Undine was a
stern-wheel
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...
steamboat, built in
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...
and shipped to
Green River, Utah
Green River is a city in Emery County, Utah. The population was 847 at the 2020 census.
History
The city of Green River is located in ancestral Ute lands, in the home locale of the Seuvarits/Sheberetch band of Ute people. The Old Spanish Trail ...
, and launched in November 1901 by its owner and captain
Frank H. Summerhill.
This vessel should not be confused with the Columbia River sternwheeler
''Undine''.
Specifications
Undine was a flat bottomed stern-wheel steamer, 60 feet in
length
Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...
, 10 feet on the
beam, with a
draft of 12 unladen to 20 inches carrying 15 tons of cargo. It had a coal-fired, 20 horsepower engine.
Service on the river
Summerhill intended to serve a tourist trade from Green River to the Colorado cataracts as the prime source of his income. However he also intended to begin a shipping business up the
Grand River, to
Moab
Moab ''Mลรกb''; Assyrian: ๐ฌ๐ช๐๐๐ ''Mu'abรข'', ๐ ๐ช๐๐๐
''Ma'bรข'', ๐ ๐ช๐ ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: ๐๐๐๐
ฑ๐ ''Mลซ'ฤซbลซ'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...
.
Summerhills first voyage down the Green River to the Colorado River cataracts was a success, and he spent some time there locating a site for his resort. The then steamed up the Grand, past the Green River all the way to Moab.
Summerhill realized that carrying cargo down the Grand and up the Green Rivers was longer and more difficult than attempting to steam 40 miles up the Grand River from Moab to a landing near the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad rail head of
Cisco. He spent several mouths blasting rock hazards out of the Grand on the route, then attempted an ascent. The ''Undine'' had difficulty pulling itself up the first rapids with its cable and
capstan. After several attempts resulting in snapped cables, it ascended the first rapid but at
Big Bend, while ascending rapids with the cable, ''Undine's'' bow was caught in a current and it capsized, wrecking it on May 21, 1902.
[Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978]
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Undine (sternwheeler)
Steamboats of the Colorado River
Ships built in Utah
1891 ships