Steamboats of The Upper Columbia and Kootenay Rivers - Jennings Canyon

Jennings Canyon

Once in the United States, the Kootenay river, in its natural state before the construction of the Libby Dam, flowed through Jennings Canyon to the settlement of Jennings, Montana (Ktunaxa: a·kiʔyi ). Jennings has almost completely disappeared as a town, but it was near Libby, Montana. Above Jennings, the Kootenay River narrowed as it ran through Jennings Canyon, which was a significant hazard to any river navigation. A particularly dangerous stretch was known as the Elbow. Jennings Canyon was described by Professor Lyman as "a strip of water, foaming-white, downhill almost as on a steep roof, hardly wider than steamboat".

No insurance agent would write a policy for steamboats and cargo transiting the Jennings Canyon. Captain Armstrong once persuaded an agent from San Francisco to consider making a quote on premiums. The agent decided to examine the route for himself, and went on board with Armstrong as the captain's boat shot through the canyon. At the end of the trip, the agent's quote for a policy was one-quarter of the value of the cargo. Faced with this quote, Armstrong decided to forego insurance.

The huge profits to be made seemed to justify the risk. Combined the two steamers could earn $2,000 in gross receipts per day, a lot of money in 1897. By comparison, the sternwheeler J.D. Farrell (1897), cost $20,000 to build in 1897. In ten days of operation then, an entire steamboat could be paid for.

There were no more than seven steamboats that ever passed through Jennings Canyon, Annerly, Gwendoline, Libby, Rustler, Ruth, J.D. Farrell, and North Star (1897). Of these only Annerly and Libby were not wrecked in the canyon. Armstrong and Miller unsuccessfully tried to get the U.S. Government to finance clearing of some of the rocks and obstructions in Jennings Canyon. Without government help, they hired crews themselves to do the work over two winters, but the results were not of much value.

Rustler was the first steamboat casualty of Jennings Canyon. In the summer of 1896, after just six weeks of operation, Rustler was caught in an eddy in the canyon swirled around and smashed into the rocks and damaged beyond repair. This left DePuy and Jones with just one vessel, the "nasty little Annerly", as historian D.M. Wilson described her. DePuy and Jones were unable to stay in business after the loss of Rustler and were forced to sell their facilities at Jennings, as well as Annerly to Armstrong, Miller and Wardner. With their principal competitors gone, Armstrong, Miller and Wardner incorporated their firm on April 5, 1897, in the state of Washington, as the International Transportation Company ("ITC") with nominal headquarters in Spokane. With salvaged machinery from Rustler, they built North Star, launching the new vessel at Jennings on May 28, 1897.

The wreck of Gwendoline and Ruth on May 7, 1897, was perhaps the most spectacular. With no insurance coverage, both Ruth and Gwendoline were running through Jennings Canyon. Ruth under Capt. Sanborn was about an hour ahead of Gwendoline, under Armstrong himself. Both steamers were heavily loaded, and a 26 car train was waiting at Jennings to receive their cargo. Ruth came to the Elbow, lost control, and came to rest blocking the main channel. Gwendoline came through at high speed, and could not avoid smashing into Ruth. Fortunately no one was killed. However, Ruth was totally destroyed, Gwendoline was seriously damaged, and the cargoes on both steamers were lost. Fortunately for the company, the North Star was near to being complete when the disaster occurred. Once North Star was launched, Armstrong was able to complete 21 round trips on the Kootenay before low water forced him to tie up on September 3, 1897.