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. The "Fort Fraser" was intended to be a small prospecting craft that could service not only the Soda Creek to Fort George section of the upper Fraser River but also the Nechako River and some of its tributaries, enabling her to serve her namesake town of Fort Fraser. [cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages=51,52]

The "Fort Fraser" was launched in late June, 1910 and was put under the command of Captain John Bonser, who was transferred from the company’s other sternwheeler, the "Nechacco".Piloted by Bonser, the "Fort Fraser" pioneered the upper reaches of the Fraser River, not only successfully navigating the Grand Canyon of the Fraser but also traveling further upriver, thus becoming the first sternwheeler to reach the head of navigation at Tête Jaune Cache. Because of her small size and ability to travel on rivers that were previously unnavigated, she was often chartered by pioneer surveyor, Frank Swannell. [cite book|last=Sherwood|first=Jay|title=Surveying Northern British Columbia|year=2004|publisher=Caitlin Press|isbn=1-894759-05-2|pages=52,53]

Despite these fine accomplishments, the "Fort Fraser" was never considered to have played a large role during the next few hectic years of rail construction, as the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway crossed the Alberta BC border in 1912 and made its way towards Fort Fraser, where the last spike would be driven on April 7th, 1914.citebook|last=West|first=Willis|title=The BX and the Rush to Fort George|year=1949|publisher=British Columbia Historical Quarterly|pages=151]

In 1911, Captain Bonser left the "Fort Fraser" and returned to the Skeena River to pilot the new sternwheeler, "Inlander". The "Fort Fraser" was then put under the command of Captain George Ritchie, who was without a ship due to the loss of the "Nechacco" that April, in the ice at the Cottonwood Canyon. Under Ritchie's command, the "Fort Fraser" would work intermittently until the fall of 1913 when she would be rebuilt and renamed "Doctor" after Dr. JK McLennan,citebook|last=West|first=Willis|title=The BX and the Rush to Fort George|year=1949|publisher=British Columbia Historical Quarterly|pages=151] a new partner in the company which had also been renamed, and was now the Fort George Lumber and Transportation Company. Outside of short local trips, it is not recorded that the "Fort Fraser" did any work on the upper Fraser after the fall of 1913. [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=92]

ee also

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

References

* cite book
last=Downs
first=Art
title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1
year=1971
publisher=Foremost Publishing
isbn=0888260334
* cite book
last=Sherwood
first=Jay
title=Surveying Northern British Columbia
year=2004
publisher=Caitlin Press
isbn=1-894759-05-2
* 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

Notes