steamship conductor?

[mmegaera]

Does anyone know if old-fashioned river steamers around the turn of the last century (to be more specific, 1910 in Washington state on the upper Columbia River) had the equivalent of a railroad conductor on board, and if so, what was this person called

Comments

Steamship conductor

[anonymous]

Could the person have been called a 'Porter'?

[haldane]

I'd probably use the term "steward".

[tabaqui]

A general googling of steamboats gives us this very nice article, with a lot of info. Particularly that, by 1910, steamboats on the Columbia were becoming rare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboats_of_the_Columbia_River

And a 'history of steamboats' that may have something useful: http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Portals/46/docs/recreation/OP-CO/montgomery/pdfs/10thand11th/ahistoryofsteamboats.pdf

Here is a period bit that talks about the experiences of a passenger (very nice!) and says this: "The cabin crew consists of the first steward, cooks, waiters, cabin boys, and chambermaids. They seem more like hotel staff."So probably a cabin boy for the poorer passengers (A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy (in the sense of low-ranking male employee, not always a minor) who waits on the officers and

[mmegaera]

Thank you, that helps greatly!

And, yes, they were becoming rare. But that's a good thing so far as my story goes.