4 • MARCH 2022
Continued from Page 3
industry, but I kind of enjoy that,” she said.
“I don’t push limits too far, but you might
hear — when I talk to vessels — Siouxsie
might be in the background on channel 16.
I’m sure people don’t know what’s going on
there,” Steerman said. “But I think it’s import-
ant to kind of mix up and diversify an industry
which, for the most part, has been white men.”
Steerman is the û rst woman dispatcher in
the Columbia River Bar Pilots’ history, as far
as their records show.
FEATURE STORY
Since the mid-19th century, the b ar p ilots
have been guiding ships safely through the
mouth of the Columbia River.
Steerman compared her job to air traf-
û c control at an airport, tracking the ships
and coordinating their entry and exit with the
pilots.
In the year and a half she’s worked there ,
Steerman has become û uent in the technol-
ogy and jargon needed to direct the pilots. The
screens in her oû ce show maps of the ships in
See Page 4
RIGHT: Sam Steerman’s Siouxsie and the Banshees mug sits on her desk in the Columbia
River Bar Pilots dispatch offi ce. BELOW: The Columbia River is refl ected in Steerman’s
offi ce window while she works at her desk.
PHOTOS BY LYDIA ELY/THE ASTORIAN
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL