Steamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British Columbia

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[edit] Steamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British Columbia

The first paddlewheel steamboat used on the Upper Fraser River was the Enterprise. Built in 1863 and piloted by Captain Thomas Wright, she was operated between Soda Creek and Quesnel from 1863 until 1871 when Captain Wright took her to Takla Landing for use in the Omineca Gold Rush. This voyage was to be her last and she was abandoned after she made the trip.
The next steamboat used on the Soda Creek\Quesnel route was the Victoria, which was built and put into service in 1869. She served the district for seventeen years until she was berthed at Steamboat Landing near Alexandria, British Columbia.
For ten years the area was without steamer service until the Charlotte was built by the North British Columbia Navigation Company and Captain Frank Odin was hired to pilot her. The Charlotte was the only steamer on the Upper Fraser until 1909.
The Nechaco {which would later be renamed the Chilco }joined the Charlotte in 1909 when it was announced the the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway would be crossing the Fraser River at Fort George. The Nechaco was built by the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company and was piloted by Captain John Bonser an experienced swiftwater pilot from the Skeena River. The Nechaco would be the first sternwheeler to navigate the treacherous Grand Canyon of the Fraser.
The Quesnel was also launched in 1909 by Telesphore Marion, a pioneer merchant from the town of the same name. It would become the fifth 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 then built the Fort Fraser which pioneered the route to Tete Jaune Cache in 1910 and made several prospecting trips on the Nechako River in the summer of that year. It would also be piloted by Captain Bonser, with Captain George Ritchie taking command of the Chilco for the 1910 season of navigation. Unfortunately the Chilco would be lost in April of 1911, torn apart in the icy waters of the Fraser near the Cottonwood Canyon.
The BC Express Company, {which had been formerly known as known as Barnard's Express} had been freighting in this area since the 1860's during the Cariboo Gold Rush. 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 Tete Jaune Cache amd Fort George and millions of acres of land would be opened for settlement. The owner of the BC Express Company was Charles Vance Millar and he decided to build two large and very luxiourious steamers to accommodate the growing demand. The first was launched in May of 1910. It was named the BX and was piloted by Captain Owen Forrestor Browne. She had stateroom accommodation for seventy and was also licenced to carry sixty deck passengers. She boasted hot and cold running water and steam heat. She soon became the perferred steamer for passenger service and also won the government mail contract. She was the only steamer that could advertise a bi-weekly service from Soda Creek to Fort George. On Tuesday and Saturday 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. The BX worked the Fraser until August of 1919 when she struck a reef and sank in the Fort George Canyon while carrying 100 tons of concrete. Her sister ship towed her back to Quesnel for salvage but she never sailed again.
To compete against the BX, the Fort George Lumber and Trading Company built a third sternwheeler, the Chilcotin. She was piloted by Captain AF Doherty.
For the 1911 season of navigation, the BC Express Company built a second sternwheeler, the BC Express. Her pilot was Captain Joseph P Bucey. The BC Express worked the route from Fort George to Tete Jaune Cache from 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.
A Central Fort George townsite promoter by the name of George Hammond,built the tenth sternwheeler, the Robert Hammond. 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 unforunately, the Nechako River was often too low for these boats to navigate.
and 12. When the Grand Trunk Pacific railway reached Tete Jaune Cache in 1912, they were able to use their own sternwheelers to transport workers and supplies up and down the river. The Operator and the Conveyor had worked on the Skeena River and were dismantled at Victoria. Their machinery and boilers were hauled up via the Red Pass and then hauled by mule wagon to Tete 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 Quesnel was the last sternwheeler on the Upper Fraser, Captain Foster piloted her for the last time in April of 1921 and she was wrecked on the rocks of the Fort George Canyon.