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''Wide West'' was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She had a reputation as a luxury boat of her day. ''Wide West'' was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It was built entirely of wood. ''Wide West'' was a sternwheeler, 218 feet long and rated at 1200 tons. On the Columbia River, unlike the Mississippi and other rivers in the eastern part of the country, there were very few sidewheel steamboats. ''Wide West'' was placed on the run from Portland to the Cascades of the Columbia, which at that time, was the head of navigation. Passengers had to disembark and ride a short railway around the Cascades to board another steamboat to travel further upriver. Cargo similarly had to be unloaded and reloaded again. In 1888 Wide West was disassembled. The upper works and machinery were used to build another steamboat, the ''T. J. Potter''. This was typical of the time, as the wooden-hulls would become waterlogged and worn, and it was easier to simply rebuild a new boat. The upper works and machinery were reused, as they were more durable and still had economic value after only ten years of operation. In practice, ''Wide West'' was sometimes referred to simply as the ''West''. == Design, dimensions and cost== ''Wide West'' was built for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which held a monopoly on steamboat navigation on the Columbia River. ''Wide West'' was intended to be the pride vessel of the company's fleet. In 1895, ''Wide West'' was said to have been the "perfect sternwheeler" constructed for Columbia River service. When in service, ''Wide West'' was characterized as "palatial" and "the finest steamboat in America." According to one source, the hull of ''Wide West'' was about feet long or .〔 However, the overall length of the vessel was greater than the hull length because of an extension of the main deck, called a "fantail" over the stern which carried the stern-wheel. Measured this way, ''Wide West'' was feet long.〔〔 Similarly, the width of the vessel, called "beam" was measured differently, depending on whether it was over the hull or over the guards, which were wide heavy timber extensions running along the top of the hull on both sides of the vessel. According to one source, ''Wide West'' had a beam of feet.〔 According to another source, the beam was .〔 Another source states that, over the guards, ''Wide West'' and the very similar sternwheeler ''R.R. Thompson'' measured in length and in beam. ''Wide West'' had a depth of hold of .〔 According to the official steamboat registry, ''Wide West'' was long, with a beam of and depth of hold of . The overall size of the vessel was expressed in "tons" which was not a unit of weight but rather of size. ''Wide West'' was 1200.80 gross and 928.75 registered tons.〔 The official steamboat registry number was 80650.〔 According to one source, ''Wide West'' cost about $114,000 to construct.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wide West」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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