Echo (1901 sternwheeler)

The Echo was a sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1901, intended primarily for service on the Coquille River in southwestern Oregon. The Echo served as a passenger and freight vessel, connecting smaller communities along the river with the larger port of Bandon, Oregon, located at the river's mouth. Typical cargoes included agricultural products, manufactured goods, and timber. Sternwheelers like the Echo were well-suited to navigating the shallow and often winding Coquille River. The Echo's career spanned the early 20th century, a period of significant steamboat activity in the Pacific Northwest. Specific details about its dimensions, builders, or the precise duration of its service life are limited in currently available records, but it is known to have been a working vessel on the Coquille River during that era. The Echo, like many other similar vessels, played a vital role in the transportation and economic development of the region before being superseded by road and rail transport. The name "Echo" was a common choice for steamboats, perhaps evoking the sounds of steam whistles reverberating through the river valleys.