''Comet'' was a sternwheel steamboat that ran from 1871 to 1900 on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

and rivers flowing into it, including the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

Nooksack Nooksack ( Nooksack: ''Noxwsʼáʔaq'') or Nootsack may refer to: * Nooksack people, an American Indian tribe in Whatcom County, Washington ** Nooksack language, the language of this tribe Places *Nooksack River, a river in Whatcom County, Washing ...

rivers.

Construction

The steamboat ''Comet'', whose name was said to have been "misleading", was built in Seattle in 1871 by Capt. Simon F. Randolph (d.1909). ''Comet'' was constructed in an unusual fashion. Randolph built the vessel upside down by picking a flat area of ground, marking out the shape of the boat on the ground, and driving in posts at regular intervals to act as ribs. He then connected the ribs with crossbeams, bent planks around the posts and over the crossbeams, and had the hull complete, although upside down. With the posts still affixed in the ground, the vessel looked like a

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...

house. Randolph then sawed off the posts, and pushed the hull out into the water. He then flipped the hull over using rocks piled on one side as an assist. The resulting hull was right-side up, but full of water. Randolph then beached the hull, pumped out the water with a home-made wooden pump, and the hull was complete. The steam engines Randolph installed were described as "non-descript and mismatching" and the upper works were said to have been tall and barn-like.Newell, ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', at 69-71, and 82.

Career

''Comet'' was placed on the White River route under Capt. Curtis D. Brownfield (b. 1850) until 1876 or later, and was the first steamer to be successful on that route, which included service to farmlands on the Black River. ''Comet'' then was shifted to run almost every route out of Seattle. Under Captain Brownfield, ''Comet'' was a pioneer vessel on the

Nooksack River The Nooksack River is a river in western Whatcom County of the northwestern U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, draining Nooksack Valley, extensive valley systems within the North Cascades around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin ...

. Capt. George A. Cushman (d.1891), who built the steamer ''Lillie'', also for the White River route, was in command of ''Comet'' for a long time.Wright, ed., ''Lewis and Dryden Marine History'', at 161, 182, 193, 244, 253, 395 . (The current course of the White River deviates from its original as a result of flood control projects).Newell, ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History'', at 170, 442, and 477. Capt J. C. Brittain (d.1891), who at one point controlled one of the largest merchant fleets on Puget Sound, came to own ''Comet'' at some point and used the vessel in connection with the steamers ''Despatch'' and ''Teaser'' to carry the mail, for which he had a contract, to Snohomish,

La Conner La Conner is a town in Skagit County, Washington, Skagit County, Washington (state), Washington, United States with a population of 965 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon, Washington, Mount Vernon& ...

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Bellingham Bay Bellingham Bay is a bay of the Salish Sea located in Washington State in the United States. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by Bellingh ...

Semiahmoo Bay Semiahmoo Bay ( ) is the southeastern section of Boundary Bay on the Pacific coast of North America in British Columbia, Canada. The bay is named for the Semiahmoo First Nation, who originally occupied the area. The Semiahmoo Peninsula borders ...

, and Lopez,

Orcas The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopoli ...

and

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

islands.

Notes

References

*Affleck, Edward L., ''A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska'', Alexander Nicolls Press, Vancouver, BC 2000 * Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (1966) * Newell, Gordon R., ''Ships of the Inland Sea'', Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd Ed. 1960) * {{Puget Sound sternwheelers 1871 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Ships built in Seattle