Wide West
Wide West was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It had a reputation as a luxury boat of its days.
Wide West was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It 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, was the head of navigation. Passengers had to disembark and ride a short railway around the Cascades to board another steamboat to travel further upriver. Cargo similarly had to be unloaded and reloaded again.
In 1888 Wide West was disassembled. The upper works and machinery were used to build another steamboat, the T. J. Potter. This was 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 were reused, as they were more durable and still had economic value after only ten years of operation.
In practice, Wide West was sometimes referred to simply as the West.
Design, dimensions and cost
Wide West was built for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which held a monopoly on steamboat navigation on the Columbia River. Wide West was intended to be the pride vessel of the company's fleet. In 1895, Wide West was said to have been the "perfect sternwheeler" constructed for Columbia River service. When in service, Wide West was characterized as "palatial" and "the finest steamboat in America."According to one source, the hull of Wide West was about feet long or. However, the overall length of the vessel was greater than the hull length because of an extension of the main deck, called a "fantail" over the stern which carried the stern-wheel. Measured this way, Wide West was feet long. Similarly, the width of the vessel, called "beam" was measured differently, depending on whether it was over the hull or over the guards, which were wide heavy timber extensions running along the top of the hull on both sides of the vessel. According to one source, Wide West had a beam of feet.
According to another source, the beam was. Another source states that, over the guards, Wide West and the very similar sternwheeler R.R. Thompson measured in length and in beam. Wide West had a depth of hold of.
According to the official steamboat registry, Wide West was long, with a beam of and depth of hold of. The overall size of the vessel was expressed in "tons" which was not a unit of weight but rather of size. Wide West was 1200.80 gross and 928.75 registered tons. The official steamboat registry number was 80650. According to one source, Wide West cost about $114,000 to construct.
Construction and launch
Construction began about the middle of June 1877 at the site of what in 1881 had become the Ainsworth dock in Portland, Oregon. This was also known as the steamboat boneyard. The hull was divided into 84 water-tight compartments, each of which was provided with a steam-powered siphon to pump out any leaking water. The vessel was launched on August 15, 1877. It was estimated that 2,000 people witnessed the launch of the Wide West. The launch, supervised by the builder, John J. Holland, took place at 4:45 in the afternoon and went flawlessly.Cargo capacity
Wide West could carry about 550 tons of wheat and still have the guards not awash. Had the hull been made one foot deeper, Wide West could have carried another 120 tons of wheat. In this respect, Wide West was considered inferior to a similar vessel, the R.R. Thompson, built one year later.Engineering
Power for Wide West was supplied by two horizontal high-pressure steam engines built by Pusey, Jones & Co., of Wilmington, Delaware. Drawings for the engines were prepared by John Gates, chief engineer of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, and included an independent cut-off device, designed by Gates, which reduced wastage of steam in the cylinders which resulted in a “great economy of fuel.” Each engine had a bore of and a stroke of.They were exact duplicates of the engines installed in the R.R. Thompson, which were built by the firm of Harlan and Hollingsworth, also of Wilmington. The engines generated 500 horsepower.
Wide West was expected to run at per hour, on a route between the Cascades and Astoria, Oregon. However, by October, 1877, the steamer had not been placed on the Astoria route, but was running solely between Portland and the Cascades, prompting criticism from the Daily Astorian of the decision.
A single boiler, originally wood-fired, generated steam at 90 pounds pressure per square inch, although it seems that pressure of up to 125 pounds per inch was possible. The boiler, built at Willamette Iron Works, of a type known as “Gates Sectional Boiler” was 7 feet in diameter and 30 feet long. It had 336 tubes, each 2.5 inches in diameter.
Fuel consumption was approximate one cord per hour, or, conservatively estimated, one cord for every 16 miles travelled. This was less than one-half of what a Mississippi-type steamboat with comparable capacity would consume.
The boiler was designed with a spark arrester which captured combusted material from the firebox, automatically hosed down the material with water, and discharged it into the river through a port in the hull. This kept the upper decks clean from soot which would otherwise have been exhausted through the smokestack and reduced the amount of paint needed for the cabins.
Water pressure for the washbasins in the cabin, and for the hydraulic steering gear was furnished by auxiliary steam-powered donkey engines.
Placed into service as freight boat
Wide West made its first trial run on October 17, 1877. At that time, the inland region of the Pacific Northwest was developing rapidly, with steamboats being loaded to capacity with wheat on their downstream trips, and returned upriver with cargos of merchandise, building supplies, farm machinery and other goods. Wide West was rushed into freight service without completion of her cabins and furnishings, making a daily round trip, heavily laden with cargo, between Portland and the Cascades.Passenger accommodations completed
In April 1878, fitting out of the vessel was completed. It was at this time that the Gates hydraulic steering gear was installed, with Wide West being the first vessel it was fitted on.The initial trip of the vessel, in a fully completed state, occurred on April 16, 1878. At this time, the vessel was moored opposite Swan Island to be photographed by Joseph Buchtel, a well-known photographer. The public was invited on board on the afternoon of the initial cruise, on April 16, to view the newly completed steamer.
Upper works and cabins
The deck above the main deck was called the “boiler deck”. A portion of the boiler, known as the “steam drum” protruded into the hall on the forward end of boiler deck, and was surrounded with metal jacketing. Overcoats, valises and other things were often stowed on tope of the jacketing while the vessel was under way.The floors of the boiler deck were covered with mosaic oil cloth. The hall in the forward part was said to have been painted in a “delicate shade of lilac.” The forward hallway, which was known as the “social hall” included the purser's office on one side, and the freight clerk's office on the other. Ten staterooms, each containing two bachelor's berths, opened on to the forward hall. Each stateroom was to have a stationary marble wash basin with hot and cold running water. Large mirrors were placed at the ends of the cabins and chandeliers were hung at regular intervals trom the center line of the ceiling.
Towards the stern, the boiler deck then transitioned into the dining room, onto which opened 22 “large and commodious” staterooms, all of uniform size, with each stateroom including a three-quarters bedstead for two persons, with a single berth above. These accommodations, as well as those in the ladies’ saloon, were said to “contrast favorably with the cramped up little dens called state-rooms on the eastern steamboats.”. The dining room was painted in pale lemon, with gold beads on the door panels. The floor in the dining room was covered with a Brussels-style carpet, apparently locally made. The chairs and tables were made locally as well, of Oregon ash with burl maple veneer.
Further towards the stern on the boiler deck was the ladies saloon, which included six rooms, painted in a different color from the dining room. One of the rooms had been fitted up as a ladies toilet, in which the pumps kept “continuous jets of water playing, while the boat is in motion, so that no offensive effluvia taints these sumptuous cabins.” During winter, this area was heated by a steam radiator covered a marble slab. At night the room was lit by nickel-plated lamps.
Above the boiler deck was the hurricane deck, which was also called simply the “roof” in steamboat parlance. Seven lifeboats were located on the roof, along with crane derricks to lower them. There was a structure on the roof called a “texas,” which housed all the officers of the vessel, except for the clerks, in ten cabins.
Above the was the pilot house, which featured plate glass windows and a wheel which controlled the vessels rudder's by hydraulic power, exceeding, it was said, the strength of ten men. It was said that a child of six could move the wheel. In 1881, seventeen other steamboats of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company were similarly equipped.