Chester was a shallow draft steamboat built in 1897 that ran until 1917, mostly on the Cowlitz River in southwestern Washington.

[10][11] As built, Chester had no fixed sides to its lower structure area (called a "house"), only tarpaulin covers.

Chester was driven by a stern-wheel turned by twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, cylinder bore 6.0 in (150 mm) and stroke of 2.0 ft (61 cm).

[10] Chester was 101 ft (30.78 m) measured over the hull excluding the extension of the deck over the stern, called the "fantail" on which the stern-wheel was mounted.

[16] The normal head of navigation on the Cowlitz was the town of Toledo, Washington which was 40 miles upstream from the mouth of the river.

[17] In 1905 Chester was owned by the Kellogg Transportation Company and was running on the Cowlitz River between the towns of Castle Rock and Toledo, Washington.

[18][19][20] In early December 1910, Chester was reported to have made a 15-mile run downstream on the Cowlitz to Castle Rock in the time of 30 minutes.

[22] All freight on Chester was safely transferred ashore, including a large automobile which belonged to prominent businessman John C.

[24] Coming back downriver from Toledo on Sunday, June 10, 1906, the boat encountered a "river full of wild logs.

"[24] One of the logs struck Chester, making a hole in the hull, but the officers and crew were able to prevent the boat from sinking.

[24]In mid-November 1906 Chester was nearly destroyed in a flood on the Cowlitz River when the Kelso rail bridge was carried away.

[25] Chester had been moored downstream from the Kelso bridge, and just managed to avoid the debris by escaping down river to a safe place on the opposite bank.

[28] At about 1:00 a.m. on the morning of April 11, 1908, Arthur "Kelso" Pscherer, a deckhand on Chester, went missing and was presumed to have fallen overboard and drowned.

[30] At noon on May 2, 1908, two deckhands of the steamer Nestor, Louis Lindstrom and John Fleshman, found Psherer’s body near the Coweeman River, a tributary of the Cowlitz.

[30] In September 1897 there was talk that the Kellogg company would put Chester on the route between Rainier and Portland, Oregon, running along the slough on the west side of Sauvie Island.

[32] The OCTC considered Chester to have too small a carrying capacity, and to be too lightly built, to be hauled over the bars on the Willamette River.

[16] The channel improvements were expected to draw away some business from the railroads and to allow another light-draft steamer to be operated on the Cowlitz river.

[11][16] Typically during low water seasons (usually late summer and fall) Chester would be repaired at Portland, generally at the yard of Joseph Supple (1854–1932), or worked on some route other than the upper Cowlitz.

[36] In early August 1907, floating sawlogs and low water on the Cowlitz forced Chester off the route.

[37] On Saturday, November 8, 1909, the water level had risen sufficiently on the upper Cowlitz for Chester to begin the navigation season.

[38] On June 29, 1910, the Cowlitz had fallen so low that the Kellogg Transportation Company decided to take Chester off the route, even though the steamer drew only 12 inches of water.

[3] In mid-October 1910, repairs to Chester were ordered to be made so it could be ready to operate once the navigation season on the Cowlitz resumed.

[41] On February 9, 1911 the water in the Cowlitz was so low that Chester was forced to suspend operations to Castle Rock and tie up at Kelso.

[42] However, by February 16, 1911, heavy rains had raised the river level so that Chester could at least reach Castle Rock again.

[43] It was not until March 29, 1911 that the river had deepened sufficiently, to 5 feet at Kelso, to allow Chester to attempt to reach Toledo again.

[45] Low water persisted for a long time in 1911, and Chester, following a period of repairs in Portland, was only reported to be able to resume operations to Toledo on Tuesday, November 21, 1911.