Negotiating the Waters

Abstract

The transition from canoe to steamship on the remote Skagit and Nooksack Rivers in Washington Territory occurred in a brief period of settlement in the nineteenth century. Diaries and historical accounts from the Pacific Northwest describe settlers' perceptions of mobility derived from communities they had left in their journey west. As they confronted an indigenous mode of travel rooted in place, they adapted and then usurped the canoe, bringing steamships to the Skagit and then Nooksack River. Steamship travel required a complex infrastructure of cleared rivers, supply chains, mechanical knowledge and observational navigation, linking travelers with a larger, regional network. The advent of steamships triggered significant environmental changes to the riverine landscape and the broader region.