Suggestions on this translation effort

[Nadja Adolf]

>From the fascinating "Shipwrecks of the Pacific" by
James A. Gibbs.

This is the story of one of the less tragic wrecks on
one of the Pacific Northwest rivers - that of the
almost funny explosion of the small sternwheeler, Elk.


Grammar and vocabulary help are desperately needed.

Elk (Moolack)


The explosion of the small sternwheeler Elk has gone
down in Willamette folklore.

Ikt ehkahnam klak Willamette khopa ikt tenas opoots
hikchik piah canim, yaka nem Elk, pi yaka skukoom
ketling munk poo.

(One story from Willamette is about  one small tail
wheel steam boat, named Elk and her boiler exploding.)

I can't figure out how to shorten this - how does one
make the "explosion" a noun phrase here? Is there a
standard way to say "sternwheeler?"

She was built in 1857 by an enterprising group of
pioneers.

Boston tillikums munk uk canim khopa 1857 kehwa klaska
tikegh elip hiyu chikamin.

(Americans built this boat in 1857 because they want
more money.)

(Here I wind up putting the boat into the passive
voice. Should this be a past tense, with anqati, or
does the date suffice? Grammatical and vocabulary
suggestions?)

While methodically steaming along just below the mouth
of the Yamhill at Davidson's Landing shortly after her
entry into service, her boiler got overly hot.

Tenas laly kimtah okoke canim yaka elip munk, yaka
mimie lebosh khopa Yamhill Chuck, wake siah Davidson's
Landing, kunsih okoke canim yaka skukoom ketling chako
hyas waum.

(Not long after that boat started work, she was
downstream of the mouth of the Yamhill River, not far
from Davidson's Landing, when her boiler became hot.)


Any and all assistance appreciated.

Nadja

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