Steamboat Pioneer and Coeur d’Alene Booster Joseph C. White. [OTD 03/16]

Coeur d’Alene developer Joseph Clarence White was born March 16, 1865 in a tiny settlement about 35 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska. The family moved to Colorado when Joseph was about eleven years old. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Denver. He completed a B.A. degree in 1888, even though the family had claimed a homestead in the Idaho Panhandle a year or so before that.

J. C. White. [French]

For four years, J.C. (as he was known throughout his adult life) worked as a railroad construction engineer in north Idaho. Then, in 1892, he claimed a homestead about 40 miles northeast of Moscow. The following year, the Idaho road commission appointed J.C. to survey potential routes in Latah County. Although he retained his homestead, J.C. apparently moved to Rathdrum some time after his marriage in January 1896. For two years around the turn of the century, he was the official Surveyor for Kootenai County. Following that, he served a term in the Idaho House of Representatives.

After his term, he had a fine home built in Coeur d’Alene. He headed a company that owned at least a share of an electric rail line connecting Coeur d’Alene to Spokane. Then, in June 1903, the company launched a large new steamboat, the Idaho, to operate on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Described as “a hustler, a mover and a pusher,” J.C. soon expanded his steamboat holdings, buying up smaller competitors.

He was also a man of “great personal charm,” who enjoyed life and liked to party. Thus, he became an enthusiastic and  effective promoter of the business as well as recreational opportunities in the Coeur d’Alene region. He helped found a local Chamber of Commerce, which he led for a time, and encouraged the formation of other societies and associations.

Still, for all his charm and bon vivant nature, J.C. was not averse to the “hard-ball” competitive tactics of that era. Thus, in April 1908, he persuaded the owner of a controlling interest in his largest, most persistent competitor to sell out to him. His Red Collar Steamship Company would hold a virtual monopoly on lake traffic for perhaps a decade. However, that became less profitable over time as rail lines and better roads for trucks began to penetrate the east side of the lake.

Steamer Idaho. Washington State Archives, Digital Collections.

Oddly enough, in his eagerness to promote the area, J.C. also weakened one of his main holdings. As chairman of a commission on roads, around 1920 he spurred construction of the first concrete-paved road in Idaho, connecting Coeur d’Alene to Spokane. Soon, the electric rail link began to lose money. That, plus increased competition against the steamship line, finally forced the company into receivership in August 1922. (A new owner for the Red Collar line held on until 1929, when it was sold as a log transport operation.)

J.C. did not give up entirely; he had a smaller boat built for lake traffic and ran that until 1930. He also had numerous other interests and investments to keep him busy: several banks (sometimes as an officer), silver mines, and more. Moreover, in July 1931, at the age of 66, he accepted an appointment from the Idaho Bureau of Highways as maintenance supervisor for all of northern Idaho. He went into semi-retirement after about two years at that task.

Still, in 1940, now aged 75, he was serving as Weed Control Officer for Kootenai County. A year or so after that, he began to suffer from chronic heart disease and cut back entirely. He passed away in April 1953.

                                                                                 

References: [French], [Hawley]

“Death of J. C. White … ,” Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington (April 7, 1953).

Ruby El Hult, Steamboats in the Timber, The Caxton Printers Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho (© Ruby El Hult, 1952).

“[White Newspaper Articles],” Silver Blade, Rathdrum, Idaho; Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Spokane Review, Spokane Chronicle, Washington (June 1893 – March 1933).