Steamboat is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Douglas County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States. It is located about 39 miles east of Roseburg on

Oregon Route 138 Oregon Route 138 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the city of Elkton, Oregon, Elkton and a junction with U.S. Route 97 (Oregon), U.S. Route 97 at Diamond Lake Junction. The highway has several distinct stretches, and is the main eas ...

, near the confluence of the

North Umpqua River The North Umpqua River is a tributary of the Umpqua River, about long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a scenic and rugged area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, flowing through steep canyons and surrounded by larg ...

with Steamboat Creek within the

Umpqua National Forest Umpqua National Forest, in southern Oregon's Cascade Range, covers an area of in Douglas, Lane, and Jackson counties, and borders the Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon. The four ranger districts for the forest are the Cottage Gro ...

. The name "Steamboat" was probably first applied to the creek sometime before the 1890s by area gold miners, after a term referring to disappointing mining claims. There is no evidence any actual

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. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s navigated the river at this locale.

References

Unincorporated communities in Douglas County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{DouglasCountyOR-geo-stub