Railroads and steamboats often competed for business. There once had been steamboats operating on the upper Columbia river, but by 1883, railroad competition had been so successful that all river boats had been driven off the route. Wheat farming became widespread in the region in the 1880s and 1890s, and the railroads could not handle the larger and larger wheat crops being produced. The Open River Navigation company was formed to meet the demands for transport by wheat farmers and shippers, and it built a number of steamers, including Relief.
