Near sistership to Wide West.[2] Reconstructed 1888
R. R. Thompson was a large sternwheel steamboat designed in the classic Columbia River style. She was named after Robert R. Thompson, one of the shareholders of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, the firm that built the vessel.[4]
Somewhat exceptionally, R.R. Thompson's passenger deck as built, extended the full length of her hull, this was typical only of the very largest and most prestigious vessels on the Columbia river system, such as Daisy Ainsworth, Bailey Gatzert, and Wide West, the later two being built by Capt. J.J. Holland (1843-1893) as was R.R. Thompson.[1][5]
She was said to be "capable of making rapid time with a big cargo" with "passenger accommodations unsurpassed by any steamer in the Northwest.":[3]
The Thompson was a big boat for her day. Her two hundred and fifteen foot length and thirty-eight foot beam allowed for spacious passenger accommodations with ample room for freight. Passenger spaces were nicely fitted out and the ladies' cabin boasted carpets, plush settees, and polished panelled walls. The Thompson was not a fast boat. Rather she deliberately was built for comfort and truly qualified for such overblown adjectives as 'palace boat' and 'finest cuisine afloat,' whipped up by enthusiastic passenger agents of the day.[6]
R.R. Thompson was launched on the middle Columbia river, that is, the reach from the top of the Cascades of the Columbia eastward to The Dalles where a second and longer stretch of rapids began. She was said to be "in every respect the equal of the Wide West", another similar but more well-known steamer operating on the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers at the time. Her trial run was on September 28, 1878, under Capt. George Ainsworth and Engineer Peter De Huff. Immediately afterwards she was placed in service running between the Cascades and The Dalles.[3]
Operations
Captain John McNulty was the first master of R.R. Thompson on the middle river run. The vessel was part of a much larger transportation mechanism, designed to use the Columbia River as a highway to reach the mines of Idaho and Eastern Oregon, and the newly established farms and ranchlands of the Inland Empire. R.R. Thompson would operate in conjunction with the Wide West,[1] which would carry the traffic up to the Cascades from Portland and points on the lower river. Once at the Cascades, all passengers would disembark, and all freight would unloaded. There was a short railway alongside the rapids. The passengers would board the portage railway's cars, and roustabouts would load on the cargo, and the train would run along the rapids to the upper Cascades, where passengers would board the R.R. Thompson, the freight would loaded on, then R.R. Thompson would run up the river to The Dalles, where the entire process would be repeated again to surmount Celilo Falls.
As railroads were extended along the banks of the Columbia River, the days of the steamboat as the dominant means of transportation gradually came to an end, particularly on the middle river, which required expensive and time-consuming portages around the two major rapids at Cascades and above The Dalles.[2]
The first boat to be taken off the river was the R.R. Thompson. On June 3, 1882, Captain John McNulty took R.R. Thompson down through the Cascade Rapids to operate on the more lucrative lower Columbia and lower Willamette rivers.
That day Captain McNulty with William Johnson, first officer, William Doran, engineer, and George Fuller, assistant, took R.R. Thompson out of The Dalles at 6:30a.m., passed Klickitat Landing, ten miles below, in twenty-four minutes, White Salmon, about twenty-three miles, in fifty-one minutes, Hood River, twenty-five miles, in fifty-eight minutes, and reached the Cascades, forty-six miles, in two hours and one minute.
R.R.Thompson remained at the top of the Cascades a short time and then swung into the stream and entered the Cascades under full stroke, making the run to Bonneville in six minutes and forty seconds, passing through the heart of the rapids at the rate of a mile a minute.
The trip to Portland was accomplished in two hours and fifty minutes, and she steamed past Ash Street dock at 12:17p.m. Her actual running time was five hours.[1][6]
The passage of the Thompson through the six-mile long Cascades Rapids in 6 minutes 40 seconds was a record which was approached but never beaten. The most famous later occasion was by Hassalo in her run on May 26, 1888. On that occasion, R.R. Thompson, with Captain McNulty still in command, together with Lurline transported 1,500 people to an equal number of others at the Cascades to witness Hassalo's run.[3]
Later years
In 1892, the boat struck a rock near Mt. Coffin, but was raised and brought to Portland, Oregon for repairs.[3][lower-alpha 1] In later years, the Thompson was run as a night boat on the Astoria run[2] and as a relief boat. Operating as a night boat, her passengers would leave Portland after dinner and arrive in Astoria early the next morning.[6] She was laid up for several years before she was dismantled in 1904.[1]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Newell, Gordon R., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, pp. 12, 103, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA 1966 ISBN0-87564-220-9
1 2 3 4 Mills, Randall V., Sternwheelers up Columbia - A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country, pp. 48, 131, 158, 160, and 199, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE (1977 reprint of 1947 edition) ISBN0-8032-5874-7
1 2 3 Timmen, Fritz, Blow for the Landing - A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West, pp. 131-132, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973 ISBN0-87004-221-1
Further reading
Faber, Jim, Steamer's Wake - Voyaging down the old marine highways of Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columba River, Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 ISBN0-9615811-0-7
Newell, Gordon, and Williamson, Joe, Pacific Steamboats, Bonanza Books, New York, NY (1963)
Wide West was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She had a reputation as a luxury boat of her day.
Many steamboats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, from about 1850 to 1981. Major tributaries of the Columbia that formed steamboat routes included the Willamette and Snake rivers. Navigation was impractical between the Snake River and the Canada–US border, due to several rapids, but steamboats also operated along the Wenatchee Reach of the Columbia, in northern Washington, and on the Arrow Lakes of southern British Columbia.
Georgiana was a propeller-driven steamboat that operated on the Columbia River from 1914 to 1940. Georgiana was built of wood, and specially designed for the Harkins Transportation Company, a steamboat line in which the wealthy Henry L. Pittock was a shareholder.
The steamboat Hassalo operated from 1880 to 1898 on the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Hassalo became famous for running the Cascades of the Columbia on May 26, 1888 at a speed approaching 60 miles (97 km) an hour. This vessel should not be confused with other steamboats with the same or a similar name, including Hassalo (1899) and Hassaloe (1857).
Lurline was a steamboat that served from 1878 to 1930 on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Lurline was a classic example of the Columbia river type of steamboat.
The Colonel Wright was the first steamboat to operate on the Columbia River above The Dalles in the parts of the Oregon Country that later became the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. She was the first steamboat to run on the Snake River. She was named after Colonel George Wright, an army commander in the Indian Wars in the Oregon Country in the 1850s. She was generally called the Wright during her operating career.
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.
The Belle of Oregon City, generally referred to as Belle, was built in 1853, and was the first iron steamboat built on the west coast of North America.
Willamette Chief was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1874 for the Willamette River Navigation Company.
Charles R. Spencer was a steamboat built in 1901 to run on the Willamette and Columbia rivers from Portland, to The Dalles, Oregon. This vessel was described as an "elegant passenger boat". After 1911 this vessel was rebuilt and renamed Monarch.
The Carrie Ladd was an important early steamboat on the lower Columbia and lower Willamette rivers. The vessel established the basic design of the Columbia River steamboat, which was later used throughout the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon.
The Multnomah was one of the first steamboats to operate on the Willamette and Yamhill rivers. This vessel should not be confused with the Multnomah, a steamboat built in Portland, Oregon in 1885, which was larger and of a much different design.
The Columbia was a steamboat built at Astoria, Oregon in 1850. It was the first steamboat built in the Oregon Territory, and the first to establish regular service on the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers. This vessel should not be confused with the many other craft with the same or a similar name, including in particular at least four other vessels named Columbia which ran on the Columbia river or its tributaries.
Rival was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Willamette River between Oregon City and Portland, Oregon from 1860 to 1868. Rival was intended to be a boat which would promise low fares in an effort to beat a steamboat monopoly which was then in formation.
Sarah Dixon was a wooden sternwheel-driven steamboat operated by the Shaver Transportation Company on the Columbia and lower Willamette rivers from 1892 to 1926. Originally Sarah Dixon was built as a mixed use passenger and freight vessel, and was considered a prestige vessel for the time.
John McNulty was a pioneer Columbia River steamboat captain.
Jennie Clark, also seen spelled Jenny Clark, was the first sternwheel-driven steamboat to operate on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia. This vessel was commonly known as the Jennie when it was in service. The design of the Jennie Clark set a pattern for all future sternwheel steamboats built in the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia.
Harvest Queen was the name of two stern-wheel steamboat built and operated in Oregon. Both vessels were well known in their day and had reputations for speed, power, and efficiency.The first Harvest Queen, widely considered one of the finest steamers of its day, was constructed at Celilo, Oregon, which was then separated from the other portions of the navigable Columbia River by two stretches of difficult to pass rapids.
Telephone was a sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1884 by Captain Uriah Bonsor “U.B.” Scott for service on the Columbia River. Reputedly the fastest steamboat in the world in its time, Telephone served on the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. Telephone was rebuilt at least twice. The first time was after a fire in 1887 which nearly destroyed the vessel. The reconstructed and much larger second vessel was sometimes referred to as Telephone No. 2. The third vessel, Telephone No. 3, built in 1903 and using components from the second steamer was larger but little used during its time on the Columbia river.
Undine was a sternwheel-driven steamboat that operated from 1887 to 1935 on the Columbia and lower Willamette rivers. From 1935 to 1940 the same vessel was operated under the name The Dalles.
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