"Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast", James A. Gibbs, cont'd.

[yakimabelle]

A little background on Willamette River steamers:

They were sternwheelers, many with multiple rudders for navigating the
notorious currents, eddies, snags, and shallows of the Willamette
River. Until the early years of the 20th C., much of the Willamette
used to freeze in winter, and the little boats would run backward,
using their paddles to beat a path through the ice.

They were designed to run in 18" of water in order to handle the
summer conditions on the river. To prevent the ends from sagging,
chains ran from stem to stern through tall poles; these chains were
called "hogging chains" as a boat that has arched up in the middle and
sagged on the ends is said to have "hogged." These boats continued
into service well into the 20th C., the last one leaving service about
1952.

When I was a very small girl in the mid-to-late 1950s, one of the last
boats was towed south past Corvallis by a tug. The drawbridge into
downtown that then was the only way into Corvallis from old Hwy 99
near Tangent was opened, and the boat pulled through in the dark.
Little could be seen although my father pulled me out of the car, to
look down on a single red tail light disappearing downstream, forever,
into the dark.

That may have been the last time the drawbridge was ever opened. In
those days there was a sign on First Street, at the foot of the
bridge, notifying the public that upon receipt of a written request at
the port offices of the city, that the bridge could be opened. I
believe the notice required was 24 hours, and possibly the bridge was
opened only on certain days. When I went back to look for the sign a
few years ago, it was gone. No one I asked downtown remembered the
sign, and few were aware that the old green bridge had ever opened to
permit the passage of commerce.

Any assistance with improving the translation appreciated; feel free
to join in and translate what hasn't been translated, or to
re-translate other portions of the story.

Special help would be appreciated in how one says "river bank",
sternwheeler, and a graceful way to describe the portions of the boat
- as well as how does one describe a steamship captain sailing through
the air and looking down through the smoke stack!

God willing, I will translate more stories of the Northwest boats,
marine and riverine alike.

Elk (Moolack)

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

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

Hiyu ehaknanam khopa kunsih tenas opoots isick chikchik Elk munk pooh.

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

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

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 klatawa mimie
lebosh khopa Yamhill Chuck, wake siah Davidson's Landing, kunsih
okoke canim yaka skukoom ketling chako hyas waum.

Tenas laly kimtah okoke canim yaka delate elip munk, kunsih yaka ko
tenas mimie lebhosh khopa Yamhill Chuck, khopa Davidson's landing,
okoke canim yaka skukoom ketling chako hyas waum.

Whoosh! Up went her cabin, stack, and pilothouse, with the skipper
still inside.

Pow. Poo yaka mahsh saghalie kopa koosa uk canim. Canim yaka haus,
canim yaka smoke-stick, pi canim yaka ludda-haus, konaway mahsh hiyu
saghalie. Canim yaka ludda haus lolo uk canim-tyee siah saghalie khopa
illahee.

Pow. The explosion threw that boat high into the sky. The cabin, the
smoke stack, and the wheel house, all were thrown very high. The wheel
house carried that captain far above the earth.

The captain, George Jerome by name, was blown up in the air to such an
elevation that it is averred that he could peer through the opening in
the stack and see his old friend and passenger Captain Miller sitting
on the river bank.

Anqati, klaska wawa delate wawa uk canim tyee, yaka nem George Jerome,
yaka mahsh hiyu saghalie khopa koosa pi yaka nannitch keekwullie
klawhap khopa canim smoke-stick. Siah keekwullie, khopa illahi, yaka
nannitch kah yaka sikhs, canim-tyee Miller, mitlait wake siah uk
stalo.

They said it was true that the captain, George Jerome was his name,
was thrown so high into the sky that he looked down through the smoke
stack. Far down, on the ground, he saw where his friend, Captain
Miller, sat by the river.

One the downward part of his
airflight Captain Jerome landed unceremoniously in a cottonwood
tree and sure enough there below him was Captain Miller, who had been
tossed gently to the river bank by the explosion. And for 29 years
thereafter every river boat skipper pointed out that fabulous tree
to tourists.

Without dignity Captain Jerome climbed from his perch and sat next
to his friend to discuss the aspects of human flight.

Some of the passengers were injured but in no case so seriously
that gauze and tape could not mend them. One group of passengers in
the Elk's cabin had a stove explode beside them, and the bulwarks
around them blown far and wide, but they themselves received not so
much as a scratch.

The old Elk bore the brunt of the destruction and but for the fickle
hand of fate the death toll could have been equally as bad as that of
the Gazelle three years earlier