_on_Columbia_River%2c_BC_ca_1896.JPG) Gwendoline on theColumbia River ca 1894 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Gwendoline[1] (CAN #100805[2]) |
| Owner | Upper Columbia Navigation & Tramway Co. |
| Route | Kootenay River inMontana andBritish Columbia;Columbia River in theColumbia Valley of British Columbia |
| Builder | Frank P. Armstrong |
| Launched | 1893, atWasa, BC |
| Fate | Fell off flat car into canyon during rail transport in June 1898 and destroyed |
| Notes | Wrecked in Jennings Canyon in May 1897 collision withRuth but returned to service. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | inland passenger/freighter |
| Tonnage | 91 gross tons; 57 registered tons |
| Length | initial:63.5 ft (19 m);as rebuilt:98 ft (30 m) |
| Beam | 19 ft (6 m) |
| Depth | 3.2 ft (1 m) depth of hold |
| Installed power | twinsteam engines, horizontally mounted, 8" bore by 36" stroke, 4.3 nominalhorsepower, manufactured by R. McCrae, ofTilsonburgh, Ont. |
| Propulsion | sternwheel |
Gwendoline was a sternwheel steamer that operated on theKootenay River inBritish Columbia and northwesternMontana from 1893 to 1898. The vessel was also operated briefly on theColumbia River in theColumbia Valley.
Gwendoline was built in 1893 atWasa, BC on theKootenay River for theUpper Columbia Navigation & Tramway Co. of which Capt.Frank P. Armstrong (1859-1923) was a principal.[2][3]
Some time in 1893 or 1894 Armstrong tookGwendoline north toColumbia Lake and theColumbia River through theBaillie-Grohman canal atCanal Flats, BC. In 1894 Armstrong returned the vessel south back to the Kootenay River.[2]Gwendoline thus became one of only two steamboats (the other wasNorth Star) to use the canal. BecauseNorth Star, being longer than the canal's one lock, had actually destroyed the lock in order to make her transit,Gwendoline was only steamboat to use the canal twice, and the only one to use it in a conventional way.[4]
In 1896Gwendoline was operated on the route from Canal Flats toFort Steele, BC. During this time the vessel was lengthened from 63.5 ft (19 m) to 98 ft (30 m).[2]
Gwendoline was wrecked inJennings Canyon[5] in May 1897 in a collision withRuth, another sternwheeler of the Upper Columbia Navigation & Tramway Co. Both vessels were bound downriver.Ruth under Capt. L.B. Sanborn first entered the canyon, with 16 passengers and 80 tons of ore on board. Halfway through the canyon, a log caught inRuth's sternwheel, which threw the vessel out of control and caused to swing broadside blocking the channel.Gwendoline under Captain Armstrong then came down the river less than an hour later, and smashed intoRuth. No one was killed.[3][4]
There was some talk that Captain Sanborn should have flagged the channel to warnGwendoline and his statement that a log had jammed in his sternwheel was questioned. Still, there was no doubt that the Jennings Canyon was dangerous, for of the six sternwheelers that ever traversed the canyon, eventually five were damaged or completely wrecked there. By June 1898Gwendoline was salvaged, butRuth was damaged beyond repair.[4]
During 1898, Captain Armstrong and Captain McCormack combined their efforts on the upper Kootenay, with the Armstrong boatsNorth Star andGwendoline receiving 60% of the freight receipts, with the balance to McCormack's single boatJ.D. Farrell. James D. Miller (1830-1914) one of the Northwest's most experienced steamboat captains, commandedFarrell during this time.[4]
1898 was possibly the peak year for steamboat activity on the Kootenay River. By the end the year, business declined sharply on the route as traffic shifted over to newly completed railways, causingGwendoline to be laid up at Jennings from October 1898 to the spring of 1899 with two other unneeded sternwheelers,North Star andJ.D. Farrell.[2][3]
In 1898 Captain Armstrong went north to join theKlondike Gold Rush, and while he was gone, J.D. Miller (1830-1914) was left in charge ofGwendoline. Miller, one of the most experienced steamboat captains in the Northwest, had the idea of movingGwendoline by rail aroundKootenai Falls. Smaller steamboats had been successfully moved similar distances by rail before, for exampleMarion andSelkirk.Marion in particular had been moved twice by rail, once in 1890 and again in 1897. The ultimate plan forGwendoline was to run her onDuncan Lake.[2]
In this case, the execution was flawed. While loaded on two flat cars, the vessel tipped over and fell down 70 feet down a canyon, landing bottom side up, and was a total loss.[2]
