''Inland Flyer'' was a passenger steamboat that ran on
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 ...
from 1898 to 1916. From 1910 to 1916 this vessel was known as the ''Mohawk''. The vessel is notable as the first steamer on Puget Sound to use oil fuel. ''Inland Flyer'' was one of the most famous vessels of the time on Puget Sound.
Design and construction
''Inland Flyer'' was built in 1898 at
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, and was originally intended to run between Portland, Astoria, and
The Dalles
The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...
.Newell, ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History'', at 32, 67, 76, 87, 100, 110, 145, 175, 268, and 270.Capt. John Anderson, who later became closely linked with steamboat operations on Lake Washington, discovered ''Inland Flyer'' engineless and still under construction at the shipyard of Joseph Supple in Portland, and recommended her purchase to Joshua Green.
Anderson bought the hull, and sold it to Green and his associates who were doing business as La Conner Trading and Transportation Company. Anderson then installed the engines and the upper works himself in Portland, and brought the ship himself down the Columbia River and around the Olympic peninsula.
Conversion to oil burner
On May 21, 1904 plans were announced in the press to convert ''Inland Flyer'' and ''Athlon'' from coal to oil fuel. The decision was reached after officials of the Puget Sound Navigation Company, including its president, Charles Peabody, had taken a test trip on the Northern Commercial Company's sidewheeler ''Sadie'', which was intended for use in Alaska and had been fitted with oil fuel tanks and burned oil rather than wood or coal. Oil was thought to be both cleaner and as cheap or cheaper than coal. The conversion was planned to be complete in thirty days.''Port Townsend Daily Leader'', “Sound Steamers will Substitute Oil for Coal” May 21, 1904, page 1, col.4 /ref> ''Inland Flyer'' thus became the first steam vessel on Puget Sound to use oil fuel, rather than wood or coal, and was the first steamer operating on Puget Sound to use oil fuel.Kline and Bayless, ''Ferryboats – A Legend on Puget Sound'', at 39, 41. 84, 102, 145-46, 160, 167, and 199.
Operations
In 1901, La Conner Trading reached a joint operating agreement with H.B. Kennedy to run their steamers in alliance on the profitable Seattle-Bremerton route, which they called the
Port Orchard
Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage ...
Route. In 1902 ''Inland Flyer'' was on the Seattle – Port Orchard route, running with the ''Athlon'', which was owned by H.B. Kennedy. There was a brief period of competition on this route in 1902 when the ''Manette'', a boat owned by Tacoma interests, with businessman Fred H. Marvin acting as agent, was placed on the route. ''Manette'' was soon transferred to the Seattle – Alki run, and the competition ended.
In 1903 ''Inland Flyer'' came under the control of the
Puget Sound Navigation Company
The Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSNC) was founded by Charles E. Peabody in 1898. Today the company operates an international passenger and vehicle ferry service between Port Angeles, WA and Victoria, BC on the Coho.
History
In the past, t ...
when that company merged with La Conner Trading. Capt. Peter Falk (d.1924) one of the major shareholders of Puget Sound Navigation Co. served as one of masters of the ''Inland Flyer''. Another captain was the veteran steamboat man William Mitchell (b. 1879). On May 23, 1903, ''Inland Flyer'' was among the steamboats that greeted President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
when he toured the Seattle and the Bremerton naval yard.Faber, ''Steamer's Wake'', at 121-122. In 1907 ''Inland Flyer'' was placed on the run from Seattle to Bremerton.
By 1904, La Conner Trading, by then a subsidiary of PSN, was operating jointly with H.B. Kennedy as the
Navy Yard Route
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
on the Seattle – Bremerton run. Disposing of three vessels, including ''Inland Flyer'', ''Athlon'', and the sternwheeler ''Port Orchard'', the Navy Yard route ran six sailings a day from Seattle's Pier 2 to and from Bremerton.
Rate wars
In 1905, the Puget Sound Navigation Company was engaged in a rate war on the
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,''Perdita'', operated by Capt. W.W. McKenzie, and the other was PSN's ''Garland''. PSN arranged to have McKenzie and ''Perdita'' bought off with an anti-competitive subsidy agreement, but this did not last, and McKenzie and ''Perdita'' were soon back on Hood Canal, driving down rates on ''Garland'' from $2.00 to 50 cents ton, with passengers carried from Seattle to any landing on the canal for 25 cents. In addition, PSN was forced to put the ''Inland Flyer'' on the Hood Canal route. Considered a speedy vessel, ''Inland Flyer'', together with ''Garland'' brought the best steamboat service ever effected on Hood Canal. However, by the end of 1905, PSN resolved the problem of competition from ''Perdita'' by purchasing the rival vessel.
The first decade of the 1900s was probably the high point of steamboat operations in Puget Sound. The vessels would never been as profitable as they were then. During 1907, when the Puget Sound Navigation Company was involved in a rate war with the
Kitsap County Transportation Company
The Kitsap County Transportation Company was an important steamboat and ferry company that operated on Puget Sound. The company was founded in 1898 as the Hansen Transportation Company.
Hansen Transportation
The Kitsap County Transportation Com ...
, ''Inland Flyer'' was shifted to the Seattle – Poulsbo route as part of the business maneuvers in the competition. Greene, who was by then a millionaire, and owned more steamboats than any other person on Puget Sound, was criticized in at least one newspaper for his supposed ruthlessness in dealing with Warren L. Gazzam, the chief of the Kitsap County Transportation Co.
In 1908, the
Port Blakely Mill Company
Blakely Harbor is an inlet on the east shore of Bainbridge Island, Washington
Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25 ...
decided to run its steamer ''Monticello 2'' in competition with the Navy Yard Route's steamers, including ''Inland Flyer''. On July 9, 1909, at the wreck of the ''Yosemite'', ''Inland Flyer'' stood by with other vessels to assist, helping make sure there was no loss of life when the big excursion sidewheeler went on the rocks near
Bremerton
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...
.Newell, ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', at 91, 136, 145, and 159. In 1910 the Navy Yard Route sold ''Inland Flyer'' to Capt. F.G. Reeve, who was doing business as the
Port Washington Route
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
. He renamed the vessel ''Mohawk''.
Disposition
Wooden steamboats had a useful life of about 20 years, although their components could be reused, sometimes for much longer. In 1916, ''Mohawk'' (ex ''Inland Flyer'') was dismantled. The engine was placed in a new vessel, the steamer ''F.G. Reeve'', with the hull going to
Neah Bay
Neah Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 865 at the 2010 census. It is across the Canada–US border from British Columbia. Originally called "Scarboro ...
to serve as a fish-receiving barge.
Notes
References
* Faber, Jim, ''Steamer's Wake'', Enetai Press, Seattle WA (1985)
* Kline, M.S., and Bayless, G.A., ''Ferryboats -- A legend on Puget Sound'', Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983
* 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 Ed. 1960)
''Port Townsend Daily Leader'', “Sound Steamers will Substitute Oil for Coal” May 21, 1904, page 1, col.4