Quesnel (sternwheeler)

The Quesnel sternwheeler was first launched in May 1909 at Quesnel to serve the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River.cite book |last=West |first=Willis|title=Stagecoach and Sternwheel Days in the Cariboo and Central BC|year=1985|publisher=Heritage House|isbn=0-919214-68-1|pages=39] Originally named the "City of Quesnel" she was truly a home town product: owned by Telesphore Marion, a local merchant, built by local carpenter, John Strand and piloted by local man, Captain Donald Arthur Foster. However, on her launch day, it was discovered that she rode too low in the water and that her hull needed to be lengthened. Fortunately, shipbuilder Donald McPhee was already in town, having just completed the construction of another sternwheeler, the "Nechacco". McPhee was hired to do the work and the "City of Quesnel" was rebuilt and relaunched under the name "Quesnel" on September 2nd.cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages=50,51] Among the first of the upper Fraser River vessels built during the era of rail construction, she would also be the last. She served the district for six seasons, until she was retired in the spring of 1915. By then, several factors had devastated the local economy and steamer service wasn't as profitable as it had been previously. The construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was completed, and the outbreak of the Great War had caused an abrupt halt to the construction of the promised Pacific Great Eastern Railway which had been under construction from Fort George south in early 1914. This latter railway would, in fact, not be completed to Fort George until 1952, by then having been dubbed the "Prince George Eventually".

In April, 1921, Captain Foster, in partnership with WH Matheson, relaunched the "Quesnel", intending to resume the local service that the "BC Express" and the "BX" had recently abandoned. The local farmers, settlers and miners, especially those between Quesnel and Fort George, applauded her return, as it was a financial hardship for them to be without steamer service, because the rates on other shipping methods were higher. The "Quesnel" only worked for three weeks before she was wrecked in the Fort George Canyon on May 13th. Captain Foster and Matheson recovered her cargo, which consisted of, among other things, a Ford automobile and 100 barrels of beer,cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages=59] and attempted to salvage her, but during the operation, she broke free from the rock she was caught on and sank and was never recovered. The era of river navigation on the upper Fraser was over.cite book |last=West |first=Willis|title=Stagecoach and Sternwheel Days in the Cariboo and Central BC|year=1985|publisher=Heritage House|isbn=0-919214-68-1|pages=94]

ee also

* Steamboats of the Upper Fraser River in British Columbia
* List of ships in British Columbia

Notes

References and further reading

* cite book
last=Downs
first=Art
title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1
year=1971
publisher=Foremost Publishing
isbn=0888260334
* cite book
last=West
first=Willis
title=Stagecoach and Sternwheel Days in the Cariboo and Central BC
year=1985
publisher=Heritage House
isbn=0-919214-68-1
* cite book
last=West
first=Willis
title=The BX and the Rush to Fort George
year=1949
publisher=British Columbia Historical Quarterly