The ''T.J. Potter'' was a

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

that operated in the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming ...

. The boat was launched in 1888. Her upper cabins came from the steamboat ''

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 ...

''. This required some modification, because the ''T.J. Potter'' was a side-wheeler, whereas the ''Wide West'' had been a stern-wheeler. The boat's first owner was the

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a Rail transport company, rail and Steamboats of the Columbia River, steamboat transport company that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United ...

. The ''T. J. Potter'' was one of the few side-wheeler boats that operated on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

Design and construction

The ''T.J. Potter'', commonly referred to as the ''Potter'', was named after first the vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad's operations in the west. She was built entirely of wood by the

, owned by John F. Steffan. She was built for the

.Affleck, Edward L., ''A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest'', the Yukon, and Alaska, page 26, Vancouver, B.C., Alexander Nicolls Press (2000) . She was launched at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in 1888. She was propelled by two non-condensing

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

s, with 32" cylinders, each with an eight-foot stroke, and generating (together or singly is not certain) 1,700 horsepower. Her single boiler and firebox were built in 1887 by the Pusey & Jones Company, of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. The

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

was long with a diameter of . Her

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

was 659 and her net tonnage was 589. As built, the ''Potter'' was long, with a beam of , and depth of hold of 10 feet.Maritime History of the Great Lakes (includes information on non-Great Lakes boats, including sketches and specifications of ''T.J. Potter'').
Accessed 2014-07-31. Her U.S. registry number was 145489. Construction of the ''Potter'' was supervised by Capt.

James William Troup James William Troup (February 5, 1855 – November 30, 1931) was an American steamship captain, Canadian Pacific Railway administrator and shipping pioneer. Family Captain James William Troup was born in Portland, Oregon in February, 1855.Newell, ...

, one of the most famous steamboat captains in the West, as well as the owner of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, the builders of the ''T. J. Potter''. On May 26, 1888, the same year the ''Potter'' was built, Captain Troup had brought the sternwheeler ''Hassalo'' over a six-mile (10 km) stretch of rapids called the Cascades of the Columbia during low water, reaching speeds of an hour in the process. When built, the ''Potter'' had a reputation as one of the fastest and most luxurious steamboats in the Pacific Northwest:

Operations on the Columbia River

The first season after she was launched, her owners put her on the tourist run from

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

. In August 1888, the ''Potter'' made the run from Portland to Astoria in 5 hours and 31 minutes. By comparison, the fastest steamboat on the Columbia River at that time was the ''Potters competitor ''Telephone'', which on July 2, 1887, had made the run from Portland to Astoria in 4 hours and 34 minutes.Timmen, Franz: ''Blow for the Landing, A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West'', at 50, 133, 139-40, and 174, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID 1973 . Fares were $2.50 to Astoria and $3.00 to

Ilwaco, Washington Ilwaco ( ) is a city in Pacific County, Washington, Pacific County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,087 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Founded in 1890, the city was home to the Ilwaco Railway an ...

. Discounts were offered for the roundtrip. Lower berths cost $.75 and a single berth cost $.50. All meals also cost $.50.

Operations on Puget Sound

After that, she was transferred to

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 ...

to compete with another famous steamboat, the ''Bailey Gatzert'', which was owned by the Seattle Steam Navigation and Transportation Company. The ''Bailey'' was a stern-wheeler, and did better in the Sound than the sidewheeler ''Potter,'' which rolled from side to side in swells, raising first one paddle wheel then the other out of the water. Even so, the ''T.J. Potter'' was one of the fastest steamboats on Puget Sound, and is reported in 1890 to have bested the famous sternwheeler ''Bailey Gatzert'' in a race. The ''Potter'' was also reported to have set a record time of 82 minutes on the run from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. While operating out of Puget Sound, the ''Potter'', along with many other local steamboats, helped fight the

Great Seattle Fire The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington, on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, during the same summer ...

of 1889:

Return to Columbia River

Eventually the ''Potter'' was transferred back to the

for good. She was placed on the Portland-Astoria run, where she competed with steamboats owned by the

Shaver Transportation Company The Shaver Transportation Company is an inland water freight transportation company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The company was founded in 1880 and played a major role in the development of freight transport in the Portland area and al ...

. The ''Potters owners,

, struck an anti-competitive deal with Shaver Transportation, whereby the Shaver boats, including the ''Sarah Dixon'', would stay off the Portland-Astoria route in return for a monthly subsidy from

. Other competitors of the ''Potter'' on the Portland-Astoria run included ''Lurline'' and ''Georgiana''.

Captain and crew

In 1901, Joe Turner was the captain of the ''T.J. Potter''. Other crew at apparently the same time, but whose positions are uncertain, included Al Gray (Faber, cited below, identifies Gray as captain), Julius Oliver, James Healey, Harry O. Staples, Ed Scott, Fred Ware, Claude Cooper, Wendell Smith, and Henry Hoffman.

1901 Rebuild

In 1901 the ''Potter'' was rebuilt, increasing her length by only a few feet but greatly increasing her weight. Her gross tonnage rose from 650 to 1017 tons, and her net tonnage from 590 to 826.Mills, Randall V., ''Stern-wheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country'', page 201, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE (1947) The increased weight cut several knots off her speed. Her wheelhouse was rebuilt, and instead of a flat roof, she had a dome with a flagpole. This was unique among Columbia River steamboats. The rebuild cost a total of $86,000. Following the rebuild, the ''Potters owners put her on the run from Portland to Ilwaco, Washington for connection with the

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company The Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company operated a Narrow gauge railways, narrow gauge railroad that ran for over forty years from the Columbia Bar, bar of the Columbia River up the Long Beach Peninsula to Nahcotta, Washington, on Willapa Ba ...

, serving primarily the summer tourist trade.Feagans, Raymond J., ''The Railroad that Ran by the Tide'', at 49 and 80-81, Howell-North Books, Berkeley, CA (1972) .

Later years and abandonment

The ''Potter'' was refurbished in 1910, and continued in operation on the Portland–

Ilwaco Ilwaco ( ) is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,087 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1890, the city was home to the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company along the Long Beach Peninsula, with its core econo ...

run. In the early 1990s, Professor Frederick Bracher recalled riding on the ''Potter'' from Portland to

as a young child in 1915: Just before the opening of the tourist season in 1916 the ''Potter'' was condemned for passenger use. The ''Potter'' was not replacedProfessor Bracher's mention that the ''

Georgiana Georgiana is a Catalan, English, Greek and Romanian name. It is the feminine form of the male name George and a variation of the female names Georgina and Georgia. It comes from the Greek word (), meaning "farmer". A variant spelling is Georgi ...

'' replaced the ''Potter'' refers only to the run from Portland to Astoria. No other boat ran directly from Portland to Ilwaco after the ''Potter's'' retirement. on the Portland–Ilwaco run, as there was insufficient passenger traffic to justify putting a new boat on the route. The Portland–Astoria route was continued until 1936, when heavy profit losses removed the ''Georgiana'' from service. The ''Potter'' then served as a barracks boat for construction crews until Nov. 20, 1920, when her license was revoked. She was abandoned on the northeast side of

Youngs Bay Youngs Bay, or Youngs River Bay, is located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Youngs River meets the Columbia River at this point, which is situated between Astoria and Warrenton. The bay is named for the Youngs River ...

near Astoria. She was burned and salvaged for her metal shortly afterward. Faber publishes a photograph showing her abandoned, stripped of upper works, but with her hull substantially intact, with large metal components such as her rudder strap intact. (Faber, at page 155).

Today

The ''T. J. Potter'' has heavily deteriorated over the past 90 years. All that remains are the parts of most of the ribs as well as the keel.

References

External links

''T.J. Potter'' at wharf of Oregon Improvement Company, sometime between 1888 and 1901.
This photograph shows well the ''T.J. Potter'' before reconstruction including the ornate paddlewheel boxes.
T.J. Potter on the Columbia River. Photograph from the private collection of Jeff Moore, Stevenson, Washington.
Skamania County Heritage Collection from the Stevenson Community Library, Fort Vancouver Regional Library System. {{Ilwaco Navigation Company Paddle steamers of Oregon Ships built in Portland, Oregon Steamboats of the Columbia River Sidewheel steamboats of Washington (state) 1888 ships Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company