Big Bear, CA
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Undine – Colorado River Steamship
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
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.
Back County Camping in Death Valley National Park
Primitive backcountry camping in Death Valley National Park offers profound solitude amid vast desert landscapes, with few other people, excellent wildlife viewing, and some of the darkest night skies in the United States.
Death Valley encompasses more than 3 million acres of designated wilderness (over 93% of the park). Away from developed areas and popular roads, campers often experience true isolation—nights without the sounds or lights of other visitors, under an immense canopy of stars. The park is an International Dark Sky Park (Gold Tier level), with exceptionally clear, dry air and minimal light pollution. On moonless nights the Milky Way can stretch horizon to horizon, and celestial objects invisible from most urban or suburban locations become visible. Backcountry locations far from Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells provide the darkest viewing.
Wildlife viewing opportunities arise from the park’s surprising diversity of habitats—colorful badlands, canyons, alluvial fans, springs, and higher-elevation woodlands. Desert bighorn sheep, coyotes, kit foxes, lizards, snakes, birds, and smaller mammals inhabit the area. Springs and water sources are critical for wildlife; camping near them is restricted to protect these fragile habitats. Visitors should never feed or approach animals.
NPS Directives on Campsite Locations, Campfires, Water, and Related Rules
Campsite locations
- Dispersed (backcountry) camping is generally allowed at least one mile from any paved road, developed area, or “day-use only” dirt road.
- Roadside (vehicle-accessible) camping along many dirt roads is permitted only in previously disturbed areas immediately adjacent to the roadway (vehicles must stay on designated roads; off-road driving is prohibited). The wilderness boundary typically begins 50 feet from the centerline of most dirt roads.
- Certain popular corridors (Echo Canyon, Hole in the Wall, Cottonwood Canyon/Marble Canyon, and Greenwater Valley/Furnace Creek Wash) require mandatory paid permits ($10/night) for designated or limited dispersed roadside sites; these are reserved online via Recreation.gov up to six months in advance. Overnight backpacking in those corridors is allowed farther than one mile from the road centerline.
- All other roadside camping, backpacking, or canyoneering is free and permits are recommended (not mandatory); obtain them at Furnace Creek Visitor Center, Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station, the self-service drop box, or online.
- Prohibited areas include: the valley floor from Ashford Mill north to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes; Eureka and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes; within one mile of Greenwater Canyon or Darwin Falls Trail; many “day-use only” roads (Titus Canyon, Mosaic Canyon, West Side Road, Wildrose Road, Skidoo Road, Aguereberry Point Road, first 8 miles of Cottonwood Canyon Road, etc.); and near certain historic mining sites.
- Camp at least 100 feet from any flowing stream, spring, or natural body of water (some older guidance references 100–200 yards; follow the stricter current rule).
- Group size is limited to 12 people and no more than 4 vehicles; larger groups must split up and camp/travel at least ½ mile apart.
- Maximum stay is generally 30 days per calendar year (some developed sites have shorter limits). Camp only in previously disturbed spots where possible and practice Leave No Trace.
Campfires
- Traditional campfires (wood or charcoal that contact the ground) are not allowed in the backcountry.
- Portable gas stoves are permitted.
- Fire pans or other fireproof barriers that keep the fire completely off the natural surface are allowed in many areas (below 3,000 feet year-round; above 3,000 feet only from approximately September 16 to June 14). Wood gathering is prohibited; all ash and unburned material must be packed out. Check current fire restrictions, as they can change.
- In designated primitive campgrounds (e.g., Wildrose area), fires may be restricted or limited to provided grates during high-fire-danger periods.
Water and other essentials
- There is no potable water in the backcountry. Natural springs are unreliable, often dry, and can be contaminated (e.g., by wildlife or other sources). Carry all the water you will need—commonly one gallon or more per person per day in hot weather—or carefully cache it in advance. Purify any backcountry water before drinking.
- Pack out all trash, leftover food, and (in many situations) human waste. Bury human waste at least 6 inches deep and 200 feet from water sources; pack out toilet paper.
- Pets are restricted: they are not allowed on trails or in wilderness areas and must stay within 50 feet of roads or developed areas.
- Cell service is nonexistent in most of the park. Self-reliance is essential—carry extra food, water, spare tires/repair kits, maps, and a communication plan. High-clearance (and often 4WD) vehicles are required for most backcountry roads.
Primitive backcountry camping here rewards careful preparation with solitude, wildlife encounters, and unparalleled night skies. Always check current conditions, road status, and regulations on the official NPS Death Valley website (nps.gov/deva) before your trip, as rules and access can change with weather, fire danger, or management needs.
Norton’s Landing, La Paz County Ghost Town
Norton’s Landing (also Norton’s or Nortons Landing) was a short-lived steamboat landing and mining settlement on the Colorado River in what was then Yuma County, Arizona Territory (now La Paz County, Arizona). It sat on a rocky point of land at about 213–215 feet elevation, roughly 52 miles upriver from Yuma, 4 miles above Picacho (California), and 18 miles below Clip, Arizona. Roads from the nearby mines in the Trigo Mountains met the river there, just east of Red Cloud Wash and Black Rock Wash.
Founding and Development
The landing developed to support the Red Cloud Mine and other claims in the Silver Mining District of the Trigo Mountains. Prospecting in the area dated to the mid-1860s under Jacob Snively, but activity largely lapsed after his death in 1871. The district revived in 1879 when George Sills, Neils Johnson, George W. Norton, and Gus Crawford relocated many abandoned silver claims.
The settlement and landing took their name from George W. Norton, a civil engineer who had supervised construction of the first railroad bridge across the Colorado River at Yuma in 1877. Norton owned the Red Cloud Mine and established a smelter (ore reduction works) at the landing itself. By about 1881 the Red Cloud Mining Company had a successful reduction works there processing copper, silver, and gold ores from the district. A general store operated at the site.
A post office named Norton’s opened on June 4, 1883, and operated until August 24, 1888 (mail then went to Yuma). It reopened September 3, 1891, and closed for good on March 13, 1894. The community persisted a bit longer; the Arizona Sentinel (Yuma) reported on April 17, 1897, that the once-well-known silver-district town was completely deserted because of low silver prices and mine closures. Residents moved to the then-flourishing camp at Picacho. One secondary account notes it was briefly known as Pacific City.
Role in the Colorado River Steamship Industry
Norton’s Landing functioned as a steamboat stop primarily in the 1880s–early 1890s (sources commonly list active years as roughly 1882–1894). It served as a transshipment point for supplies, machinery, provisions, and coal bound for the Silver District mines, and for outbound ore or concentrates. Steamboats of the Colorado Steam Navigation Company (and later operators under Southern Pacific influence after the railroad reached Yuma in 1877) called here while navigating the lower Colorado’s shallow, shifting channels, sandbars, and seasonal low water.
The landing formed part of a chain of river ports that included Castle Dome Landing, Picacho, Clip, Ehrenberg/La Paz, Hardyville, and others, stretching from the Gulf of California upstream toward the mining districts of Arizona, California, and Nevada. Freight rates and reliability on the river remained important for remote mines even after the railroad arrived at Yuma, though overall steamboat traffic declined as rail connections expanded. One historical assessment notes that the Silver District mines (including those served by Norton’s and Clip) had their own mills and therefore generated relatively limited steamboat business compared with earlier boom periods, but the landing still operated as a recognized stop.
Ships associated with service to the landing include vessels of the Colorado Steam Navigation Company fleet active in the relevant decades. Contemporary and later accounts specifically link the sternwheelers Gila (launched in the 1870s, a major workhorse on the lower river into the 1890s) and Mohave / Mohave II (the latter a larger 149-foot vessel of the mid-1870s) to service of Norton’s Landing and the surrounding district. These boats typically pushed or towed barges to increase capacity and operated when water levels permitted. Other CSNC steamers of the era (such as later vessels like Cochan) worked the same general route between Yuma and upriver points, though primary documentation of individual calls at Norton’s is sparse.
Steam navigation on the lower Colorado effectively ended after the Laguna Dam was completed in 1909, blocking the river; residual commercial traffic ceased around 1916.
Decline and Present Site
Falling silver prices in the 1880s–1890s, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893, competition from railroads, and high overland freight costs after river transport became less competitive caused the mines and the landing to close. By 1897 the town was empty. Today Norton’s Landing is a ghost town in La Paz County. Only scattered foundations, mining debris, and slag from the reduction works remain.
Norton’s Landing exemplifies the brief, specialized river ports that supported Arizona Territory’s mining economy in the final decades of Colorado River steamboating—linking remote desert claims to the wider commercial network until railroads and market forces rendered them obsolete.
Picacho, California – Imperial County Ghost Town
Picacho (on the lower Colorado River, California side; historically linked to Arizona Territory) was a gold-mining settlement and steamboat landing that flourished from the 1860s into the early 20th century.
Founding and Early History
The site lies along the Colorado River roughly 48 miles (77 km) upstream from Arizona City/Yuma (then in Arizona Territory), opposite Arizona-side landings such as Eureka and Williamsport. It takes its name from nearby Picacho Peak (Spanish for “peak” or “big peak”; earlier Anglo references sometimes called it Chimney Peak). The original townsite is now submerged under Imperial Reservoir; remaining mill ruins lie above the waterline within present-day Picacho State Recreation Area (California Historical Landmark #193).
Spanish explorers and prospectors likely worked placer gold in the area as early as around 1780. Sustained American-era activity began after the California Gold Rush and the establishment of Fort Yuma. In spring 1862, Sonora-born prospector José María Mendivil, traveling north from Yuma toward the La Paz gold discoveries, found placer gold in the washes near Picacho Peak. He returned later, homesteaded riverfront land, and laid out a townsite initially called Rio (soon renamed Picacho). Streets were named after his daughters. Early methods included dry-placering (shaking gravel on blankets to concentrate heavier gold particles).
Mining remained sporadic and small-scale through the 1860s–mid-1870s. Hard-rock development accelerated in the late 1870s. In 1878 (some accounts note an earlier arrastra around 1873), Yuma businessman David Neahr built a substantial 10- to 15-stamp mill of hand-cut local rhyolite stone on a bluff overlooking the river. He chartered the sternwheeler Cocopah to deliver about 30 tons of machinery. The mill processed ore from Mendivil’s nearby Apache claim and other properties; ore was packed by mule from the hills. Neahr expanded but later went bankrupt after embezzlement. Subsequent operators, including Dr. DeWitt C. Jayne, continued work; by the early 1880s reports noted thousands of tons of ore averaging around $21 per ton.
A larger boom came in the 1890s–early 1900s under promoter Stephen A. Dorsey and the California King Gold Mines Company. A large (reported ~450-ton capacity) stamp mill was erected, along with a narrow-gauge railroad (about 4–5 miles) from the mines near the peak to the riverside mill. Peak employment reached around 700 miners; the town’s population is commonly cited at up to 2,500 at its height, with stores, schools, saloons, and supporting industries (woodcutting for steamboat fuel, ranching, stage work). Gold production was strongest around 1904–1906.
Decline followed from depleting/lower-grade ore, mill accidents, rising costs, and especially the loss of cheap river transport after construction of Laguna Dam (completed 1909), which blocked upstream steamboat navigation. The mill was eventually moved inland; operations largely ceased around 1910. The townsite was flooded by Imperial Reservoir in the late 1930s.
Role in the Colorado River Steamship Industry
Picacho served as a regular steamboat landing from about 1862 to 1910, part of the network supporting mining, military posts (Fort Yuma and others), and settlements along the lower Colorado. Shallow-draft sternwheelers (and earlier sidewheelers) of George A. Johnson & Company and later the Colorado Steam Navigation Company (reorganized 1869) dominated the trade. They carried mining machinery, supplies, passengers, and wood (often cut by local labor in desert washes), and took out ore or concentrates for further shipment via the Gulf of California and coastal vessels to San Francisco or other ports. Barges were frequently towed for extra capacity. The landing sat in a cottonwood-and-willow grove with adobes and huts; it was a practical stop roughly midway in the lower-river run above Yuma.
Steam navigation on the Colorado began in the early 1850s primarily to supply Fort Yuma more cheaply than overland routes from San Diego or San Francisco. Regular service expanded with mining booms (La Paz, Castle Dome, Eureka, Eldorado Canyon, and Picacho itself). The Southern Pacific Railroad’s arrival at Yuma in 1877 reduced through traffic, but local and upper-river freight (including Picacho) continued until the Laguna Dam ended commercial navigation upstream of Yuma.
Ships and landings associated with Picacho include vessels of the dominant fleets that routinely called at lower- and mid-river points (Castle Dome, Eureka/Williamsport, Picacho, Norton’s Landing, Clip, Ehrenberg/La Paz, and farther north). Documented or strongly indicated connections include:
- Cocopah (Cocopah I, sternwheeler launched 1859; or the later Cocopah II of 1867): Chartered specifically to deliver mill machinery to Picacho in 1878; the class of vessel regularly served the lower river.
- Mohave / Mohave I (sternwheeler, 1864–1875) and Mohave II (1876–c. 1900): Standard workhorses on routes that explicitly included Picacho among mid-river stops.
- Other Colorado Steam Navigation Company vessels such as Colorado (various), Gila, Nina Tilden, and supporting barges that worked the same corridor of landings.
- Later/smaller craft in the declining years (e.g., light freighters operating into the early 1900s) continued intermittent service until the dam closed the route.
Picacho’s steamboat era thus tied a remote desert mining district directly into the commercial and military logistics of Arizona Territory and the broader Southwest until railroads and dams rendered river transport obsolete. The site’s remaining mill ruins and the surrounding recreation area preserve tangible evidence of this chapter of Colorado River history.