Charles R. Spencer
Introduction '''''Charles R. Spencer''''' (generally called the ''Spencer'') was a steamboat built in 1901 to run on the Willamette and Columbia rivers from Portland, to The Dalles, Oregon. This vessel was described as an "elegant passenger boat".After 1911 this vessel was rebuilt and renamed ''' ''Monarch'''''.
Characteristics Cascade Locks circa 1906.The ''Spencer'' was considered one of the elite vessels of its time. It had a bright red smokestack and a steam whistle so loud that it was said to have "made rotten piles totter."
Operations ''Bailey Gatzert'' (on left) and ''Charles R. Spencer'' (on right), eastbound on the Columbia River, approaching Cascades Locks.E.W. Spencer operated ''Spencer'' as an independent enterprise. Although steamboat racing was technically illegal, operators of steamboats often tried to "do their best" when a rival steamboat was on the river. ''Spencer'' as a prestige boat was frequently raced against other top vessels of the day, including ''Bailey Gatzert'' and ''T.J. Potter''. Races against the ''Bailey Gatzert'' happened almost every day when the two vessels ran against each other on the Portland-The Dalles route. It has been reported that at one time in 1906, when ''Spencer'' was running behind ''Bailey Gatzert'', the captain of ''Spencer'' made up the time by running the Cascades Rapids (an extremely risky undertaking) while ''Bailey Gatzert'' was moving through the Cascade Locks .On July 12, 1904, ''Spencer'' was racing the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's ''Dalles City'' on the Columbia about 15 miles upstream from Hood River. The winds were high, and blowing east against the steamers as they moved downstream, and the waves were choppy. The ''Spencer''s main steam pipe broke, which forced the pilot to steer for the river bank to beach the vessel. ''Spencer'' hit rocks 25 feet from shore, and sank. There were no casualties among those aboard. ''Spencer'' was later refloated and repaired. In 1905, Captain Spencer continued to be in sharp competition for the passenger traffic on the routes from Portland to Astoria and to The Dalles. His competitors included the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and also Captain U.B. Scott, owner of ''Telephone'', possibly the fastest vessel on the river.
Collision with ''Dalles City'' T.J. Potter pulling away from a landing, probably just before entering the Cascade Locks. Another steamer, a sternwheeler, is in the foreground, this is possibly the ''Charles Spencer.'' Coming up to the landing from the west another steamer can be seen, which from the vessel's apparent configuration and the white collar on her funnel, appears to be the ''Bailey Gatzert''. The large crowds on all the steamers are readily visible; this is an excellent depiction of the high point of steamboat operations on the river.On May 31, 1905, a collision during one of these races between ''Dalles City'' and the ''Spencer'' generated substantial litigation. ''Dalles City'' was struck by the ''Charles R. Spencer'' while the ''Spencer'' was trying to overtake ''Dalles City''. As a result, ''Dalles City'' suffered serious and disabling mechanical damage. The opinion of the court describes the fierce commercial competition which was the occasion for the race on that date:In November 1905, the ''Spencer'', ''Dalles City'', and ''Telephone'' all cast off lines at once in Portland, and headed downriver for Astoria. As each vessel raced down the Willamette at high speed, they threw up a wake which rocked and damaged large ships moored alongside piers, which resulted in the captains of the steamboats each being fined $50, a considerable sum for the time.
Freight work In September 1906, ''Spencer'' began transporting wheat from inland Oregon and Washington in cooperation with the Open River Navigation Company. The boats of the Open River company would pick up the wheat on points on the river above Celilo, bring the wheat down to Celilo, where it would be loaded on the portage railway that ran along the river to a point above the Dalles, where the wheat would be loaded onto the ''Spencer'' to be brought down to tidewater at Portland, transiting the Cascade Locks en route. Another source states that ''Spencer'' was taken over by the Open River company.
Later career The rising automobile business took away ''Spencer'''s main routes, and in 1911 the vessel was rebuilt and renamed ''Monarch''. ''Spencer'' was transferred to California in 1914.One of ''Spencer'''s early captains was Edgar E. Bateman (1856–1949).
Notes
References * Affleck, Edward L., ''A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska'', Alexander Nicolls Press, Vancouver, BC 2000* Marshall, Don, ''Oregon Shipwrecks'', Binford and Mort, Portland 1984 * Newell, Gordon R., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior Publishing, Seattle WA 1966 * Newell, Gordon R., and Williamson, Joe, ''Pacific Steamboats'', Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958* Timmen, Fritz, ''Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Navigation on the Waters of the West'', Caxton, Caldwell, Idaho, 1973
Further reading * Faber, Jim, ''Steamer's Wake'', Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 * Mills, Randall V., ''Stern-wheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE (1947)