Monticello (steamboat)

The steamboat ''Monticello'' (2) operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. The vessel went through several reconstructions and remained in service until 1962, when she was lost in Alaska waters. Her later names were ''Penaco'' and ''Sea Venture''. (This Puget Sound steamer should not be confused with the smaller ''Monticello'' (1), which also ran on Puget Sound, but was built in 1895 for Captain Z.J. Hatch of the Monticello Steamship Company.Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at 118-19, 121, 145, 322, 400, 447, 491, and 666, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966

Construction

''Monticello'' was built in 1906 by the Crawford and Reid shipyard at Tacoma for the Moe Brothers to run her with their other boat, ''Advance'', in opposition to the Kitsap County Transportation Company’s boats on the Seattle-Poulsbo route. ''Monticello'' was 125' long, 21 on the beam, drew and was rated at 196 tons.

Operations

Late in the year 1906, ''Monticello'' under the command of Capt. Chris Moe, collided with her chief rival, ''Kitsap'', under Captain Alf Hostmark. Following an investigation, both masters were censured by marine inspectors Whitney and Turner (who, apparently coincidentally, had been present in Portland, Oregon earlier that year at the launching of ''Kitsap''.) ''Monticello'' seems to have been operated out of Seattle from the Galbraith Dock (Pier 3), the so-called "Mosquito Fleet" dock.Newell, Gordon R, and Williamson, Joe, ''Pacific Steamboats'', at 120, Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958 (showing photograph of ''Monticello'' at Pier 3)

Sale to Port Blakely Mill Co.

In January 1907, Moe Bros. sold both ''Monticello'' and ''Advance'' to the Port Blakeley Mill Co., which used them to replace the ''Sarah M. Renton''. In 1908, the company put ''Monticello'' on the popular Navy Yard (Seattle-Bremerton)route, running in opposition to the Puget Sound Navigation Company’s steamers ''Athlon'', ''Tourist'', and ''Inland Flyer''. Gasoline-engined vessels were mounting a serious challenge to steam power at about this time, and gasoline power seemed to be vindicated when in 1912 ''Monticello'' broke down and had to be towed into Seattle by the gasoline tug ''Klickitat''.McCurdy, at 205, showing photograph of ''Klickitat'' towing ''Monticello''

Operation with D Fleet

One source reports that ''Monticello'' was operated by Capt. Matthew McDowell as part of his D Fleet of steamers, but provides no further information.

Sale to Kitsap County Transportation Co.

In 1922, Port Blakeley Mill sold ''Monticello'' to their former competitor Kitsap County Transportation Company with the objective of forming a jointly-operated fast passenger ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, where the mill company's owners, D.E. Skinner and John W. Eddy, owned which they were hoping to develop. ''Monticello'' was replaced on the Seattle-Port Blakeley route in 1923 with the automobile ferry ''Liberty''.Kline, M.S., and Bayless, G.A., ''Ferryboats – A Legend on Puget Sound'', at 118 and 209, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 (page 202 of Kline and Bayless reprints an excellent photograph of ''Monticello''

Later career and union charter

In 1930, Puget Sound Freight Lines obtained an option on ''Monticello'' to operate her on the Bellingham-San Juan Islands-Seattle route with the steamer ''Mohawk'', but the business wasn't sufficient to sustain two large passenger vessels, so the diesel vessel ''Suquamish'' was assigned to run from the San Juans to Bellingham where travelers bound for Seattle could board the ''Mohawk'' for Seattle.

For eleven months in 1932 to 1933, ''Monticello'' was chartered by maritime unions during a long wage dispute so that union men could ride on a union boat from Seattle to their jobs at the Navy Yard and still boycott the Puget Sound Navigation Company, then the biggest private inland shipping concern on the Sound. ''Virginia V'' also was chartered by the unions for a similar role.Kline, M.S., ''Steamboat Virginia V'', at 50-51, Documentary Book Publishers, Bellevue, WA 1985 By this time, ''Monticello''’s steam power plant was in a state of deterioration. Her boiler tubes were leaking, and the engineering crew hit on the idea of putting horse manure in the feedwater to stop the leaks. This actually worked, although one of her all-union crew had to carry the burden of collecting horse manure along the waterfront and bringing it back to the boat.

Conversion to motor freighter

In 1936, ''Monticello'' was converted to diesel power using a Fairbanks-Morse power plant and rebuilt as the freighter ''Penaco''. As ''Penaco'', she ran between Tacoma, Seattle, Port Townsend, Port Angeles and way ports under the ownership of the Peninsula Transportation Co., a firm consisting of Capts. O. Joyce, E.M. Fosse, and others.

Loss

''Penaco'' (ex ''Monticello'') lasted a long time. By 1962, she was in service out of Seattle as the crab fishing vessel ''Sea Venture'', and under that name in March 1962 she foundered off the Aleutian Islands.

References

External links

Historic images from the on-line collection of the University of Washington

''Monticello''

{{McDowell Transportation

1906 ships
Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state)
Ships built by Crawford and Reid
Ships built in Tacoma, Washington
Steamboats of Washington (state)