Zephyr and work crew alongside on float | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Zephyr |
Route | Puget Sound |
Completed | 1871 |
Out of service | 1907 |
Fate | Sold for scrap 1907 |
General characteristics | |
Installed power | steam engines |
Propulsion | sternwheel |
Zephyr was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
Zephyr was built in 1871 for the famous steamboat captain Tom Wright. In 1872, the Merchants Transportation Company of Olympia was formed, with Zephyr becoming the company's first steamboat. The vessel was placed on the Olympia, Washington-Steilacoom-Tacoma-Seattle run, making way-stops en route, and competing with another sternwheeler, Messenger, and making the run on alternating days. In 1907, the vessel was sold for scrapping in Seattle.
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 steamboat Aquilo operated on Lake Washington and Puget Sound in the first part of the 20th century.
The steamboat Fortuna was a vessel that operated on Lake Washington in the first part of the 20th century.
The steamboat Defiance operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. In later years this vessel was called Kingston.
The steamboat Dart operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
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 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 Mizpah operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
The steamboat Fleetwood operated in the 1880s and 1890s on the Columbia River and later as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
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.
Clara Brown was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet which operated from the late 1880s to the early 1900s, and possibly as late as 1930.
Sentinel was a small wooden propeller-driven steamship of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
Messenger was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
Northern Light was a sternwheel steamboat of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet and was active in the early 1900s.
Magnolia was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound from 1907 to 1937.
Otter was a wooden sternwheel steamboat that was used in Puget Sound and briefly on the Columbia and Stikine rivers from 1874 to 1897.
The Merchants Transportation Company was a shipping firm that operated on Puget Sound from 1905 to 1929. This company should not be confused with the similarly named Merchants Transportation Company of Olympia, formed in 1874 which is a completely separate firm.
Concordia was a steamboat that ran on Puget Sound from 1930 to 1976. Although later converted to diesel power, Concordia was the last inland commercial steamboat ever built on either Puget Sound or the Columbia river.
The steamboat Arcadia, built in 1929, was one of the last commercial steamboats placed into service on Puget Sound. The vessel later served as a prison tender under the name J.E. Overlade, and after that, as Virginia VI, as an excursion vessel.
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.