Back in the 1800s, a fire on a riverboat was a very serious matter, and not as rare as you might think. Riverboats were made of wood and powered by steam boilers, so there was always a fire on board. If powered by coal, there was coal dust to worry about; if, in later times, by oil, the engine room was often soaked with flammable liquids.

The stories of paddlewheel riverboats on American rivers are peppered with tales of fires breaking out on them and quickly surging out of control, and nearly all such anecdotes come with a body count.

Oregon’s most famous riverboat fire has a body count, too. It’s 1. But it unquestionably would have been a lot higher than that, if not for the quick thinking and clear decisionmaking of its legendary skipper — and, probably more importantly, his instant unwillingness to gamble his passengers’ lives to try and save his boat.

THE BOAT THAT burned was a legend in its own time, and that  legend has only grown since. (Astoria, Clatsop County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2503d1111a.heroic-captain-scott-telephone-694.145.html)