Hazelton (sternwheeler)

The Hazelton was a sternwheeler that worked on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada from 1901 until 1912. Her first owner was Robert Cunningham who ran a freighting business that served the communities along the Skeena River.

The "Hazelton" was named after one of the communities she served, Hazelton, which was one of the oldest towns in Northern British Columbia, having been founded in 1866 and was the main staging area for the Omineca Gold Rush.

Robert Cunningham had the "Hazelton" built to run against the sternwheelers of the Hudson's Bay Company, the "Caledonia" and the "Strathcona". To design and pilot the her, Cunningham hired veteran white-water skipper John Bonser, who went down to Victoria in the winter of 1900 to help in the details of her design and construction.cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|65

The rivalry begins

The "Hazelton" was launched in 1901 and soon proved that she was superior to the rival HBC vessels. In her first season she made 13 trips to Hazelton, setting a new speed record by completing the 180 mile journey upstream from Port Essington to Hazelton in just forty hours. The trip back downstream was, of course, swifter yet and the "Hazelton" routinely traveled it in ten hours.cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|65 To compete against the "Hazelton" the HBC built another sternwheeler for the Port Essington to Hazelton route, the "Mount Royal" and launched her in 1902 under Captain SB Johnson.

ternwheeler race on the Skeena

HBC "Mount Royal"When the HBC's "Mount Royal" arrived on the Skeena, rivalry flared between her and the "Hazelton" almost immediately, with each captain trying to beat the other's times to Hazelton and back. The standing order from both Cunningham and the HBC was "beat the other boat." Inevitably, this led to a side by side race, an old but dangerous tradition among sternwheelers.

In the spring of 1904, both boats wanted to be the first one of the season to arrive in Hazelton. Captain Bonser started out in the "Hazelton" first, and while he was wooding-up 105 miles upstream, he saw the "Mount Royal" with Captain Johnson at the helm coming up from behind. Wooding-up was immediately ceased and the "Hazelton" pulled into the stream as the "Mount Royal" approached and they raced bow to bow. Slowly the "Mount Royal" gained on the "Hazelton". Captain Bonser was having none of it and he rammed the "Mount Royal" several times. Johnson lost control and the current carried her back downstream, bow first. Bonser wagged the "Hazelton’s" stern at the "Mount Royal", tooted the whistle and continued triumphantly upstream. [cite book|last=Bennett |first=Norma |title=Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River|year=1997|publisher=Dr. REM Lee Hospital Foundation|isbn=0-9683026-0-2|pages=77] Furious, Johnson left the pilothouse unattended to retrieve a rifle and shot at the departing "Hazelton".cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|66 Afterwards, Johnson laid charges on Bonser claiming he deliberately rammed the "Mount Royal". Bonser claimed in his defense that it was an accident.cite web| last =Roger Knowles Thompson| title =Steamboating Uphill|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jtenlen/ORBios/bonser.txt| accessdate = 2007-07-08] The Federal Department of Marine investigated and decided that both captains were at fault, Bonser for ramming the "Mount Royal", and Johnson for leaving the helm. The men were reprimanded and the case was closed.cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|66,67

The HBC and Robert Cunningham came to a mutual decision that the rivalry was not profitable and an agreement was reached to end it. The HBC paid Robert Cunningham $2,500 to tie up his vessel and they hauled his freight for free. Later, the HBC bought the "Hazelton".cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|68

End of an era

Prince RupertThe Hazelton would later come under the command of Captain Joseph Bucey and would work on the Skeena until 1912 when the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was completed from Prince Rupert to Hazelton. Because the railway could now bring freight and passengers from the coast the sternwheelers were no longer required for the Skeena River and one by one they disappeared. Some like the "Skeena" and the Grand Trunk Pacific's "Operator" and "Conveyor" would go to work on other rivers, while others like the "Inlander" would be pulled up on ways and left to rot. The "Hazelton" was dismantled and her hull was sold to the Prince Rupert Yacht Club.cite book |last=Downs |first=Art |title=Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1|year=1971|publisher=Foremost Publishing|isbn=0888260334|pages="various"] rp|72

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=Bennett
first=Norma
title=Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River
year=1997
publisher=Dr. REM Lee Hospital Foundation
isbn=0-9683026-0-2
* cite book
last=Large
first=Dr. R.G.
title=The Skeena River of Destiny
year=
publisher=
isbn=1-895811-19-8

ee also

* Steamboats of the Skeena River
* List of ships in British Columbia

Notes

External links

*cite web
last =Roger Knowles Thompson
title =Steamboating Uphill
url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jtenlen/ORBios/bonser.txt| accessdate = 2007-07-08