at

CASTLEGAR NEWS, Thursday, March 12,

1959

The River At Our Door

(continued from page three)

5 of a rocky Dalle.”

With the brigade of 1847 was
‘Paul Kane, an artist from Tor-
onto who had just spent two
years sketching Indians as he
travelled about the country. After
passing the Little Dalles he shot
‘the largest wolf he had ever
seen as it swam across the riv-
er, The following morning broke
dark and cloudy and soon turn-
ed to heavy rain; but the wind
was fair, so they hoisted sail
and soon scudded into the Lower
Arrow Lake. The mists cleared
before they left the lakes and
they could distinguish the sur:
rounding scenery which seemed
to consist of immense mountains
towering peak on peak above the
elouds, Once they landed to chase
mountain goat and after a long
hunt succeeded in killing him.
He afforded a most delicious re-

‘The day of the fur-trader
passed, to be succeeded by that
of the miner. When the great
Gold Rush of 1858 d,

Kootenay Lake, the LeRo!, Cen-
tre Star, War Eagle, etc. in Ross-
land Camp — and transporta-
tion for the ore had to be found.
A rail line already built between
Spokane and Northport was ex-
tgnded to Nelson with a branch
to’ Rossland. Another line was
laid beside the turbulent Kooten-
ay River, connecting Nelson to
Sproat's Landing (Robson). Then
steamboats were put on the Col-
umbla River and the Arrow La-
kes to make connections with
these railroads and the mainilne
of the C.P.R, at Revelstoke.
‘The boats varied in size, but

Brooklyn, eleven miles from Rob-
gon and the fleet of sternwhecl-
ers transported all supplies to
that spot — graders, scrapers,
horses, powder for rock work,
food for the thousands of men
In‘ camps along the Hine. One
year later, the railway was fin-
ished to Midway, but until the
bridge was built at Ci the

several boats ended thelr careers
in flames, The first to suffer
such a fate was the COLUMBIA
which caught fire and burned
near Fort Shepherd in 1894, The
‘NAKUSP met her doom in a sim-
ilar, way in the closing days of

at’ Arrowhead she took fire about
of 23 and

‘97, While tied up at the wharf | rani

on the forshore of John Nelson's

ich;
With the passing of the

LYTTON acted .as"a ferry, car-
rying passengers and freight ac-
Toss the river from one rail, line
to the other. The bridge was com:
pleted by 1902 and included a
lift span for the convenience of
the steamers. The construction
of this railway and bridge calied
into existence the village of Cas-
tlegar. Here was the transfer
point for traffic from rail to
boat and also the terminus of a
branch to the smelter at Trail,
so it was a strategic place for

all were d, shallow
in draught, powered by wood-
burning engines which drove &
big paddle-wheel placed at .the
stern,

The first steamer to appear
on the Columbia was the “Lyt-
ton”. Built in 1890 at Revelstoke
she daily plied the river from the
Little Dalles te Robson, The
same year the KOOTENAI was

from her i

men’s interests turned from hun-
ting furs to washing creeks for
gold. Although the greatest ine
flux of prospectors was along
the Fraser River and into the
ariboo region, the Columbia
was also ‘investigated. The years
1865-66 saw great excitement in
the Big Bend-area. Here rich de-
posits were found and hundreds
‘pushed up the Columbia to the
diggings two hundred and fifty
miles above Colville. The mer-
chants of Colville and Marcus
saw an opportunity for trade, so
they built a little steamer, the
Forty-nine, to carry supplies up-
river to the miners, Under Cap-
tain Leonard White, the Forty-
:nine set out from the Little Dal-
les in December ‘65. It passed
Fort Shepherd, lined up Rock Is-
Jand rapids and reached the mou-
th of the Kootenay. Ice on the
Lower Arrow Lake prevented
further travel, but in April of
the next year, Capt. White was
i

owners and put on the run from
Robson to Revelstoke. In 1892
the COLUMBIA was added to the
fleet. When in ‘95 a smelter was
puilt at Trail Creek Landing, the
TRAIL and ILLECILEWAET ap-
peared, designed especially for
barge hauling. On Dominion Day,
1895, the NAKUSP slid down the
ways at the city of Nakusp. The
finest boat,on the lakes at that
time, she was the first to have
a double-deck dining room, One
year later the ROSSLAND, an
even grander boat was built and
a new KOOTENAY replaced the
older ship of that name. In ‘98
the famous MINTO appeared.
She had been built in Toronto
for service In the Yukon but was
directed instead to the Kootenays
where she was assembled and
launched at Nakusp.

For years these boats chur-
ned the swift waters of the Col-
umbia and the more placid .Ar-
row Lakes. They brought in mine

the Big

in

Bend country. On her third trip,
the Forty-nine carried only three
passengers upriver, but on her
return trip was loaded with min-
ers intent on getting out of the
~place. The mines had petered
«out and the rush was over. Dur-
‘ing the next few. years, the For-
.ty-nine made ‘an ‘occasional voy-
age on the river.

However the great steam-
“boating era on the upper Colum-
~bla did not arrive until the nine-

tles. By that time rich lode min-
es had been discovered ~~ the
Silver King and Blue Bell on

, lumber and house-
hold equipment. They towed bar-
ges laden with wood for the
smelter. They towed barges of
railway cars, They carried many
passengers, among them famous
visitors and capitallsts coming to
look over the Rossland mines. On
Sundays, with flags flying and
bands playing, they steamed up
the lake, laden with picnickers.
‘When the gigantic task of lay-
ing the Columbia & Western rail-

line along the lakeshore was un-}'

dertaken in 1898 the boats were
busier than ever. Headquarters
for the work was set up at

As the fleet of sternwheel-
ers churned up and down the
Jakes they faced many dangers
and disasters. Navigation was
not easy. Sometimes when the
water was low a boat ran
aground on a sandbar, as the
NAKUSP who lay helpless for
days at Kootenay rapids until
pulled off by sister ships. Once
the KOOTENAY, in landing at
Robson, ran into a submerged
rock and stove an 18inch hole
in her hull, Although four feet
of water collected in the compart-
ment she managed to dock safe-
ly. In winter, Ice on the Arrow
Lakes gave much trouble before
the boats tied up for the season.
Often a vessel would push a scow
ahead of her, to break a chan-
nel. Storms too, took a toll, In
the winter of '96 the little AR-
ROW capsized on the upper lake
in a storm and two of her crew
drowned. Once'a landslide on the
east arm of the upper Arrow
Lake completely blocked the arm
and caused a tidal wave ten feet
high, The ROSSLAND was
thrown up on the dock at Ar-
rowhead and smaller boats had a
narrow escape from wreck. Add-
ed to these- difficulties was the
ever present threat of fire and

purned so rapidly the passengers
barely escaped and all freight
was lost, The TRAIL burned to
the water's edge in June, 1900.
All fires were not fatal. In Aug:
sut, 1899, as the ROSSLAND
neared Burton City fire broke
out in the woodwork on the up-
per deck by the smokestack, The
crew quickly beached the boat.
Passengers disembarked while a
hose and bucket brigade soon
checked the flames and she was
able to continue on her way.
The penetration of the rail-
roads into the country spelled
doom for the lake boats, How-
ever, a complete rail line to the
Coast was long In coming from.
Midway’to Hope. Sometime be-
fore, in 1911, the BONNINGTON
was built. She was the largest
boat to ever ply the Arrow Lak-
es, being two hundred feet in
length. Traffic was considerable
for a time but with completion
of the railrond the boats gradu-
ally became less necessary. The
ROSSLAND was dismantled in

fleet, the MINTO lasted longest.
She continued to serve the dwel-
Jers along the lakes for fifty-six
years, until in April of 1954 she
made her last voyage. About
one-hundred people boarded her
for that last run to Arrowhead
and back to Nakusp where she

the shore to take her picture and
to wave farewell. Some sang
“Auld Lang Syne", a kilted piper
walked the beach at Edgewood
playing the strains of a Highland
Jament. At Burton a wreath was

placed on her bow and every
wharf flaunted a farewell mes-

JOIN THE CROWD AT

Fun-For-All-Night

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 — 7:00 p.m.
aT
Stanley Humphries High School ,
GAMES — CONTESTS — HOBBY SHOW

ATA UENATATET

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tied up for good. Hundreds lined | Ee

i travel]
on the ‘Columbia has gone for-

ever, Today, the river's impor-
tance Iles Jn a different sphere.
However, when you see the busy
little. tugs towing rafts of logs
to the sawmill, or hear the high
whine of speedboats skimming
over the river,” maybe in your
imagination you can see again |.
Indian canoes gilding silently
along. Perhaps you may hear the
rollicking songs of the voyag-

eurs as they paddled the cumber
some batteaux, of the fur bri.
gadé;' or it could be. that you
swill ‘recall the shrill whistle of
the MINTO and her sister ships
as they, breasted the waves Uke
stately whites wans.

‘with this backward. glance,

I take leave of you.

ea iE
- BIG SPRING

Tr CLC COUN

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Saturday, March 14th — 2 p.m.

‘ADMISSION

REDUCED PRICES

SUPPLY

PHONE 2161 :
rue

Salis
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Salurday night - March
~Marlane Hotel

ENTERPRISE AND GOOD CHEER FURNACES AT

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— MARLANE HOTEL —

14th

DANCING 9:30 to MIDNIGHT

Gus Leitner’s Orchestra

The Britlsh Columbia Auto-
mobile in a brief to the Chant
Commission on Education re
commends the establishment of

Ba practical High School Driver

Training Program that will en:
sure a high sthool student, with-
out any direct charge to the stu-
dent,‘ the availability of such
training a8 part of: the school
curriculum. b

High School Driving Program
Recommended: To Commission

The bricf states that driving
is as much a part of everyday
life'as home economics and man-
ual arts but Is is-sadly neglected
in most of B.C’s one hundred
and fifty-one public high schools,
"The British C A

and high standards is not an edu-
cational “frill”, It is, on the con-
trary, a promising meins of
building up a defensive shield
against the intolerable national
waste and misery from needless
traffic accldents, delays, and in-
The BCAA

Education in settIng up a theo
retical and practical driver train-
ing program," said Howard
‘Boothe, President of the BCAA.
“Young -people will drive - it is
part of their -activity. It ds our
duty to see that when they drive

it could be included in the Health
and Physical D pro-

they, the vehicle, the
hazards of the highway, and thelr

manual arts, unless they become
specialists in these subjects. e

Last November, seventy-four
miners were lost in the Spring-
Hill disaster in Nova Scotia. This

gram. ;

“The British Columbia Auto-
mobile Association is eager to co-
operate with the Department of

towards . others,
This can only be d by a

CASTLEGAR NEWS, Thursday, March 12, 1959

Arrkoobians Meet -

The regular meeting of the |

Arrkoobians | (formerly Senior
Young People) was held at the
home of Mr. and Mrs, W. T-
Waldie. During the routine busi-
ness, reports were heard from
the -treas' and the

Driver course conduct:
ed. by ‘teachers trained in the
.

work.” ,

A letter was read from’ the
P.T.A, inviting members to help

with the various booths during
Family-Fun-Nite. Interes ted
members were to contact Fran-
ces Mather as soon as possible,
A bowling - party was, plan-
ned for Saturday,: March W4th
and members were urged to at-
tend, A discussion about future
activities closed the’ meeting.
During the remainder of the
evening the group enjoyed soc-
fallzing and xefreshments. 3

deservedly brought national pub-

Association believes that high
school. students - following grat-
uation « will use cars’ more than
they will‘use home economics or

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lie thy to the familles, Yet
in British Columbia, two hund
red and: fifty-two people. were
Killed in car accidents in 1957 - a
fact that was hardly noticed ‘ex-
cept through weekend traffic
fatality round-ups in newspapers.

In ‘the same period, total
damages amounted to $12,054,310
according to the Motor Vehicle
Branch statistical survey.

To reduce this terrible toll
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‘objective of a driver. training pro-
gram. i

The British Columbia Auto-
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school subject .for the following
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1.°High , quality courses have |-

‘been demonstrated to con-

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broader understanding

and ever-expanding area
of national and world-
wide ‘concern. 7
. The above national import-
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when such instruction” is
given;

- (a) as an integral part of
the school curriculum,
even if it must be given
after school hours;
at the grade level just

, prior to becoming of age
"yor, driver Heensing; .!

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