A Confluence of Rivers & Steam

A Confluence of Rivers and Steam. . , Piloted by Ephraim W. Baughman, the Colonel Wright was the first sternwheeler to ascend the Snake River to its junction with the Clearwater. After the strong current snapped the boat’s tow line at Big Eddy (present-day Lenore), the Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSN) selected a more suitable site for the supply community to the Nez Perce tribes, and Lewiston was founded on May 13, 1961. Baughman would command all of the steamers on the Snake at one time or another, and the OSN monopolized river commerce for more than 20 years. , By 1885 railroad bridges crossed the Snake River miles downstream from Lewiston. Although the structures were swing spans allowing the boats to pass, many veteran pilots felt that the coming of the railroads would doom river trade. However, shipping wheat to the Portland markets by rail proved too unreliable. In 1879 alone, steamboats carried nearly 66,000 tons of grain downstream. Every boat could be heavily laden with sacks of wheat, and travelers to Lewiston preferred the comforts of the sternwheelers to smoky, noisy railroad carriages. The larger boats contained a dozen or more staterooms and could accommodate 250 passengers. During the height of the sternwheeler era, three boats arrived in Lewiston each week. , Steamboat travel was not without dangers. The Annie Faxon was a familiar sight for 15 years, working the Snake River between Lewiston and Riparia (downriver from Little Goose Dam). Tragedy struck on August 14, 1893. As Captain Harry C. Baughman, Ephraim’s son, turned her toward shore to make an unscheduled stop, a massive explosion tore away the top decks, killing eight. In November 1903, Captain Baughman saved 40 passengers and crew aboard the Imnaha when it lost power and was destroyed in the Mountain Sheep Rapids. , This display marks Lewiston’s old river wharf and warehouse district. On July 12, 1922, the Lewiston and the Spokane were moored together nearby. The night watchman noticed a yellow flame coming from the Lewiston’s galley and called for help. Lewiston and Clarkston firefighters arrived within minutes but could do little other than keep the flames from spreading ashore. , The last sternwheeler left the city on February 29, 1940, when the rebuilt Lewiston cast off, bound for Portland. Disaster was narrowly averted after the new interstate bridge span would not open, and the Lewiston lost power and had to be beached downstream. The city would remain landlocked for decades. Authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945, the Lower Snake River Project resulted in the construction of four dams that became operational between 1961 and 1975 – Ice Harbor Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, Little Goose Dam, and Lower Granite Dam. Lewiston became a seaport for the second time in its history in June 1975.