Jennie was different. Her wheels were astern, instead of port and starboard. Her rudders were close to the wheel. But she was the prize forerunner of a host of river favorites - the stern-wheelers - that were particularly adaptable to river sailing. The Jennie Clark was fast; she could cut swiftly through the rough waters of the Columbia River; she was narrow enough to skim around rocks and rapids. The story of her trips, and those of many of her successors, presents a nostalgic panorama of the adventurous days of the old Northwest, when steamboats and the men who captained them sailed their way into a new civilization. This is the first special account of steamboat navigation in the Columbia River country, and a comprehensive picture of the opening up and subsequent development of the Northwest. From the arrival of the little Beaver at Fort Vancouver in 1836 to the maiden voyage of the 219-foot stern-wheeler Portland in 1947, this entertaining book offers many facets, including the historical conflicts with Indians, the development of the wheat fleet, famous ship disasters, and accounts of the spectacular ships that ran the rapids. The region covered includes all the rivers and lakes of the Northwest except the Puget Sound area. There are tales, too, of the men who manned these ships - of Captain J. C. Ainsworth, who learned steamboating on the Mississippi; of Ben Holladay, far-famed in stagecoach history, who came north to carve his niche in steamship transportation; of U. B. Scott, whose steamship system grew to huge proportions; of the men of the Oregon Steamship Navigation Company, and many others. There are few Jennies left. Boat enthusiasts should take note of the compact appendix listing all boats, with dates of construction, sizes, types, and details of their final dispositions. It is all here - rich in lore, in the grandeur and dynamism that characterizes the great Northwest itself.