Steamboats on the Columbia River at Cascade Locks

This 1908 photograph shows the steamboats Bailey Gatzert (left) and the Charles R. Spencer entering the Cascade Canal and Locks. Both of the steamers were known as fast boats at a time when captains raced each other on routes between Astoria and The Dalles. The captains would race immediately upon departure and, while they stopped to pick up passengers, the races often continued to last stop. Resulting wakes caused damage to docks, wharves, and other boats.

The Charles R. Spencer, built in 1901, was owned by independent steamboat operator Captain E.W. Spencer. The Bailey Gatzert, built in 1890, was bought in the early 1900s by the Columbia River and Northern Railroad Company.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the Cascade Canal and Locks in 1896, after nearly twenty-years of construction and spending more than $4 million. By the time the 90-foot-wide, 463-foot-long canal and locks were completed in 1896, railroad lines dominated freight traffic throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 1938, the Cascade Canal and Locks were inundated by rising water behind Bonneville Dam.

Further Reading:
Mills, Randall V. Stern-wheelers up Columbia. Palo Alto, Calif., 1947.

Written by Kathy Tucker, © Oregon Historical Society 2002.