Moving History Forward: 'The Queen of The Lake'
Georgie Oakes’ builder came from Portland at the request of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The supervisor of construction was Capt. I.B. Sanborn, who managed all the Northern Pacific boats, captained the Coeur d’Alene and would become the captain of the Georgie Oakes after her completion.
The boat was considered a masterpiece. She was deemed the “Queen of the Lake." Her “reign” lasted from 1891 to 1927. The unusual name was in celebration of a daughter of the then-president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which owned the boat.
The superstructure was enlarged by salvaging the superstructure from the aging steamer the Coeur d’Alene, which had been decommissioned due to her small hauling capacity of only 50 tons. A boat like the Georgie Oakes, which carried up to 100 tons, was needed due to the ever-increasing volume of ore coming from the Silver Valley.
She was a richly appointed stern wheeler whose length was 160 feet, beam of 26 feet and able to accommodate 600 passengers. Breakfast and dinner were available during the cruise.
As stated in John Wood’s forthcoming book, “She would make the trip from Coeur d’Alene to Mission in six hours instead of the prior time of ten hours. She had a gentleman’s waiting room, dining room, 16 state rooms, ladies’ cabin, 24 by 30 feet and even had an upright piano. The engine had 800 horsepower.”
In 1892 a labor strike in the Silver Valley broke out during which became so violent that troops from Fort Sherman were sent to subdue the miners involved. The strike lasted for months. Open battles were fought resulting in five miners being killed and 20 injured. A decision was made to evacuate nonunion men by train to the Cataldo Mission. The Georgie Oakes was sent to pick up these miners and ferry them to safety.
While waiting for the Georgie Oakes, the fleeing miners were attacked by armed strikers who had come to the Cataldo Mission’s Coeur d’Alene river dock. The miners were beaten, robbed and some shot. Many escaped by running into the woods. Some jumped into the river and swam downstream to be picked up by the Georgie Oakes coming upstream to rescue those unable to flee. The Georgie Oakes had two bodies to transport out.
The steamboats added romance and revenue to the lake. But regardless of their notoriety, their usefulness faded away. The Georgie Oakes was no exception.
Like many out-of-favor monarchs, she was ceremoniously burned. On the evening of Aug. 26, 1927, she was set afire to finish the day’s festivities planned for the reception for Gov. H.C. Baldridge.
Her remains are just off Coeur d’Alene’s waterfront several hundred yards from the mouth of the Spokane River.
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Edited by Deborah Mitchell. Information supplied by John Wood.
