The Sternwheelers

The Inlander Entering Kitsilas Canyon. BC Archives B-01268

The year 1864 saw the first sternwheeler navigate the waters of the Skeena River. The sternwheelers were steam-powered vessels using boilers to produce steam under pressure using cordwood, oil, or coal. The purpose of the Union, a vessel under the command of Captain Coffin of the Collins Overland Telegraph Company, was to deliver construction materials inland. However, the vessel only made it as far as present day Terrace. The Mumford, its successor, was built in 1866 but only managed to reach twenty miles farther than the Union. Its voyage ended at the mouth of the Kitsumgalem River.

The Hudson’s Bay Company was the next company to attempt the Skeena. In 1891 the Caledonia was built for this purpose, measuring 100 feet long and 26 feet wide. Under the command of one Captain Odin, the Caledonia made it as far as Kitselas Canyon. In order to navigate through this treacherous bottleneck of rapids, ringbolts were anchored in the rocks on shore. The sternwheelers would attach one end of a cable or line to these ringbolts and then wrap the other end around the boat's capstan on deck and pull themselves up the rapids. This made upstream trips last about two to three days, while the trip back could be made in less than one.

Successive sternwheelers, born out of competition for supremacy in freight delivery between Robert Cunningham and the HBC, were far superior to the Caledonia. The Monte Cristo, the Hazelton , and the Mount Royal , built in 1900, 1901, and 1904 respectively, made great gains in surviving the treacherous waters of the Skeena. However, the Mount Royal would succumb to the Kitselas Canyon in 1907. Its successor was the Port Simpson.
Some sternwheelers were employed exclusively to transport construction supplies for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. These were the Distributor, Conveyor, Omineca, and the Operator. Another sternwheeler, the Skeena, was used to supply meat to valley construction camps. Ultimately, the task of the sternwheelers would make them obsolete, since they were assisting in the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

Works Cited

Canada. Canada’s Digital Collections. “The Sternwheelers”. <http://collections.ic.gc.ca/skeena/sternwheelers.htm>