Hunt Brothers (steamboat line)

The Hunt Brothers were the owners of a steamboat business that ran on Puget Sound as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. Five of the seven Hunt children became owners, engineers and masters of steamboats, these were Emmett E., Arthur.M., A.R, L.B., and F.M. Hunt. The family originally came from Michigan and settled near Wollochet Bay in 1876. They started out in the maritime business when the oldest brother, Emmett E., rowed the mail once a week between Steilacoom and Wollochet Bay, a 20 mile row. In 1882, Emmett E. built a little steamboat, "Baby Mine", just 26' long, and his brother Arthur.M. came on board as the engineer. They built or operated for others additional boats including "Gypsey Queen", "Susie," and "Victor." [Kline, M.S. and Bayless, G.A., "Ferryboats -- A Legend on Puget Sound", at page 124, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 ISBN 0-914515-00-4]

In 1898, the Hunt Brothers had "Sentinel" built at the Crawford and Reid yard in Tacoma, and placed her on the East Pass Route between Tacoma and Seattle. In 1899, they had "Crest" built at Tacoma for service on the Tacoma-Gig Harbor route [Newell, Gordon R., ed., "H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest", at pages 32 and 49, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966]

In 1902, the partnership ended, and Emmett Hunt took over the "Crest" on the Gig Harbor route. and appears to have continued in business until at least 1907 as the Hunt Steamboat Company. Arthur M. Hunt kept "Sentinel" and "Clara Brown."

In 1905, Arthur M. Hunt and Frank Bibbins formed the Tacoma and Burton Transportation Company. Arthur M. Hunt designed "Burton", launched 1905, and "Magnolia," launched 1908. One authority states that about three years later, Arthur M. Hunt sold both boats ("Sentinel" going to the newly-formed Merchants' Transportation Company) and quit the steamboat business. [McCurdy, at 76, 111, and 132] Another authority indicates that Arthur M. Hunt bought out Bibbins' interest in a shipyard on the Puyallup river, where he superintended the construction of boats such as "Ariel" (1912). [Kline and Bayless, at 126. McCurdy and Kline and Bayless are difficult to reconcile on the career of Arthur M. Hunt. Kline and Bayless state retired from the steamboat business to form the Hunt Bros. Boat Repair Yard at Tacoma, but gives no date.]

In May 1913, the Hunt Brothers, consisting of Arda R., Arthur M., and Lloyd) launched "Atalanta", built at the Marine Supply Company in Tacoma, as a replacement for "Crest" on the Gig Harbor route. "Atalanta" was a 147 ton steamer, measuring 111.7' long, 23' on the beam, and 6.7 depth of hold. Captain A.R. Hunt, who had been in command of "Ariel" on the same route, took over as her skipper. Captain Hunt's son, Reed Hunt, who later became chairman of the board of Crown Zellerbach Corporation, recalled the launching of "Atalanta":

In 1914, the Hunt Brothers sold "Ariel" to Henry and Marcus Johnson, who brought her up to Lake Washington to run in the suburban passenger business. [McCurdy, at 241]

In 1924, Pierce County decided to go into the automobile ferry business and built the 124' "City of Tacoma" to run between Tacoma and Gig Harbor. Arthur M. Hunt designed the ferry and the Hunt Brothers operated it for the county until 1927, when a new ferry, the "Defiance" was built at Gig Harper for the Skansie Brothers and their Washington Navigation Company, who took over operation of ferries for Pierce County on the Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Vashon Island runs. [McCurdy, at 324-25 and 383-84]

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Websites

* [http://www.gigharbormuseum.org/SteamHunt.html Gig Harbor Museum page on Hunt Bros., including photographs and timeline of firm.]