Steamboats of the Columbia River

This article is about steamboats operating between Tri-Cities, Washington and the Pacific Ocean. For boats on the river's upper reaches, see Steamboats of the Columbia River, Wenatchee Reach. For Steamboats of the upper Columbia and Kootenay Rivers, see Steamboats of the Arrow Lakes.
Bailey Gatzert near Cascade Locks, circa 1910

Many steamboats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, from about 1850 to 1981. Major tributaries of the Columbia that formed steamboat routes included the Willamette and Snake rivers. Navigation was impractical between the Snake River and the Canada–US border, due to several rapids, but steamboats also operated along the Wenatchee Reach of the Columbia, in northern Washington, and on the Arrow Lakes of southern British Columbia.