Wide West

Career
Wide West
Name:	Wide West
Owner:	Oregon Steam Navigation Company
Route:	Columbia River and lower Willamette River to Portland, Oregon
Completed:	1877, Portland, Oregon
Out of service:	1888
Fate:	Dismantled 1888, engines and upper works to T. J. Potter
General characteristics
Tonnage:	1200-tons
Length:	218 ft (66 m)
Installed power:	steam
Propulsion:	sternwheel

The Wide West was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest. She had a reputation as a luxury boat for the day.

Wide West was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. She was built entirely of wood. Wide West was a sternwheeler, 218 feet long and rated at 1200 tons. On the Columbia River, unlike the Mississippi and other rivers in the eastern part of the country, there were very few sidewheel steamboats. Wide West was placed on the run from Portland to the Cascades of the Columbia, which at that time, were the head of navigation. Passengers would have to disembark and ride a short railway around the Cascades to board another steamboat to travel further upriver. Cargo similarly would have to be unloaded and reloaded again.

In 1888 she was deconstructed and her upper works and machinery were used to build another steamboat, the T. J. Potter. This was very typical of the time, as the wooden-hulls would become waterlogged and worn, and it was easier to simply rebuild a new boat. The upper works and machinery would be reused, as it was more durable and would still have economic value after only ten years of operation.

References

Timmen, Fritz (1973). Blow for the Landing - A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers.

Mills, Randall V. (1947). Stern-Wheelers up Columbia - A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

External links

30px External images
16px	Photo of the Wide West
16px	Interior of Wide West
16px	Another photo of interior of Wide West

v • d • e Steamboats of the Columbia River and tributaries

Steamboat articles by routes	Columbia River (lower) • Willamette River • Cowlitz River • Columbia River (Wenatchee Reach) • Colville River • Arrow Lakes • Slocan Lake • Lake Chelan • Lake Okanagan • Skaha Lake • Kootenay Lake & Lower Kootenai River • Columbia Lake & Upper Kootenai River

Particular vessels	Alaskan (sidewheeler) • Altona • Athlon • Bailey Gatzert • Beaver (sidewheeler) • Beaver (sternwheeler) • Carrie Ladd (1858) • Charles R. Spencer • Colonel Wright • Columbia (1850) • Eliza Anderson • Fleetwood • Georgia E. Starr • Georgiana • Governor Grover (1873) • Hassalo (1880) • Idaho • Lot Whitcomb • Lurline • Multnomah (sidewheeler 1851) • Nez Perce Chief • North Pacific • North Star • Olympian (sidewheeler) • Oneonta • Tenino • T.J. Potter • Virginia V • Wide West • Willamette Chief (1874) • Wilson G. Hunt

Portages, locks, and canals	Cascade Locks and Canal • Celilo Canal • Willamette Locks • Columbia Canal

Steamboat lines	Harkins Transportation Co. • Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Co. • Okanogan Steamboat Co. • Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. • Oregon Steam Navigation Co. • Shaver Transportation Co. • Bonner's Ferry and Kaslo Transportation Company • Alberta and British Columbia Exploration Company

Geographic features	Columbia Gorge • Cascades Rapids • Celilo Falls • Priest Rapids • Kettle Falls • Dalles des Morts • Arrow Lakes • Columbia Lake

Steamboat owners and captains	John C. Ainsworth • John Bonser • John H. Couch • Joseph Kellogg • James W. Troup • Henry Villard

Builders and shipyards	Jacob Kamm • John J. Holland

Shipwrecks	Shipwrecks of the inland Columbia River • Steamboat Inspection Service

Lists of vessels	Steamboats on the Columbia

Modern ferry routes	Wahkiakum County Ferry • Needles-Fauquier Ferry (Arrow Lakes) • Arrow Park Ferry • Upper Arrow Lakes Ferry (Galena Bay)

Steamboats in other areas	Oregon Coast • Yaquina Bay and river • Coquille River • Puget Sound • Lake Washington • Grays Harbor • Chehalis River • Hoquiam River • Willapa Bay • Lake Crescent • Nechako, Stuart & Upper Fraser Rivers • Skeena River • Stikine River • Yukon River • Lakes Route • Inside Passage • Thompson-Shuswap • Peace, Athabaska & Finlay Rivers • Lower Fraser River & Harrison Lake • Mackenzie River

v • d • e Oregon Steam Navigation Company

lower Columbia and lower Willamette boats	Multnomah (1851) • Belle (of Oregon City) (1853) • Jennie Clark (1854) • Express (1854) • Senorita (1855) • Fashion(ex-Venture) (1858) • Julia {Barclay) (1858) • Mountain Buck (1857) • Carrie Ladd (1858) • Rival (1860) • E.D. Baker (1862) • Wilson G. Hunt (1849;1862) • Cascades (1864:1865) • New World (1849;1868) • Daisy Ainsworth (1873) • Governor Grover (1873) • Wide West (1877)

Portland to Astoria route	John H. Couch (1863) • Wenat (1867) • Dixie Thompson (1871) • Emma Hayward (1871) • Bonita (1875) • S.G. Reed (1878)

Portland to Kalama route	Welcome (1874)

middle Columbia boats	Mary (1854) • Hassaloe (1857) • Wasco (1855) • Idaho(1860) • Iris (1863) • Oneonta (1863) • Harvest Queen (1878) • R.R. Thompson (1878)

upper Columbia and lower Snake River boats	Colonel Wright (1859) • Tenino (1861) • Okanagon (1861) • Kiyus/Cayuse (1863) • Nez Perce Chief (1863) • Webfoot (1863) • Owyhee (1864) • Yakima (1864) • Almota (1876) • Spokane (1877) • Annie Faxon (1877) • Mountain Queen (1877) • John Gates (1878)

upper Willamette boats	Surprise (1857) • Onward (1858) • Willamette Chief (1874)

Cowlitz River	Rescue (1864)

upper Snake River	Shoshone (1866)

Owners and personnel	John C. Ainsworth • Jacob Kamm • William S. Ladd

See also

References

External links

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