Montesano

Montesano was a steamboat that was operated from 1882 to about 1903 in the coastal regions of Oregon and southwest Washington, including Astoria, Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, the Chehalis River, Yaquina Bay and Coos Bay. The Montesano of 1882, built in Astoria, should not be confused with another, larger sternwheeler, also named Montesano, built-in Cosmopolis, Washington, in 1889. Design Montesano was built in 1882 at Astoria, Oregon, for the Shoalwater Bay Transportation Company. One of the principals of the Shoalwater Bay Transportation Company was Lewis A. Loomis (1830–1913), an early businessman in the Ilwaco - Long Beach area of Pacific County, Washington. Loomis was also a principal behind the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company. A meeting of the shareholders of the Shoalwater Bay Transportation Company was scheduled to have been held on November 15, 1881, where a proposition to increase the capital stock of the company was to be acted upon. It was reported to have been probable that another steamer would be brought into service.