Quote:
Originally Posted by KegRiver
There were Paddle wheelers on the Peace River till around 1960, I'm not sure of the actual date the last one was retired.
That boat was named the D A Thomas and it's steam engine is currently on display at Alberta Museum in Edmonton.
The D A Thomas burned wood in her boiler and there were fuel stops every thirty miles along the river. Local trappers were employed to stockpile cut wood at these locations. Many such locations were also freight stops, like the ones at Carcajou and Fort Vermilion.
Most of the trade in the area was supported by river traffic. Besides the paddle wheelers there was a privately owned paddle wheeler called the Russian Navy that hauled grain from Fort Vermilion at communities along the route, to the rail head at Peace River.
The Russian Navy was owned by Ted Stigson and his business partner.
Ted also ran the trading post at Carcajou and his son still lives in Carcajou.
The D A hauled passengers and freight, including farm machinery.
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My grandparents came as young teens on the RN.
I pretty sure part of the da Thomas boiler is still down by the chutes where it wrecked, but I might be thinking of a different one. Have a pic of it somewhere.
The paddle wheel is at the peace river museum.
What I would give to live a year in those river boat glory days before the roads came up.....