Early History of Boating on Yellowstone Lake - 1871 to 1920s
Copyright 2018 Robert V. Goss
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The Annie - First Vessel
The first documented boat to ply the waters of Yellowstone Lake was the Annie, fabricated by members of the 1871 F.V. Hayden Expedition. The small craft sailed to Stevenson Island on July 29 of that year. Hiram M. Chittenden, in his 1895 book “The Yellowstone National Park”, described the occasion: "The first boat on the Yellowstone Lake was a small canvas craft 12 feet long by 3-1/2 feet wide. Dr. Hayden records that it was christened The Annie, by Mr. Stevenson, in compliment to Miss Anna L. Dawes, the amiable daughter of Hon. H.L. Dawes . . . the persons in the boat are James Stevenson and Henry W. Elliot." (Aubrey Haines, in The Yellowstone Story, Vol.1, noted that Hayden's Fifth Report referred to the boat as the Anna).
There are early reports of an trapper by the name of Louis Bleau who built a small raft and sailed to Stevenson Island, but these cannot be wholly verified.
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The Annie, 1871 - WH Jackson
Photo courtesy YELL17958
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Yellowstone Lake boat trip excerpt from the Chicago Tribune, Oct 4, 1871
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Wm. H. Jackson Stereoview of The Annie in 1871
Courtesy Library of Congress |
The Annie, woodcut illustration from the book Picturesque America, 1872
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E.S. Topping
1874 is the next year in which a boat appears on the waters of Yellowstone Lake. Eugene Sayre Topping, in his 1883 history “Chronicles of the Yellowstone,” describes the event:
"In June of this year [1874] Frank Williams and E.S. Toppping, furnished with a whipsaw, canvas, and rigging, went up the Yellowstone to its lake. There they sawed out lumber to build a row boat, and a yacht, which they rigged in sloop form. They launched the latter on the twentieth of July . . . They advertised that the first lady to come up should have the privilege of naming the yacht. Two parties from Bozeman, each having a lady, came in at nearly the same time. These ladies, Mrs. W.H. Tracy and Mrs. Arch Graham, were each named Sarah, and they compromised by naming the yacht Sallie, and took a cruise in commemoration of the event."
Topping and Williams were issued a permit to operate boats on the lake that year. In 1875 Topping constructed a cabin and boat dock at Topping Point, west of the Lake Outlet and built a boat called the “Topping”. He operated on the lake for about two years. The boat was reportedly dismantled and abandoned after the 1876 season.
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The Sallie, 1874 - Joshia Crissman
Stereoview, Author Collection
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The Explorer
The Explorer was a 20’ sailboat of green whipsawn lumber that was built by Thomas Elwood “Billie” Hofer and his brother in 1880. It was 20' long, 6' wide and 2-1/2' deep. Supt. Philetus Norris used it that year to circumnavigate Yellowstone Lake. He determined that there would be “…little danger attending trips around the fingers, thumb, and palm of the lake…”
On Sept. 5, 1885, USGS surveyors M.D. Scott, Amos Scott, E.C. Quackenbush, and J.H.. Renshaw were sailing the craft on the lake when a sudden storm came up. About 100 yards from shore, the boat was suddenly struck by lightning, which knocked all of the men unconscious. Upon awakening, they found M.D. Scott dead after being struck through the head, and a hole burned through the bottom of the craft. The others made it safely back to shore and buried Scott on a bench close to the lake. According to the Butte Weekly Miner on Sept 26, 1885, “the father and two brothers of the deceased stated that they were on the way to Bozeman to recover the remains and convey them to the old home for final interment.” Their home was reportedly in Illinois.
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KILLED by LIGHTNING
Bozeman Weekly Chronicle
Sept 16, 1885
I have to inform you of the death ot your friend, M. D. Scott, under the following circumstance. On the afternoon of Sept. 5th he, with myself, Mr. E. C. Quackenbush, and Mr.Amos Scott, were out sailing on the Yellowstone lake, when there came up a sudden thunder shower and our boat was struck by lightning. We were all stunned, remaining unconscious for some time.
When we regained consciousness we found poor Dick dead, he evidently having been killed instantly. The bolt had struck the top of his head, passing down over his breast and left side, tearing his clothing into shreds, then on down to his feet and out through the bottom of the boat.
Upon recovering I found my right arm partially paralyzed and slightly burned, but otherwise I was not injured; the other two gentlemen escaping without any physical injury except the natural shock of the nervous system. Fortunately we were close to the land, so with a few pulls with the oars we were able to reach the shore and escape the rapidly filling boat.
We buried Dick yesterday afternoon on a bench near the lake, overlooking the scene of his tragic death and of his last faithful services. Will you be kind enough to inform his friend Mr. Yerkes, of the Bozeman Chronicle, that the circumstances of his death may be made public.
Very Respectfully,
Jno. H. Renshaw.
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The US Pinafore
The Pinnafore was built in 1885 by Ed Lamartine, who was responsible for much of the road building in the park at that time. Lt. Kingman intended to use the boat to explore the coastline of Yellowstone Lake to ascertain where coves and inlets for the shelter of larger vessels might be found. He would also look for shortcuts from headland to headland for new wagon roads. Kingman and Lamartine took the new boat to Swan Lake on Aug. 15, 1885 to test it out. Their party included Mrs. Lamartine, Jennie and Mary Henderson, daughters of G.L. Henderson. The boat was reported to be capable of carrying around 16 people and performed excellently on Swan Lake.
Livingston Enterprise; 8/22/1885
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Ella C. Waters & the Ferries
E.C. Waters came to the park in 1887 with E. C. Culver from Billings, where Waters was a businessman with interests in the Headquarters Hotel. He became general manager of the Yellowstone Park Association hotels in 1887, serving until 1890 when he was removed from that position. YPA was granted a lease to operate boats on the Yellowstone Lake in 1891 and allowed Waters to manage the new boat/ferry operation. Around that time a new road was being built over Craig Pass from Old Faithful to West Thumb. A ferry service would eliminate the tedious and dusty ride from the Thumb Lunch Station to the Lake Hotel and the "The Zillah" was put into service for that purpose. Waters built a house and boathouse in front of Lake Hotel that first year.
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Zillah at dock near Lake Hotel
with house in the background
F.J. Haynes Photo
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Waters was not a particularly well respected personage or businessman and was apparently not in good favor with park or Interior officials. He was `encouraged’ to leave the park in 1907 by the army. According to Bartlett’s “Yellowstone – A Wilderness Besieged,” a notice was posted by Supt. Gen. Young stating that, “E.C. Waters, President of the Yellowstone Lake Boat Company, having rendered himself obnoxious during the 1907 season, is…debarred from the park and will not be allowed to return without permission.”
In 1907, Tom Hofer and his T.E. Hofer Boat Co. took over the contract upon Waters’ exit. The Zillah was in service from West Thumb to Lake Hotel until around 1909-10 when Hofer brought in the new ship “Jean D,” and replaced the Zillah for the ferry service.
Left: Aboard the steamer Zillah, ca1895
Courtesy Burton Holmes Travelogues
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The Zillah
n 1891 E.C. Waters brought in the 40-ton steamship, ‘The Zillah’, which was assembled on site by Amos Shaw (of the Shaw & Powell Camping Co) to provide ferry service from West Thumb to Lake Hotel. Waters would pay the stagecoach drivers fifty cents for each passenger the driver convinced to take the ferry, and charged passengers $3.00 for the boat ride.
The Zillah made its first run on June 22, 1891 with a crew of government road workers. Shaw captained the boat for the 1891-92 seasons. Waters bought the boat company from Yellowstone Park Association in 1897, and obtained a 10-year lease from Interior to operate the ferry The ship operated on the lake for about 20 years, but had deteriorated over time and was replaced by the Jean D around 1910. The Zillah sat at the Lake boathouse until at least 1922, and probably later.
The final deposition of the Zillah remains unknown. Some sources have claimed that the ship was scuttled in the Lake somewhere off the coast from Lake Hotel. However, the Submerged Resources Survey conducted on the lake in 1996 was unable to find any remnants of the boat on the lake’s bottom. Park Historian Aubrey Haines has commented that he saw a notice that the craft may have been cut up and sold for scrap in 1929. The mystery remains . . .
Bottom Left: The Zillah, NPS Photo
Bottom Center: The Zillah (L) & E.C. Waters (R), Barkalow Bros PC #6898
Bottom Right: The Zillah at dock, F.J.Haynes Sepia PC
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From the Jackson Hole News, July 22, 1971:
Del Jenkins, former stagecoach driver in the park, recalls the days when the steamship [Zillah] was in use. He was driving four-horse stages in 1898 and often let off passengers to make the easier ride by steamship, instead of the longer stagecoach route around the lakeshore.
"The owner of the boat used to pay me 50 cents a head for bringing them to the boat," he said, "and I was mighty glad to get rid of the dudes. It made the stagecoach a lot lighter." The route across the Lake to Thumb was only about 15 miles by boat, and a lot longer and rougher by the road.
"It was wonderful for the horses," recalled Del, "but a lot of people didn't want to go on the boat 'cause it cost an extra three dollars." Del thinks the good ship Zillah ran about 10 years. Then someone thought they would get rich quick and built a bigger one to hold 500 passengers [The EC Waters]. The built it all in front of the Lake Hotel but the park would never approve the passenger load and it was never licensed."
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The E.C. Waters
In 1905, Waters purchased a second boat and named it the ‘E.C. Waters’. It was 125’ long with a 26’ beam width and capable of carrying 400-500 passengers. It was used part of the 1905 season, but the regulators, the U.S. Steamship Navigation Service, refused it a permit, and Waters never used the craft again. Consequently, it sat beached on a protected cove on the east side of Stevenson Island for many years. The cove was thought safe from the winter lake ice, but in 1921 strong winds and the ice breakup pushed the boat up onto the beach. Some of the machinery was removed around 1926 and the boiler unit was used to help heat Lake Hotel for some 46 years. Reportedly some Lake area winterkeepers set fire to the aging craft in 1930. Some of the wreckage remains to this day.
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Gardiner Wonderland Newspaper
Sept 21, 1905
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Gardiner Wonderland Newspaper
Thursday, September 21, 1905 (Excerpts)
“The new boat, "E.C. Waters," was launched upon the beautiful Yellowstone Lake on Monday morning at exactly 8:45 o'clock after the reading of a short address by F.D. Geiger, editor of Wonderland, which had been previously prepared by the Hon. John T. Smith of Livingston. The new boat slipped from its moorings into the deep lake with great ease and comfort and looked perfectly at home upon the deep blue waters of the highest lake in the whole world . . . A crowd of about 300 people witnessed the launching of the new boat and all expressed themselves well pleased with their trip to the lake to witness and listen to the ceremonies at the launching of the greatest boat the northwest ever had. . . .The christening of the boat was done by Miss Edna Waters immediately after the conclusion of the launching ceremonies . . . At the word she smashed a large bottle of champagne over the bow of the new boat and sent it joyfully out into the deep blue water, at the same time giving it the name that will henceforth for ages to come revere the name of the man who has been the cause of its existence, and who will pass into history as one of the west's greatest promoters. In building the new boat Mr. Waters has placed into her hold the best machinery obtainable. He has built the new boat at the total cost of nearly $65,000, almost a fortune.”
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The Steamer E.C. Waters
Tanner Souvenir Co. PC, Author Collection
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Yellowstone Park Boat Co. Boat House,
located just east of Lake Hotel
Courtesy YNP Archives, Black Album
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The Steamer E.C. Waters
off of Stevenson Island, undated
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T.E. Hofer Boat Co.
Tom Elwood "Billy" Hofer came out West in 1872, spending five years in the Black Hills and Colorado. He arrived in the Yellowstone area in 1877 and in 1878 began guiding and outfitting tourist and hunting parties. He and his brother built a 20’ sailboat called the Explorer in 1880. An ad in the Bozeman Avant-Courier (8/19/1880) described it as "strong and safe . . [with] A competent man in charge, who will, at all proper times, be ready to accommodate all who desire to take pleasure excursions." On Nov. 12, 1907 Hofer received a 10-year lease to operate up to 10 power launches and 50 rowboats and dories on Yellowstone Lake. He formed the T.E. Hofer Boat Co. the following year, buying out the E.C. Waters operation. Articles of incorporation were filed in March of 1908, and included three directors: Hofer, W.A. Hall, and C.N. Sargent His company operated the ferry service with the ‘Zillah’ from West Thumb to Lake Hotel.
He also provided fishing boats for hire to visitors, and operated a small store that sold or rented fishing tackle and gear, grain, hay, and other basic tourist supplies. Financing for the buyout of the E.C. Waters business and operation of the company was obtained from Harry Child of YPA and the railroad companies. Hofer apparently was not a great businessman, and by 1910 the company was failing. Sensing an opportunity, Child used his financial interests to squeeze Hofer out of business. Child took over Hofer's operation and created the Yellowstone Park Boat Company the following year. The park transportation system became motorized in 1917 and the new auto stages made the trip to Lake Hotel quicker and more comfortably, making the ferry service unnecessary.
Right Top: One of Billy Hofer's Launches
1909 Campbell's Guide
Right Bottom: Evening Star newspaper, Wash DC
Aug 22, 1909
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The "Jean D"
N.P.R.R. Co. Post Card |
"The Jean D"
This new gasoline launch was placed into service in 1909-1910 by Tom Hofer. The ship was twin-screw, 120hp and featured an enclosed hardtop rear deck with storm windows. The capacity was 150 passengers. A brochure ca1912, stated that the Jean D. left Lake Hotel every morning at 8:30am, arriving at West Thumb at 10:30am. The return trip began at 1:00pm and docked at Lake Hotel at 3:00pm.
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The "Jean D" (L) and "Zillah" (R)
at Lake Boat House 1922. NPS
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A Brief Note on Early Boat Captains
Amos Shaw, was raised in Michigan and had sailed on the Great Lakes prior to his arrival in Montana in 1890. He supervised the construction of the Zillah at Lake and captained the ship from about 1891-1893. E.C. Waters, who also grew up in Michigan, is not known to have had any significant nautical experience prior to adventures at Yellowstone.
John Hepburn was a captain of the Zillah from about 1891 to 1909. He homesteaded land south of Emigrant, Mt., and was a prominent rancher by 1921. He remained in Paradise Valley until his death in 1959.
Capt. Royal O. Bigford, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (no doubt a neighbor of sorts to Waters), reportedly was a captain for eight seasons with E.C. Waters, including the seasons 1906-07. He also captained his own boat the "Laura May" on Lake Winnebago (near Fond du Lac) and also another boat called the "O'kipoji." Bigford passed away in early March of 1939.
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At Livingston, the gateway to the Yellowstone Park, is found one of the prettiest western depots, and an incident transpired here which shows how small our country is and the surprises it has in store. It was the meeting with Captain Bigford. of Fond du Lac, and his crew of ten men who had just finished the season’s work in the park and were thus far on their trip to their homes in Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. Captain Bigford had charge of the steamers on the lake last season, and will probably occupy the same position the coming year.
[The Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), Feb. 6, 1907]
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Gas launches at the Lake dock
NPS Photo 43549, nd
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Yellowstone Park Boat Co.
This company was created by H.W. Child, Wm. Nichols, and E.C. Day on May 27, 1911 after taking over the T.E. Hofer Boat Co. in 1910. Child, as was his usual practice, obtained financing from the NW Improvement Co. (subsidiary of NPRR) to buy the operation. The new company was permitted to operate motor boats, power launches, rowboats and dories. Dock sites were obtained at Lake Hotel and West Thumb, along with a 10-year lease in 1913. They operated the ferry until 1917 when the motorized bus fleet made the ferry unnecessary and unprofitable. Wm. Nichols became head of the firm in 1931 upon the death of Harry Child. They continued to offer sightseeing trips and in the early 1930’s added speedboats for hire and provided trips to Stevenson Island for fish fries. The YP Boat Co. operated until 1936 when it was merged into the Yellowstone Park Co.
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The "Adelaide" 11-pass. speedboat
NPS Photo 87423, 1920s
It was named for Miss Adelaide Nichols, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. W.M. Nichols
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From a 1936 National Park Service brochure:
“Speed boats, launches, rowboats, and fishing tackle may be rented from the Yellowstone Park Boat Co. Launches, including the use of fishing tackle, cost $3.50 an hour. Half-hour speed-boat trips on Yellowstone Lake will be made for $1 a person. You can rent a rod, reel, and landing net for 50 cents a day. A boat trip, including fishing and fish fry at Stevenson Island, is a popular feature.”
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Yellowstone Park Boat Co. brochure, ca1910-1916
Author Collection
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Yellowstone Park Boat Co. Rates, 1914 Season
NPS brochure, 1914
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For Additional information on the early boats in Yellowstone, see the "Yellowstone Lake Submerged Resources Survey"
Copyright 2018 Robert V. Goss
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and
retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.
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