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. His father, William Irving was known as the "King of the River" and the neighborhood of Irvington in Portland, Oregon is named in honor of their family.

Contents

Early years

Fraser and Stikine Rivers

Upper Fraser River

Political career

Later years

Notes

External links

See also

Further reading

Early years

John was born in 1854 in the suburb of Irvington in Portland, Oregon, the second child and only son of William and Elizabeth Irving.^[1]
The family moved to New Westminster, British Columbia in 1859 and John's father began work on the Fraser River. William Irving became a partner in the Victoria Steam Navigation Company and built two sternwheelers, the ''Governor Douglas'' and the ''Colonel Moody'' to serve between New Westminster and Victoria. However, he did not have a monopoly on the route and rate wars soon erupted between him and his main rival, Captain William Moore who was running his ''Henrietta'' on the same route.^[2]

In 1862, news of the gold strikes in the Cariboo Gold Rush brought 4,000 miners to the area and William Irving sold his boats to John Wright and had another sternwheeler built, the ''Reliance'' and later the ''Onward'' which were kept busy shipping miners and supplies to Yale where they could travel on the nearly completed Cariboo Wagon Road to the goldfields at Barkerville.^[2]
John Irving was only eighteen when his father died on August 28th 1872 at New Westminster. He inherited the ''Onward'' and the ''Reliance'' and soon proved that he was capable of following in his father's footsteps.^[4]

Fraser and Stikine Rivers

In 1873, John Irving took command of the ''Onward'' and ordered a new sternwheeler, the ''Glenora'' which was launched in 1874 and taken up to the Stikine River to provide freight and passenger service for the miners during the Cassiar Gold Rush. Though the Stikine was William Moore's territory, he was busy prospecting so the ''Glenora's'' only competition was Captain Parson's ''Hope''.
The two sternwheelers both worked on the Stikine until that June when the owner's agreed to share in the profits of Parson's ''Hope'' and Irving brought the ''Glenora'' back to the Fraser River.
In 1874, John Irving purchased the ''Royal City'' from Captain Parson, who would perish the following year with his wife and daughter during the sinking of the ''SS Pacific.^[2]
In 1875, John had his first rate war with his father's old rival, William Moore. Moore ran the ''Gertrude'' against Irving's ''Royal City'' for a few weeks, creating a rate war that lowered fares to $1 between New Westminster and Yale. Seeing there was no profits to be made, Moore laid the ''Gertrude'' up at Victoria and John Irving was left to his river again.^[6]
In 1876, John had another sternwheeler built, the ''Reliance'', which he first intended to run on the Stikine, but after consultation with Moore, the two captains decided it was more profitable for them to stick to their respective rivers.
In 1879, the ''Glenora'' sank and was badly damaged just below the Harrison River and John replaced her with a new vessel, the ''William Irving''.

By 1881, only five sternwheelers were on the river, Irving's ''Reliance'', ''Royal City'' and ''William Irving'' along with Moore's ''Cassiar'' and ''Western Slope'' and the two captains battled for the increased business caused by the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The old rivalry ran hot as Moore's and Irving's sternwheelers raced up and down the Fraser, competing for passengers. To compete with Moore's ''Western Slope'', Irving built a new sternwheeler, the $80,000 ''Elizabeth J Irving'' which on its second trip to Yale, raced Moore's ''Western Slope'' and, midway through the race, caught on fire near Hope and was soon reduced to a charred wreck, resulting in the deaths of four First Nations crewmen, two horses and two cows. The loss would be a tremendous financial blow to John Irving who had just allowed the vessel's insurance to expire a week earlier.^[2]
[6]

In 1882, Irving ordered another sternwheeler, the ''RP Rithet'', the finest yet on the river. ''Simply gorgeous... the RP Rithet is truly a floating palace'' raved the New Westminster newspaper.^[2] Meanwhile, William Moore had fallen on hard times, losing not only his sternwheelers, but also his home and properties in Victoria. John Irving purchased the Moore's ''Western Slope'' at auction, and in a grand gesture that proved he was a man of great honor, hired William Moore's three sons to be her crew, Billie to be her captain, Henry her mate and John her purser, thus helping his rival's family remain solvent.^[6]
In 1883 John, then 29, was made the general manager of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and the future looked bright, but the completion of the railway replaced Yale with Ashcroft as the gateway to the Cariboo and points further north and sternwheelers were demoted to working for local trade.
In 1901, the CPR purchased the CPNC and told John Irving that he could ride free on their boats for the rest of his life. In his retirement years, he would take them up on the offer and travel on the CPR ships frequently.^[2]

Upper Fraser River

In 1896, John Irving partnered with Stephen Tingley, the former owner of the BC Express Company and Senator James Reid of Quesnel and formed the North British Columbia Navigation Company. The partners hired Alexander Watson to build a sternwheeler to work on the upper Fraser River, the ''Charlotte''. She would be piloted by Frank Odin and later, Owen Forrester Browne. The ''Charlotte'' ran from Soda Creek to Quesnel and was the only sternwheeler on the upper Fraser until 1909.^[2]

Political career

From 1894 to 1901 John Irving was the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Cassiar Electoral District.^[4][14]

Later years

John Irving died in Vancouver on August 10th, 1936.^[15]

Notes

1. http://www.irvingtonpdx.com/about/history.html
2. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
3. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
4. http://www.nwpl.new-westminster.bc.ca/nwheritage.org/heritagesite/orgs/samson/Captain%20history%20subpage.htm
5. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
6. Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman, , Norman, Hacking, Heritage House, 1992,
7. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
8. Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman, , Norman, Hacking, Heritage House, 1992,
9. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
10. Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman, , Norman, Hacking, Heritage House, 1992,
11. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
12. Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume 1, , Art, Downs, Foremost Publishing, 1971,
13. http://www.nwpl.new-westminster.bc.ca/nwheritage.org/heritagesite/orgs/samson/Captain%20history%20subpage.htm
14. http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/electoral_history/toc.html
15. http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-5E668D3/view/Deaths/find-adv%2B%20givennames%3D(john)%20AND%20surname%3D(irving)%20%2B%2B%2B%2B/6

External links

★ Fraser riverboat captains

★ Elections BC historical returns

★ Irvington, Oregon

See also

★ Cassiar (electoral district)

Further reading

★ ''Paddlewheels on the Frontier'' Volume One Art Downs ISBN 0888260334

★ ''Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman'' Norman Hacking ISBN 1-895811-02-3.