The Metaline - Newport, WA - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

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The Metaline - Newport, WA

in Exact Replicas

Posted by:  T0SHEA

11U E 496694 N 5336046

This is a replica of "The Metaline", which supplied transportation to Pend Oreille County only a couple of years.

From the time that the area which is now Pend Oreille County was settled until 1910 the only means of transportation through the area was via the Pend Oreille River, which runs the length of the county. Rising in the mountains of Idaho, the Pend Oreille flows into Washington at Newport, turns north until it reaches the Canadian border, then turns west and flows for several miles before meeting the Columbia River just north of the US-Canada border at Waneta. On the river a flotilla of small steam launches moved people, mail, lumber and cargo for many years.

The county was served by a total of about 12 passenger and cargo boats and a few tugs, the first being a steamer named "The Bertha," built at Albeni Falls in 1887. It was quickly followed by several more steamers, mostly screw driven boats about 60 feet in length. The river flowed quite quickly in some areas, most notably Box Canyon, which a ship could traverse in two minutes headed downstream. Upstream, however, was somewhat slower, as the larger paddle wheelers which were put on the river had to be pulled up by cable line. This could often take several days to accomplish.

The Metaline was originally a Lake Coeur d'Alene steamer, built in 1897. The 61 foot screw driven steamer plied the waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene until being brought up the river to Pend Oreille County in 1908 by captain Napoleon LeClerc. A twenty five passenger launch, the Metaline made round trips from Newport to Metaline and return, each time navigating the waters of the fast flowing Box Canyon. Retired from active duty in 1909, it lived possibly the shortest life of any of the Pend Oreille River steamers.

The black & white photo shows the Metaline nosed into shore just above Box Canyon, probably 1909.