Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/386



346 FRED LOCKLEY

more than the presence of it, so I signed the register and en- gaged a room at the Umatilla House for my wife at $60 a month.

"I at once reported to my steamer and for the next year I plied on the upper river.

'Thirty-three years ago the Northern Pacific R. R. Co. built a transfer boat to carry their cars across the Snake river at Ainsworth. They built a craft 200 feet long with 38 foot beam, having a square bow and stern, with a house 25 feet high and 165 feet long. They called the craft the Frederick Billings. Ten cars could be carried across at one time. Her huge house made her very unwieldy. When she had no load aboard she drew nothing forward and two and a half feet aft. She was a curiosity to all of the pilots and captains on the river. They commented on the ridiculous lines and the unnecessary deck house, 165 feet long. It was the consensus of opinion that it would be impossible to handle her in strong winds. No one was anxious to tackle the job. The very difficulty of handling such a Noah's ark of a boat appealed to me and I applied for the position, and was given the job before I could change my mind.

"The boat took the cars from Ainsworth to South Ainsworth, where the Northern Pacific Snake river bridge is now located, about three miles from Pasco. The Billings had two 20-inch cylinders with a 10-foot stroke, and in spite of her unwieldiness, I have transferred as high as 213 cars in one day. The Snake river bridge was completed in 1884. I took the Billings to Celilo to be overhauled. It was planned to use her between Pasco and Kennewick. They gave me permission to make whatever alterations I though best, so I had her big deck house cut down and a small house put up just large enough to cover her pipes, boiler and engines.

"While the Frederick Billings was being repaired, I made a recognizance of the Columbia river from the mouth of the Snake river to Rock Island rapids. In my report, which I sent to C. H. Prescott, president of the O. R. & N. Co., I said I thought it was possible to run a boat through the Rock Island