Steamboats of Coos Bay

The Steamboats of Coos Bay operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Coos Bay, a large and mostly shallow harbor on the southeast 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.

Establishment of inland water routes

Inland riverboats were used to navigate the bay and the several rivers flow that flow into it. Many of the passages were quite narrow, for example Beaver Slough was aptly named, as every night beavers built dams across the slough which had to be dismantled to allow the passage of "Mud Hen".
* [http://photos.salemhistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/bushhouse&CISOPTR=57&REC=16a "Mud Hen", Aug 12, 1915]

Nat H. Lane and W.H. Troup, both steamboat captains from the Columbia River, began steamboat operations on Coos Bay in 1873. They built and operated "Messenger", doing business as the Coos Bay and Coquille Transportation Company. One feature of Coos Bay was that one shallow southern arm reaches south almost to Beaver Slough, a shallow north-extending branch of the Coquille River. Starting in 1869, a mule-hauled portage was built to Beaver Slough, and in 1874, a steam portage railroad replaced it. This was a good shortcut between Marshfield, as Coos Bay was then called, and Coquille, and it also eliminated the need to cross the hazardous Coos and Coquille bars by the ocean.

Frank Lowe had a shipyard in Marshfield, and in the early part of the century he produced many vessels for the Mosquito Fleet, including the propeller "Coquille", and the sternwheelers "Millicoma" and "Rainbow". [Timmen, at 201-203]

Rise of the Mosquito Fleet

In 1899, the 13 ton propeller steamer "Alma" (later "Jauniata") was built for passenger service on Coos Bay. [McCurdy, at 48] "Gasgo", 8 tons, powered by gasoline, was built in 1900 at Marshfield, and was placed in passenger service on Coos Bay and the Umpqua River. In 1903, "Comet" (9 tons), "Curlew", "Dixie" (8 tons), "Eagle" (12 tons), and "Fish" were all built at Marshfield for the Coos bay service. "Dixie" also served on the Coquille River.

In 1907. Max Timmerman launched "Bonita" (14 tons) and "City of Coos Bay" (later "Sunrise") (13 tons), both used on Coos Bay and the Umpqua River. W.W. Holland built the passenger vessels "Beaver" (later converted to a tug and renamed "Atomic") (8 tons), "Express", "Queen" (14 tons) and "Koos" (10 tons), all for the Coos Bay service. Other boats built for Coos Bay work 1907 included from Marshfield yards, by G.H. Elliott, "Messenger" (10 tons), and by Frank Lowe, "Telephone" (7 tons). At North Bend, Z.A. Kanick built Tioga (11 tons), and at Allegany, H.P. McCallon built "Transfer". In 1908, Peter Olson built "Coast" (later renamed "Enterprise" and "Arrow No. 5"), Arthur Mattson, "Marshfield" and J.D. Ross, "Traveler" (8 tons) and, by Max Timmerman "Victor" (8 tons) and "Wolverine" (14 tons). W.W. Holland built "Ranger" (12 tons) and "Shamrock" (8 tons).

In 1909, Timmerman built the gas boats "Hercules" and "Mae", both 12 tons, and Holland built "Alice H." (11 tons). In 1912, various yards around Coos Bay built the small gasoline-powered vessels "Albatross" (13 tons), "Freak" (11 tons), and "Union" (7 tons). "Turtle" (16 tons) was built the same year, and a good photo of her survives, loading wood components, probably ship's knees for the construction of a steam schooner.

North Bend yards also produced a number of smaller vessels. In 1908, George Smith built the towboat "Arrow", Peter Peterson, "Vega", J.H. Cullon, "Mawnell" (8 tons), and, by C.A. Johnson, "North Star". [McCurdy, at 149] Images of some of the smaller vessels, from the [http://www.coosart.org/victorwest/2006/fairgrounds_gallery.html Victor West Collection of the Coos Art Museum] include "Hannah", "Dora", "Favorite", and "Marshfield"

1912 was a bad year for wrecks among the mosquito fleet. On March 6, 1912, Curlew, which had been hauling milk from Sumner to Marshfield, collided with the Simpson Lumber Company's tug Columbia at North Bend, and sank as a result. On December 30, 1912, Mayflower burned at Coos Bay. Worst of all, on January 20, 1912, the "North Star No. 1", which had been operated by Joseph Yonkers between Marshfield and the South Inlet, drifted over the bar and capsized, drowning Yonkers and five passengers. Bad as this was, it could have been worse, as North Star No. 1 had dropped off 12 passengers at a landing just before the accident. [McCurdy, at 7, 61, 92, 139, 149, 162, and 207]

Mission boat "Life-Line"

One of the more unusual vessels built in 1912 was "Life-Line", a gasoline-powered 24 horsepower propeller vessel designed by George H. Hitchings and built for use as a mission boat by the Rev. G. L. Hall of the American Baptist Publications Society. [McCurdy, at 244] Marshall summed up "Life-Line"'s career and end as follows:

* [http://www.coosart.org/victorwest/2006/images/Life-line.jpg"Life-Line" (photo from Victor West Collection of the Coos Art Museum)]

List of vessels

ee also

Coos Bay, Oregon

References