Tourist sternwheelers of Oregon  Since the early 1980s, several non-steam-powered sternwheel riverboats have been built and operated on major waterways in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, as river cruise ships used for tourism. Although configured as sternwheelers, they are not paddle steamers, but rather are motor vessels that are only replicas of paddle steamers. They are powered instead by diesel engines. The "Lurdine" (now "Rose") was, when launched in 1983, "the first passenger-carrying sternwheeler in decades to [operate] on the Columbia River". In the case of the 1983-built M.V. "Columbia Gorge", the construction and operation of a tourist sternwheeler was led by local government officials who viewed the idea as potentially being a major tourist attraction, giving an economic boost to their area, Cascade Locks, Oregon. The only operational sternwheel steamboat surviving in Oregon is the "Portland", moored at Portland, Oregon, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the "Portland" is a tugboat and has never carried passengers on a regular basis. In the late 19th century and first part of the 20th century, a large number of passenger steamboats – both sternwheelers and sidewheelers – were operated on the rivers of Oregon and Washington, with many examples on the Willamette and also many on the Columbia River. However, with no such vessels surviving and operational in the late 20th century, interest in building and operating replicas began to develop, now geared towards attracting tourists with excursion travel, or river cruises. Proposals to construct and operate a new sternwheeler on the Columbia became a serious proposition at least as early as 1974, when the commissioners of the Port of Cascade Locks began pursuing a plan to construct and operate a , 350-passenger sternwheeler on the river. However, not until 1983 did any plans for new sternwheel tour boats come to fruition, when two such boats – the "Lurdine" (now "Rose") and "Columbia Gorge" – were launched. In the same year, the Port of Portland considered renovating the 1947-built sternwheel steam tug "Portland" for use as a tour boat. That proposal was eventually dropped, because of the high cost of work required to satisfy applicable U.S. Coast Guard regulations. The historic tug was renovated and returned to operating condition, but not converted into a passenger ship.