The Greyhound was an express passenger steamer that operated from the 1890s to about 1915 on Puget Sound in Washington, United States. This vessel, commonly known as the Hound, the Pup, or the Dog, was of unusual design, having small upper works, but an enormous sternwheel. Unlike many sternwheelers, she was not intended for a dual role as passenger and freighter, but was purpose-built to carry mostly passengers on express runs.
Greyhound was built at Portland, Oregon by Capt. Claud Troup (1865-1896) in association with Frank W. Goodhue and others.[2]Greyhound was designed by Claude Troup's brother, James W. Troup, one of the most famous of the steamboat captains. She was long and narrow, and considered by some to be too flimsily built, which turned out to be quite wrong, as the Hound as she was called, proved to be a money-making fast moving boat.[3] The Greyhound was 139.3 feet (42.5m) long, 18.5 feet (5.6m) on the beam 6.3 feet (1.9m) depth. Twin steam engines of 14.5" bore and 72" stroke drove her enormous sternwheel.[4] Mechanical data included: indicated horsepower 400; single boiler, steel firebox built by Willamette Iron Works, Portland, Oregon. Total grate surface 12 square feet (1.1m2), total heating surface 3,200 square feet (300m2): fuel consumption: 3/4 of one cord of fir wood [1]
Operation
Greyhound, image and artwork circa 1893 by Samuel Ward Stanton
Shortly after completion Greyhound was taken round to the Sound in September by Captain Lewis. She was built almost exclusively for passenger traffic and showed remarkable speed. Once on Puget Sound Greyhound raced against and beat all the crack boats on the Tacoma and Seattle route.[4]Greyhound started express passenger service between Seattle and Tacoma on September 7, 1890, with Capt. Howard Bullene in command and Claude Troup acting as chief engineer. On the very first trip, Greyhound raced and beat the Fleetwood.
Claud Troup, captain of Greyhound
Shortly after Greyhound reached Puget Sound, Captain U.B. Scott brought the fast propeller steamer Flyer up from Portland where she too had been built, and put her on the same Tacoma-Seattle run in competition with Greyhound. In a typical anti-competitive transaction of the time, Capt. Scott offered the owners of Greyhound a subsidy if they would take her off the route. Troup agreed, and in November, 1891 he sold her to the Seattle & Tacoma Navigation Company, of which he was president. From then until 1903 she was operated on the Everett and Seattle route, making three round trips a day. Captain Troup handled the boat himself most of the time.[2][4]
Speed
Greyhound at high speed
Greyhound, "all wheel and whistle" mounted both a greyhound statue on the roof of her pilot house and a broom on her masthead, showing that she'd swept the sea of her competition. One day she raced against the magnificent Bailey Gatzert, which thereafter mounted both the dog and the broom.[5]
Later career
Greyhound, drawing by Samuel Ward Stanton, circa 1893
In 1903, Greyhound was replaced on the Everett route by Telegraph, then a new sternwheeler. Greyhound was sold to a firm that placed her on the route between Olympia and Tacoma, where she ran against the old Willamette River sternwheeler Multnomah and also Capital City, another sternwheeler. Following a rate war, Greyhound's new owners bought both Multnomah and Capital City, to form the Olympia-Tacoma Navigation Company.[2][5]
Out of service
In 1911 the new propeller steamer Nisqually was built at Quartermaster Harbor and acquired by the Olympia Tacoma Navigation Co. to replace Greyhound, which was then relegated to relief boat service. By 1924, Greyhound had been out of service for many years, and all that remained was her hull. She was still in good enough shape to warrant hauling her out in Tacoma in 1924, for repair, caulking and painting.[2] Just what happened to her hull is not clear, probably it was just left to rot on a beach or a mud bank like so many others had been.
1 2 3 4 Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, at 10-11, 88, 188, 214, 396 n.1, 529, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966 ISBN0-87564-220-9
↑ Kline, Mary S. Steamboat Virginia V, at 20, Documentary Publishers, Bellevue, WA 1985 ISBN0-935503-00-5
1 2 Newell, Gordon R., Ships of the Inland Sea, at 110, Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960)
Further reading
Carey, Roland, The Steamboat Landing on Elliott Bay, Alderbrook Publishing, Seattle, WA 1962
Carey, Roland, The Sound of Steamers, Alderbrook Publishing, Seattle, WA 1965
Faber, Jim, Steamer's Wake, Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 ISBN0-9615811-0-7
Gibbs, Jim, and Williamson, Joe, Maritime Memories of Puget Sound, Schiffer Publishing, West Chester, PA 1987, ISBN0-88740-044-2
Kline, Mary S. and Bayless, George A., Ferryboats - A Legend on Puget Sound, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 ISBN0-914515-00-4
Newell, Gordon, and Williamson, Joe, Pacific Steamboats, Bonanza Books, New York, NY (1963)
External links
University of Washington image collection
Greyhound, 1891, on Puget Sound This is a good clear image of the vessel, showing her unusual design and the small but crowded passenger deck.
Greyhound, 1909 This image is taken from the stern of the vessel, which appears to be running at high speed based on the large amount of spray from the sternwheel, the size of the wake, and the amount of smoke coming from the funnel. The wheel appears quite large in this photograph compared to the rest of the boat.
The Puget Sound mosquito fleet was a multitude of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers plied the waters of Puget Sound, stopping at every waterfront dock. The historical period defining the beginning and end of the mosquito fleet is ambiguous, but the peak of activity occurred between the First and Second World Wars.
The Bailey Gatzert was a famous sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Columbia River and Puget Sound from the 1890s to the 1920s. This vessel was considered one of the finest of its time. It was named after Bailey Gatzert, an early businessman and mayor of Seattle, who was one of the closest friends and business associates of John Leary – the person who financed the ship.
Lake Washington steamboats and ferries operated from about 1875 to 1951, transporting passengers, vehicles and freight across Lake Washington, a large lake to the east of Seattle, Washington. Before modern highways and bridges were built, the only means of crossing the lake, other than the traditional canoe or rowboat, was by steamboat, and, later, by ferry. While there was no easily navigable connection to Puget Sound, the Lake Washington Ship Canal now connects Lake Washington to Lake Union, and from there Puget Sound is reached by way of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
The sternwheeler Multnomah was built at East Portland, Oregon in 1885 and operated on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers until 1889 in the United States. She was later transferred to Puget Sound and became one of the better known steamboats operating there.
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, which also ran on Puget Sound, but was built in 1895 for Captain Z.J. Hatch of the Monticello Steamship Company.
The steamboat City of Shelton operated in the 1890s and early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
The steamboat S.G.Simpson operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. This vessel was later renamed E.G. English.
The steamboat Fleetwood operated in the 1880s and 1890s on the Columbia River and later as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
The steamboat Dix operated from 1904 to 1906 as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. She was sunk in a collision which remains one of the most serious transportation accidents in the state of Washington to this day.
The steamboat Rosalie operated from 1893 to 1918 as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, also operating out of Victoria, B.C. In 1898, Rosalie went north with many other Puget Sound steamboats to join the Klondike Gold Rush.
Wilson G. Hunt was a steamboat that ran in the early days of steam navigation on Puget Sound and Sacramento, Fraser, and Columbia Rivers. She was generally known as the Hunt during her years of operation. She had a long career on the west coast of the United States and Canada, and played an important transportation role in the California Gold Rush; it also transported the Governor and the state legislature as the state capital of California moved from Benicia to Sacramento in 1854.
Flyer was an American steamboat that served from 1891 to 1929 on Puget Sound. From 1918 until the end of her service, she was officially known as the Washington. The Flyer ran for millions of miles at high speed, more than any inland vessel in the world. This 1891 steamer Flyer should not be confused with the steamboat Flyer built on Lake Coeur d'Alene in 1905, although the Coeur d'Alene vessel was inspired both in design and name by the success of the Puget Sound ship.
The sidewheeler Idaho was a steamboat that ran on the Columbia River and Puget Sound from 1860 to 1898. There is some confusion as to the origins of the name; many historians have proposed it is the inspiration for the name of the State of Idaho. Considerable doubt has been cast on this due to the fact that it is unclear if the boat was named before or after the idea of 'Idaho' as a territory name was proposed. John Ruckel also allegedly stated he had named the boat after a Native American term meaning 'Gem of the Mountains' he got from a mining friend from what is now Colorado territory. This steamer should not be confused with the many other vessels of the same name, including the sternwheeler Idaho built in 1903 for service on Lake Coeur d'Alene and the steamship Idaho of the Pacific Coast Steamship Line which sank near Port Townsend, Washington.
Tacoma was a steamship that served from 1913 to 1938 on Puget Sound. Built of steel, Tacoma was known for being one of the fastest and best-designed vessels to operate on Puget Sound. Tacoma was particularly noted for high-speed service from 1913 to 1930 on the route between Tacoma and Seattle.
North Pacific was an early steamboat operating in Puget Sound, on the Columbia River, and in British Columbia and Alaska. The vessel's nickname was "the White Schooner" which was not based on the vessel's rig, but rather on speed, as "to schoon" in nautical parlance originally meant to go fast.
Hyak was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound from 1909 to 1941. This vessel should not be confused with the sternwheeler Hyak which ran on the extreme upper reach of the Columbia River at about the same time. The name means "swift" or "fast" in the Chinook Jargon.
Florence K was a steamboat that was operated on Puget Sound from 1903. This vessel was later renamed Gloria and was rebuilt as a steam ferry and renamed Beeline.
Inland Flyer was a passenger steamboat that ran on Puget Sound 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.
Emma Hayward commonly called the Hayward, was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest. This vessel was once one of the finest and fastest steamboats on the Columbia River and Puget Sound. As newer vessels came into service, Emma Hayward was relegated to secondary roles, and, by 1891, was converted into a Columbia river tow boat.
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