Construction
William E. Rackleff (or Rackliff) (1834-1909) built Little Annie at or near his residence, the same one he occupied in 1898, at Myrtle Creek, Oregon. [1] [2] Charles Edgar Edwards (b. 1851) worked with W.E. Rackleff to build Little Annie, and in 1878, he was made engineer of the boat. [1]
Although the Myrtle, a propeller-driven steamboat from San Francisco, had operated on the Coquille River in 1875 under the command of Capt. John Abbot, it drew too much water and was reported to have been badly managed. [1] Little Annie, launched the next year, was the first steamer to provide successful service in the Coquille River region. [1]
Operations
On December 27, 1879, Little Annie, then owned by Rackliff, had been out of service for ten days for repairs. [6] The steamer reported to be "probably again running" as of December 27, 1879. [6] On January 3, 1880, Little Annie was reported to be back in service on the boat’s regular trips. [7]
On May 1, 1880, it was reported that Little Annie had "resumed her trips on the Coquille river" the previous Friday. [8] Capt. Graves took over command of Little Annie in May, 1880, although Rackleff remained the owner. [9] [10] Just after Graves took over, the boat failed, on Friday, May 24, and Wednesday, May 29, 1880, to make its regular trips, with no reason specified in the source. [11]
In June 1880, Little Annie was chartered by the U.S. government to transport a party from the Corps of Engineers who were inspecting the Coquille River to evaluate a request from the local citizens to expend $10,000 to improve the navigability of the river. [12] As of December 4, 1880, Little Annie had resumed service on the Coquille River under the command of Capt. C.E. Edwards. [10] Edwards had previously commanded Little Annie. [10]
In 1884, two steamers operated on the Coquille River, Little Annie and the propeller-driven Ceres. [13] The total number of people served by the steamers was about 2,000. [13] Little Annie and Ceres made alternate trips between Bandon and Myrtle Point, Oregon, stopping at the many landings along the river. [13] The total length of the trip one way was 40 miles (64 km), and it took a day to make it. [13] The boats would return the next day. [13]
On March 6, 1884, Little Annie was reported to be out of service. [14] Little Annie's captain, J. Yager, had transferred over to the steamer Ceres, where he took the place of J. Mack as engineer. [14]
A teacher's institute was held at the Marshfield Academy in Marshfield (now called Coos Bay) on Wednesday and Thursday, September 24 and 25, 1884. [15] Arrangements were made with Little Annie, the steamers Ceres and Coos, the Isthmus Transit Railroad, and the Coquille and Coos Bay Stage Line to carry teachers to and from the institute at half rates. [15]
On March 26, 1885, Levi Snyder became captain of Little Annie. [16]
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, Little Annie averaged two trips a week between Bandon and Coquille City, Oregon. [17]
The Coquille River is a stream, about 36 miles (58 km) long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of 1,059 square miles (2,740 km2) of the Southern Oregon Coast Range into the Pacific Ocean. Its watershed is between that of the Coos River to the north and the Rogue River to the south.
The history of steamboats on the Oregon Coast begins in the late 19th century. Before the development of modern road and rail networks, transportation on the coast of Oregon was largely water-borne. This article focuses on inland steamboats and similar craft operating in, from south to north on the coast: Rogue River, Coquille River, Coos Bay, Umpqua River, Siuslaw Bay, Yaquina Bay, Siletz River, and Tillamook Bay. The boats were all very small, nothing like the big sternwheelers and propeller boats that ran on the Columbia River or Puget Sound. There were many of them, however, and they came to be known as the "mosquito fleet."
The Coquille River starts in the Siskiyou National Forest and flows hundreds of miles through the Coquille Valley on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Bandon, Oregon, sits at the mouth of the Coquille River on the Pacific Ocean. Before the era of railroads and later, automobiles, the steamboats on the Coquille River were the major mode of transportation from Bandon to Coquille and Myrtle Point in southern Coos County, Oregon, United States.
The Coos Bay Mosquito Fleet comprised numerous small steamboats and motor vessels which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Coos Bay, a large and mostly shallow harbor on the southwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, to the north of the Coquille River valley. Coos Bay is the major harbor on the west coast of the United States between San Francisco and the mouth of the Columbia River.
Washington was an early steamboat operated in the states of California and Oregon. Washington was built in California and was initially operated on the Sacramento River. In 1851, the steamer was purchased and brought on a ship to the Oregon Territory, where it was operated on the Willamette River until the summer of 1853. Washington was sold again, and then transferred to the Oregon coast, where it operated on the Umpqua River, on the Coquille River and on Coos Bay. Washington was able to operate for shorter distances over the open ocean along the Oregon coast. The steamer was wrecked by a boiler explosion in December 1857, near Scottsburg, O.T., on the Umpqua river.
Rainbow was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated in the Coos Bay region of Oregon from 1912 to 1923. Rainbow is sometimes referred to as a "launch", meaning a small steamboat. This vessel's name is sometimes seen as Rain-Bow.
Welcome was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the south Oregon coast from 1900 to 1907.
Dora was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the southern coast of Oregon from 1912 to 1923. This vessel should not be confused with a number of other craft of the same name operating at the same time in other parts of North America.
Myrtle was a steamboat built in 1909 for service on the Coquille River and its tributaries, in Oregon. The ability of this small vessel to reach remote locations on the river system was cited many years later as evidence in support of the important legal concept of navigability.
Coquille was a steamboat built in 1908 for service on the Coquille River and its tributaries. Coquille served as a passenger vessel from 1908 to 1916, when the boat was transferred to the lower Columbia River. Coquille was reconstructed into a log boom towing boat, and served in this capacity from 1916 to 1935 or later.
Echo was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the Southern Oregon Coast from 1901 to 1910.
Liberty was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River and then on Coos Bay from 1903 to 1918. Liberty was notable for having its ownership entangled in various legal claims in the early 1910s, including some involving a colorful North Bend, Oregon business promoter Lorenzo Dow "Major" Kinney (1855-1920).
Antelope was a steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River and on Coos Bay on the southern Oregon coast from 1886 to about 1908. Antelope was a versatile boat, which served in various roles, including passenger transport, barge towing, and as a fisheries tender.
Dispatch was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the southern Oregon coast from 1903 to 1920. The name of this vessel is sometimes seen spelled Despatch. This sternwheeler should not be confused with an earlier and somewhat smaller sternwheeler, also named Dispatch, that was built at Bandon, Oregon, in 1890, for which the 1903 Dispatch was a replacement.
Telegraph was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the southern Oregon coast from 1914 to 1927. Telegraph is perhaps best known for having been in involved in collisions with rival steamboats, apparently as a result of fierce competition for business on the Coquille River.
Eva was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Umpqua River on the Oregon coast in the early part of the 1900s. Eva was notable for long service on a short route of about 20 miles. Eva was also notable for having been used by one of its owners to illegally transport dynamite on a passenger-carrying vessel, by the ruse of labeling the dynamite boxes as "bacon."
Favorite was a small steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River, Coos Bay and on the Siuslaw River, in the southern Oregon coast region from 1900 to 1918.
Wolverine was a launch powered by a gasoline engine that operated on the Coquille River on the southern coast of Oregon, United States, from 1908 to the 1920s. Later the boat operated on Coos Bay, and, in the mid-1930s, was transferred to Eureka, California. Wolverine is principally known for its early service as a high-speed passenger vessel.
Montesano was a steamboat that was operated from 1882 to about 1903 in the coastal regions of Oregon and southwest Washington, including Astoria, Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, the Chehalis River, Yaquina Bay and Coos Bay. The Montesano of 1882, built in Astoria, should not be confused with another, larger sternwheeler, also named Montesano, built in Cosmopolis, Washington in 1889.
Gazelle was a gasoline powered launch that operated on the Willamette and Columbia river from 1905 to 1911. For short periods of time Gazelle was operated on the Oregon Coast, on Yaquina Bay and also as an off-shore fishing vessel, in the Coos Bay area.
