Frank P. Armstrong
Encyclopedia
Francis Patrick Armstrong (circa 1859–1923) was a steamboat
captain in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia
. He also operated steamboats on the Kootenay River
in Montana
and on the Stikine River
in western British Columbia. Steam navigation in the Rocky Mountain Trench
which runs through the East Kootenay region was closely linked to Armstrong's personality and career. In addition to being a steamboat captain, Armstrong was also a prospector, white-water boat pilot and guide in the Big Bend country
of the Columbia River.
surveying crew in the Columbia Valley
from Cranbrook
to Golden.
, a journalist, adventurer, movie-maker, and football coach, came to know Armstrong well in 1920 during a boat trip down the Columbia. Freeman described Armstrong, and as "one of the most picturesque personalities in the pioneering history of British Columbia":
.jpg)
In 1882 Armstrong homesteaded 320 acres (1.3 km²) on the east side of Columbia Lake
and planted potatoes, with the plan of selling them to the workers building the CPR downriver at Golden. He built two flat-bottomed boats, (called "bateaux"
) to transport his crop on the river. Armstrong decided a steamboat would be a good way to tow the bateaux back upstream. He arranged to have steam engine
s shipped west from a steam ferry
built in 1840 that operated at his home town in Quebec. Once the engines arrived, and a boiler
was could be located, Armstrong assembled a steamboat from miscellaneous planks and timbers that were lying around at an old sawmill
. The result was the Duchess, launched in 1886 at Golden. Two early passengers wrote that her appearance was "somewhat decrepit" and Armstrong himself later agreed that she was "a pretty crude steamboat."
_at_golden_bc.jpg)
Duchess sank at least once, but Armstrong was eventually able to raise her from the river. He then applied the odd-shaped steamer to make enough money in 1887 to have an new sternwheeler built, also called Duchess. Armstrong hired the veteran shipbuilder Alexander Watson, of Victoria, BC
to build the new steamer, which although small, was well-designed and looked like a steamboat. Armstrong also had built a second steamer, Marion
, which although smaller than the second Duchess, needed only six inches of water to run in. This was an advantage in the often shallow waters of the Columbia above Golden, where as Armstrong put it, "the river's bottom was often very close to the river's top".
A curious feature of the Rocky Mountain Trench is that two of the major rivers that flow through it, the Columbia
, flowing north, and the Kootenay
flowing south, are separated by only about a mile of low marshy prairie at a place now known as Canal Flats
. As the name implies, a shipping canal
was built across Canal Flats by William Adolf Baillie-Grohman
, a European adventurer and promoter from wealthy and privileged background. The canal was completed in 1889, but it was only used three times by steamboats, every time under the command of Captain Armstrong.
In 1893, Armstrong built Gwendoline
at Hansen's Landing on the Kootenay River, and took the vessel through the canal north to the shipyard
at Golden to complete her fitting out. By this time it appears that the canal had been damaged or deteriorated to the boat where at least some of the transit of Gwendoline had to be accomplished by pulling the vessel of the water, partially dismantling the boat, and pulling her along on rollers. Over the winter, Armstrong, it is reported, was able to prevail on the provincial government to expend funds to repair the canal. In late May 1894 Armstrong returned the completed Gwendoline back to the Kootenay River, this time transiting normally the rehabilitated canal.
The canal remained unused until 1902, when Armstrong brought North Star
north from the Kootenay to the Columbia. The transit of North Star was only made possible by the destruction, by dynamite
, of the lock
at the canal.
for upper Kootenay shipping.
Armstrong moved south from the Columbia to the Kootenay, and built the small sternwheeler Gwendoline
at Hansen's Landing, about 12 miles (19.3 km) north of the present community of Wasa
. Instead of taking the ore south to the Jennings, Armstrong's plan was to move the ore north across Canal Flats and then down the Columbia to the CPR railhead at Golden. Armstrong took Gwendoline through the Baillie-Grohman Canal
in the fall of 1893 (or rolled her across Canal Flats), fitted her out at Golden, and returned back through the canal in the spring of 1894.
The difficulty of moving Gwendoline through the Canal convinced Armstrong that the only feasible route was south to Jennings. By early 1896, Armstrong joined with veteran Willamette River
steamboat captain James D. Miller and built Ruth (named after Armstrong's daughter) at Libby, Montana
. Ruth was the largest steamer yet to operate on the upper Kootenay River. Later, Armstrong and Miller associated with Wardner, and, when their competitors, DePuy and Jones suffered the misfortune of having their new vessel Rustler (125 tons) sunk after just six weeks of operation, the three men were able to dominate the river traffic.
_on_columbia_river_ca_1902.jpg)
Once in the United States, the Kootenay river, in its natural state before the construction of the Libby Dam
, flowed through Jennings Canyon to the settlement of Jennings, Montana. Jennings has almost completely disappeared as a town, but it was near Libby, Montana
. Above Jennings, the Kootenay River narrowed as it ran through Jennings Canyon, which was a significant hazard to any river navigation. A particularly dangerous stretch was known as the Elbow. Jennings Canyon was described by Professor Lyman as "a strip of water, foaming-white, downhill almost as on a steep roof, hardly wider than steamboat".
No insurance agent would write a policy for steamboats and cargo transiting the Jennings Canyon. Armstrong once persuaded an agent from San Francisco to consider making a quote on premiums. The agent decided to examine the route for himself, and went on board with Armstrong as the captain's boat shot through the canyon. At the end of the trip, the agent's quote for a policy was one-quarter of the value of the cargo. Faced with this quote, Armstrong decided to forgo insurance.
The huge profits to be made seemed to justify the risk. Combined the two steamers could earn $2,000 in gross receipts per day, a lot of money in 1897. By comparison, the sternwheeler J.D. Farrell
(1897), cost $20,000 to build in 1897. In ten days of operation then, an entire steamboat could be paid for. Armstrong and Miller unsuccessfully tried to get the U.S. Government to finance clearing of some of the rocks and obstructions in Jennings Canyon. Without government help, they hired crews themselves to do the work over two winters, but the results were not of much value.
Despite the work on the channel, every steamboat Armstrong ever took through Jennings Canyon was eventually wrecked in the canyon. The wreck Gwendoline and Ruth on May 7, 1897, resulted in the destruction of Ruth and the sinking of Gwendoline, fortunately with no losses other than severe financial ones. When the new steamer North Star
was launched a few weeks later, Armstrong was able to make up for some of the losses with 21 completed round trips on the Kootenay between Fort Steele and Jennings before low water forced him to tie up on September 3, 1897.
_possibly_at_wrangel,_alaska_ca_1898.jpg)
In January 1898, Armstrong went north to Alaska to participate in the Klondike Gold Rush
, with Armstrong deciding to try his chances at making money as a steamboat captain on the Stikine River
then being promoted as the "All-Canadian" route to the Yukon River
gold fields. On the Stikine River, Armstrong served with the famous steamboat captain John Irving
. Together with A.F. Henderson, Armstrong built a steamboat, Mono for the Teslin Transportation Company of Victoria, BC. As might be expected from a vessel designed by Armstrong, Mono had excellent shallow water performance. When the Stikine river route collapsed as an alternate access to the Klondike in July 1898, Mono was taken under tow to St. Michael, Alaska
for service on the Yukon River
.
(d.1940) a wealthy mountain climber, businessman, politician and occasional steamboat captain, brought Selkirk
by rail from Shuswap Lake
to Golden, where he launched her but used her as a yacht and not, at least initially, as commercial vessel. Also, Captain Alexander Blakely bought the little sidewheeler Pert
and operated her on the river.
In 1902 Armstrong dismantled Duchess. Armstrong built a new steamer, Ptarmigan
, using the engines from Duchess which were by then were over 60 years old.
which began in 1914. Steamboat men were no exception, even Armstrong although he could easily have stayed home because of his age. Instead, Armstrong supervised British river transport in the Middle East, on the Nile and Tigris rivers. The Tigris in particular was in a difficult and hard-fought theater of war. Armstrong was not the only one of the small community of steamboat men of Golden to serve. Armstrong's apprentice, John Blakely (1889–1963), the son of his former competitor, enlisted and went to Europe, where he became one of only six survivors when his ship was torpedo
ed in the English Channel
.
The construction of railroads and the economic dislocations caused by the war had doomed steamboats as a method of transportation on the upper Columbia. With Armstrong in command, Nowitka made the last steamboat run on the upper Columbia in May 1920, pushing a barge-mounted pile-driver to build a bridge at Brisco, which when complete was too low to allow a steamboat to pass under it.
and died in an hospital in Vancouver, BC in January 1923. His own life had spanned the entire history of steam navigation in the Rocky Mountain Trench from 1886 to 1920. An older riverman who had known Captain Armstrong said of him: "With Armstrong those who could pay were expected and those who couldn't were never left behind".
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
captain in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. He also operated steamboats on the Kootenay River
Kootenay River
The Kootenay is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and on the Stikine River
Stikine River
The Stikine River is a river, historically also the Stickeen River, approximately 610 km long, in northwestern British Columbia in Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States...
in western British Columbia. Steam navigation in the Rocky Mountain Trench
Rocky Mountain Trench
The Rocky Mountain Trench, or the Trench or The Valley of a Thousand Peaks, is a large valley in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains. It is both visually and cartographically a striking physiographic feature extending approximately from Flathead Lake, Montana, to the Liard River, just south...
which runs through the East Kootenay region was closely linked to Armstrong's personality and career. In addition to being a steamboat captain, Armstrong was also a prospector, white-water boat pilot and guide in the Big Bend country
Big Bend Country
Big Bend Country is a term used in the Canadian province of British Columbia to refer to the region around the northernmost bend of the Columbia River, where the river leaves its initial northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the Selkirk Mountains...
of the Columbia River.
Early life
Armstrong had been born in Sorel, Quebec about 1859. He moved to Winnipeg in 1881, and then came west working with a Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
surveying crew in the Columbia Valley
Columbia Valley
The Columbia Valley is the name used for a region in the Rocky Mountain Trench near the headwaters of the Columbia River between the town of Golden and the Canal Flats. The main hub of the valley is the town of Invermere. Other towns include Radium Hot Springs, Windermere and Fairmont Hot Springs...
from Cranbrook
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook, British Columbia is a city in southeast British Columbia, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River, It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2006, Cranbrook's population is 18,267, and the...
to Golden.
Character
Lewis R. FreemanLewis R. Freeman
Lewis Ransome Freeman was an American explorer, journalist and war correspondent who wrote over twenty books chronicling his many travels, as well as numerous articles.-Biography:...
, a journalist, adventurer, movie-maker, and football coach, came to know Armstrong well in 1920 during a boat trip down the Columbia. Freeman described Armstrong, and as "one of the most picturesque personalities in the pioneering history of British Columbia":
Beginning of steam navigation
Columbia Lake
Columbia Lake is the primary lake at the headwaters of the Columbia River, in British Columbia, Canada. It is fed by several small tributaries. The village of Canal Flats is located at the south end of the lake....
and planted potatoes, with the plan of selling them to the workers building the CPR downriver at Golden. He built two flat-bottomed boats, (called "bateaux"
Bateau
A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes...
) to transport his crop on the river. Armstrong decided a steamboat would be a good way to tow the bateaux back upstream. He arranged to have steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s shipped west from a steam ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
built in 1840 that operated at his home town in Quebec. Once the engines arrived, and a boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
was could be located, Armstrong assembled a steamboat from miscellaneous planks and timbers that were lying around at an old sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
. The result was the Duchess, launched in 1886 at Golden. Two early passengers wrote that her appearance was "somewhat decrepit" and Armstrong himself later agreed that she was "a pretty crude steamboat."
Building the second Duchess
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
to build the new steamer, which although small, was well-designed and looked like a steamboat. Armstrong also had built a second steamer, Marion
Marion (sternwheeler)
Marion was a small sternwheel steamboat that operated in several waterways in inland British Columbia from 1888 to 1901.-Design and Construction:...
, which although smaller than the second Duchess, needed only six inches of water to run in. This was an advantage in the often shallow waters of the Columbia above Golden, where as Armstrong put it, "the river's bottom was often very close to the river's top".
The Baillie-Grohman Canal
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, flowing north, and the Kootenay
Kootenay River
The Kootenay is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
flowing south, are separated by only about a mile of low marshy prairie at a place now known as Canal Flats
Canal Flats, British Columbia
Canal Flats is a village located at the southern end of Columbia Lake, the source of the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada. In 2006, it had a population of 700.-Location:...
. As the name implies, a shipping canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
was built across Canal Flats by William Adolf Baillie-Grohman
William Adolf Baillie Grohman
William Adolph Baillie Grohman, was an Anglo-Austrian author of works on the Tyrol and the history of hunting, big game sportsman and Kootenay pioneer.-Biography:...
, a European adventurer and promoter from wealthy and privileged background. The canal was completed in 1889, but it was only used three times by steamboats, every time under the command of Captain Armstrong.
In 1893, Armstrong built Gwendoline
Gwendoline (sternwheeler)
Gwendoline was a sternwheel steamer that operated on the Kootenay River in British Columbia and northwestern Montana from 1893 to 1899. The vessel was also operated briefly on the Columbia River in the Columbia Valley.-Design and construction:...
at Hansen's Landing on the Kootenay River, and took the vessel through the canal north to the shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
at Golden to complete her fitting out. By this time it appears that the canal had been damaged or deteriorated to the boat where at least some of the transit of Gwendoline had to be accomplished by pulling the vessel of the water, partially dismantling the boat, and pulling her along on rollers. Over the winter, Armstrong, it is reported, was able to prevail on the provincial government to expend funds to repair the canal. In late May 1894 Armstrong returned the completed Gwendoline back to the Kootenay River, this time transiting normally the rehabilitated canal.
The canal remained unused until 1902, when Armstrong brought North Star
North Star (sternwheeler 1897)
North Star was a sternwheel steamer that operated in western Montana and southeastern British Columbia on the Kootenay and Columbia rivers from 1897 to 1903. The vessel should not be confused with other steamers of the same name, some of which were similarly designed and operated in British...
north from the Kootenay to the Columbia. The transit of North Star was only made possible by the destruction, by dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
, of the lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
at the canal.
Mining boom on the upper Kootenay River
A mining boom along the upper Kootenay river in the early 1890s led to a demand for shipping to transport miners and supplies into, and ore out of, the region surrounding the river. The Great Northern Railway at Jennings, Montana was the nearest downriver railheadRailhead
The word railhead is a railway term with two distinct meanings, depending upon its context.Sometimes, particularly in the context of modern freight terminals, the word is used to denote a terminus of a railway line, especially if the line is not yet finished, or if the terminus interfaces with...
for upper Kootenay shipping.
Armstrong moved south from the Columbia to the Kootenay, and built the small sternwheeler Gwendoline
Gwendoline (sternwheeler)
Gwendoline was a sternwheel steamer that operated on the Kootenay River in British Columbia and northwestern Montana from 1893 to 1899. The vessel was also operated briefly on the Columbia River in the Columbia Valley.-Design and construction:...
at Hansen's Landing, about 12 miles (19.3 km) north of the present community of Wasa
Wasa, British Columbia
Wasa is an unincorporated settlement in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada, located on the east bank of the Kootenay River to the north of Fort Steele. It was named for Vasa, Finland, the hometown of one of the community's early pioneers, Nils Hansen.-Climate:-References:...
. Instead of taking the ore south to the Jennings, Armstrong's plan was to move the ore north across Canal Flats and then down the Columbia to the CPR railhead at Golden. Armstrong took Gwendoline through the Baillie-Grohman Canal
Baillie-Grohman Canal
The Baillie-Grohman Canal was a shipping canal between the headwaters of the Columbia River and the upper Kootenay River in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia at a place now known as Canal Flats, BC...
in the fall of 1893 (or rolled her across Canal Flats), fitted her out at Golden, and returned back through the canal in the spring of 1894.
The difficulty of moving Gwendoline through the Canal convinced Armstrong that the only feasible route was south to Jennings. By early 1896, Armstrong joined with veteran Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
steamboat captain James D. Miller and built Ruth (named after Armstrong's daughter) at Libby, Montana
Libby, Montana
Libby is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,626 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Libby is located at , along U.S. Route 2....
. Ruth was the largest steamer yet to operate on the upper Kootenay River. Later, Armstrong and Miller associated with Wardner, and, when their competitors, DePuy and Jones suffered the misfortune of having their new vessel Rustler (125 tons) sunk after just six weeks of operation, the three men were able to dominate the river traffic.
Jennings Canyon
Libby Dam
Libby Dam is a dam on the Kootenai River in the U.S. state of Montana.Dedicated on August 24, 1975, Libby Dam spans the Kootenai River upstream from the town of Libby, Montana. Libby Dam is tall and long. Lake Koocanusa is the name of the reservoir behind the dam; it extends upriver from...
, flowed through Jennings Canyon to the settlement of Jennings, Montana. Jennings has almost completely disappeared as a town, but it was near Libby, Montana
Libby, Montana
Libby is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,626 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Libby is located at , along U.S. Route 2....
. Above Jennings, the Kootenay River narrowed as it ran through Jennings Canyon, which was a significant hazard to any river navigation. A particularly dangerous stretch was known as the Elbow. Jennings Canyon was described by Professor Lyman as "a strip of water, foaming-white, downhill almost as on a steep roof, hardly wider than steamboat".
No insurance agent would write a policy for steamboats and cargo transiting the Jennings Canyon. Armstrong once persuaded an agent from San Francisco to consider making a quote on premiums. The agent decided to examine the route for himself, and went on board with Armstrong as the captain's boat shot through the canyon. At the end of the trip, the agent's quote for a policy was one-quarter of the value of the cargo. Faced with this quote, Armstrong decided to forgo insurance.
The huge profits to be made seemed to justify the risk. Combined the two steamers could earn $2,000 in gross receipts per day, a lot of money in 1897. By comparison, the sternwheeler J.D. Farrell
J.D. Farrell (sternwheeler)
J.D. Farrell was a sternwheel steamer that operated on the Kootenay River in western Montana and southeastern British Columbia from 1898 to 1902.-Design and Construction:...
(1897), cost $20,000 to build in 1897. In ten days of operation then, an entire steamboat could be paid for. Armstrong and Miller unsuccessfully tried to get the U.S. Government to finance clearing of some of the rocks and obstructions in Jennings Canyon. Without government help, they hired crews themselves to do the work over two winters, but the results were not of much value.
Despite the work on the channel, every steamboat Armstrong ever took through Jennings Canyon was eventually wrecked in the canyon. The wreck Gwendoline and Ruth on May 7, 1897, resulted in the destruction of Ruth and the sinking of Gwendoline, fortunately with no losses other than severe financial ones. When the new steamer North Star
North Star (sternwheeler 1897)
North Star was a sternwheel steamer that operated in western Montana and southeastern British Columbia on the Kootenay and Columbia rivers from 1897 to 1903. The vessel should not be confused with other steamers of the same name, some of which were similarly designed and operated in British...
was launched a few weeks later, Armstrong was able to make up for some of the losses with 21 completed round trips on the Kootenay between Fort Steele and Jennings before low water forced him to tie up on September 3, 1897.
Move to the Stikene River
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
, with Armstrong deciding to try his chances at making money as a steamboat captain on the Stikine River
Stikine River
The Stikine River is a river, historically also the Stickeen River, approximately 610 km long, in northwestern British Columbia in Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States...
then being promoted as the "All-Canadian" route to the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
gold fields. On the Stikine River, Armstrong served with the famous steamboat captain John Irving
John Irving (steamship captain)
John Irving was a steamship captain in British Columbia, Canada. He began on the Fraser River at the age of 18 and would become one of the most famous and prosperous riverboat captains of the era...
. Together with A.F. Henderson, Armstrong built a steamboat, Mono for the Teslin Transportation Company of Victoria, BC. As might be expected from a vessel designed by Armstrong, Mono had excellent shallow water performance. When the Stikine river route collapsed as an alternate access to the Klondike in July 1898, Mono was taken under tow to St. Michael, Alaska
St. Michael, Alaska
St. Michael is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 368.-Geography:St. Michael is located at on the east side of St...
for service on the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
.
Return to the Columbia River
North Star was sold back to Captain Armstrong when he returned from his Klondike adventure, and on June 4, 1902, he took her north to the Columbia River on his famous dynamite-aided transit of the decrepit Baillie-Grohman canal. With North Star gone, steamboating on the upper Kootenay ended for good. While Armstrong had been engaged in the Kootenay and the Klondike mining booms, a few competitors had appeared on the upper Columbia. In 1899, Harold E. ForsterHarold Ernest Forster
Harold Ernest Forster was a rancher, miner and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Columbia from 1912 to 1916 as an Independent Conservative....
(d.1940) a wealthy mountain climber, businessman, politician and occasional steamboat captain, brought Selkirk
Selkirk (sternwheeler 1895)
Selkirk was a small sternwheel steamer that operated on the Thompson and Columbia rivers in British Columbia from 1895 to 1917. This vessel should not be confused with the much larger Yukon River sternwheeler Selkirk.-Design and construction:...
by rail from Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River...
to Golden, where he launched her but used her as a yacht and not, at least initially, as commercial vessel. Also, Captain Alexander Blakely bought the little sidewheeler Pert
Pert (sidewheeler)
Pert was a sidewheel steamboat that operated in British Columbia on the Columbia River from 1887 to 1905, often carrying a lot of timber. Pert was also known as Alert, Perty, Papa P, P Dog and City of Windermere at times....
and operated her on the river.
In 1902 Armstrong dismantled Duchess. Armstrong built a new steamer, Ptarmigan
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler)
Ptarmigan was a sternwheel steamboat that operated in British Columbia on the Columbia River from 1903 to 1909.-Design and Construction:Ptarmigan was built at Golden, BC and was the last vessel built for the Upper Columbia Navig. & Tramway Co., of which Capt. Frank P. Armstrong was the principal...
, using the engines from Duchess which were by then were over 60 years old.
Service in the Great War
Many men from British Columbia served in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
which began in 1914. Steamboat men were no exception, even Armstrong although he could easily have stayed home because of his age. Instead, Armstrong supervised British river transport in the Middle East, on the Nile and Tigris rivers. The Tigris in particular was in a difficult and hard-fought theater of war. Armstrong was not the only one of the small community of steamboat men of Golden to serve. Armstrong's apprentice, John Blakely (1889–1963), the son of his former competitor, enlisted and went to Europe, where he became one of only six survivors when his ship was torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
End of steam navigation on the upper Columbia river
Last years and legacy
Armstrong found employment with the Dominion government on his return from the war. He was seriously injured in an accident in Nelson, BCNelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
and died in an hospital in Vancouver, BC in January 1923. His own life had spanned the entire history of steam navigation in the Rocky Mountain Trench from 1886 to 1920. An older riverman who had known Captain Armstrong said of him: "With Armstrong those who could pay were expected and those who couldn't were never left behind".
See also
- Steamboats of the upper Columbia and Kootenay RiversSteamboats of the upper Columbia and Kootenay RiversFrom 1886 to 1920, steamboats ran on the upper reaches of the Columbia and Kootenay in the Rocky Mountain Trench, in western North America. The circumstances of the rivers in the area, and the construction of transcontinental railways across the trench from east to west made steamboat navigation...
- North Star (sternwheeler 1897)North Star (sternwheeler 1897)North Star was a sternwheel steamer that operated in western Montana and southeastern British Columbia on the Kootenay and Columbia rivers from 1897 to 1903. The vessel should not be confused with other steamers of the same name, some of which were similarly designed and operated in British...
- Baillie-Grohman CanalBaillie-Grohman CanalThe Baillie-Grohman Canal was a shipping canal between the headwaters of the Columbia River and the upper Kootenay River in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia at a place now known as Canal Flats, BC...