Columbia (Arrow Lakes sternwheeler)
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''Columbia'' was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the
Arrow Lakes The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
from 1891 to 1894. ''Columbia'' should be distinguished from the many other vessels with the same or similar names, including in particular the propeller-driven steamboat '' Columbia'' that ran on the Arrow Lakes for many years.


The Arrow Lakes route

''Columbia'' was the fourth large sternwheeler to run on the long
Arrow Lakes The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
(and adjacent stretches of 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 ...
). Before the construction of the
Keenleyside Dam Hugh Keenleyside Dam (formerly known as the High Arrow Dam) is a flood control dam spanning the Columbia River, 12 km (6.5 miles) upstream of the city of Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada. Dam The dam is at the outflow of what was the u ...
in the 1960s, there were two Arrow Lakes, called the upper and lower, which were separated by a stretch of shallow water known as the Narrows. The lakes are part of the Columbia River, which flows into the upper Arrow Lake at
Arrowhead, British Columbia Arrowhead is a former steamboat port and town at the head of Upper Arrow Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Apart from the cemetery, the initial site has been submerged beneath the waters of the lake, which is now part of the reservoir formed by ...
, and begins again at the southern end of the lower lake near the towns of Robson and Castlegar. Steamers running on Arrow Lakes typically started from the railheads. In the early 1890s the northern railhead was Revelstoke about up the Columbia River from Arrowhead, where the transcontinental line of 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 ...
crossed the Columbia. In the south, the Great Northern Railway had reached Little Dalles, Washington by the 1890s. Rail construction was ongoing however. C.P.R. was building an extension south from Revelstoke along the east side of the Columbia River, which would eventually reach Arrowhead. By 1894 the extension had only gone as far as the town of Wigwam, about halfway between Revelstoke and Arrowhead, which became the northernmost point on the route for ''Columbia''.


Design and construction

''Columbia'' was built in the United States at Little Dalles (now known as Northport) for the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company. The vessel's hull had been built at
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
then disassembled into sections and shipped by rail to Northport to be reassembled and launched. On the Arrow Lakes ''Columbia'' was the fifth sternwheeler and the largest ever built up to that time.Downs, Art, '' Paddlewheels on the Frontier -- The Story of British Columbia and Yukon Sternwheel Steamers'', at 119 and 122, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1972


Operations on Arrow Lakes

Under Captain John C. Gore she made her first trip north from Little Dalles to
Robson, British Columbia Robson is an unincorporated community in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The former steamboat landing and railway terminal is on the northeast side of the Columbia River. The residential area is off Broadwater Road, within ...
, on August 20, 1891, leaving at 1:00 p.m. and arriving at Robson between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. She left for Revelstoke on August 22, 1891. The addition of ''Columbia'' to the C.K.S.N.'s fleet allowed the company to maintain, with the similarly designed sidewheeler ''Lytton'', twice weekly trips from Revelstoke to Little Dalles. On one trip north, Columbia's hogchains (the steel cables that keep the lightly built hull of an inland steamboat in shape) parted, causing the ship to become ''hogged'', that is the hull sagged at the bow and the stern. This would have made the vessel unsafe to use until the hog chains could be repaired and the hull returned to proper shape.


Construction completed

''Columbia'' had entered operations in the summer of 1891 before she was fully complete. This was done on occasion with steamboats so that they could earn some money during the summer navigation season. (Navigation on the Arrow Lakes and other parts of the Columbia River system was restricted by ice, low water and other winter conditions.) During the post-season lay up at Revelstoke in the fall of 1891, Alexander Watson completed Columbia's construction. He built a new upper row of cabins, called a "Texas" and placed the pilot house (the smaller cabin structure where the ship's wheel was located) on top of the Texas. Electric lighting was also installed. These changes made the ''Columbia'' the premier vessel operating on the Upper Columbia. ''Columbia'' can be readily distinguished in photographs of the period by her high pilot house.


Loss by fire

On August 2, 1894 ''Columbia'' caught fire at a wood yard just north of the international border, at a point about six miles (10 km) south of
Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was shorten ...
. It was believed that the fire was caused by a crewman falling asleep without extinguishing his pipe. No one was hurt, but ''Columbia'' was destroyed. Insurance paid for $15,000 but the economic cost to the company was still severe, because the mining and rail construction business in the area was booming and every vessel was working at full capacity.


Salvage and replacement

In a typical pattern of salvage, ''Columbias engines were retrieved from the wreck and installed in the
Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed th ...
steamer ''Kokanee''. On the Arrow Lakes, the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company replaced ''Columbia'' with the ''Nakusp''.


Notes


Further reading

* Faber, Jim, ''Steamer's Wake—Voyaging down the old marine highways of Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columbia River'', Enetai Press, Seattle, WA 1985 * Timmen, Fritz, ''Blow for the Landing—A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West'', Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho


External links


Photos


''Columbia'' and ''Lytton'' at Revelstoke, BC
This photograph was probably taken in the summer of 1891, before the Texas cabin structure was built on the top deck of ''Columbia''. {{Arrow Lakes Steamboats Steamboats of the Arrow Lakes Paddle steamers of British Columbia