Category: Resources

Charles H. Spencer – Colorado Steamship

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The Charles H. Spencer was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1911–1912 for a short-lived gold-mining venture on the upper Colorado River near Lee’s Ferry, Arizona. It was the last steamboat constructed and operated for bulk transport on the Colorado, marking the end of nearly 50 years of commercial steamboating on the river.

Background and Construction

Charles Harvey Spencer (1872–1968), a prospector and mining promoter, arrived at Lee’s Ferry in 1910 seeking gold in the Chinle Formation shale. As managing director of the American Placer Corporation, he planned hydraulic mining and mercury amalgamation processing, which required coal to power boilers and equipment. A coal seam was located upriver in a side canyon of Warm Creek (roughly 40 miles by pack trail from Lee’s Ferry).

Spencer’s investors preferred a boat over mule trains for hauling coal. He commissioned the San Francisco firm of Schultze, Robertson, and Schultze (or Robertson–Schultz Co.; builders including James Robertson and Herman Rosenfelt) to design and build a shallow-draft sternwheeler suited for river work. Parts were manufactured in San Francisco, shipped by rail to Marysvale, Utah, then hauled by ox-cart to the mouth of Warm Creek, where the vessel was reassembled from a “knocked-down” hull and launched in February 1912. It was named for Spencer.

Specifications

Sources vary slightly on exact dimensions (plans vs. contemporary accounts and overall length including the wheel), but the vessel was a wooden-hulled, flat-bottomed sternwheeler with a hard chine, square stern, twin rudders, and hogging trusses for structural reinforcement under cargo loads:

  • Length: Hull about 70 feet (stem to sternpost); overall length commonly given as 85 feet 6 inches to 92.5 feet (including the 12-foot stern paddle wheel and guards).
  • Beam: 20–25 feet.
  • Draft: Shallow, 18–20 inches (designed for low water and sandbars).
  • Depth of hold: About 4 feet.
  • Power: ~100–110 hp marine boiler driving a 12-foot stern paddle wheel.
  • Capacity: Rated around 50–100 tons; in practice it averaged 5–6 tons of coal per trip.
  • Construction: Single-framed wooden hull, largely unpainted.

It was designed more for conditions like the Sacramento River than the sediment-laden, fluctuating Colorado with its shifting bars and currents.

Role on the Colorado River

The boat’s sole purpose was to haul coal from the Warm Creek mine downstream to the placer works at Lee’s Ferry to fuel the gold-extraction process. It made only a few runs in spring/summer 1912. Navigation proved difficult due to variable water levels, sandbars, and the need to work against the current. Crews had to learn the river’s quirks, and the vessel grounded at times. A frequently cited practical problem was that it burned a large portion (or nearly all) of the coal it could carry on a round trip, leaving little net delivery.

The mining operation itself failed quickly: the Chinle shale contained gold, but an unknown substance (later identified as the rare-earth element rhenium) clogged the amalgamators, so gold was lost in the tailings. By the end of summer 1912 the venture collapsed for lack of viable recovery and capital. The steamboat was tied up (docked/abandoned) just below Lee’s Ferry—about ¼ mile east of the ferry area—and never used again. It was the last vessel built for bulk cargo transport on the Colorado system.

Ultimate Fate

Abandoned after its brief service (accounts place final docking in 1912, with some sources noting abandonment formalized around 1914), the vessel sat at the bank. Driftwood accumulated, and high water later shifted it. It sank in shallow water—commonly dated to a 1921 flood (or between roughly 1915 and the late 1920s)—after sliding sideways and striking a boulder that punctured the hull. The superstructure was later stripped for lumber.

Today the remains (portions of the wooden hull and the marine boiler) lie in shallow water near the bank at Lee’s Ferry in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona (visible at low water or from the nearby historic trail/Spencer Trail area). A historical marker notes the site. The wreck is one of the few archaeologically documented Colorado River steamboat remains and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (as part of the Lee’s Ferry Historic District / related nomination, added 1989). It is a tangible remnant of early-20th-century placer mining attempts and the close of the steamboat era on the river.

In short, the Charles H. Spencer was an ambitious but ill-adapted tool for a failed gold scheme—technically a capable shallow-draft sternwheeler that simply arrived too late, on the wrong stretch of river, for a mining process that could not succeed commercially.

San Jorge – Colorado River Steamship

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The San Jorge was a small screw-propeller steamship that operated briefly on the lower Colorado River and into the Gulf of California in 1901 as part of the late-era commercial navigation on the river.

It belonged to the Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company, a short-lived operator formed in Los Angeles by Alphonso B. Smith, W. S. Twogood, and E. E. Busby. The company ran vessels from Yuma, Arizona, between 1901 and 1907, competing in the final phase of Colorado River steamboating after railroads had already captured most long-distance traffic. Its fleet included the San Jorge (1901), the paddle-wheel launch Retta (1900–1905), and the sternwheeler St. Vallier (1901–1907).

Design and Construction

The San Jorge was a propeller-driven (screw) steamer measuring approximately 38 feet in length and 9 feet in beam, with a very shallow draft of about 18 inches. It was built in Chicago, shipped to the Colorado River, and launched at Yuma in June 1901.

Unlike the dominant sternwheel paddle steamers that characterized Colorado River navigation for decades (such as the Gila, Mohave II, or Cochan), the San Jorge used a screw propeller. This design choice reflected an attempt at a more compact, potentially more efficient vessel suited to open-water runs into the Gulf of California rather than the river’s shifting sandbars, shallow channels, and debris. Sternwheelers excelled on the shallow, variable Colorado because their large paddlewheels at the stern provided good traction in low water and could be more easily repaired or protected. Screw propellers, by contrast, were more vulnerable to damage from sand, snags, and the river’s muddy bottom and proved less ideal for the shallow inland stretches. The San Jorge’s small size and light draft made it suitable for coastal/gulf service connecting to the river mouth, but its propellers were poorly adapted to the river proper.

Contemporary accounts note practical limitations: on its maiden return voyage from the Gulf around early June 1901, it ran out of coal and was delayed for about two weeks. Disposition records simply note it went “to the Gulf” in July 1901, with little further documented river service under the company.

Role in Expanding (and Sustaining) Trade

Colorado River steamboating began in the early 1850s primarily to supply the isolated U.S. Army post at Fort Yuma more cheaply than overland wagon freight from California ports. George A. Johnson & Company (later the Colorado Steam Navigation Company) dominated for decades, carrying military supplies, mining equipment, ore, settlers, and passengers between the Gulf of California (via Port Isabel and related landings) and upriver points as far as the Virgin River area in high water. Peak traffic supported mining booms (La Paz, Eldorado Canyon, Searchlight, etc.), military posts, and early settlement.

By 1901 the era was in steep decline. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Yuma in 1877 and other lines followed, undercutting steamboat rates and volumes. The Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company entered as a late competitor, aiming at residual local freight, passenger traffic, and connections into Mexican waters of the Gulf of California (including runs toward San Jorge Bay, roughly 75 miles below the river mouth). The San Jorge was specifically intended for these gulf runs, supporting trade links between Yuma and coastal points while the company’s other boats (Retta and later St. Vallier) handled more upriver work.

Its contribution to “expanding” trade was limited and late-stage. It helped sustain short-haul and cross-border connections after the main boom years, when railroads already dominated long-haul movement of goods and people. The company competed with remaining Colorado Steam Navigation Company vessels (such as the Cochan) for mining-related freight and passengers on the lower river. Operations faced the same challenges that had always marked the Colorado: shifting channels, low water, snags, and fuel shortages. Broader commercial navigation effectively ended with the completion of Laguna Dam (about 14 miles above Yuma) in 1909, which blocked the channel; residual activity continued only a few more years.

In summary, the San Jorge was a minor, specialized vessel in the twilight of Colorado River steam navigation—a small screw steamer built for gulf connections rather than the classic shallow-draft sternwheelers that had opened the lower river to reliable commerce decades earlier. Its short documented career illustrates both the ingenuity applied to the difficult waterway and the rapid displacement of river steam by rail and, ultimately, dams. Primary details derive from Richard E. Lingenfelter’s Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852–1916 and contemporary vessel lists.

Uncle Sam – Colorado River Steamship

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The Uncle Sam (1852) was the first steamboat to operate commercially on the Colorado River. It was a small side-wheel paddle steamer that pioneered steam navigation on the lower river, primarily to supply the isolated U.S. Army post at Fort Yuma and demonstrate that river transport could replace expensive overland mule trains.

Historical Background and Context

Fort Yuma was established in 1849 (on the California side of the river near the Gila confluence) to protect emigrant trails during the California Gold Rush and to secure the southwestern frontier after the Mexican-American War. Supplying the remote post was extremely difficult and costly. Overland freight by mule train from San Diego or other California points often cost $500–$800 per ton. Earlier experiments (including barges and surveys by Lt. George Derby) showed the river’s potential but also its hazards: strong currents, shifting sandbars, snags, variable water levels, and a braided delta.

In 1852, Captain James Turnbull received a contract to supply the fort. He acquired a small steam tug (or had one built/adapted), had it disassembled, and shipped the sections from San Francisco to the Colorado River Delta aboard the schooner Capacity. The vessel was designed/built by Domingo Marcucci in San Francisco in June 1852. It was reassembled and launched in the estuary roughly 30 miles above the river’s mouth (near the Gulf of California).

Build and Design Principles

The Uncle Sam was a compact wooden-hulled side-wheeler optimized for the Colorado’s challenging conditions rather than for speed, power, or passenger comfort:

  • Dimensions and form: Approximately 65 feet long, 12–16 feet in beam (reports vary slightly; one account gives ~16 feet wide), and about 3–3½ feet deep. It was often described as more of a steam tug than a full river steamer, with a simple, open-deck (or minimal-deck) configuration and little or no formal cabin/wheelhouse in some descriptions.
  • Draft and hull: Shallow draft (capable of operating in as little as ~22 inches of water when loaded in one account) to clear sandbars and navigate low water. The design prioritized a light, relatively flat or shallow hull suited to the river’s variable depths and silty conditions.
  • Propulsion: Side-mounted paddle wheels driven by a modest 20-horsepower (some sources say 20–25 hp) steam engine of locomotive type. The limited power made upriver progress slow against the current, especially when loaded.
  • Capacity: About 35 tons of freight (some contemporary notes cite ~40 tons capacity; loads of ~20–32 tons of commissary stores are recorded on early trips).
  • Construction approach: Built (or adapted) in San Francisco, then knocked down for ocean shipment and reassembled on-site. This modular approach was practical given the remote location and lack of local shipbuilding facilities. Fuel was wood, later supported by woodyards (often tended by Cocopah laborers) spaced along the river.

These principles reflected mid-19th-century adaptations for western rivers: prioritize shallow draft and simplicity over deep-water ocean or large Mississippi-style designs. Side-wheels were used (later Colorado boats often shifted toward stern-wheelers for even shallower effective draft and better maneuverability in narrow or obstructed channels). The underpowered engine was a clear limitation and contributed to slow early voyages.

Operations and Fate

The Uncle Sam made its first major upriver run in late November 1852, covering roughly 120 miles from the assembly point to Fort Yuma in about 15 days (impeded by current, sandbars, and even an earthquake that altered the channel in one account). It arrived on or about December 3, 1852, with commissary stores; the event was noted by observers including Lt. Thomas W. Sweeny. Downstream runs were far faster (one report of ~15 hours). With experience, round-trip times improved to about 12 days.

It operated for roughly four months, making multiple trips that completed delivery of the Capacity’s cargo and supplied the fort. In spring 1853 (accounts vary slightly on exact date, often cited as around April–June, with one specifying June 24 near Pilot Knob), negligence caused it to sink at its dock below Fort Yuma. It was washed away in the spring flood before it could be raised and was lost. Turnbull had returned or was returning with a more powerful engine and additional cargo; he later sought a new hull but faced financial collapse and disappeared, leaving creditors unpaid.

Role in Expanding Trade Along the Colorado River

Although short-lived and limited in power and capacity, the Uncle Sam proved that steamboats could navigate the lower Colorado and deliver supplies far more efficiently than overland methods. It directly addressed Fort Yuma’s chronic supply crisis, reducing reliance on costly, slow mule trains and demonstrating commercial viability. This success encouraged further investment.

George A. Johnson & Company (and later the Colorado Steam Navigation Company) quickly followed with larger, more powerful vessels such as the General Jesup (launched 1854; ~104 feet, far stronger engine). These expanded service, established woodyards, and extended routes upriver. Over subsequent decades, steamboats carried military supplies, mining machinery and equipment, merchandise, mail, passengers, and outbound ore, wool, and hides. They supported mining booms, settlements, and military posts along a corridor stretching hundreds of miles (at times reaching toward El Dorado Canyon and points relevant to Mormon settlements or Nevada mining). At the height of the era, multiple steamers and barges operated; the trade remained important until railroads (beginning in the late 1870s) and later dams made river steam navigation obsolete.

In short, the Uncle Sam was a pioneering proof-of-concept vessel. Its design emphasized shallow draft and practical assembly for a difficult frontier river; its brief service opened the Colorado to sustained steamboat commerce that transformed logistics, trade, and development in the lower Colorado River region through the mid-to-late 19th century.

Undine – Colorado River Steamship

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The Undine was a small stern-wheel steamboat built specifically for the challenging upper reaches of the Green and Colorado (then often called the Grand) Rivers in Utah. Owned and captained by Denver entrepreneur Frank H. Summerhill (also spelled Summeril or Summerhil in some accounts), it represented an ambitious but short-lived attempt to open commercial navigation, freight transport, and tourism in a remote, canyon-bound stretch of river that had largely resisted steamboat traffic. Launched in late 1901, the vessel operated for only about six months before wrecking in 1902. Its story illustrates both the engineering ingenuity required for shallow, obstruction-filled western rivers and the practical limits of steam navigation on the upper Colorado system.

Construction and Design Principles

The Undine was constructed in Rock Island, Illinois, then shipped in pieces by rail to Green River, Utah, where it was assembled and launched on November 22, 1901. This modular approach was common for remote western riverboats, allowing transport overland to launch sites far from established shipyards.

Key specifications (drawn from contemporary accounts and later historical summaries):

  • Type: Flat-bottomed stern-wheel steamboat (sternwheeler).
  • Length: 60 feet.
  • Beam (width): 10 feet.
  • Draft: Approximately 12 inches when light (unladen); up to 20 inches when carrying a full load of about 15 tons of cargo.
  • Propulsion: Coal-fired steam engine of about 20 horsepower driving a stern paddle wheel.
  • Additional equipment: Capstan and cable system (with block-and-tackle) for warping the boat through rapids or off sandbars; provisions for self-rescue after groundings.

Design principles emphasized extreme shallow draft, light construction, and maneuverability suited to the upper Green and Colorado Rivers’ conditions: shifting sandbars, submerged boulders, low water in many seasons, swift currents, and frequent riffles/rapids. A flat-bottomed hull minimized grounding risk and allowed operation in waters only a foot or so deep. The stern wheel (rather than side wheels) concentrated propulsion aft, improved steering in narrow channels, and reduced vulnerability to bankside obstacles. The modest power and cargo capacity reflected a deliberate scaling-down from the larger sternwheelers that successfully worked the lower Colorado River (below the canyons). Equipment such as the capstan enabled the crew to “line” or warp the boat upstream through difficult spots by anchoring cables and winching forward—an adaptation of techniques used on other western rivers. Overall, the design prioritized practicality for freight, limited passengers, and exploratory tourist trips over speed, luxury, or heavy cargo capacity.

These principles mirrored broader late-19th/early-20th-century approaches to western river steam navigation, where boats had to cope with seasonal low water, sediment loads, and unimproved channels rather than the deeper, more stable Mississippi-style systems.

Operational History

Summerhill’s primary goals were tourist excursions from Green River downstream toward the Colorado River cataracts (Cataract Canyon area) and the establishment of a shipping service, potentially linking to Moab and beyond. He also envisioned a resort and possible channel improvements (dredging or rock blasting).

On its maiden voyage, the Undine headed downstream on the Green River with Summerhill, his son, a photographer (Oliver E. Aultman, hired to document the trip), and a small crew. Almost immediately it struck a submerged boulder and required hull patching. Repeated groundings on sandbars followed; the crew freed the boat using block-and-tackle. Progress was slow through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons. The party reached Spanish Bottom (above the first major cataracts) after roughly a week, where Summerhill scouted potential resort sites.

They then turned upstream, ascending the Grand (Colorado) River to Moab—arriving triumphantly after about three days of easier upstream travel in higher or clearer water. This demonstrated the vessel’s ability to cover significant distances (on the order of 100+ river miles in segments) and reach the Moab area.

Summerhill later concluded that a more practical commercial route would run roughly 30–40 miles upstream from Moab toward a landing near the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad railhead at Cisco, Utah, rather than the longer Green River path. He spent months blasting rock hazards to improve the channel, then attempted the ascent in May 1902 during higher spring water. Using the cable and capstan, the Undine struggled through the first riffle (with cables snapping on earlier tries). At Big Bend (about eight miles upstream of Moab), while warping through a second rapid, the bow caught in the current, the boat swung broadside, capsized, and wrecked on May 21, 1902. The pilothouse and boiler were lost; wreckage lodged on a midstream rock. Summerhill escaped with minor injuries and walked back to town; two crewmen clung to the wreck and were later rescued by locals with rowboats. The engine and boiler were salvaged, but the vessel was a total loss. Summerhill was financially ruined and abandoned the venture.

Role in Expanding Trade Along the Colorado River

The Undine was part of a broader but largely unsuccessful effort in the early 1900s to extend commercial steamboat service onto the upper Green and Colorado Rivers in Utah, beyond the better-established lower Colorado trade (Yuma to the Virgin River area and beyond, which had flourished from the 1850s into the early 1900s with larger boats hauling military supplies, mining freight, and passengers).

Its intended contributions included:

  • Freight and mining support: Potential carriage of supplies and ore between Green River/Moab and railroad connections, reducing reliance on overland wagon transport in difficult terrain.
  • Tourism and settlement: Excursions to scenic canyons and cataracts, plus a hoped-for resort, which could have stimulated local economic activity and visitor traffic.
  • Channel improvement: Rock blasting and proposed dredging were early attempts at making the river more reliably navigable, foreshadowing later (mostly unrealized) ideas for upper-river commerce.

In practice, the Undine achieved only limited success: it proved a shallow-draft sternwheeler could reach Moab from Green River and operate in the upper canyons under favorable conditions. However, the combination of frequent groundings, the need for constant self-rescue and channel work, high operational difficulty, and the fatal wreck demonstrated the severe constraints of the upper river’s hydrology and geography. Steamboat commerce on these stretches never developed into a sustained trade network; later small vessels (such as the Cliff Dweller, Comet, and others) also had brief or unsuccessful careers. Railroads and, eventually, roads and modern shallow-draft craft (jet boats, rafts) proved far more practical. The Undine thus serves mainly as a historical illustration of entrepreneurial ambition and the engineering limits of early-20th-century river transport in the Colorado Plateau rather than as a transformative commercial success.

Legacy

The Undine is remembered in local Utah history (particularly around Moab and Green River) as a colorful episode of pioneer-era river ambition. Photographs from the 1901 voyage, taken by Oliver Aultman, preserve visual records of the landscape and the boat. Its wreck marked the end of Summerhill’s plans and underscored why sustained commercial steamboating remained confined largely to the lower Colorado. Today the same river stretches are primarily recreational, with modern craft far better adapted to the conditions the Undine struggled against.

Primary sources and further reading include the Wikipedia summary of the vessel, contemporary newspaper accounts of the launch and wreck, Moab Museum materials, and regional steamboat histories of the Colorado River system. Note that this Undine should not be confused with other vessels of the same name (notably a Columbia River sternwheeler or Civil War-era gunboats).

St. Vallier – Colorado River Steamship

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The St. Vallier (sometimes spelled St. Valier) was a stern-wheel steamboat and the first steel-hulled vessel to operate on the Colorado River. It was built in early 1899 at Needles, California, by the Santa Ana Mining Company, which held placer mining claims upriver and sought reliable transport for supplies and equipment.

Construction occurred amid a late-19th-century revival of river traffic driven by mining activity in southern Nevada and western Arizona. The boat remained inactive through much of 1899 and into 1900 due to ownership litigation after the mining company faced financial trouble and creditors attached the vessel. Its maiden voyage came in the summer of 1900 under Captain John W. Babson (a former railroad man), beginning limited freight service.

In December 1901 the Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company acquired it from the Santa Ana creditors. The new owners added four passenger cabins on the upper deck, enabling regular Yuma–Needles runs that carried both freight and passengers.

Design Principles and Specifications

Colorado River steamboats were engineered for an exceptionally difficult waterway: shallow depths (often under two feet in places), shifting sandbars, swift currents, seasonal floods and low water, and braided channels. Traditional deep-draft ocean or Mississippi-style designs were unusable.

Key design principles embodied in the St. Vallier included:

  • Steel hull: It was the first steel-hulled steamer on the river, offering greater durability and resistance to the abrasive, silty water and frequent groundings than the wooden hulls that dominated earlier fleets.
  • Stern-wheel propulsion: A rear paddlewheel provided efficient power in shallow water, better maneuverability in tight channels, and less vulnerability to floating debris than side-wheels.
  • Light draft and shallow-draft hull form: Dimensions are reported inconsistently across sources (reflecting measurement variations or possible refits), but typical figures are roughly 74 feet in length by 17 feet beam (alternative accounts give ~92 feet length, 17-foot beam, and ~74–92 tons). The design prioritized minimal draft so the vessel could operate over sandbars and in low-water conditions common on the lower Colorado.
  • Practical freight-and-passenger configuration: After the 1901 refit, upper-deck cabins allowed mixed service while the main deck and any towed barges handled cargo such as lumber, mining machinery, railroad rails, and supplies.

These features aligned with the broader evolution of Colorado River boats, which consistently emphasized extreme shallow draft (often 1–2 feet loaded), flat or lightly rounded bottoms, and robust yet lightweight construction suited to desert-river conditions.

Operational History and Role in Expanding Trade

The St. Vallier entered service during the final profitable phase of commercial steamboating on the lower Colorado, after the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Yuma in 1877 and began eroding long-distance river traffic. Remaining demand centered on remote mining districts (notably Searchlight and Quartette in Nevada) that still required river delivery of heavy equipment, provisions, and ore transport between railheads at Needles and Yuma.

Under the Mexican-Colorado Navigation Company it competed directly with the established Colorado Steam Navigation Company (operators of the Cochan, rebuilt from the older Gila) and later the Searchlight. It undercut rates on the Yuma–Needles corridor, hauling supplies that supported the late mining boom and local trade. This competition briefly stimulated service and kept freight moving to isolated camps that railroads had not yet fully reached.

After 1905 the boat’s role shifted toward engineering and reclamation work. It assisted the California Development Company and U.S. Reclamation Service during the Imperial Valley flood crisis (when the Colorado breached into the Salton Sink) and the construction of Laguna Dam. It ferried materials, equipment, and workers and was photographed working alongside brush dikes and canal intakes.

In February 1905 it sank near Yuma during flood-control operations at a canal intake; it was salvaged and sold for $750, then continued limited service under new ownership tied to irrigation projects. On March 25, 1909—shortly before Laguna Dam’s completion—it broke free from its moorings near Yuma, sank again, and was declared a total loss. Authorities dynamited the wreck to clear the channel.

Decline and Legacy

Laguna Dam (completed 1909) permanently blocked upstream navigation and, together with expanding railroads and the rise of trucks and smaller gasoline boats, ended the steamboat era on the lower Colorado. The St. Vallier was one of the last vessels of its type; commercial steam navigation effectively ceased within a few years (the Searchlight lingered into the mid-1910s).

Although short-lived, the St. Vallier illustrates the adaptive final chapter of river commerce in the Southwest. Its steel hull marked a technological step forward, its competitive service helped sustain mining logistics in the early 1900s, and its later use in reclamation projects contributed to the irrigation infrastructure that transformed the Imperial Valley and lower Colorado region. It remains a documented example of the specialized, shallow-draft sternwheelers that once linked desert mining camps, military posts, and emerging agricultural settlements before railroads and dams closed the river to commercial steam traffic.