GRNW - Clearwater River Bridge

This is a swing bridge over a non-navigable river. When the Clearwater River Railroad wars were taking place, the Northern Pacific and Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation (OWR&N) were racing towards the Kamiah region with its bountiful forests and just as bountiful fields of grain. The first one there would grab the honeypot. The NP was winning the war but the OWN&R had an upper hand. They convinced a judge that the Clearwater river (average depths of some 6 feet) was navigable and also that it was of such quality that a steamboat could navigate it, and therefore a bridge - an expensive movable bridge was necessary per US law.

In the spring thaw the river does indeed become a raging torrent and the OWN&R folks knew this. On a spring day they convinced the captain of a sternwheeler based in nearby Lewiston, rumored to be a notorious drunk, to make the run to Kamiah on dare. And he took up the challenge. With Judge and Jury on hand the steamboat made its one and only entry into Kamiah and the judge ordered that a movable bridge be built.

The motor mechanism is long removed and the rails welded close but the large bull gear remains.