Moving History Forward: Steamboat North Star
The third steamboat in this series of boats on Lake Coeur d’Alene is the North Star. In researching this boat, I found almost nothing written about it in any historical record. However, much is said of another North Star that was built in British Columbia, moved to Montana and finally ended up on the Columbia River.
The North Star that was on Lake Coeur d’Alene was launched June 1, 1907, and burned Oct. 5, 1908, thus she had an existence of only 17 months. This may explain the lack of information about the boat and how the boat was used. Why the boat had such short term of service as an excursion boat and why it was destroyed rather than sold is unknown.
Below, is a schedule of the boats in The Red Collar Line managed and owned by J. C. White who built the mansion in 1903 that is the centerpiece for the new MONI. The date of the schedule is July 1, 1907, hardly a month after launching. This schedule was published in the Coeur d’Alene paper The Journal, on July 26, 1907.
There are only two photos of the North Star in the archives of the Museum of North Idaho. The photo included with this column is from the private collection of John Wood who is writing a book on the history of steam boating on Lake Coeur d’Alene. This photo was taken on the Fourth of July 1907, a little over one month after being launched. The photo was taken while the boat was docked at Del Cardo Bay. She was a relatively small boat with a length of 85 feet and a beam of 14 feet.
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The Museum of North Idaho (MONI) has openings to join its Board of Directors. If any readers of these columns would like to be part of the expansion of the Museum, we encourage you to call 208-664-3448 or email info@museumni.org.
