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William Irving (steamship captain)
Encyclopedia
William Irving was a steamship captain and entrepreneur in Oregon
, U.S.
and British Columbia
, Canada
.
The Irvington
neighborhood in Portland, Oregon
is named in his honor and in New Westminster, British Columbia
his home, "Irving House", is now a heritage site
.
He was one of the earliest pioneers of steamer travel in the Pacific Northwest
and is remembered as one of the most successful and popular captains of the era.
. In 1831, he journeyed to Boston, Massachusetts and by the age of twenty-five he was a licenced steamship captain.
, where he worked unloading cargo during the California Gold Rush
before continuing on to Portland. He purchased Block 12 of the Portland townsite and began a transportation business that delivered lumber by steamer up from California to Portland.
In 1851 he married 18 year old Elizabeth Dixon who had just arrived in Oregon from Indiana
the previous year.
William built his new bride a large house along the river and they stayed there for nine years and had five children: Mary, John
, Susan, Elizabeth, and Nellie.
When the family moved to British Columbia in 1859, their Portland home was taken over by Elizabeth's sister and her husband, George Shaver and would be called the "Shaver House".
After his death in 1872, his wife would return to Portland and continue to manage the family's holdings. His daughter Elizabeth would marry and also build a home in the neighborhood in 1884, named the "Spencer House", which still exists today and has the honor of being the oldest in the neighborhood.
, the Governor Douglas and the Colonel Moody to serve between New Westminster and Victoria
. However, Irving did not have a monopoly
on the route and rate wars soon erupted between him and his main rival, Captain William Moore
who was running his Henrietta on the same route. By that September, freight rates, which had begun at $12 at ton, dropped to 50 cents a ton and fares, which had been $10 a passenger also dropped to 50 cents.
By 1860, when the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
was starting to decline, more than a dozen sternwheelers were working in the on the Fraser River
between New Westminster, Fort Hope
and Port Douglas
and more were arriving from American waters or were being built locally. Finally the individual owners got together and put an end to the rivalry by cooperatively increasing their rates.
In 1862, news of the gold strikes in the Cariboo Gold Rush
brought 4,000 miners to the area and the rate wars began anew. Irving sold his boats to John Wright and William Moore left to go work on the Stikine River
, briefly putting an end to their rivalry. Irving immediately had another sternwheeler built, the Reliance and was kept busy shipping miners and supplies to Yale
where they could travel on the nearly completed Cariboo Wagon Road to the goldfields at Barkerville.
In 1863 and '64 rate wars erupted again when Irving's old rival, Moore returned from the Stikine River, rich with profits and ready to take on the new Reliance with his Flying Dutchman and Alexandra. Nevertheless, Irving managed to keep most of his customers and Moore claimed bankruptcy
and his boats were taken from service.
Captain William Irving moved his family to New Westminster, into their new house at 302 Royal Avenue, on August 5, 1865. This house is presevred as Irving House and is the oldest intact house in the Lower mainland of British Columbia.
By 1865, there were only four sternwheelers on the lower Fraser River, Irving's Reliance and Onward and Captain Fleming's Lillooet and Hope. The two captains agreed to run their sternwheelers on alternate years and take an equal share of the profits.
1871 was the year that British Columbia went from being the Colony of British Columbia
and became a province
in the Dominion of Canada, an arrangement that included the promise of a railway constructed to the coast. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
would breathe new life into the area and make the faltering river trade profitable again. Tragically, William Irving would not live long enough to enjoy the prosperity of this new era. He died on August 28, 1872 at New Westminster. On the day of his funeral all of the flags in town were flown at half-mast and all of the stores were closed. He is buried at the Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster.
Although he was only eighteen, William's son, John Irving, would take over his father's business and become every bit as successful in the river trade in British Columbia in the following decades.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and 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...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The Irvington
Irvington, Portland, Oregon
Irvington is a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Portland, Oregon. According to the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement, it consists of a rectanglar area extending east to west from NE 7th Ave. to NE 26th Ave., and north to south from NE Fremont St. to NE Broadway...
neighborhood in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
is named in his honor and in New Westminster, British Columbia
New Westminster, British Columbia
New Westminster is an historically important city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and is a member municipality of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It was founded as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia ....
his home, "Irving House", is now a heritage site
Heritage site
A Heritage Site is a location designated as important to the cultural heritage of a governing body such as a township, county, province, state, or country. It is a non-moveable object such as a historic site or national monument, but it may include several sites grouped together such as...
.
He was one of the earliest pioneers of steamer travel in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
and is remembered as one of the most successful and popular captains of the era.
Early years
William Irving was born in 1816 in Annan, Dumfriesshire ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 1831, he journeyed to Boston, Massachusetts and by the age of twenty-five he was a licenced steamship captain.
Oregon
In 1849 he traveled to Oregon, stopping along the way in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, where he worked unloading cargo during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
before continuing on to Portland. He purchased Block 12 of the Portland townsite and began a transportation business that delivered lumber by steamer up from California to Portland.
In 1851 he married 18 year old Elizabeth Dixon who had just arrived in Oregon from Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
the previous year.
William built his new bride a large house along the river and they stayed there for nine years and had five children: Mary, John
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...
, Susan, Elizabeth, and Nellie.
When the family moved to British Columbia in 1859, their Portland home was taken over by Elizabeth's sister and her husband, George Shaver and would be called the "Shaver House".
After his death in 1872, his wife would return to Portland and continue to manage the family's holdings. His daughter Elizabeth would marry and also build a home in the neighborhood in 1884, named the "Spencer House", which still exists today and has the honor of being the oldest in the neighborhood.
British Columbia
In 1859, William Irving and his family moved to Victoria where he became a partner in the Victoria Steam Navigation Company and built two sternwheelersPaddle 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...
, the Governor Douglas and the Colonel Moody to serve between New Westminster and 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...
. However, Irving did not have a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on the route and rate wars soon erupted between him and his main rival, Captain William Moore
William Moore (steamship captain)
William Moore was a steamship captain, businessman, miner and explorer in British Columbia and Alaska. During most of British Columbia's gold rushes Moore could be found at the center of activity, either providing transportation to the miners, working claims or delivering mail and...
who was running his Henrietta on the same route. By that September, freight rates, which had begun at $12 at ton, dropped to 50 cents a ton and fares, which had been $10 a passenger also dropped to 50 cents.
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
was starting to decline, more than a dozen sternwheelers were working in the on the 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...
between New Westminster, Fort Hope
Hope, British Columbia
Hope is a district municipality located at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon...
and Port Douglas
Port Douglas, British Columbia
Port Douglas, sometimes referred to simply as Douglas, is a remote community in British Columbia, Canada at the head of Harrison Lake, which is the head of river navigation from the Strait of Georgia...
and more were arriving from American waters or were being built locally. Finally the individual owners got together and put an end to the rivalry by cooperatively increasing their rates.
In 1862, news of the gold strikes in 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...
brought 4,000 miners to the area and the rate wars began anew. Irving sold his boats to John Wright and William Moore left to go work on the Stikine River
Stikine River
The Stikine River is a river, historically also the Stickeen River, approximately 610 km long, in northwestern British Columbia in Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States...
, briefly putting an end to their rivalry. Irving immediately had another sternwheeler built, the Reliance and was kept busy shipping miners and supplies to Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
where they could travel on the nearly completed Cariboo Wagon Road to the goldfields at Barkerville.
In 1863 and '64 rate wars erupted again when Irving's old rival, Moore returned from the Stikine River, rich with profits and ready to take on the new Reliance with his Flying Dutchman and Alexandra. Nevertheless, Irving managed to keep most of his customers and Moore claimed bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and his boats were taken from service.
Captain William Irving moved his family to New Westminster, into their new house at 302 Royal Avenue, on August 5, 1865. This house is presevred as Irving House and is the oldest intact house in the Lower mainland of British Columbia.
By 1865, there were only four sternwheelers on the lower Fraser River, Irving's Reliance and Onward and Captain Fleming's Lillooet and Hope. The two captains agreed to run their sternwheelers on alternate years and take an equal share of the profits.
1871 was the year that British Columbia went from being the Colony of British Columbia
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
and became a province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
in the Dominion of Canada, an arrangement that included the promise of a railway constructed to the coast. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
would breathe new life into the area and make the faltering river trade profitable again. Tragically, William Irving would not live long enough to enjoy the prosperity of this new era. He died on August 28, 1872 at New Westminster. On the day of his funeral all of the flags in town were flown at half-mast and all of the stores were closed. He is buried at the Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster.
Further reading
- Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume One Art Downs ISBN 0888260334
- Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman Norman Hacking ISBN 1-895811-02-3.