Klamath Heritage: Steamboats on Upper Klamath Lake

Steamboats on Upper Klamath Lake, c. 1910

Klamath County Museum’s Photo of the Week for March 10, 2019, shows a group of steamboats at the docks at Shippington.

All three of the steamboats seen here were built in Klamath Falls. Seen at the dock at left is the Eagle, constructed in 1908. Docked at right is the Modoc, which measured 60 feet in length. Its boiler was originally fired by wood, but was later converted to burn oil. The Wasp, seen paddling by the other two boats, was built in 1914. It was slightly smaller, at 50 feet in length.

All three of these boats worked for several years on Upper Klamath Lake, hauling cargo and commodities such as sand, cinders, hay or firewood. Steamers also occasionally hauled livestock, and frequently towed barges and rafts of logs headed for lumber mills.

The name Shippington referred to the area along the shore of Upper Klamath Lake in the general area of Front Street. The view in this photo is toward the south. The hill in the middle ground is in Moore Park. Moore Mountain is the ridge in the background.

View this image overlayed with Google Streatview at What Was There

Press release provided from the Klamath County Museum.