User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Steamboats on the Upper Colorado and Green Rivers 1891-1912

Steamboats on the Upper Colorado and Green Rivers 1891-1912[edit]

Remnants of the wreck of the stern-wheeler *Charles H. Spencer*, just above Lee's Ferry where it was abandoned in Spring 1912.

Steamboats were tried in Glen Canyon, the Green River in Utah and Wyoming and the Grand River, (after 1921 renamed as the upper part of the Colorado River), above its confluence with the Green River in Utah and in Colorado. Unlike the Lower Colorado, the railroads made possible most of this steam navigation on the Upper Colorado, bringing in the boats or their parts and their fuel to the points on the river where they were assembled and launched.^[1]^{: 105–134}

The first steamboat launched was the Major Powell, built and launched at Green River, Utah, in August 1891, by the Green, Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company. It was a 3 ton screw driven steamer, 35 feet long, 8 foot on the beam, with a draft of 26". It was coal-fired, with 2, 6 horsepowered engines. Dismantled for its machinery in 1894.

Next to appear was the Undine a stern-wheel steamboat, built in Rock Island, Illinois and shipped to Green River, Utah, and launched in November 1901 by Frank H. Summerhill. It was a 15 ton stern-wheel steamer, 60 feet long, 10 feet on the beam, with a draft of 12 to 20 inches. It had a coal-fired, 20 horsepower engine. It was wrecked in May 1902.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978

Steamboats of the Colorado River

[Lingenfelter-1] Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978

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