Talk:Steamboats of the Skeena River

message: Started this finally, going to add images, references ect.CindyBo 00:27, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

message: In re the comments on my talkpage about this and related pages, it's preferable that notable vessels have their own articles; especially in cases like the Mount Royal, which is notable in its own right because of its special story; the length of its section here is apt demonstration of its article-worthiness.  I'm not familiar with the histories of the other vessels here but in all likelihood they were coastal vessels as well, although some were built for the Skeena, no?  So while an overall essay discussing History of steamboats on the Skeena River (which might be a more proper wiki title, I'm not sure) is a good thing, bear in mind that the vessels can/should have other articles where worthwhile; their names shouldn't be bolded in the main text by the way; standard convention in all printing is to use italics.  I'd say break out the Mount Royal as its own article, and I'm pretty sure the Union has a downcoast history too - I've seen that name before.  This page should not so much be about the steamboats themselves as about their service/business, the era/economy and people; particulars of the vessels follow a certain ship infobox format with tonnage, registry etc (see anything in :Category:Ships; you might also want to add yourself to that WikiProject too - partly because many of the vessels in BC history you may document may also be part of US history, as is often the case).Skookum1 07:12, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I recall the Mount Royal also worked on the Stikine, as well as the Inside Passage; and was originally from, like so many others, the Columbia or the Sacremento or somewhere else; this is why there's need for a standalone article for it, y'see. It can appear in articles on steamboats on whichever river/route but it should have its own article also.  Mount Royal (ship) may be taken, Mount Royal (sternwheeler) or Mount Royal (steamboat) would be OK (check usages in :Category:Ships and if it's HMS there may be a Royal Navy vessel HMS Mount Royal (let' see if that link works...no, and per List of Royal Navy ship names there wasn't one) but, hmm, it was American-origin so most likely SS Mount Royal....well, looks like you've got your pick, but one will be preferable depending on sources/registry.Skookum1 08:01, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

text: OK, good to know; I read so much stuff I forget which is what often enough, esp. with the number of ship stories/references I've seen/read.  I guess the crossovers for me are because the ones I know better were the Fraser boats, in the onset of the gold rush when everything motorized came from California (or was assembled on the spot, as were the boilers for a vessel on Harrison Lake which ran the first year of the rush by sail...), and also the Klondike Rush when of course shipping was American dominated around here; because of that law of theirs re american port-to-american port rules, which they passed specifically to put the squeeze on vancouver and victoria (sorry my keyboard sticks so not gonna fix those caps).  But glad you're seeing the way; yes, the captains do get their own articles and these boats-on-rivers page should be about all of them, in summary, with maybe a discussions of the economcs/why-and-wherefore of the service, and it's even possible for someone to eventaully add tonnage and value to the local economy, if such amterial gets dug up; anything can (Gassy Jack was the capt. of the Umatilla, which AIRC was the first steamer to reach Yale from New West).  As per the Stikine railway, yeah that would have used the Little Tahltan River over into the Sheslay (the NE-SE arm of the Taku) and via Atlin...but that was in a period when it was assumed the whole north would permanently boom, and Atlin et al would be as wealthy as Dawson, and great cities would develop etc; the route is the same as that intended by the Collins Overland Telegraph.  Navigation history on the Stikine when you get to it requires some reference to the Alaska Boundary Treaty's particular clauses concerning the Stikine and British/Canadian rights of shipping on it, which were grandfathered from an old deal with the Russians (when the boundary was drawn, the estuary was at saltwater; now it's silted in downstream a few miles).  How many vessels were there on the Omineca?  And on the Stuart?  Any on the Nation?  There were some on the Peace, yes?Skookum1 00:57, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Sounds like th ones you've mentioned on the Stuart would be best covered by Omineca Gold Rush, which I still haven't gotten around to writing; the other approach would have been to have the Upper Fraser article as Steamboats in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, but I think since the're so tied into the gold rush histories, esp. on the Stuart re the Omineca Rush and on the Stikine during that rush, that it's easier to just write the gold rush histories; unless it's a big roster, as it was, overall, on the Stikine wasn't it?  I may only get a chance to draft the stub  for the Omineca Gold Rush or other gold rushes (see other British Columbia Gold Rushes for general tone; e.g. Rock Creek and Big Bend were "winged" off what little I had on hand when stubbing); Omineca's quite the story and deserves to be told....mind you, so do they all.Skookum1 03:42, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The Yukon: Yeah, I know; read through Berton a couple of times; even on the Mackenzie and that one mad voyage up the Red River of the Arctic.  But the guys who went around via Nome and couldn't get past Fairbanks, after already going thousands upon thousands of miles only to grind to a halt when the river did....all quite the story; List of vessels on the Yukon River or List of ships on the Yukon River may already, in fact, exist.  If not, perhaps it should, as a start-point for the various ship/story articles that are indicated.Skookum1 03:45, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: separate ship articles

message: Some pretty spectacular shots:
*:File:No 390 SS Omineca, shooting the Big Canyon, Skeena River, British Columbia (HS85-10-25540).jpg
*:File:No 297 SS Port Simpson shooting Kitselas Big Canyon backwards, No 1 (HS85-10-25538).jpg
*:File:No 291 The SS Inlander lining in the Big Canyon, Kitselas, British Columbia No 2 (HS85-10-25537).jpg
More to come, no doubt; still digging.Skookum1 (talk) 03:57, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  pix from Commons