From the Montana Collection

Paddle Wheelers on the Kootenai

The town of Jennings, located approximately 15 miles upstream of Libby near the mouth of the Fisher River, served as an important transportation center during the settlement of Lincoln County. It began as a railroad construction boom town sometime around 1891, as the Great Northern Railroad progressed westward from Kalispell. Within a few years, a settlement had sprung up around the railroad facilities. At the same time, steamship travel to and from Canada began to develop. Though the era of the steam ships lasted only a few years, it helped spur the growth of Jennings, which by 1897 had become a thriving community. In Tapestries of Yesteryear, Tami Anderson describes this brief chapter in the history of Jennings, which today exists only in memory.

"The steamboats played a big part in Jennings history, beginning with the Annerly in 1892. By August of that year she had made two trips up the Kootenai to the Tobacco Plains, proving the river was navigable in that area. She also began hauling freight that same year. It took the Annerly two and a half days to reach Fort Steele and only eight hours to return. Others soon followed suit. In 1894, the hull of the Fool Hen was built, but it didn't work out as there was too much machinery for the size of the boat. It was so slow that after several long days an Indian who was traveling on her decided to get off and walk. The Fool Hen was later rebuilt into the Libby, which was too slow to be successful, but did haul some freight. The Ruth was built at Libby in 1896 and only navigated the Kootenai through 1897. Several of the steamers were built at Jennings, including the J.D. Farrell. Five year old Anita Harris, daughter of Jim Harris, christened her in 1897. The J.D. Farrell ran from 1897-1902. She had electric lights in the stateroom and steam heat. Others were the Rustler, in 1896, and the North Star, 1897-1902, which was said to be the best paddle wheeler on the Kootenai. She could reach Fort Steele in 31 hours.

The main purpose of the steamers was to haul Canadian ore from the North Star, Sullivan and Kimberly mines in British Columbia to Jennings where it was loaded on the Great Northern Railroad for shipment to Great Falls. A British Columbia-Montana concern, called the International Transportation Co., built and operated several of the steamers, including the Ruth, the Gwendoline and the North Star.

These steamers battled the strong waters of the upper Kootenai. There were casualties in both lives and boats. One such incident was the wreck of the Ruth and the Gwendoline in Jennings Canyon on May 8, 1896. It was the ending of the three day race that Captain F. P. Armstrong of the Gwendoline and Captain Sandborn of the Ruth had been participating in. They had gone up to Fort Steele from Jennings, loaded with ore, and were on the return trip at the time of the accident. It was a dangerous trip anyway what with cross currents, large rocks, and narrow canyons. The boats had overtaken each other several times during the three days and there was a lot of excitement among everyone on the two boats. About 400 feet below a bend in the river were two big rocks. As the Gwendoline came around they found the Ruth piled up on these rocks. Tough they tried to avoid it, the Gwendoline wrecked into the rocks with the Ruth. No lives were lost, but the Ruth was a total loss. Even though she had a forty foot hole in her starboard side, the Gwendoline was able to be saved and was back on the river by 1897. Her career ended two years later in 1899 on the bottom of the river near Kootenai Falls, when she fell off a flat car while being hauled by the Great Northern Railroad."

Libby, Montana Institute of the Arts Writer's Group. Tapestries of Yesteryear. Libby, MT. 1993. pp. 22-23