Steamboats of the Coquille River

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Coquille River lighthouse
Coquille River lighthouse
Dispatch on Coquille River, circa 1910, probably near Bandon, Oregon
Dispatch on Coquille River, circa 1910, probably near Bandon, Oregon

Contents

The Coquille River runs inland from Bandon, Oregon, at the mouth of the river at the Pacific Ocean up the Coquille Valley. 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.

[edit] Business and population expansion

Jetty construction at the two jetties at the Coquille River entrance allowed ocean-going ships to enter the mouth of the river and dock at Bandon. Economic activity boomed in Bandon in the early 1900s. A steamship line connected Bandon with Portland and San Francisco. From 1905 to 1910, the population tripled to 1800. Bandon had five sawmills and two shipyards.[1]

[edit] Rise of navigation by steamboats and other small vessels

Coquille waterfront, with Wolverine, Favorite and Wilhemina at dock, about 1908 to 1914
Coquille waterfront, with Wolverine, Favorite and Wilhemina at dock, about 1908 to 1914
Coquille waterfront, sometime before 1895
Coquille waterfront, sometime before 1895

As the river ran inland, it became so narrow that it was said that passengers could amuse themselves by leaning out the windows and picking flowers. William Russell Panter, a descendant of one of the first pioneer families in the area, was apparently one of the first to enter the inland steamboat business. Wm. R. Panter bought a small steamer, Maria, and put her in service above Coquille, towing a boat hauling milk from farms to the first creamery on the Coquille River, which was about two miles up the river from Coquille. Panter later organized a run to the Timmons cannery in Bandon, towing a scow loaded with salmon caught by fishermen.[2]

By 1899, a boatyard owned by Arthur Ellingson at Prosper, Oregon, began producing steamboats, starting with the small (26 tons) propeller steamer Reta, which operated on the Coquille and later on Coos Bay. In 1901, the Ellingson yard at Coquille built the sternwheeler Echo (76 tons), she ran for ten years under Captain J.W. McCloskey. Other boats in the early years of the century on the Coquille River included Liberty, which also served in Coos Bay, and Dispatch.[3]

In 1900, S.H. McAdams, who owned a boatyard in Coquille, built the small (30 tons) sternwheeler Welcome. Also that year, Ellingson turned out the propeller steamer Favorite and the gasoline propeller Pastime. In 1901, Ellingson launched Echo and J.Warren, a 10 ton propeller steamer, both for service on the Coquille. Also in 1901, C.H. James launched the 15 ton propeller steamer Venus at Coquille. In 1903, the gasoline powered Nellie & Cressy (12 tons) was built at Bandon. In 1903, Charles Trigg built Dispatch at Parkersburg, Oregon, for service on the Coquille River. After 1920, Dispatch was operated out of Marshfield as the John Widdi by the Coquille River Transportation Company.

In 1914, Carl Herman, who owned a boatyard at Prosper, Oregon, built the Telegraph for the Myrtle Point Transportation Company, which competed with the gasoline-powered propeller Charm on the Coquille River.[4][3] Telegraph was (by one source) the last steamboat on the Coquille River. Her owners were able to secure a mail contract for her, but eventually the contract was re-awarded to truck route.[2]

Various small boats were built on the Coquille River over the years, at Prosper, Parkersburg, Coquille, Randolph, and at the Hermann's ranch. These included Myrtle W. (12 tons), built in 1912 at Randolph, and Antelope, Fawn, Venus, and Maple. Carl Herman built a lot of boats of various sizes at his yard at Prosper, including in 1907, Sunset, (12 tons) and in 1909, Star (12 tons), built for passenger and towing services on the Coquille River.

[edit] Passengers and cargoes carried

Little Annie
Little Annie

Very large numbers of people were sometimes transported on the small riverboats. For one baseball game at Bandon, Dispatch came down from Coquille with about 400 people aboard, and Telegraph arrived with 150. At one point, Telegraph ran eight different Saturdays along the river to carry people to dances, sometimes at Prosper, sometimes at Parkersburg, Lampa and Riverton.

Coal mines in the area, served by the riverine craft, were at Lampa Creek, Panter's Ranch, Riverton, and Coquille. Coal was loaded onto ships bound for San Francisco. Early schools in the area were located at Bandon, Prosper, Randolph, Parkersburg, Lampa Creek, Riverton, Coquille, Arago, Myrtle Point, and Beaver Slough. The Pearcy Hanly ranch, across from Lampa Creek, shipped milk to Bandon on the river steamers for many years. There were a number of sawmills, salmon canneries, and other concerns along the river, including a woolen mill and a match factory at Bandon, all of which seem to have been served by the river boats. [2]

[edit] Rivalry among steamboat owners

In 1914, Telegraph (96 tons), the largest sternwheeler ever to serve on the Coquille, was built for the Myrtle Point Transportation Co., and launched at Prosper. She was 103' long, 16.2' on the beam, and with 3.2' depth of hold. Her engines had 9" cylinders with 42" stroke, developing 250 horsepower. She was built to outcompete the gasoline-powered Charm, which in turn had been placed on the river to beat the old Myrtle, a considerably less powerful boat than Telegraph. Competition was keen on the Coquille, as a few months after entering service, Telegraph somehow managed to run Charm up on the beach near a narrow spot in the river above Bandon.

[edit] Decline and end of riverine transport

The Ellingson yard built Relief in 1916, a 44 ton passenger and freight boat, which turned out to be the last new sternwheeler built on the Coquille River.[4]

In 1924, the gasoline launch Charm was taken off the Coquille River route, and sold to Shaver Transportation Company, who re-equipped her with a 90 horsepower diesel engine and put her in service as a log boom boat.[4]

The Myrtle Point Transportation Company owned the last riverboats on the Coquille. Stockholders of the company were Russell Panter, Walter Panter, William A. Panter, Paris Ward, and the Huffard brothers. Paris Ward owned a ranch near Bandon, and as the demand for riverine transport ended, the Panter family's boats were abandoned at the shore of his ranch, where by 1971 what remained of their hulls had filled up with sand.[2].

Links to photos of the steamboat graveyard at the Ward ranch, all taken on June 26, 1941, showing Myrtle, Telegraph, and Dora beached along the Coquille River near Bandon. Note that while the Salem Public Library Images do not identify these steamers, Marshall does in his book and provides a photograph of the same place, at a slightly different time:[5] Myrtle was apparently abandoned further inshore than Telegraph. This may explain why it appears that only two boats ar abandoned on shore in photos taken from the water. Panter also identifies the three abandoned sternwheelers by name.[2]

[edit] List of vessels on Coquille River

Inland steamboats on Oregon coastal waterways[6]
Name Type Year Built Where Built Builders Owners Gross Tons Length Disposition
Little Annie sternwheeler 1877 Coquille William E. Rackliffe 86 70' hit snag and sank near Bandon, 1890[7]
Mud Hen sternwheeler 1878 Coquille River 32' unknown, 1892
Antelope[2] 1886 unknown
Dispatch (I) sternwheeler 1890 Bandon 24 52' unknown, probably abandoned 1904
Favorite propeller 1900 Coquille[8][9] Arthur Ellingson 13 72' unknown, 1917
Pastime sternwheeler (gasoline) 1900 Coquille 11 45' unknown, 1901
Welcome sternwheeler 1900 Coquille S.H. Adams[4] 30 56' wrecked, 1907
Echo sternwheeler 1901 Coquille Ellingson 76 66' unknown, probably abandoned 1911
Liberty sternwheeler 1903 Bandon Herman Bros.[8] 174 91' unknown, 1918
Dispatch (II) sternwheeler 1903 Parkersburg Charles Tweed[8] 250 111' rebuilt 1922 as towboat John Wildi
Bandon[2] 1907 unknown
Charm[4] propeller (gasoline) 1908 Prosper Herman Bros.[8] 75' Badly damaged by collision with Telegraph 1914, and forced to beach near Bandon. Repaired and ran on Coquille River until sale to Shaver Transportation Co. in 1928.[8]
Coquille[4] propeller 1908 Coquille Frank Lowe 407 124' sold to Shaver Transportation Co.[2], transferred to Columbia R., date and ultimate dispo. unk.
Myrtle (I) sternwheeler 1909 Myrtle Point Nels Nelson Myrtle Point Trans. Co.[4] 36 57' rebuilt as freighter 1922.[4]Mills reports she was abandoned 1922, this may be a conflict in the sources.</ref>
Dora sternwheeler 1910 Randolph Herman Bros. W.R. Panter 47 64' abandoned 1927 at Paris Ward ranch[2]
May[2] 1910 unknown
Randolph[2] 1910 unknown
Maple[2] 1911 unknown
Norma[2] 1911 unknown
Rainbow sternwheeler 1912 Marshfield Frank Lowe[4] Coos River Trans. Co.[4] 75 64' Abandoned 1923
Telegraph sternwheeler 1914 Prosper Carl Herman Myrtle Point Trans. Co. 96 103' rebuilt and lengthened to 115' in about 1916, abandoned by 1940 at Paris Ward ranch [2]
Relief sternwheeler 1916 Coquille Ellingson[4] 44 64' unknown, 1927
Myrtle (II) sternwheeler 1922 Prosper 36 60' abandoned by 1940 at Paris Ward ranch [2]
John Wildi (ex-Dispatch) sternwheeler 1922 Parkersburg 173 112' abandoned 1927
Port of Bandon[2] 1938 unknown
Kliham[2] unknown unknown
Elareto[2] unknown unknown

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Nautical charts

[edit] Coos Art Museum

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gibbs, James A., Oregon's Seacoast Lighthouses, at 49, Webb Research Group, Medford, OR 1992 ISBN 0-936738-57-X
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Panter, William, "Early River Traffic on the Coquille," Glancing Back (Pioneer Lore), at 16-19, Vol. I, No. 1, Coos-Curry Pioneer and Historical Association, 1971
  3. ^ a b Timmen, Fritz, Blow for the Landing, at 199-201, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973 ISBN 0-87004-221-1
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, at 48, 61, 71 89, 92, 139, 149, 162, 207, 241-42, 268, 327, 344, and 355, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle WA 1966
  5. ^ Marshall, Don, Oregon Shipwrecks, at 220, Binford and Mort Publishing, Portland, OR 1984 ISBN 0-8323-430-1
  6. ^ Mills, Randall V., Sternwheelers up Columbia, pages 189-203, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE (1947; 2nd Printing 1977) ISBN 0-8032-5874-7
  7. ^ Timmen, at 207. He also gives her date of construction as 1876 and her place built as Myrtle Point
  8. ^ a b c d e Victor West Collection of the Coos Art Museum (accessed 2007-12-29)
  9. ^ The Victor West gallery source says Favorite was built at Bandon. McCurdy, at 61, gives Coquille.