The Last Steamboat Ties Up as the Railroad Reaches Metaline

With the completion of the Idaho Washington Northern extension as far as Metaline, the business of steamboating on the Pend Oreille River has practically come to an end. The run of the boats of the Pend Oreille River Navigation Co. was taken off Sunday, and the boats will be tied up at Ione for the winter. The Ruth was taken out of commission about a month ago and is tied up at Newport. There are now no boats plying the river and doing a general freight and passenger business.

Many of the old-timers of this section will regret the passing of the steamboat business from the river. There is a romance and picturesqueness about the steamboat that the faster railroad service can never give. While we read much of the cheapness of water transportation as compared with that by rail, nowhere has the steamboat been able to successfully compete with the lines of steel and the boats on the Pend Oreille will prove no exception.

Among the men who have made local history in steamboating are George H. Jones, J. W. Prewitt, the McInnises, J. W. and Fred Cusick, Napoleon LeClerc, the Samples, Art Flanders and Jim Stewart. These men have faithfully followed the river and won the good wishes of the valley people by the service rendered in opening up the country.

In but few instances has steamboating on the Pend Oreille proved profitable. With the country new and undeveloped much of the work of pioneering has proven a thankless task, and now that the country is fast developing and coming into its own there is no longer a place for the riverman. It is the same old story of the survival of the fittest, and no matter how much the old friend, the river, is appreciated for its grand beauty, the more prosaic railroad gets the business in the rush of modern life.

But the river will still serve the purpose of conveying to its rival the tonnage products of the forests, farms and mines on both sides of its banks. There will be business for boats for many years in lumbering operations and more boats will be built to do this work, better adapted to the purpose than are the boats now in service. The Panhandle, Fidelity and other lumber companies will need such craft and will probably employ as many rivermen as have been in the service heretofore.

The river will also become more of a field for pleasure than before. The big excursion steamer Ione will be retained in commission for summer excursions in connection with the railroad, and more publicity will be given to attract tourists to the beautiful scenes along the river. With the passing of the steamboats will also come more small pleasure craft. As the country becomes older and more settled, and people begin to find more time for the enjoyment of nature's outdoor bounties, the mirrored Pend Oreille will contribute its full share to the enjoyment of life.