Tribute to the Steamboat Toledo
A Brief History
The Toledo was a wooden-hulled sternwheeler built in 1879 by the Kellogg Transportation Company, serving the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers during the era when steamboats were the arteries of commerce in the Pacific Northwest. She measured approximately 109 feet in length and was powered by twin boilers and a stern paddlewheel.
Operating between Toledo, Portland, and points along the lower Cowlitz, she carried freight, livestock, and passengers, helping to shape the early economic and social life of the region. The steamboat’s rhythmic whistle and paddlewheel once echoed through the river valley, marking arrivals that connected rural communities with the outside world.
Today, the Toledo stands as a symbol of innovation and enterprise — a reminder of the generations that worked, traded, and celebrated along these waters. This tribute honors both the vessel and the people whose determination helped establish the community that still bears her name.
Steamboat Toledo
(A Ballad of the Cowlitz River)
Upon the misty Cowlitz tide,
Where firs and cedars lean and sigh,
The Toledo steamed with engines proud,
Beneath the wide and open sky.
Born of Kellogg’s daring dreams,
A vessel stout, of heart and steam,
She plied the river's winding seam,
A lifeline stitched in wood and gleam.
One hundred feet from stem to stern,
Two engines roared with mighty churn,
She carried hopes, and freight, and seed,
A vital thread for every need.
From Portland’s bustling, muddy shore,
She ventured forth to wilds once more,
Once a week, then thrice she came,
With settlers chasing fortune’s flame.
The Rochons watched her first approach,
A stately queen without reproach,
And in her honor, strong and free,
The town was christened Toledo, proudly.
She bore the dreams of pioneers,
Their wagons laden, hearts sincere,
Their goods to market, their supplies,
Beneath the rainy Northwest skies.
The Cowlitz tribes still watched her glide,
Upon the river, broad and wide,
A new song mingled with the old,
Of water's tale and journeys bold.
But time, relentless in its flight,
Brought rails and roads to break the night;
The river's reign began to wane,
The steamboats' voices dimmed with pain.
Her paddlewheels still churn the past,
Through fog and fields forever vast,
Where river whispers call her name,
And keep alight her fleeting flame.
Yet in the mists of memory,
The Toledo still steams proud and free,
A spirit carved of wood and steam,
A timeless thread within a dream.
© 2025 Lawrence F. Davidson. All rights reserved.
© 2025 Greater Toledo Heritage and Horizons. All rights reserved.