Wide West

Wide West, probably on the Willamette River.
History
Name:	Wide West
Owner:	Oregon Steam Navigation Co.; later, Oregon Railway & Navig. Co..
Route:	Columbia River and lower Willamette River to Portland, Oregon
Builder:	John J. Holland
Cost:	$114,000
Completed:	1877, Portland, Oregon
Out of service:	1888
Identification:	80650
Fate:	Dismantled 1888, engines and upper works used to complete T. J. Potter
Notes:	Hull repowered as propeller-driven barge, wrecked on Destruction Island, 1889.
General characteristics
Class and type:	riverine passenger/freight
Tonnage:	1200.80 gross; 928.75 registered tons
Length:	218 ft (66.4 m) hull; 246 ft 9 in (75.21 m) measured over hull (exclusive of fantail)
Beam:	39 ft 9 in (12.1 m) hull; 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) exclusive of 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 28 in (711.2 mm) and stroke of 8 ft (2.44 m)
Propulsion:	sternwheel
Speed:	Varied, highest recorded over long distance: 24 miles (39 km) per hour (downstream).

Wide West was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She had a reputation as a luxury boat of her day.

Wide West was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It was built entirely of wood. Wide West was a sternwheeler, 218 feet long and rated at 1200 tons. On the Columbia River, unlike the Mississippi and other rivers in the eastern part of the country, there were very few sidewheel steamboats. Wide West was placed on the run from Portland to the Cascades of the Columbia, which at that time, was the head of navigation. Passengers had to disembark and ride a short railway around the Cascades to board another steamboat to travel further upriver. Cargo similarly had to be unloaded and reloaded again.

In 1888 Wide West was disassembled. The upper works and machinery were used to build another steamboat, the T. J. Potter. This was typical of the time, as the wooden-hulls would become waterlogged and worn, and it was easier to simply rebuild a new boat. The upper works and machinery were reused, as they were more durable and still had economic value after only ten years of operation.

In practice, Wide West was sometimes referred to simply as the West.

Wide West was built for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which held a monopoly on steamboat navigation on the Columbia River.Wide West was intended to be the pride vessel of the company's fleet. In 1895, Wide West was said to have been the "perfect sternwheeler" constructed for Columbia River service. When in service, Wide West was characterized as "palatial" and "the finest steamboat in America."

According to one source, the hull of Wide West was about 215 ft 9 in (65.76 m) feet long or 218 ft 9 in (66.68 m). However, the overall length of the vessel was greater than the hull length because of an extension of the main deck, called a "fantail" over the stern which carried the stern-wheel. Measured this way, Wide West was 236 ft 9 in (72.2 m) feet long. Similarly, the width of the vessel, called "beam" was measured differently, depending on whether it was over the hull or over the guards, which were wide heavy timber extensions running along the top of the hull on both sides of the vessel. According to one source, Wide West had a beam of 36 ft 9 in (11.2 m) feet.