Harvest Queen (sternwheeler)

The second Harvest Queen backing away from a landing, ca 1910, probably at Portland, Oregon, on the Willamette River.
History
Name:	Harvest Queen
Owner:	Oregon Steam Navigation Co.; later, Oregon Railway & Navig. Co..
Route:	Columbia River and lower Willamette River to Portland, Oregon
Builder:	(for 1900 rebuild): Peter Carstens (1842-1914)
Cost:	$24,000
Completed:	1878, Celilo, Oregon
Fate:	Dismantled 1900; reconstructed; stripped and abandoned, 1926
General characteristics
Class and type:	riverine passenger/freight
Length:	As built 200 ft (61.0 m) over hull (exclusive of fantail); As rebuilt 187 ft 9 in (57.23 m) measured over guards
Beam:	39 ft 9 in (12.1 m) hull; 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) over guards
Depth:	8 ft 0 in (2.44 m)
Decks:	three (main, boiler, and hurricane)
Installed power:	twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, each with bore of 20 in (508.0 mm) and stroke of 8 ft (2.44 m); wood-fired boiler
Propulsion:	stern-wheel
Speed:	20 miles (32 km) per hour (downstream).

Harvest Queen was the name of two stern-wheel steamboat built and operated in Oregon. Both vessels were well known in their day and had reputations for speed, power, and efficiency.The first Harvest Queen, widely considered one of the finest steamers of its day, was constructed at Celilo, Oregon, which was then separated from the other portions of the navigable Columbia River by two stretches of difficult to pass rapids.

At considerable risk, this steamer was taken down through the first set of rapids in 1881, and the second set in 1890. Thereafter the first Harvest Queen was worked primarily between Astoria and Portland, Oregon until 1900, when it was dismantled. Most of the machinery was installed in a new, slightly smaller vessel, also called the Harvest Queen, which, although it had accommodations for passengers, was primarily worked as a towboat.

In 1926 the second Harvest Queen was sold to a scrap metal concern, Alaska Junk Company (later to become Schnitzer Steel Industries), which sought a buyer for the steamer. With no buyer found, the boat was stripped out and then abandoned near Ross Island.

Harvest Queen was built in 1878 at Celilo, Oregon for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The name was suggested by one T.B. Merry, “because she was the queen of the harvest, and the farmers’ salvation.” This vessel was sometimes referred to as the Queen. On August 1, 1878, it was reported that the Harvest Queen was undergoing finishing work at Celilo, and was expected to be ready to begin running between Celilo and Wallula, Washington by the first of September. Harvest Queen cost $24,000 to build.

As built, Harvest Queen was 200 ft (60.96 m) feet long, exclusive of the fantail, which was the overhang at the stern of the boat on which the sternwheel was mounted.Harvest Queen had a beam (width) of 37 ft (11.28 m) feet, which was exclusive of the guards, the wide wooden protective timbers running along the top of the hull. Counting the fantail and the guards, Harvest Queen was 226 ft (68.88 m) feet long, with a beam of 42 ft (12.80 m) feet. The depth of hold was 7.5 ft (2.29 m) feet. Depending on the load, the steamer’s draft ranged from 3.5 ft (1.07 m) to 6 ft (1.83 m) feet. The vessel could carry nearly 500 tons of cargo. Overall size of the vessel was 845.80 gross and 697.04 registered tons. The official merchant vessel registry number was 95534.