newell, Gordon, R. ''Ships of the Inland Sea -- The Story of the Puget Sound Steamboats'', at 97-99, Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed.) 1960

Retirement from service

''Idaho'' did not serve long with Captain Jackson, and on August 10, 1894, she was sold to Cohn & Cohn, a firm of junk dealers. They removed her machinery, and then sold her to Dr. Alexander De Soto. He had the vessel set up on pilings on the Seattle Waterfront at the foot of Washington Street, where she served as the Wayside Mission Hospital.One source says that ''Idaho'' was placed into service as a Klondike gold rush vessel in 1897. Faber, JIm, ''Steamer's Wake -- Voyaging down the old marine highways of Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columbia River'', at 246, Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 Certainly a number other old hulks such as ''George E. Starr'' and ''Eliza Anderson'' were repainted, whisked past the steamboat inspectors, and pressed into service as gold rush vessels bound for Alaska. However, this may be a confusion with another vessel named ''Idaho'', a propeller-driven steamship, which was put into the gold rush service. Later she was taken over by the city of Seattle to function as the town's first emergency hospital until about 1909, when a new hospital was built ashore and she was finally abandoned. The vessel gradually fell apart and it is said that her slip was filled around her and she became part of the Alaskan Way in the growing city.

Notes

External links

sidewheeler ''Idaho'' converted to a hospital and raised on pilings at the Seattle waterfront
This detailed photograph shows the ''Idaho'' elevated above the water on pilings and also shows clearly the word ''Hospital'' on the pilot house where the ship's name normally would go.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Idaho (Sidewheeler)
Steamboats of Washington (state)
Sidewheel steamboats of Washington (state)
Steamboats of Oregon
Steamboats of the Columbia River
Passenger ships of the United States
Oregon Steam Navigation Company