''Otter'' was a wooden sternwheel

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

that was used in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

and briefly on the Columbia and Stikine rivers from 1874 to 1897.

Columbia River service

''Otter'' was built in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1874 by Fred Congdon. Congdon reused the machinery that had previously been installed in the '' Mary Belle'', which he had dismantled and traded to G.W. Hume for use as a wharf. Congdon made the trial trip of the ''Otter'' on March 28, 1874. He intended to run the ''Otter'' on the lower Columbia River, in connection with business allies who had built the ''Teaser'' to run on the middle Columbia, above the

Cascades Rapids The Cascades Rapids (sometimes called Cascade Falls or Cascades of the Columbia) were an area of rapids along North America's Columbia River, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. Through a stretch approximately wide, the river ...

. Although both ''Otter'' and ''Teaser'' were both too small to be very competitive, this plan still was perceived by the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...

to be threat to the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

which they were seeking to maintain on

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

transportation, and so they purchased both ''Otter'' and ''Teaser'', and arranged to have them sent to Puget Sound in 1875.''McCurdy Marine History'', p. 25.

Transfer to Puget Sound

On Puget Sound, ''Otter'' was first used to tow barges for the Renton Coal Company, and was later run by the Starr brothers in the upper sound in opposition to the steamers ''Zephyr'' and ''Messenger''. In 1877, the Starrs accepted a monthly payment of $500 to refrain from competing with ''Zephyr'' and ''Messenger'', and the vessel was as a result reassigned to the run between

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

and

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. In 1881, the

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...

, under

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway. Born and raised by Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard in the Rhenish Palatinate of the Kin ...

bought out the Starr Line and all their steamers including ''Otter''.Newell, ''Inland Sea'', pp. 80-83. Otter is reported to have been worked for one season on the

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south f ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. ''Otter'' was used as a trading steamer until February 1890, when the vessel was involved in a collision in Puget Sound off

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

with the sternwheeler ''Hassalo''. ''Otter'' sustained substantial damage but was successfully beached with no lives lost. ''Otter'' was owned at the time of the collision by Captain T. Cook of Tacoma. Repairs were made however, and ''Otter'' was returned to service until 1897, when it was abandoned on the

Puyallup River The Puyallup River ( ) is a river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. About long, it is formed by glaciers on the west side of Mount Rainier. It flows generally northwest, emptying into Commencement Bay, part of Puget Sound. The ...

Notes

References

* Affleck, Edward L., ''A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska'', Alexander Nicolls Press, Vancouver, BC, 2000. * Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966) * Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd edition, 1960) * {{Oregon Steam Navigation Company 1874 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Sternwheelers of Washington (state) Paddle steamers of British Columbia Steamboats of the Stikine River Steamboats of Alaska Steamboats of Oregon Columbia River Steamboats of the Columbia River Ships built in Portland, Oregon Steamboats of Lake Washington