''Lurline'' was a steamboat that served from 1878 to 1930 on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. ''Lurline'' was a classic example of the Columbia river type of steamboat.

Construction

''Lurline'' was launched September 30, 1878 by

Jacob Kamm Jacob Kamm (12 December 1823 – 16 December 1912) was a prominent early transportation businessman in Oregon, USA. Early life Kamm was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. His family migrated to America when he was 8 to ...

, who with John C. Ainsworth had designed and built the first sternwheelersThere were earlier steamboats in the Northwest, but these were mostly sidewheelers which proved unsuitable to the conditions on the Northwest rivers and inland waterways in the Northwest, ''

Jennie Clark ''Jennie Clark'', also seen spelled ''Jenny Clark'', was the first sternwheel-driven steamboat to operate on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia. This vessel was commonly known as the ''Jennie'' when it was in service ...

'' and '' Carrie Ladd'', nearly a quarter of a century before.

Operations on the Columbia

Capt. James T. Gray took charge of the ''Lurline'' and handled her on the Vancouver route for the first ten years of her career. During the summer season she made one trip a week in the seaside traffic, and occasionally towed ships, competing with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company's steamers. Competition from the ''Lurline'' was said to have cost the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company over half a million dollars. In 1889 that company leased her, and, in command of Captain Pillsbury, she was operated on the Cascade route until 1892 when Kamm again commenced regular trips to Astoria. Among her many captains was Charles T. Kamm, son of her designer.Wright, E.W., ed. ''Lewis and Dryden Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at 257-58, Lewis & Dryden Publishing, Portland, OR 1895
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''Hassalo'' excursion 1888

''Lurline'' was used to carry some of the 3,000 excursionists who gathered to witness ''Hassalo'' run the Cascades of the Columbia on Saturday, May 26, 1888, making the run up from Portland in the company of another famous sternwheeler, the ''R.R. Thompson'', the ''Lurline'' having also embarked an army band from

Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the Pacific Northwest. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading station Fort Vancouver. Its buildings were formed in a line adjac ...

. The Sunday Oregonian's correspondent described the trip up the river on that historic day:

Later years

''Lurline'' served for over 50 years, a very long time for a wooden steamboat. in later years she came to be owned by the

Harkins Transportation Company Harkins Transportation Company was founded in 1914 by L.P.(Lovelace Perne) Hosford, Henry Pittock, Henry L. Pittock, and A.J. Lewthwaite. The line was named after the tugboat ''Jessie Harkins'', which had been built by Jacob Kamm and named after Ho ...

of Portland, Oregon. On November 9, 1894, ''Lurline'', under

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

James T. Gray, collided with the sternwheeler ''Sarah Dixon'', under Captain George M. Shaver, in a thick

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

near

Kalama Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili (1817 – September 20, 1870) was a Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii alongside her husband, Kauikeaouli, who reigned as King Kamehameha III. Her second name Hakaleleponi is Hazzelelponi in Hawaiian. Ear ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Damage to both vessels was minor, $50 worth to ''Lurline'' and $150 to ''Sarah Dixon.'' Even so, following a hearing on December 10, 1894, both captains, who were prominent steamboat men, were found to be at fault for violating the navigation rules, and their licenses were suspended for seven days.Annual report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service (1904)
(accessed 07-13-11). ''Lurline'' was rebuilt several times, and survived being rammed and sunk at

Rainier, Oregon Rainier is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. The city's population was 1,895 at the 2010 census. Rainier is on the south bank of the Columbia River across from Kelso and Longview, Washington. History Rainier was founded in 1851 ...

on November 21, 1906, by the steam schooner ''Cascade''.Newell, Gordon, R, ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at 119, 120, 127, 308, 324, 348, 410, and 567, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966Newell, Gordon R., and Williamson, Jim, ''Pacific Steamboats'', at 40, Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958 ''Lurline'' never acquired the reputation of a speedy boat like the ''Bailey Gatzert'', but she did valuable service just the same:

Out of service

''Lurline'' was dismantled in about 1930. Her upper works were still in good condition despite having been built some 52 years before. The cabins and other above deck structures were transferred to a new vessel, the diesel-powered ''L.P. Hosford'' which was still in operation as late as 1966. In 1983, a new diesel-powered sternwheeler built for tourism purposes was given the name '' Lurdine'' – a union of ''Lurline'' and ''Undine'' – as a tribute to those two past vessels. However, ''Lurdine'' was renamed ''Rose'' less than two years later, after a change of ownership and location.

Notes

External links

{{1906 shipwrecks 1878 ships Ships built in the United States Steamboats of Oregon Passenger ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1894 Maritime incidents in 1906 Ships sunk in collisions Shipwrecks of the Oregon coast Harkins Transportation Company