Steamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British Columbia
Encyclopedia
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...
plied 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...
in 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...
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 towns of 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....
, Barkerville 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"...
. Some only worked the Fraser from 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...
to Quesnel, while others went all the way to Tête Jaune Cache or took 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...
and served Fort Fraser and beyond.
Pioneer sternwheelers - the Wright boats
Enterprise (1862)
The Enterprise was a passenger and freight sternwheeler that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. It was built at Four Mile Creek near Alexandria by pioneer shipbuilder James Trahey of Victoria for Gustavus Blin-Wright and Captain...
. She was built in 1862 near Alexandria
Alexandria, British Columbia
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road...
by James Trahey for her owners Captain Thomas Wright and Gustavus Blin Wright
Gustavus Blin Wright
Gustavus Blin Wright was a pioneer roadbuilder and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. His biggest achievement was building the Old Cariboo Road to the Cariboo gold fields, from Lillooet to Fort Alexandria, but he was also a partner in a freighting firm that operated on the Douglas Road, he...
, who also were her operators. She ran between Soda Creek and Quesnel from 1863 until 1871 when the Wrights took her to Takla Landing
Takla Landing
Takla Landing, also known as McLaing Landing is an unincorporated locality and former steamboat landing on the east side of Takla Lake in the Omineca Country of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
for use in the Omineca Gold Rush
Omineca Gold Rush
The Omineca Gold Rush was a gold rush in British Columbia, Canada in the Omineca region of the Northern Interior of the province. Gold was first discovered there in 1861, but the rush didn't begin until late in 1869 with the discovery at Vital Creek....
. This voyage was to be her last and she was abandoned after she made the trip.
The next steamboat used on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route was also built by Trahey for the Wrights. She was the Victoria
Victoria (sternwheeler)
The Victoria sternwheeler was a passenger and freight steamer that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia....
, which was built in Quesnel and put into service in 1869. She served the district for seventeen years until she was berthed at Steamboat Landing near Alexandria.
The Charlotte and the Quesnel
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...
was built by Alexander Watson for the North British Columbia Navigation Company in 1896. The N.B.C.N.C was organized by Senator James Reid
James Reid (Canadian politician)
James Reid was a Canadian entrepreneur and parliamentarian from British Columbia.Reid was born in Wakefield, Lower Canada, the son of James Reid and Ann Maxwell, and was educated in Hull, Quebec and Ottawa. He moved to British Columbia in 1862, with a cousin, nearly perishing on the trip to the...
of Quesnel, Captain John Irving
John Irving (steamship captain)
John Irving was a steamship captain in British Columbia, Canada. He began on the Fraser River at the age of 18 and would become one of the most famous and prosperous riverboat captains of the era...
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...
and Stephen Tingley
Stephen Tingley
Stephen Tingley was a stagecoach driver and one of the original owners of the pioneer transportation company BC Express that served the Cariboo region in British Columbia, Canada for 60 years, from 1860, when it was first founded as Barnard's Express, until 1920, when it ceased its sternwheeler...
of Ashcroft. Tingley, at this time had been the owner of 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....
for eight years, having been the most famous of the "bull whips" of the Cariboo Road
Cariboo Road
The Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...
. They hired Captain Frank Odin to pilot her. He was her captain until 1906, when 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:...
became her pilot. The Charlotte was the only steamer on the upper Fraser until 1909 when it was announced the 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...
would be crossing the Fraser River at Fort George. The 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....
was launched by Telesphore Marion, a pioneer merchant from the town of the same name. It would become the fourth sternwheeler to work the upper Fraser and would also be the last. Her pilot was Captain DA Foster.
The Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company sternwheelers
Nechacco (sternwheeler)
The Nechacco sternwheeler was built for service on the Soda Creek to Fort George route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. She was owned by the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company. The partners in this company were Nick Clark and Russel Peden of South Fort George, who operated a...
(which would later be renamed the Chilco shown in picture at top of page) joined the Charlotte and the Quesnel in May 1909. She was built by Donald McPhee for the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company of 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....
and was piloted by Captain John Bonser
John Bonser (steamship captain)
John Henry Bonser was a steamship captain from Oregon, USA and British Columbia, Canada. He piloted dozens of sternwheelers over his 40 year long career and pioneered many rivers in the Pacific Northwest....
, an experienced swiftwater pilot from the Skeena River
Skeena River
The Skeena River is the second longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada . The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan - whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River" respectively, and also during the...
. The Nechacco would be the first sternwheeler to navigate the treacherous Grand Canyon of the Fraser
Grand Canyon of the Fraser
thumb|right|250px|Scow at Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon of the Fraser is a short gorge on the Fraser River in north-central British Columbia about 30km upstream from the confluence of the Bowron River and about 100km due east of downtown Prince George, British Columbia...
. The Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company then built the Fort Fraser
Fort Fraser (sternwheeler)
The Fort Fraser was a small sternwheeler owned by the Fort George Lumber and Transportation Company a partnership originally held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden from the Fort George town-site of South Fort George...
which pioneered the route to Tête Jaune Cache in 1910 and like the Chilco, she also made several trips on the Nechako River for Frank Swannell
Frank Swannell
Frank Cyril Swannell was one of British Columbia's most famous surveyors.He came to British Columbia during the era of the Klondike Gold Rush and became a surveyor's assistant. Then, from 1908, he was a professional surveyor and surveyed many regions of British Columbia...
that summer. She would also be piloted by Captain Bonser, with Captain George Ritchie taking command of the Chilco for the latter part of the 1910 season of navigation. Unfortunately the Chilco would be lost in April 1911, torn apart in the icy waters of the Fraser near the Cottonwood Canyon. To compete against the BC Express Company's sternwheelers, the Fort George Lumber and Trading Company built a third sternwheeler, again by Donald McPhee in 1910, the Chilcotin
Chilcotin (sternwheeler)
The Chilcotin sternwheeler was built for the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River. She was built by shipbuilder Donald McPhee for the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company, which was a partnership held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden of the South Fort George town-site of...
. She was piloted by Captain AF Doherty.
The BC Express Company's sternwheelers
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....
, (which had been formerly known as known as Barnard's Express) had been freighting in the area since the 1860s during the Cariboo Gold Rush
Cariboo Gold Rush
The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...
. They were also aware of the great changes that the railway would bring to this sparsely populated area. Thousands of construction workers would soon be working in-between Tête Jaune Cache and Fort George and millions of acres of land would be opened for settlement. The owner of the BC Express Company was now Charles Vance Millar
Charles Vance Millar
Charles Vance Millar was a Canadian lawyer and financier. However, he is now best known for his penchant for practical jokes and his unusual will which reflected that sense of humor.-Early years:...
who had purchased the company from Stephen Tingley in 1897. Millar decided to build two large and very luxurious steamers to accommodate the growing demand. Both were built at Soda Creek by Alexander Watson Junior, the son of the man who had built the Charlotte. The first company sternwheeler was launched in May 1910. It was named the BX
BX (sternwheeler)
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....
and was piloted by Captain Owen Forrester Browne. She had stateroom accommodation for seventy and was also licenced to carry sixty deck passengers. Her paddlewheel was covered, so there was no backsplash, and a fine view could be enjoyed from the stern, which was where the ladies cabin was located. The BX boasted hot and cold running water and steam heat. She soon became the preferred steamer for passenger service and also won the government mail contract. 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...
traveled on the BX in her sumptuous bridal suit, which featured, among other luxuries, a double brass bed with a silk eiderdown. She was the only steamer that could advertise a bi-weekly service from Soda Creek to Fort George. On Sunday and Wednesday mornings, she would leave Soda Creek at the break of dawn, usually 3am, and would reach Quesnel around noon. After unloading the mail and supplies for that town she would continue upriver until dark, tying up at a woodpile where her crew would have an opportunity to load more fuel aboard. This was called wooding up and it was a common activity. Most sternwheelers burnt upwards of four cords of wood an hour when they were travelling upstream and they could only carry three. She would arrive in Fort George the next day, usually around 11am. Her return trips downriver were far swifter, she would leave Fort George at 7am on Tuesdays and Saturdays, arriving in Soda Creek by 4;30pm of the same day.
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 was nearly identical to the BX, only slightly smaller and lacking the covered paddlewheel. Her pilot was Captain Joseph P Bucey. The BC Express worked the route from Fort George to Tête Jaune Cache until 1913 and then joined her sister ship, the BX, on the Soda Creek to Fort George route, where they both worked on the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. In 1915, only the BX worked on the Fraser, and in '16 and '17 there were none at all. The BX returned to the river in 1918, still under Captain Browne, and was joined, when the need arose, by the BC Express.
George Hammond's sternwheeler
Robert C Hammond (sternwheeler)
The Robert C Hammond was the last sternwheeler built for service on the upper Fraser and Nechako Rivers. She was owned by the Fort George Lake and River Transportation Company, a partnership of George Hammond and his brother...
. It was built so that Hammond's claim to potential buyers that his community had sternwheeler service could be based on fact. Hammond had tried to hire the BC Express boats to visit his community but unfortunately, the Nechako River was often too low for these boats to navigate.
The Grand Trunk Pacific's sternwheelers
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...
reached Tête Jaune Cache in 1912, they were able to use their own sternwheelers to transport workers and supplies up and down the river. 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...
had worked on the Skeena River and were dismantled at Victoria. Their machinery and boilers were hauled up by rail to Jasper, Alberta
Jasper, Alberta
Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. It is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the Athabasca River valley....
and then hauled by mule wagon to Tête Jaune Cache. Their captains were Captain 'Con' Myers and Captain Jack Shannon, respectively. When their work was completed their machinery was recycled and the hulls were left at the shore of the Fraser River near Prince George.
The end of an era
The Quesnel was the last sternwheeler on the upper Fraser, Captain Foster piloted her for the last time in April 1921 and then she was wrecked on the rocks of the Fort George Canyon.See also
- Fraser RiverFraser RiverThe 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...
- Steamboats of the Lower Fraser River and Harrison LakeSteamboats of the Lower Fraser River and Harrison LakeThe first steamboat on the Fraser River was the SS Beaver which entered Pacific waters in 1835. It was an itinerant supply and government vessel roving from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska long before those political entities even came into being.It was only the Fraser River Gold...
- List of ships in British Columbia
- Steamboats of the Skeena RiverSteamboats of the Skeena RiverThe Skeena River is British Columbia’s fastest flowing waterway, often rising as much as in a day and can fluctuate as much as sixty feet between high and low water. For the steamboat captains, that made it one of the toughest navigable rivers in British Columbia...
- Steamboats of the Columbia RiverSteamboats of the Columbia RiverMany steamboats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, from about 1850 to 1981. Major tributaries of the Columbia that formed steamboat routes included the Willamette and Snake rivers...