Steamboats in the Timber

In the heyday of its water commerce, Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho was the scene of more steamboating than any other lake, salt or fresh, west of the Great Lakes. The old steamers brought gold, silver, and lead from the mines; lumber from the forests; mail to lonely homesteaders; and romance down the shadowy St. Joe River, whose silken waters flow into the Coeur d'Alene. The old steamboats are gone now from the lake—but here is their story, exciting, nostalgic and complete. Across Lake Co