|
Steamboats in the Timber by Ruby el Hult w dust jacket
Steamboats in the Timber by Ruby el Hult
Hard cover with dust jacket Dust jacket has damage around edges
Copyright 1952 by Ruby el Hult SECOND PRINTING January 1953
209 pages Indexed
Contents
FOREWORD7
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11
ACROSS LAKE COEUR D'ALENE
Chapter One GOLD AND SILVER 19
Chapter Two EXCURSION DAYS45
HIGHEST NAVIGABLE RIVER67
Chapter One SHADOWY ST. JOE67
Chapter Two MAGNIFICENT MILLPOND86
Chapter Three HEAD OF NAVIGATION116
STEAMBOAT DAYS
Chapter One WHITE STAR, RED COLLAR141
Chapter Two RED COLLAR WAR WHOOP156
Chapter Three GREEN GHOSTS178
EPILOGUE191
APPENDIX197
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Georgie Oakes on the "Shadowy St. Joe" River Frontispiece
Cataldo Mission, affectionately called the "Old Mission"20
The Amelia Wheaton 20
The Georgie Oakes, the Colfax, and the Spokane29
The Only Known Picture of the Old Ore-Hauler Coeur d'Alene 29
The Elk 36
The Venerable Stern-Wheeler Georgie Oakes Steaming across Lake Coeur d'Alene 36
The Idaho 45
Named for a Spanish American War Hero, the Schley made the St. Joe River Run 52
The Spokane 52
C. P. Sorensen 60
P. W. "Pete" Johnson 60
Head of Navigation, at Ferrell, on the St. Joe River69
Ferrell Landing on the "Shadowy St. Joe" 76
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Towing Logs Down the St. Joe River, Near Lake Chatcolet77
Beauty Bay on Idaho's Lake Coeur d'Alene, Looking North to Wolf Lodge Point 88
St. Marks Townsite89
St. Marks Landing on the St. Joe River100
Assembling a Brail of Logs on the St. Joe River, at St. Manes 100
A Few Giants of the Forest 109
St. Joe Hotel and the Steamer Idaho 118
A Whistle Stop on the St. Joe 122
The Idaho at the St. Joe Landing 128
The Milwaukee Railroad Tracks Enter St. Marks, Idaho 129
Avery, Idaho, During the Fire of 1910129
Fire Fighters at Breakfast in Avery, During the 1910 Fire136
Ranger Debitt and Fire Fighters at Avery 136
J. C. White 144
Captain W. P. Gray 144
The Boneta 145
The Flyer 148
The Idaho at Coeur d'Alene Pier, Making Connections with an Electric Train 149
The Colfax 157
The Idaho, the Georgie Oakes, the Spokane, and the Colfax Tied Up at St. Marks, on the St. Joe River 162
"Cap" Laird Bags a Cougar 165
The Stern-Wheeler Harrison 172
George Groves, the "Kid Engineer" 173
Fred Wilson 173
On Lookout Pass at the Idaho-Montana Line, Looking Westward into Idaho 175
"Miss Spokane"-Marguerite Motie 182
The Miss Spokane at Coeur d'Alene Dock 186
The Georgie Oakes Tied Up at St. Marks Dock186
Colored Map of Lake Coeur d'Alene 188
In this cheerfully written history of steamboating days on Lake Coeur d'Alene is an opportunity to look backward upon a busy, gay, and interesting period in the development of the Northwest.
Steamboats were once used more extensively on Lake Coeur d'Alene than on any lake, salt or fresh, west of the Great Lakes. They brought ore from gold, silver and lead mines; lumber from the forests ; fish from the rivers ; carried mail and Sears, Roebuck parcels to lonely homesteads ; were loaded with cattle, wheat, potatoes, and other produce.
Not only were the boats used for commerce, but they were also used for pleasure. Perhaps the most entertaining portion of the book describes the bright holidays, when the steamboats were transformed into vessels of festivity and revelry. Thousands of people from Spokane would crowd into the electric cars and flock to the banner-decorated boats. Joyous crowds would dance on deck ; school children would have the "big day" of their lives ; amorous couples would look dreamily upon the silken water of the lake as the steamboat trailed slowly homeward in the moonlight.
The author, herself a native of the Coeur d'Alene country, gives to this much-needed chapter of Northwest history the special personal charm lent to facts reinforced by memories. A succinctly written account of the Coeur d'Alene region's historical background furnishes a necessary setting, and a short history is given to the steamboats most important in the lake commerce.
FOREWORD
STEAMBOATS on Lake Coeur d'Alene! Steamboats nosing up the Coeur d'Alene River to the Old Mission! Steamboats on the "shadowy St. Joe!" Steamboats sending their haunting whistles up into the wild pine-clad hills!
In the heyday of its water commerce, Lake Coeur d'Alene was the scene of more steamboating than any other lake, salt or fresh, west of the Great Lakes. It was the little Lake Erie of the West; its rivers, miniature Mississippi's of the West.
The silver and blue waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene wind between timbered hills in the Idaho panhandle. Twenty-two miles long, with over a hundred miles of shore line, it is a narrow, elongated body of water with many bays. Extending out from it are two rivers, the Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe, each navigable for over thirty miles-two water-roads into the mountain wilderness.
From its earliest beginnings the town of Coeur d'Alene, developing at the northern end of the lake, fronted on the water, its eyes always turned to the water. It was like a coast town which is more conscious of the sea before it than of the continent behind it. True, the town of Coeur d'Alene had early -connections with Spokane and the Northern Pacific Railroad, but these were back-door connections. Before its wide front door played the constant lake drama.
Across Lake Coeur d'Alene the big mining boom in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains was carried out, and the ore-hauling steamers came and went. Across the lake later went the timber seekers in their rush to grab the white pine riches of the St. Joe country; and a new bunch of steamers carried timber barons, homesteaders, lumberjacks, wild women, and excursionists up the twisting, cottonwood-shaded course of the St. Joe River. This logging boom on the St. Joe was an unique boom, really, for it was conducted entirely by water on this, the highest navigable river in the world. Up the peaceful St. Joe went all the supplies necessary to carry on big logging operations; and back down the river floated millions of feet of logs into Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Across the lake to the town of Coeur d'Alene came people from Harrison, from the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe valleys, and from all the farms around the lake. Farmers brought loads of hay, strawberries, garden vegetables, shakes, and cordwood. Miners and lumberjacks came with easy money to spend.
Here, where the only means of travel was by boat, boats played a part in almost every aspect of life and death-in weddings, births, illnesses, funerals, crimes, wars, and in every type of pleasure.
The steamboats are gone now from Lake Coeur d'Alene. Gone the first of them all, the Amelia Wheaton; gone the ore carriers, the Coeur d'Alene, the Kootenai, the General Sherman; gone the smaller Cor-wine and Volunteer; gone the Spokane, the Colfax, and that champion freight hauler, the Boneta; gone the side-wheeler Idaho; the beloved Georgie Oakes; the much-admired Flyer. A few years ago, from the Coeur d'Alene water front, the old hull of the once-proud Miss Spokane was towed away to be dismantled. So, with the disappearance of the last bodily remnant of the lake fleet, the old days became history.
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: Ebay will add $1.25 each additional items, there are a few exceptions.
Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and forwarded to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. Refunds may be issued if you add multiple items to your cart and pay with one payment. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 7 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
|