August14_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

After the war, the Moyie remained in almost constant service, continuing as a relief vessel, towing barges and hauling supplies such as lumber or coal. She was also used for pleasure excursions and on holidays like Victoria Day could be seen on the lake traveling from Nelson to Procter hung with streamers and bunting and carrying 200 passengers.
Through the next 40 years, her route and purpose changed very little and by the 1930s the CPR had retired its other vessels and she continued on alone, accompanied only by her relief ship, the Granthall. On Arrow Lakes, her sister ship, the Minto was enjoying a similarly long and prestigious career, running until April 24, 1954.

The Moyie's last run was on April 27, 1957. She ran her regular 87-mile-long route, stopping at towns and landings such as Riondel, Ainsworth, Kaslo, Lardeau, and Argenta. At each stop she was greeted by tearful residents who honored her many years of service by farewell banners, songs and wreaths. At Argenta, she left to the sad strains of "Auld Lang Syne". At Kaslo, the stores were closed and a banner read, "Better lo'ed ye ne'er will be. Will ye no come back again?" When her last journey was finished, she pulled into the wharf at Procter.

Photos - The SS Moyie Sternwheeler from dockside (frame left) and Kootenay Lakeside (frames right and center).

In the town of Kaslo although no longer the boomtown that it once was, the 700 residents decided that they wanted to provide the Moyie's final home. The CPR was agreeable to the plan and sold her to the town for $1 in Canadian funds. The Kootenay Lake Historical Society was formed and $15,000 was raised to finance the initial phase of her restoration. Today, she has been restored to her original operating condition and sits on a concrete berth at the end of Front Street in Kaslo. As the last surviving passenger sternwheeler of her era, she receives thousands of visitors every year and has been made a National Historic Site and is a well-known British Columbia landmark.

The SS Moyie is 161.7 ft in length, 30.1 ft wide, with a Gross Tonnage of 834.18. The hull is 5.1 ft deep, and the vessel cost $41,275 to build in 1898. It was licensed to carry 250 passengers with freight or 400 passengers without freight. The hull was built by Bertram Iron Works, Toronto, Ontario. The cabins were built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, Nelson, B.C. (J. Bulger, Master Builder). To power the stern wheel, two single-cylinder high pressure horizontal, non-condensing, piston valves and piston cut-off valves over main valves were installed, built by Bertram Iron Works, Toronto, Ontario. Powering the drive pistons is a boiler - the first (1898-1929) built and installed by Bertram Iron Works, Toronto, Ontario - The second (1929-now) built by Vulcan Iron Works, Vancouver, BC.

Photos - From Kootenay Lakeshore looking at the paddlewheeler SS Moyie through the chain-link fence which protects it from vandalism.

Photos - Frames left and right: Views of Kootenay Lake at the bay in front of the SS Moyie. From black and white photos of the docking area, the waterfront has changed very little singe the turn of the century.

Center frame: The Wheelhouse of the SS Moyie which has been replaced by a smaller doghouse and placed here, open to the public for interpretation.

Click here for more photos of Historic Kaslo for this day.