Beginning in the nineteenth century, steamboats plied navigable waterways throughout the interior West, including the 55-mile-long stretch of the Pend Oreille River between Newport and Metaline Falls. First appearing in the late-1880s, the Pend Oreille River vessels were a familiar site for decades and comprised the river Pend Oreille County’s “main highway.”

Steamboats provided reliable service. During the peak years, there were at least seven steamboats and a number of smaller tugboats and launches operating at the same time on the Pend Oreille River. Initially, a trip from Newport to Metaline Falls started by boat. At Ione, passengers unloaded and proceeded the rest of the journey on wagon road. The federal government improved the route in 1906, when it financed rock blasting and channel dredging to improve navigability through Box Canyon. A year later, steamboats began making regular trips to Metaline Landing.

Steamboats not only provided passenger service and supported industry but also proved to be a popular leisure activity. Some of the boats were over 100 feet long and capable of accommodating hundreds of passengers. Notable features on one boat included a “dining saloon” and “gentlemen’s cabin.” Weekend steamboat excursions from Newport to Box Canyon became a favorite pastime. The steamers also served as venues for special events, with one notable soiree including an attached barge to serve as a dance pavilion complete with an orchestra playing a “good old waltz.”

The coming of the railroad rendered steamboat service obsolete. A Newport Miner article announcing the end of the Spokane, the Pend Oreille’s last steamboat, recalled fondly “old timers along the river welcomed the coming of the railroad, but many of them remember with pleasure the romantic days of the river boats. Many a big poker game and carousal were staged on the Spokane in the days of her glory, and many well-known characters held the wheel and rode in her cabins.”

Credits and Sources:

Bamonte, Tony, and Susan Schaeffer Bamonte. History of Pend Oreille County. Spokane: Tornado Creek Publications, 1996.

Unknown. “Will Dismantle Old Steamer,” The Miner, April 8, 1920.

Unknown. Metaline Falls News, “Dutch Jake Picnic Ready to Leave Dock.” August 22, 1968.

Unknown, Unknown Newspaper, Vol. III. “$25,000 Steamer for River Trade,” August 31, 1907, Vol. VIII, Pend Oreille County Historical Society, Resource File, Boats.

Unknown. “Early Days Transportation on P.O. River,” Pend Oreille County Historical Society, Resource File, Boats.

Photographs courtesy of the Pend Oreille County Historical Society and Pend Oreille County Library District.