Moving History Forward: Steamboat Flyer
The “golden years” of the Coeur d’Alene Lake steamers was from 1880 to 1930. One of the “golden ladies” was the steamboat Flyer. She was considered a luxury boat that catered mostly to paying excursion passengers wanting to see the beautiful lake and rivers.
She was built by P. W. Johnson for the White Star Navigation Company on Sanders Beach and launched Oct. 11, 1906. She was a sidewheel propelled boat 132 feet long, with a beam of 18 feet and a draft of 8.5 feet. The Flyer could carry as much as 700 passengers at 17 knots. The Flyer was modeled after a famous Puget Sound boat also named Flyer. Builder Johnson would later claim the Flyer to be his “masterpiece.” Indeed, it was!
Her last run was in 1936. She was deliberately burned on the lake at a place between the Potlach Mill (now the site of the Resort and Spa’s floating golf green) and Arrow Point. The upper structures burned as planned but the hull, now absent the weight of the topside, floated up wet and unwilling to burn enough to sink. It had to be rammed several times before it sank in 138 feet of water and thus was not a risk to boats passing by.
At the front entrance to the current location of the Museum of North Idaho (MONI) is a propeller which was salvaged from the Flyer along with some timber from her hull. A recent front-page article published by The Press reported that the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Dive team, aided by the local dive shop Jake’s Scuba Adventures and the Coeur d’Alene Parks Department had been active in removing thousands of pounds of lake bottom trash and bottles nearby where the Flyer’s remains came to rest off Tubbs Hill. They reported that the amount of trash still down there was massive and in some places 3 feet in depth. Not a proper resting place for a beautiful lady!
The MONI has five levels of membership, the first named the Amelia Wheaton at $30.00/year and is for one individual. The second is the Flyer for two adults costing $55.00/year. All levels of membership get: 1. Free admission to the Museum, 2. 10% off Gift Shop purchases, 3. Discounts on programs and events, 4. Quarterly newsletter with local history articles, 5. Invitation to members-only events 6. Discounts at area businesses and organizations. Join via our website museumni.org and click on “Join and Support”.
Please, become a member (you will get a free book, "In All the West No Place Like This)." And please, no more trash in the lake!
-Richard Sheldon
