''Teaser'' was a steamboat which ran on the Columbia River and

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

from 1874 to 1880.

Columbia River service

''Teaser'' was built in 1874 at

The Dalles, Oregon The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermis ...

, and was intended to run on the middle Columbia river, which was the stretch of navigable river that ran between the

Cascades Rapids The Cascades Rapids (sometimes called Cascade Falls or Cascades of the Columbia) were an area of rapids along North America's Columbia River, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. Through a stretch approximately wide, the river ...

and

Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S ...

. At that time, all traffic proceeding upriver had to be offloaded onto a portage railroad that went around the impassable Cascades, then run upriver by rail to the Upper Cascades to be loaded onto another steamer to be carried to

The Dalles The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermist ...

, where another portage railroad existed around Celilo Falls. The reverse had to be followed for downriver traffic. In the 1870s, the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...

had a monopoly on all traffic on the Columbia River. ''Teaser'' was launched as a boat to run in opposition to the monopoly, to make connections over the portage at the Cascades with the newly constructed ''Otter'', running on the lower river. Both ''Teaser'' and ''Otter'' were too small to mount a serious challenge to the powerful Oregon Steam Navigation Co., but to prevent any competition, the monopoly bought both vessels just the same, and both vessels were sent to

Operations on Puget Sound

Transfer of ''Teaser'' to Puget Sound meant the vessel had to be taken through the dangerous

Cascade Rapids The Cascades Rapids (sometimes called Cascade Falls or Cascades of the Columbia) were an area of rapids along North America's Columbia River, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. Through a stretch approximately wide, the river ...

. While this could be done in the right conditions with a skillful pilot, it was considered too risky to have any passengers or cargo on board. ''Teaser'' was taken down through the Cascades in 1875 under the command of Capt. J.W. Brazee, with engineer James Carroll and the fireman on board as crew. The vessel was brought around the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an ...

and arrived at Seattle on July 8, 1875, and was placed on a route out of Snohomish. Capt J. C. Brittain is reported to have owned ''Teaser'' when the vessel was on

, and used the vessel in connection with the steamers ''Despatch'' and ''Comet'' to carry the mail, for which he had a contract, to Snohomish,

La Conner La Conner is a town in Skagit County, Washington, United States with a population of 965 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town hosts several events as part ...

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

Fidalgo Island Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about north of Seattle. To the east, it is separated from the mainland by the Swinomish Channel, and from Whidbey Island to the south by Deception Pass. The island is named ...

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 Bellingham ...

Semiahmoo Bay Semiahmoo Bay ( ) is the southeastern section of Boundary Bay on the Pacific coast of North America. The bay is named for the Semiahmoo First Nation, who originally occupied the area. The Semiahmoo Peninsula borders the bay and was home to canne ...

, and Lopez,

Orcas The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...

and

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

islands.Newell, ''Inland Sea'', at 72, 73, and 82.

Sinking and conversion to sailing vessel

''Teaser'' is reported to have sunk in an unspecified location in 1879. The vessel was raised and converted into a sailing schooner in 1880.

Notes

References

* 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)
Wright, E.W., ''Lewis & Dryden's Marine history of the Pacific Northwest'', Lewis & Dryden Printing Co., Portland, OR (1895)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teaser (Sternwheeler) 1874 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Steamboats of Oregon Steamboats of the Columbia River Ships built in Oregon Oregon Steam Navigation Company