Historic Hood River
Captain McNulty
Notes
This fine portrait of “Capt McNulty” was captured in the Portland studio of “Buchtel & Cardwell,” whose imprint includes the text “Dental Rooms adjoining.” Was it common in this era to sit for a portrait and then get some dental work done? Perhaps it was. According to this post, James Robert Cardwell was also the first dentist in Portland.
Captain McNulty was a steamship captain on the Columbia in the very earliest days, including a time at the helm of the Idaho.
It’s hard to imagine a steamship reaching the sustained speed of almost 60mph in the six miles of The Cascades, but that’s the claim (with citations) on his Wikipedia page.
This 1894 article in The Hood River Glacier describes his connection to the old blockhouse at the Cascades.
Thorn
What a legendary captain! It’s hard to imagine what the Columbia was like running wild. And to take the 200+ foot long and nearly 40 ft wide flat-water sternwheeler Thompson through the six miles of The Cascades in 6 minutes, a record that smaller faster newer steamers couldn’t match, is unbelievable. To have been witness! It now makes far more sense to me that the state of Idaho was named for a steamboat he captained, despite the made-up origin of the word Idaho.
L.E.
From “The Lure of the River” by Fred W. Wilson
“….About eleven in the morning the whistle would blow for the Lower Cascades: then a six mile ride over the portage to the Upper Cascades where the R.T. Thompson was waiting and Captain John McNulty, with his rich Irish brogue, and George H. Knaggs, the purser, with his fund of interesting stories, gave hearty welcome. At the close of the day The Dalles was reached, and after an hour or two at the Umatilla House the train was boarded for Celilo where the night would be spenton the Harvest Queen…..”
“….The R.R. Thompson made the trip over the Cascades with Captain McNulty at the wheel and it is said made faster time between Upper Cascades and Bonneville than a passenger train which left the upper point at the same time…..”