In 1849 he traveled to Oregon, stopping along the way in Sacramento, California, where he worked unloading cargo during the California Gold Rush before continuing on to Portland. He purchased Block 12 of the Portland townsite and began a transportation business that delivered lumber by steamer up from California to Portland.
In 1851 he married 18-year-old Elizabeth Dixon who had just arrived in Oregon from Indiana the previous year. William built his new bride a large house along the river and they stayed there for nine years and had five children: Mary, John, Susan, Elizabeth, and Nellie.
When the family moved to British Columbia in 1859, their Portland home was taken over by Elizabeth's sister and her husband, George Shaver and would be called the "Shaver House".
After his death in 1872, his wife would return to Portland and continue to manage the family's holdings. His daughter Elizabeth would marry and also build a home in the neighborhood in 1884, named the "Spencer House", which still exists today and has the honor of being the oldest in the neighborhood.[3]
British Columbia
In 1859, William Irving and his family moved to Victoria, where he 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, Irving 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. By that September, freight rates, which had begun at $12 at ton, dropped to 50 cents a ton and fares, which had been $10 a passenger also dropped to 50 cents.[4]
By 1860, when the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush was starting to decline, more than a dozen sternwheelers were working in the on the Fraser River between New Westminster, Fort Hope and Port Douglas and more were arriving from American waters or were being built locally. Finally the individual owners got together and put an end to the rivalry by cooperatively increasing their rates.[5]
In 1862, news of the gold strikes in the Cariboo Gold Rush brought 4,000 miners to the area and the rate wars began anew. Irving sold his boats to John Wright and William Moore left to go work on the Stikine River, briefly putting an end to their rivalry. Irving immediately had another sternwheeler built, the Reliance and was kept busy shipping miners and supplies to Yale where they could travel on the nearly completed Cariboo Wagon Road to the goldfields at Barkerville.[6]
In 1863 and '64 rate wars erupted again when Irving's old rival, Moore returned from the Stikine River, rich with profits and ready to take on the new Reliance with his Flying Dutchman and Alexandra. Nevertheless, Irving managed to keep most of his customers and Moore claimed bankruptcy and his boats were taken from service.[7][8]
Captain William Irving moved his family to New Westminster, into their new house at 302 Royal Avenue, on August 5, 1865. This house is preserved as Irving House and is the oldest intact house in the Lower mainland of British Columbia.
By 1865, there were only four sternwheelers on the lower Fraser River, Irving's Reliance and Onward and Captain Fleming's Lillooet and Hope. The two captains agreed to run their sternwheelers on alternate years and take an equal share of the profits.[9]
1871 was the year that British Columbia went from being the Colony of British Columbia and became a province in Canada, an arrangement that included the promise of a railway constructed to the coast. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway would breathe new life into the area and make the faltering river trade profitable again. Tragically, William Irving would not live long enough to enjoy the prosperity of this new era. He died on August 28, 1872, at New Westminster. On the day of his funeral all of the flags in town were flown at half-mast and all of the stores were closed. He is buried at the Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster.[10]
Captain William Irving
Although he was only eighteen, William's son, John Irving, would take over his father's business and become every bit as successful in the river trade in British Columbia in the following decades.[11]
Twelve paddlewheel steamboats plied the upper Fraser River in British Columbia from 1863 until 1921. They were used for a variety of purposes: working on railroad construction, delivering mail, promoting real estate in infant townsites and bringing settlers in to a new frontier. They served the towns of Quesnel, Barkerville and Fort George. Some only worked the Fraser from Soda Creek to Quesnel, while others went all the way to Tête Jaune Cache or took the Nechako River and served Fort Fraser and beyond.
Owen Forrester Browne was a paddle steamer captain in British Columbia, and Alberta, Canada. He was born in New Westminster and worked on the lower Fraser and Yukon River sternwheelers before coming to the upper Fraser River in the early 1900s.
The Enterprise was a passenger and freight sternwheeler that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. It was built at Four Mile Creek near Alexandria by pioneer shipbuilder James Trahey of Victoria for Gustavus Blin Wright and Captain Thomas Wright and was put into service in the spring of 1863. Her captain was JW Doane. The Enterprise was the first of twelve sternwheelers that would work on this section of the Fraser from 1863 to 1921. Though she wasn’t large, she was a wonderful example of the early craft of shipbuilding. All of the lumber she was built from was cut by hand and her boiler and engines had been brought to the building site at Four Mile packed by mule via the wagon road from Port Douglas, 300 miles away.
Victoria was a passenger and freight sternwheeler that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. She was built at Quesnel by pioneer shipbuilder James Trahey of Victoria for Gustavus Blin-Wright and Captain Thomas Wright and was put into service in the spring of 1869 to augment the service of Enterprise also built by Trahey for the Wrights. Although the Victoria's hull was new, her engines and boiler had originally been in the Prince of Wales from Lillooet Lake.
The Charlotte sternwheeler was built in 1896 by Alexander Watson for the Northern British Columbia Navigation Company. The partners of the NBCNC were Stephen Tingley, Senator James Reid and John Irving. She was launched on August 3, 1896 and christened by James Reid's wife after whom she'd been named.
Quesnel was a sternwheeler first launched in May 1909 at Quesnel, British Columbia to serve the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River.
The Nechacco sternwheeler was built for service on the Soda Creek to Fort George route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. She was owned by the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company. The partners in this company were Nick Clark and Russel Peden of South Fort George, who operated a sawmill there. Nick Clark also owned the lots in that townsite and was offering them up for sale. The new steamer was intended to bring prospective property buyers to Fort George and to furnish them with supplies.
The Fort Fraser was a small sternwheeler owned by the Fort George Lumber and Transportation Company a partnership originally held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden from the Fort George town-site of South Fort George. The Fort Fraser was intended to be a small prospecting craft that could service not only the Soda Creek to Fort George section of the upper Fraser River but also the Nechako River and some of its tributaries, enabling her to serve her namesake town of Fort Fraser.
The sternwheeler Chilcotin was built for the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River. She was built by shipbuilder Donald McPhee for the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company, which was a partnership held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden of the South Fort George town-site of Fort George. Chilcotin was the largest of the company's three sternwheelers and was intended to run as competition against the BC Express Company's new luxury sternwheeler, BX. Chilcotin had main, promenade and Texas decks, hot and cold running water and stateroom accommodation for fifty.
The Robert C Hammond was the last sternwheeler built for service on the upper Fraser and Nechako Rivers. She was owned by the Fort George Lake and River Transportation Company, a partnership of George Hammond and his brother. She was launched at the Central Fort George town-site of Fort George on May 22, 1913. She was built so that George Hammond, the promoter of Central Fort George, could claim that his community had steamer service. Central Fort George was on the Nechako River and the large sternwheelers owned by the BC Express Company, despite a $50 per trip inducement, could rarely call there, as there often were sandbars unless the water was very high. The rival sternwheelers of the South Fort George town-site owned by the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company were not interested in helping George Hammond promote Central.
The Conveyor was one of five sternwheelers built for the use on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart for construction work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The other four were the Operator, the Skeena, the Distributor and the Omineca. Three of these, the Conveyor, the Operator and the Distributor were built at Victoria, British Columbia in 1908 by Alexander Watson Jr.
The Operator sternwheeler was one of five sternwheelers built for the use on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart for construction work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The other four were the Conveyor, the Skeena, the Distributor and the Omineca. Three of these, the Conveyor, the Operator and the Distributor were built at Victoria, British Columbia, in 1908 by Alexander Watson Jr.
Skuzzy was a sternwheeler built by Canadian Pacific Railway contractor Andrew Onderdonk at Spuzzum, British Columbia, and was launched on the Fraser River on May 4, 1882. Skuzzy was the first sternwheeler to ever navigate the perilous rapids north of Yale in the Fraser Canyon.
William Moore was a steamship captain, businessman, miner and explorer in British Columbia and Alaska. During most of British Columbia's gold rushes Moore could be found at the center of activity, either providing transportation to the miners, working claims or delivering mail and supplies.
Gustavus Blin Wright was a pioneer roadbuilder and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. His biggest achievement was building the Old Cariboo Road to the Cariboo gold fields, from Lillooet to Fort Alexandria, but he was also a partner in a freighting firm that operated on the Douglas Road, he ran a toll bridge at Bridge River, near Lillooet, and built part of the road from Quesnel to Barkerville. He was also the original owner of the town of 70 Mile House.
The Skeena sternwheeler was one of five sternwheelers built for the use on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart for construction work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from 1909 until 1911. She was built at Robertson's yard in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, in 1908. The other four were the Conveyor, the Operator, the Distributor and the Omineca. Three of these, the Conveyor, the Operator and the Distributor were built at Victoria, British Columbia in 1908 by Alexander Watson Jr.
John Henry Bonser was a steamship captain from Oregon, United States and British Columbia, Canada. He piloted dozens of sternwheelers over his 40-year-long career and pioneered many rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
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.
Hazelton was a sternwheeler that worked on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada from 1901 until 1912. Her first owner was Robert Cunningham who ran a freighting business that served the communities along the Skeena River.
The Inlander was a sternwheeler that worked on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada, from 1910 until 1912. She was owned by the Prince Rupert and Skeena River Navigation Company which was a syndicate of Skeena River businessmen who planned to use the Inlander as a passenger and freight steamer during the busy years of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction.
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