Idaho

History of the S.S. Idaho

The S.S. Idaho was launched by Oregon Steam Navigation Co. to run on the Columbia River. After becoming Oregon Railway and Navigation Co., she was rebuilt in 1881 with a new hull and new paddles, pilot house and cabin spaces were added. Aiming to expand, Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. purchased Puget Sound’s Starr Line and transferred the S.S. Idaho to that fleet. The transfer was difficult, as Idaho was not intended for use on coastal waters, particularly around the Olympic Penninsula which had become known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Beginning in 1883, she ran the Tacoma to Port Townsend route. By 1890 she was sold to Capt. James Hastings and put on the Seattle to Everett route and the Snohomish River. This was not a good fit for the steamer and she was sold a year later to Capt. Brownfield and put on the Seattle to Blaine route. Her final sale came in 1894 to Capt. Jackson of the Northwestern Steamship Co. to run from Seattle to Port Townsend by way of mill ports.

The hull of the S.S. Idaho later became the Wayside Mission Hospital under the ownership of Dr. Alexander De Cohn. Set up on pilings on the Seattle Waterfront at the foot of Washington Street, she served the underprivileged and poor of the area until 1909 when a permanent hospital was built.

Route: Upper Columbia River, Puget Sound
Built in: Upper Cascades, Oregon
Built by: John J. Holland for John Ruckel, After owned by Oregon Railway and Navigation Company
In service: 1860
Out of service: 1894
Fate: Abandoned 1909
Notes: 1899 converted into Wayside Mission Hospital providing medical assistance to the poor of Seattle’s Skid road.
Type: Inland shallow-draft passenger/freight carrier.
Tonnage: 278
Length: 150.8’ (46m) x 46‘ (14m)
Beam: 25.5’ (8m), after 1869 rebuild: 25‘ (8m)
Depth: 6.9’ (2m) depth of hold, 1869: 6.4’ (2m)
Installed power: Twin steam engines, 16” bore by 80” stroke, horizontally mounted
Propulsion: Sidewheels
Speed: 12 knots

Note: Between 1910 to 1920, Seattle constructed a sea wall south of the waterfront. The Idaho was moved and buried, as fill, near the foot of Washington St. In 1960, on National Maritime Day, a historical marker was placed at the location of its resting place. The marker reads, “BENEATH YOUR FEET LIES THE WRECKAGE OF THE PIONEER SIDEWHEEL STEAMER “IDAHO”, WHICH SERVED FROM 1900 UNTIL 1909 AS DR. ALEXANDER DE SOTO’S FAMOUS WAYSIDE MISSION HOSPITAL. HERE DR. DE SOTO MINISTERED TO THE NEEDS OF SEAFARERS AND THE DESTITUTE, DONATING HIS TIME AND FUNDS TO THEIR CARE.”

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