Steamboats of the Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River and its watershed.

The Mackenzie River in Canada's Northwest Territories is a historic waterway, used for centuries by the original Dene as a travel and hunting corridor. It is part of a larger watershed that includes the Slave, Athabasca, and Peace rivers extending from northern Alberta. In the 1780s, Peter Pond, trader with the North West Company discovered this watershed and began viable trade with the Athapascan-speaking Dene of these rivers. The Mackenzie River itself, the great waterway extending to the Arctic Ocean, was first put on European maps by Alexander Mackenzie in 1789, the Scottish trader who explored the river. The watershed thus became a vital part of the fur trade, and before the advent of the airplane or road networks, the river was the only communication link between northern trading posts and the south. Water travel increased in the late 19th century as traders, dominated primarily by the Hudson's Bay Company, looked to increase water services in the Mackenzie River District.

Steamboat service established

The first steamship to ply in the Mackenzie River watershed was on the Athabasca River in 1882, and its name was the "S.S. Grahame", a sternwheeler built by the HBC, operating from Athabasca Landing north of Edmonton to the Slave River rapids, the only significant obstacle en route to the Mackenzie. In 1886, the "S.S. Wrigley" was launched on the other side of these rapids, at Fort Smith, and for the first time a steam-driven vessel operated on the Mackenzie River as far as Aklavik in the river delta before it spilled into the Arctic Ocean. A series of small portage trails were established between Smith's Landing (later Fort Fitzgerald) and Fort Smith to skirt the 16-mile rapids - this was later upgraded into a full road in the 1920s.

Effect of the Klondike Gold Rush

In 1898 the Klondike Gold Rush gave an impetus to the exploration of the Canadian North and the Mackenzie River basin was promoted as the best route to the Yukon if one was departing from Edmonton. The 1898-1900 period was very busy for the waterways with many new private vessels built and running between the Athabasca and Mackenzie Rivers. In 1908, the Hudson's Bay Company launched the S.S. Mackenzie, the first steam-powered shallow-draught sternwheeler ship on the Mackenzie River. In the 1920s, police, church missions, government agents, oil and mining companies, prospectors, and competing fur trade interests descended on the Northwest Territories and water transportation services boomed. Three companies competed for supremacy of the fur trade and water transportation: the Hudson's Bay Company, Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company, Alberta & Arctic Transportation Co., and Northern Traders Company each with a fleet of steam vessels. A series of amalgamations and takeovers left only two main water operators after 1924: the HBC and Northern Traders Co. which later became the Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) in the 1930s. The HBC continued in the business of transportation in conjunction with serving its own posts through Mackenzie River Transport, until 1947 when it got out of public freighting. The "S.S. Distributor", built in 1920 by Lamson & Hubbard, was the flagship of the HBC on the Mackenzie River for over 20 years. Communities such as Waterways (now Fort McMurray) and Fort Smith thrived as the base for shipyards along the Athabasca and Slave Rivers, respectively.

Later years

Most of the old steam-driven vessels were replaced by diesel or gas-powered tug boats in the 1930s and 1940s. The Northern Transportation Company Limited inaugurated a new fleet of steel-hull, diesel tugs in 1937, and the Hudson's Bay Company and its transportation arm Mackenzie River Transport Limited got out of the common carrier business in 1947. The last steam-propelled sternwheelers, the "S.S. Distributor" and "S.S. Mackenzie" were retired around that time. In later years, with the construction of the Mackenzie Highway from Alberta to Great Slave Lake, the importance of the Athabasca-Slave River route dwindled and NTCL operations were based from shipyards in Hay River in the 1970s. The northern barge traffic is still essential to the heavy freight as fuel, food, and heavy equipment can be moved economically in the summer months to communities along the Mackenzie River and oil fields of the Beaufort.

List of Historic Vessels

image	name	launched	notes
	SS Grahame	1883	Paddlewheeler operated by the Hudson's Bay Company, launched in 1883 by Captain J.M. Smith, operating from Ft. McMurray to Fort Fitzgerald on the Athabasca and Slave Rivers. 130' keel, 24' beam. 450 ton cargo.
	SS Wrigley	1886	Screw-prop steamer operated by the Hudson's Bay Company, commissioned at Fort Smith in 1886, operating on the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers below Fort Smith. Captain J.W. Mills piloted this vessel from 1893 to 1903. 90' keel, 14' beam. 130 ton cargo. The Wrigley was overhauled and rebuilt in Fort Smith in early 1898, and continued to serve until it was replaced by the S.S. Mackenzie River launched in 1908.
	SS Athabasca	1888	Paddlewheeler operated by the Hudson's Bay Company, built in 1888 at Fort McMurray shipyards to operate on the Athabasca-Slave Rivers from Fort Mcurray to Fort Fitzgerald. Replaced by Athabasca River in 1922. 135' keel, 28' beam.
	St. Joseph	1893	An Oblate Order mission ship, on the Athabasca, Peace and upper Slave rivers.
	St. Alphonse	1894	An Oblate Order mission ship, on the Mackenzie and lower Slave rivers.
	Messenger	1897	Operated by the Hudson's Bay Company.
	St. Emile	1902-3	An Oblate Order mission ship, on Lesser Slave Lake.
	SS St. Charles	1903	The first steamship on the upper Peace River.
	Midnight Sun	1904	Built in 1904 by Northern Traders Co. Operated on the Lesser Slave Lake and Lesser Slave River.
	Peace River	1905	A Hudson's Bay Company vessel on the Peace River.
	SS Mackenzie River	1908	Steelframe paddlewheeler built at Fort Smith and launched in 1908 by Captain J.W. Mills operating on Great Slave Lake in the 1920s by the Hudson's Bay Company. It was mothballed by the HBC in 1923 but reentered service during 1929/1930. In the 1940s it was commissioned for use during the Canol oil project along the Mackenzie River but was no longer being operated in 1947. Steel frame. 125' keel. 115 ton cargo, 40 passenger.
	Northland Sun	1909	Built in 1909 by Northern Traders Co. Operated on the Athabasca-Slave Rivers from Fort McMurray to Fort Fitzgerald.
	Northland Call	1910	Built in 1910 by Northern Traders Co. Operated on the Athabasca-Slave Rivers from Fort McMurray to Fort Fitzgerald.
	Northland Star	1911	Built in 1911 by Northern Traders Co. Operated on the Athabasca-Slave Rivers from Fort McMurray to Fort Fitzgerald.
	Grenfell	1912	Built for service on the upper Peace River, by the Peace River Trading and Land Company, she was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1914.
	Northland Echo	1912	Paddlewheeler built in 1912 by Northern Traders Company, who thought its shallow draft would enable it to transit the who length of the Peace River. It only transitted the Vermilion Chutes once, and only functioned until 1914.
	Northland Echo		Paddlewheeler operated by Northern Traders Company on the Athabasca and Upper Slave Rivers between McMurray and Fitzgerald. Scrapped in 1923 and rebuilt as Northland Echo II.
	Northland Trader		Screw steamer operated by Northern Traders Company on the Slave-Mackenzie Rivers until it was wrecked on Great Slave Lake in October 1924.
	D.A. Thomas	1916	Paddlewheeler built for Peace River Development in 1916 to operate on the Peace River above the Vermillion Chutes. Sold to Lamson-Hubbard in 1920, then to Alberta Arctic Transportation in 1921 and finally to the HBC in 1924. The shipped was badly damaged and scrapped in 1930. 187' keel, 37' beam. 300 ton cargo, 300 passenger. One of the larger paddle wheeler steamships to ply in the Mackenzie watershed.
	Ft. McMurray	1916	Paddlewheeler (100 ton cargo, 40 passengers) built at Fort McMurray and launched in 1916 to operate between Ft. McMurray and Ft. Fitzgerald by the Hudson's Bay Company.
	Liard River	1919	Paddlewheeler (80' long) launched in 1919 at Fort Smith to operate from Fort Simpson up the Liard River to service Hudson's Bay Company posts. Wrecked on the Nelson River in 1923.
	SS Distributor	1920	Paddlewheeler placed in service in 1920 by the Lamson & Hubbard Co., acquired by the Alberta Arctic Transportation Co. in 1921, and the Hudson's Bay Company in 1924. Operated on the Slave-Mackenzie River network, below Fort Smith on the Slave River, in the 1920s-1940s. Converted to oil in 1944. Decommissioned in 1946. Scrapped in the 1950s. 176' keel, 30' beam, 200 ton cargo, 250 passenger.
	Northland Pioneer	1921	Gas motor vessel (100' long, 20' beam, 90 tons cargo) launched in 1921, operated by Northern Traders Co. on the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers and Great Slave Lake.
	Lady Mackworth	1921	Gas motor vessel built by the Lamson & Hubbard Co. and acquired by the Alberta Arctic Transportation Co in 1921 to operate on the Mackenzie and Liard River network.
	Athabasca River	1922	Paddlewheeler (146' long, 36' beam, 200 tons cargo, 48 passengers) built and launched in 1922 by the Hudson's Bay Co. to operate between Fort McMurray and Fort Fitzgerald on the Athabasca and Slave Rivers.
	MT Liard River	1923	Gas motor vessel launched in 1923 by the Hudson's Bay Co. to operate on the Slave-Mackenzie-Liard Rivers.
	Northland Echo II	1923	Paddlewheeler operated by Northern Traders Company on the Athabasca and Upper Slave Rivers between McMurray and Fitzgerald. 135' keel, 24' beam. Continued to be used into the 1930s by the Northern Transportation Company.
	Speed		Gasoline motor vessel operated by the Northern Traders Co. in the 1920s along the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers.

See also

• Steamboats of the Peace River
• Northern Alberta Railways

References

• MacGregor, James Grierson (1974), Paddle wheels to bucket-wheels on the Athabasca, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, ISBN 0-7710-5450-5
• The Edmonton Bulletin newspaper articles, 1920-1924.