The Portland Sternwheeler in her starring role In May 1992, the Portland was towed upriver to join the annual Rose Festival fleet of US and Canadian warships. Nevertheless, there was still so much to do to restore the Portland, everything from replacing the timbers on the 25-foot diameter, 35-ton, wooden sternwheel to repairing the firebox. Parts had to be chiseled, scraped and painted, or replicated and replaced if they were too damaged. The boiler work culminated in re-certification and the first steam up. In 1993, the volunteers made the first self-powered trip in 12 years.
Just as the Portland was in operating condition (yet still not fully restored), the news had reached the movie company, Warner Bros. This historical steam sternwheeler was exactly what they needed and negotiations quickly began between the studio and the Oregon Maritime Museum. The Portland had only taken her maiden voyage on June 6 that year and a couple of short test runs and staff cruises, but they didn’t turn down the opportunity to be in the upcoming movie, Maverick. Warner Bros. planned to transform the Portland into a Mississippi style gambling sternwheeler: the Lauren Belle, queen of the western rivers. In just a few short weeks, she was dolled up with gingerbread designs, plus two smoke emitting dummy stacks. Soon, actors Mel Gibson, Jodi Foster, and James Garner, (who played the original Maverick character in the television series) were on board playing sly and sneaky gamblers. Captain Dave Cash, Captain Jack Taylor on standby, and the rest of the crew performed all the operations of the Portland during her scenes and transportation. They were also paid for their work. Since the movie props were fragile, they did not want the boat to run any more before the actual shooting of the film. So, on the selected day, she set out for Dodson, Oregon, (about 4½ miles east of Multnomah Falls and one mile west of Warrendale) which was the base of location for these movie scenes. When she left her dock, she lost one feed water pump and the second one quit when she landed. The first pump was damaged and was not repairable. A bolt had loosened on the second pump: an easy fix. The Portland was outstanding and smooth for the rest of the trip. For the movie, she had to make many exhilarating and difficult moves, but both the crew and boat were perfect. The movie people did not know what different tasks they assigned, but they were carried out to their satisfaction. Once the filming of Maverick was finished, the Portland lost her theater garb and returned to her original look. |
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The Portland was made to look like the fictional Lauren Belle sternwheeler for the movie, Maverick.
(Oregon Maritime Museum Collection) |