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BX (sternwheeler)
Encyclopedia
The BX sternwheeler
was the first of two river steamers built for service on the upper Fraser River
by the BC Express Company
during the busy era of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
construction.
The BX was built at Soda Creek
in early 1910 by Alexander Watson Jr, of Victoria
, who was one of British Columbia
's foremost shipbuilders and the son of the man who had built the Charlotte
.
The BC Express Company also hired Captain Owen Forrester Browne
to be the master of the BX as he was the most experienced upper Fraser River pilot.
for the BX which would use half the fuel of a single engine of similar power. These engines gave the BX an enormous advantage over the other sternwheelers that were on the river at this time, as it cut down on both the labor needed to load the wood and the cargo space required to carry it.It was later estimated that these engines saved the BX a sum equal to the amount of her construction, $54,531.33.
For the hull, Watson turned to local man, William Lyne, who was a portable sawmill operator.Lyne was instructed to find a good stand of fir and cut the necessary timbers and planks. Intending to build a steamer with the lightest draught possible, Watson built the rest of the BX out of first grade cedar, shipped up from Victoria.
Construction began in February when Watson arrived with a crew of fifty carpenters, joiners and labourers and work was begun on the hull.
At the end of March, a near catastrophe occurred. The ice on the Fraser suddenly broke up and piled up at Soda Creek Canyon, a quarter mile from the BX's construction site. The river overflowed its banks and chunks of ice were deposited all over the site. The rushing water knocked the BX off its blocks and swept many of the tools and supplies out of the warehouse and down into the river. Luckily the workers had heard the ice breaking up in the canyon and had been able to scramble to higher ground and safety.
When the floodwaters receded, Watson was able to inspect the BX and found that the only damage done was some twisted and broken timbers that were quickly replaced. The company swiftly shipped up the replacement tools and supplies from Ashcroft and work resumed once more.
When the BX was completed, she had three decks, with stateroom accommodation for 70 passengers and could also carry another 60 deck passengers. The staterooms featured steam heat, hot and cold running water, fine quality bedding and attractive wall and floor coverings. Her dining room could seat 50 and was lavishly furnished, right down to the plates, which were specially ordered from England and monogrammed in the BX Company's colors: red, yellow and white. Off the ladies cabin above the covered paddlewheel a bridal chamber was built, which contained, among other luxuries, a double brass bed and a silk eiderdown
worth $150. Many dignitaries, including Premier Richard McBride
would travel in the comfort of this sumptuous suite.
. The BC Express Company mollified the workers by explaining that it was the company's lucky day.
Watson and Browne were pleased with how the BX sat in the water, her draught was only 16 inches (406.4 mm) at the bow and 20 inches (508 mm) at her deepest part. Even fully loaded, with a hundred tons of freight, she only sat 30 inches into the water.
She left Soda Creek for her first trip upstream on May 23, leaving at the break of day and arriving in Quesnel
at 11 am. Captain Browne made semi-weekly trips between Quesnel and Soda Creek until June 23 when he decided that the BX was ready for testing in the two canyons between Quesnel and Fort George
, the Cottonwood Canyon and the Fort George Canyon. He left Quesnel at 1pm and upon arriving at the Cottonwood Canyon, offloaded the passengers and lined through using the steam capstan
. However, Browne soon realized that the light and powerful BX did not need to line through and could run the canyons unaided. By law passengers were forced to disembark and walk around any canyon that a steamer was lining through and be picked up on the other side. However, by the fall of 1910, the federal steamboat inspector decided that the BX was allowed to keep her passengers on board. This gave her a huge advantage over her rivals, all of which had to line through both canyons, wasting time and fuel as well as inconveniencing the passengers.
The BX arrived in South Fort George
on June 24, to a warm welcome from the local populace. The steamer landing on the Fraser had been there since 1909 and was already used by the Charlotte, Chilco and Quesnel
. Nevertheless, local residents had been anticipating the day of the BX's arrival to see where the company would choose to have its landing and where it would build its office and warehouse. Many local business decisions were going to be based on this, as it was widely and correctly assumed that the BX would be bringing up the bulk of the passengers and landseekers from the south. One businessman, hotelier Al Johnson, was waiting for this information so he would know where to build Fort George's first licensed hotel, the Hotel Northern. The promoters of South Fort George were well aware of the huge benefit it would be to have the landing at their town-site, so the day after the BX arrived they offered the BC Express Company free lots of their choice in South Fort George. The company accepted the offer and construction on the facilities was begun. This would be a huge disappointment to South Fort George's rival town-site, Central Fort George on the Nechako River
, which had hoped for the BC Express's landing and offices for itself. George Hammond, the promoter for Central, made the best he could out of a bad situation and hired a representative for the Central town-site and had him travel on the BX and promote Central to the passengers before they arrived in South Fort George.
In 1910, the stage fare from Ashcroft to Soda Creek was $27.50, steamer fare from there to Fort George was $17.50, meals were 75 cents and berths, $1.50.
Along the route, if a settler needed the BX to stop, they simply raised a white flag along the riverbank and the steamer would pull over and land. A white flag was never ignored, it might only be a settler wanting to ship some produce to market, or it could be a sick child that needed emergency transportation to a hospital.
Late in 1910, the BX fulfilled a heroic role. The Chilco had been on its way up from Quesnel to Fort George in late November with Fort George's winter food supply when it met with an accident just above the Cottonwood Canyon and the food had to be transported back to Quesnel. When news of this reached Fort George, pioneers Al Johnson and Russell Peden snow-shoed down to Quesnel to petition Captain Browne to make one last run with the BX with the necessary supplies. By then ice had begun to form along the river, but Captain Browne consented and brought the BX to Fort George, without as much as a scratch on her paint..
1911 was a busy year as more settlers poured into the district, and in 1912, the BX was joined by her sister ship, the BC Express
, which under the command of Captain Joseph Bucey, had been built for service on the Fort George to Tête Jaune Cache section of the upper Fraser. However, that year the Fraser was very low and all the sternwheelers had trouble. The BX rammed the same rock twice in the Fort George Canyon, until her crew, in case of frustrated over-exuberance, dynamited the offending boulder, thereby breaking every window in the BX in the process.
But 1912 also brought some very good news for all the local river steamers, and the area in general. It was announced that another railway was going to be built, the Pacific Great Eastern which would run from Vancouver to Fort George and eventually beyond to the Peace River Country
. Foley, Welch and Stewart
would be the contractors for this railway as well and they planned to build the grade along the upper Fraser River from Fort George to Soda Creek so that sternwheelers could be used to aid in its construction.
In 1914, the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific was finished and construction on the Pacific Great Eastern began and the Foley, Welch and Stewart boats, the Operator
and the Conveyor
joined the BX and the BC Express on the route between Soda Creek and Fort George.
By then, the rivalry between the FW&S boats and the BC Express boats was quite heated and it soon came down to a race. The Conveyor had proved itself to be swifter than its sister ship Operator, as had the BX proven swifter than the BC Express, so one day in July, the Conveyor's Captain Shannon challenged Captain Browne to a race to Quesnel from Soda Creek. The rules were rather odd, as the BX was still obligated to stop and deliver her mail at several different landings whereas the Conveyor had no such obligation and could run right through. As the race progressed, it soon became obvious to all that the BX was the faster boat, as she had stayed ahead for most of the race, despite having to stop several times. At one landing the BX had more mail to deliver than usual and had fallen behind the Conveyor, but she soon caught up and was passing her opponent when Captain Johnson rammed the BX with the Conveyor. Captain Browne immediately pulled over to inspect his boat for damages and the Conveyor pulled ahead again. Fortunately Browne soon discovered that the Conveyor had hit the BX just where the shear of her guards met and that there was no serious damage. In fact, when Browne arrived in Quesnel, he had almost caught up with the Conveyor again.
When the full tale was heard by the local populace, it was unanimously agreed that the BX was the winner and she was declared the "Speed Queen of the Fraser". Captain Shannon, meanwhile was apologetic, and had stated that he just got caught up in the moment.
That would be the last race on the upper Fraser River, because that August would bring the onset of World War I
and the halting of construction of the Pacific Great Eastern.
In 1915, only the BX was used on the upper Fraser River, with the BC Express reserved for special trips. Despite having a monopoly on river traffic, the BX finished the season with a $7000 loss.
In 1916 and 1917, sternwheelers were not used on the river at all. In 1918, after an appeal from the Quesnel
Board of Trade, the provincial government granted the BC Express Company a $10,000 per year subsidy
to continue river navigation from Soda Creek to Fort George. The BX ran until August 30, 1919, when she was punctured by an infamous rock called the "Woodpecker" and sank with a 100 tons of bagged cement intended for construction of the Deep Creek Bridge.
The BC Express Company, fully intending to salvage their prized craft, hired Alexander Watson Jr to rush up from Victoria to overhaul the BC Express, which had been out of service since 1915, so she could go rescue the BX.
However, out at the site of the accident, it was discovered that the bags of cement had solidified and had to be separated before the BX could be raised and the salvage could not be completed before freeze-up. In the spring of 1920, the salvage work was completed and at a cost of $40,000 the BX was raised and patched sufficiently to get her back to Fort George. The newly overhauled BC Express pushed her back upstream through the Fort George Canyon and to the shipyard at Fort George. This would be the first time in the history of sternwheelers that one would push another upriver through a canyon. That it could be accomplished was a fitting testament to the craftsmanship of Alexander Watson Jr and the skill of Captain Browne and Captain Bucey.
The BC Express ran until November 1920 and then it joined the BX on the riverbank at Fort George, where their hulls were abandoned. In a sense, they lived on, as their engines and equipment were shipped to Northern Alberta to work on the Mackenzie River
for the Alberta and Arctic Transportation Company.
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
was the first of two river steamers built for service on the upper Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
by the BC Express Company
Barnard's Express
Barnard's Express, later known as the British Columbia Express Company or BX, was a pioneer transportation company that served the Cariboo and Fraser Fort George regions in British Columbia, Canada from 1861 until 1921....
during the busy era of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
construction.
The BX was built at Soda Creek
Soda Creek
Soda Creek is a rural subdivision 38 km north of Williams Lakein British Columbia, Canada. Located on the east bank of the Fraser River, Soda Creek was originally the home of the Xat'sull First Nation. Soda Creek Indian Reserve No. 1 is located on the left bank of the Fraser River, one mile...
in early 1910 by Alexander Watson Jr, of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, who was one of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
's foremost shipbuilders and the son of the man who had built the Charlotte
Charlotte (sternwheeler)
The Charlotte sternwheeler was built in 1896 by Alexander Watson for the Northern British Columbia Navigation Company. The partners of the NBCNC were Stephen Tingley, Senator James Reid and John Irving...
.
The BC Express Company also hired Captain Owen Forrester Browne
Owen Forrester Browne
Owen Forrester Browne was a paddle steamer captain in British Columbia, and Alberta, Canada.He was born in New Westminster and worked on the lower Fraser and Yukon River sternwheelers before coming to the upper Fraser River in the early 1900s.-Career:...
to be the master of the BX as he was the most experienced upper Fraser River pilot.
Construction
Captain Browne worked with Alexander Watson throughout the design and construction phases of the BX. Watson purchased the BX's boiler, engines and other equipment from the Chicago Marine Ironworks Company, who were informed that the BX's construction site at Soda Creek was 167 miles (268.8 km) away from the railway at Ashcroft and therefore the equipment would have to be hauled by horse drawn freighters for that distance. Chicago Marine decided to build the boiler in sections, the heaviest piece was less than 10000 lb (4,535.9 kg), so it was easily transported to the construction site. They also supplied two compound condensing enginesSteam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
for the BX which would use half the fuel of a single engine of similar power. These engines gave the BX an enormous advantage over the other sternwheelers that were on the river at this time, as it cut down on both the labor needed to load the wood and the cargo space required to carry it.It was later estimated that these engines saved the BX a sum equal to the amount of her construction, $54,531.33.
Construction began in February when Watson arrived with a crew of fifty carpenters, joiners and labourers and work was begun on the hull.
At the end of March, a near catastrophe occurred. The ice on the Fraser suddenly broke up and piled up at Soda Creek Canyon, a quarter mile from the BX's construction site. The river overflowed its banks and chunks of ice were deposited all over the site. The rushing water knocked the BX off its blocks and swept many of the tools and supplies out of the warehouse and down into the river. Luckily the workers had heard the ice breaking up in the canyon and had been able to scramble to higher ground and safety.
When the floodwaters receded, Watson was able to inspect the BX and found that the only damage done was some twisted and broken timbers that were quickly replaced. The company swiftly shipped up the replacement tools and supplies from Ashcroft and work resumed once more.
When the BX was completed, she had three decks, with stateroom accommodation for 70 passengers and could also carry another 60 deck passengers. The staterooms featured steam heat, hot and cold running water, fine quality bedding and attractive wall and floor coverings. Her dining room could seat 50 and was lavishly furnished, right down to the plates, which were specially ordered from England and monogrammed in the BX Company's colors: red, yellow and white. Off the ladies cabin above the covered paddlewheel a bridal chamber was built, which contained, among other luxuries, a double brass bed and a silk eiderdown
Eiderdown
Eiderdown can refer to:* The down feathers of the eider duck* A kind of comforter or quilt...
worth $150. Many dignitaries, including Premier Richard McBride
Richard McBride
Sir Richard McBride, KCMG was a British Columbian politician and is often considered the founder of the British Columbia Conservative Party. McBride was first elected to the provincial legislature in the 1898 election, and served in the cabinet of James Dunsmuir from 1900 to 1901...
would travel in the comfort of this sumptuous suite.
Maiden voyage
The BX was launched at Soda Creek on Friday May 13, 1910, without ceremony. Many people of a superstitious bent, especially the shipyard workers, criticized Watson and Browne for choosing to launch a ship on a Friday the 13thFriday the 13th
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year...
. The BC Express Company mollified the workers by explaining that it was the company's lucky day.
Watson and Browne were pleased with how the BX sat in the water, her draught was only 16 inches (406.4 mm) at the bow and 20 inches (508 mm) at her deepest part. Even fully loaded, with a hundred tons of freight, she only sat 30 inches into the water.
She left Soda Creek for her first trip upstream on May 23, leaving at the break of day and arriving in Quesnel
Quesnel, British Columbia
-Demographics:Quesnel had a population of 9,326 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 7.1% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Quesnel was $54,044, which is slightly above the British Columbia provincial average of $52,709....
at 11 am. Captain Browne made semi-weekly trips between Quesnel and Soda Creek until June 23 when he decided that the BX was ready for testing in the two canyons between Quesnel and Fort George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
, the Cottonwood Canyon and the Fort George Canyon. He left Quesnel at 1pm and upon arriving at the Cottonwood Canyon, offloaded the passengers and lined through using the steam capstan
Capstan (nautical)
A capstan is a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to apply force to ropes, cables, and hawsers. The principle is similar to that of the windlass, which has a horizontal axle.- History :...
. However, Browne soon realized that the light and powerful BX did not need to line through and could run the canyons unaided. By law passengers were forced to disembark and walk around any canyon that a steamer was lining through and be picked up on the other side. However, by the fall of 1910, the federal steamboat inspector decided that the BX was allowed to keep her passengers on board. This gave her a huge advantage over her rivals, all of which had to line through both canyons, wasting time and fuel as well as inconveniencing the passengers.
The BX arrived in South Fort George
South Fort George
South Fort George is a suburb of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.Before the arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914, the Prince George area was known as Fort George and was a Lheidli T'enneh village and Hudson's Bay Company store....
on June 24, to a warm welcome from the local populace. The steamer landing on the Fraser had been there since 1909 and was already used by the Charlotte, Chilco and Quesnel
Quesnel (sternwheeler)
The Quesnel sternwheeler was first launched in May 1909 at Quesnel, British Columbia to serve the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River....
. Nevertheless, local residents had been anticipating the day of the BX's arrival to see where the company would choose to have its landing and where it would build its office and warehouse. Many local business decisions were going to be based on this, as it was widely and correctly assumed that the BX would be bringing up the bulk of the passengers and landseekers from the south. One businessman, hotelier Al Johnson, was waiting for this information so he would know where to build Fort George's first licensed hotel, the Hotel Northern. The promoters of South Fort George were well aware of the huge benefit it would be to have the landing at their town-site, so the day after the BX arrived they offered the BC Express Company free lots of their choice in South Fort George. The company accepted the offer and construction on the facilities was begun. This would be a huge disappointment to South Fort George's rival town-site, Central Fort George on the Nechako River
Nechako River
The Nechako River arises on the Nechako Plateau east of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and flows north toward Fort Fraser, then east to Prince George where it enters the Fraser River...
, which had hoped for the BC Express's landing and offices for itself. George Hammond, the promoter for Central, made the best he could out of a bad situation and hired a representative for the Central town-site and had him travel on the BX and promote Central to the passengers before they arrived in South Fort George.
The route
Once the BX had been successfully tested in the canyons, she began a semi-weekly passenger and mail service from Soda Creek to Fort George. The BX would meet the company horse stages or automobiles at Soda Creek and would leave at 3am on Sundays and Wednesdays, arriving in Quesnel at noon, offload cargo and passengers and continue upriver until dark. The next day she would start again at dawn and arrive in Fort George around 11am. The return trips downriver were much faster, the BX would leave Fort George on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 7am and arrive in Soda Creek at 4pm the same day. She made good speed through the canyons, often as fast as 30 mi/h.In 1910, the stage fare from Ashcroft to Soda Creek was $27.50, steamer fare from there to Fort George was $17.50, meals were 75 cents and berths, $1.50.
Along the route, if a settler needed the BX to stop, they simply raised a white flag along the riverbank and the steamer would pull over and land. A white flag was never ignored, it might only be a settler wanting to ship some produce to market, or it could be a sick child that needed emergency transportation to a hospital.
Late in 1910, the BX fulfilled a heroic role. The Chilco had been on its way up from Quesnel to Fort George in late November with Fort George's winter food supply when it met with an accident just above the Cottonwood Canyon and the food had to be transported back to Quesnel. When news of this reached Fort George, pioneers Al Johnson and Russell Peden snow-shoed down to Quesnel to petition Captain Browne to make one last run with the BX with the necessary supplies. By then ice had begun to form along the river, but Captain Browne consented and brought the BX to Fort George, without as much as a scratch on her paint..
1911 was a busy year as more settlers poured into the district, and in 1912, the BX was joined by her sister ship, the BC Express
BC Express (sternwheeler)
The BC Express was a stern wheel paddle steamer that operated on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, from 1912 to 1919. The BC Express was built for the BC Express Company by Alexander Watson Jr to work on the upper Fraser River between Tête Jaune Cache and Fort George during the busy...
, which under the command of Captain Joseph Bucey, had been built for service on the Fort George to Tête Jaune Cache section of the upper Fraser. However, that year the Fraser was very low and all the sternwheelers had trouble. The BX rammed the same rock twice in the Fort George Canyon, until her crew, in case of frustrated over-exuberance, dynamited the offending boulder, thereby breaking every window in the BX in the process.
But 1912 also brought some very good news for all the local river steamers, and the area in general. It was announced that another railway was going to be built, the Pacific Great Eastern which would run from Vancouver to Fort George and eventually beyond to the Peace River Country
Peace River Country
The Peace River Country is an aspen parkland region around the Peace River in Canada. It spans from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, where the region is also referred to as the Peace River Block.- Geography :The Peace River Country includes the...
. Foley, Welch and Stewart
Foley, Welch and Stewart
Foley, Welch and Stewart was an early 20th century American-Canadian railroad contracting company.They built miles of track for the Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Northern Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and Pacific Great Eastern Railway...
would be the contractors for this railway as well and they planned to build the grade along the upper Fraser River from Fort George to Soda Creek so that sternwheelers could be used to aid in its construction.
In 1914, the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific was finished and construction on the Pacific Great Eastern began and the Foley, Welch and Stewart boats, the Operator
Operator (sternwheeler)
The Operator sternwheeler was one of five sternwheelers built for the use on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart for construction work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The other four were the Conveyor, the Skeena, the Distributor and the Omineca...
and the Conveyor
Conveyor (sternwheeler)
The Conveyor sternwheeler was one of five sternwheelers built for the use on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart for construction work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The other four were the Operator, the Skeena, the Distributor and the Omineca...
joined the BX and the BC Express on the route between Soda Creek and Fort George.
By then, the rivalry between the FW&S boats and the BC Express boats was quite heated and it soon came down to a race. The Conveyor had proved itself to be swifter than its sister ship Operator, as had the BX proven swifter than the BC Express, so one day in July, the Conveyor's Captain Shannon challenged Captain Browne to a race to Quesnel from Soda Creek. The rules were rather odd, as the BX was still obligated to stop and deliver her mail at several different landings whereas the Conveyor had no such obligation and could run right through. As the race progressed, it soon became obvious to all that the BX was the faster boat, as she had stayed ahead for most of the race, despite having to stop several times. At one landing the BX had more mail to deliver than usual and had fallen behind the Conveyor, but she soon caught up and was passing her opponent when Captain Johnson rammed the BX with the Conveyor. Captain Browne immediately pulled over to inspect his boat for damages and the Conveyor pulled ahead again. Fortunately Browne soon discovered that the Conveyor had hit the BX just where the shear of her guards met and that there was no serious damage. In fact, when Browne arrived in Quesnel, he had almost caught up with the Conveyor again.
When the full tale was heard by the local populace, it was unanimously agreed that the BX was the winner and she was declared the "Speed Queen of the Fraser". Captain Shannon, meanwhile was apologetic, and had stated that he just got caught up in the moment.
That would be the last race on the upper Fraser River, because that August would bring the onset of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the halting of construction of the Pacific Great Eastern.
The end of an era
In 1916 and 1917, sternwheelers were not used on the river at all. In 1918, after an appeal from the Quesnel
Quesnel, British Columbia
-Demographics:Quesnel had a population of 9,326 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 7.1% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Quesnel was $54,044, which is slightly above the British Columbia provincial average of $52,709....
Board of Trade, the provincial government granted the BC Express Company a $10,000 per year subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
to continue river navigation from Soda Creek to Fort George. The BX ran until August 30, 1919, when she was punctured by an infamous rock called the "Woodpecker" and sank with a 100 tons of bagged cement intended for construction of the Deep Creek Bridge.
The BC Express Company, fully intending to salvage their prized craft, hired Alexander Watson Jr to rush up from Victoria to overhaul the BC Express, which had been out of service since 1915, so she could go rescue the BX.
However, out at the site of the accident, it was discovered that the bags of cement had solidified and had to be separated before the BX could be raised and the salvage could not be completed before freeze-up. In the spring of 1920, the salvage work was completed and at a cost of $40,000 the BX was raised and patched sufficiently to get her back to Fort George. The newly overhauled BC Express pushed her back upstream through the Fort George Canyon and to the shipyard at Fort George. This would be the first time in the history of sternwheelers that one would push another upriver through a canyon. That it could be accomplished was a fitting testament to the craftsmanship of Alexander Watson Jr and the skill of Captain Browne and Captain Bucey.
The BC Express ran until November 1920 and then it joined the BX on the riverbank at Fort George, where their hulls were abandoned. In a sense, they lived on, as their engines and equipment were shipped to Northern Alberta to work on the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
for the Alberta and Arctic Transportation Company.
See also
- Steamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British ColumbiaSteamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British ColumbiaTwelve paddlewheel steamboats plied the upper Fraser River in British Columbia from 1863 until 1921. They were used for a variety of purposes: working on railroad construction, delivering mail, promoting real estate in infant townsites and bringing settlers in to a new frontier. They served the...
- List of ships in British Columbia