User:BGinOC/SS Charles L. Wheeler Jr.

The 2,205 GRT ocean going freighter S.S. Charles L. Wheeler Jr. was built in 1918 by the Albina Engine and Machine Works of Portland, Oregon and retired in 1948.

In 1938, the world's largest single-lift lock was opened at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. . As part of the opening ceremonies of the lock, Capt. Arthur Riggs, a veteran upper Columbia river pilot, took the S.S. Charles L. Wheeler Jr. which was operated by McCormick Steamship Company and loaded with sugar, building materials, beer, hardware, automobiles and general freight upstream from Portland, transited the Bonneville Locks and continued on to the to the historic upper river steamboat port of The Dalles, Oregon.

The S.S. Charles L. Wheeler Jr. was the first ocean-going merchant ship to transit the Columbia River all the way to The Dalles, located 200 miles upstream from the Pacific. The ship was then loaded with lumber, wheat, flour and other products for the return voyage. Residents of The Dalles had hoped the trip would bring increased business to their port, but the trip would be a one-time event.