''Kootenai'' was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Arrow Lakes in British Columbia from 1885 to 1895. ''Kootenai'' was the second sternwheeler to run on the Arrow Lakes. This vessel should not be confused with the similarly named ''Kootenay'', an 1897 sternwheeler that also ran on the Arrow Lakes.

Design and construction

The firm of Paquet & Smith built the vessel's frames in Portland, Oregon of Douglas fir. The frames were then shipped to the Little Dalles (now known as Northport), in the Washington Territory on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

near the border with British Columbia. Once the frames arrived, Henderson and McCartney, contractors for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and shipbuilder E.G. Thompson assembled the rest of the hull with planks and timbers sawn on site from the local pine. The steamboat's engines were third hand, having been built in 1877 by

Willamette Iron Works Willamette Iron Works (also known as Willamette Iron and Steel Company or WISCO) was a general foundry and machine business established in 1865 in Portland, Oregon, originally specializing in the manufacture of steamboat boilers and engines. In ...

in Portland, Oregon, and previously installed in the ''McMinnville'', running on the lower

, and the Pend Oreille Lake steamer ''Katie Hallett''.

Operations on Arrow Lakes route

Steam navigation on the inland waters of northern inland Washington and southeastern British Columbia was seasonal, and took place generally from May 15 to October 30 of each year. This was because ice or low water blocked river and lake travel at other times. Companies endeavored to launch steamboats early in the year to take advantage of the working season. The launch of ''Kootenai'' in late April 1885, and her first voyage in May was an example of this seasonally driven timing. On May 7, 1885, Captain A.L. Pingston (sometimes spelled "Pingstone") who had also served as captain of ''Forty-Nine'' some ten or fifteen years before, took ''Kootenai'' on her first trip north up the Columbia River into British Columbia, carrying supplies and building equipment for the construction of the

. This route went north through the lower and upper Arrow Lakes and then further north up the Columbia to the town of Farwell, later known as Revelstoke. Farwell was a key location on the route of the C.P.R. as the place where the transcontinental line crossed the Columbia River. The first run up the river and lakes took ''Kootenai'' thirty hours. Other than the ''Forty-Nine'' in the 1870s, and the small steam launches ''Midge'' and, possibly, ''Alpha'' in 1884 and 1885, no other steamboats had made this run. On the first run Captain Pingston had to look for the channel and negotiate work up through rapids by attaching a line to a tree or rock on the bank and cranking the steamer upstream using the capstan. Later trips took less time as the crew and captain became more accustomed to the route. On September 4, 1885, ''Kootenai'' ran on the rocks at Little Dalles, but was salvaged. ''Kootenai'' was laid up for the winter at Little Dalles.Downs states that ''Kootenai'' continued in service until November 1885 Captain Pingston was accidentally shot and killed on April 27, 1886, and ''Kootenai'' made only one run to Revelstoke that year, under Capt. Nathaniel Lane. After that, ''Kootenai'' was laid up until 1890, when she was purchased by the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company for $10,000 in promissory notes. The new owners worked ''Kootenai'' in the first part of the season of 1890 as a passenger and freight boat, making enough money in the first few trips to pay off the notes. When the sternwheeler ''Lytton'' came into service later in the 1890 season, ''Kootenai'' was used mostly as freight boat. ''Kootenai'' made 27 trips up and down the lakes in the 1890 season, starting on May 13 and ending on August 12.

Sunk, raised, and dismantled

On December 3, 1895 ''Kootenai'' ran onto a rock near Bannock Point and Wigwam, BC on Upper Arrow Lake. Although the steamer was floated off, the vessel was not considered worth repairing. ''Kootenai'' was towed to

Nakusp, BC The Village of Nakusp (Sinixt ''neqo'sp'') is beside the mouth of Kuskanax Creek, on the Upper Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Lying between the Selkirk and Monashee ranges, the village is known for i ...

and dismantled. The steamer's machinery and fittings were used in building the sternwheeler ''Trail''.

Notes

External links

Photographs of ''Kootenai'' from the Provincial Archives of British Columbia