Alligator tugs were a type of

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, cars, Duckboats, buses, truc ...

used in the

forestry industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furn ...

throughout

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, the Maritime provinces of Canada and the northern United States from the mid-19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. These tugs were so named because of their ability to travel between lakes by pulling themselves with a winch across land. Alligators served as a " warping tug". They towed log booms across lakes and then portaged themselves using a winch to the next body of water. The rugged,

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

tugs were one of the pioneers in the mechanization of the forest industry in North America.

History

Various companies built amphibious tugs for logging, but the most successful line of the tugs which came to be known as "alligators" were designed and patented in Canada in the late 1880s, a notable example of Ontario's early industrial era. Most were built by West & Peachey of

Simcoe, Ontario Simcoe is an unincorporated community and former town in Southwestern Ontario, Canada near Lake Erie. It is the county seat and largest community of Norfolk County. Simcoe is at the junction of Highway 3, at Highway 24, due south of Brantford ...

. In 1878, Joseph Jackson, a North Ontario country logging businessman, approached the firm West & Peachey Company of Simcoe, makers of

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s, steam engines and logging equipment, to help him solve a problem with hauling large log booms across lakes and slow moving rivers. John Ceburn West traveled north to see Jackson's loggers at work and began to sketch and develop a plan. West & Peachey presented their idea to Mr. Jackson who then commissioned the building of a prototype. West & Peachey built 230 alligator tugs between 1889 and 1932 for customers across Ontario,

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, the

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and the northern United States from

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Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. One was shipped in pieces to be assembled in

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. The largest alligator was the ''Mistango'' built by Captain John A. Clark for service on

Lake Nipissing Lake Nipissing (; , ) is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Lake Nipissing i ...

which was over 66 feet in length and required a crew of eleven. They were used for more than thirty years and were ubiquitous in northern Ontario until eclipsed by the Russel Tug warping tugs built by the Russel Brothers Company in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist ...

Design and construction

Alligators were scow-shaped, shallow-draft tugs, fitted with side-mounted paddle wheels, powered by a 20-horsepower steam engine and provided with a cable winch and large anchor. By using the winch Alligators could pull themselves over land, around portages and up as much as a 20-degree incline at the rate of 1 to miles per day. They could haul a boom of some 60,000 logs across water against all but the strongest winds. They were heavily but simply built, making rebuilding and repair easy. Alligators began with

paddle wheel A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

propulsion. Later versions used screw propellers and diesel engines in place of steam.

Preserved examples

The only currently operating alligator tug is the ''W.D. Stalker'' located in

. A static alligator, ''William M.'' is preserved at the logging museum in

Algonquin Park Algonquin Provincial Park is an Ontario provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Addit ...

. Another, named ''Fairy Blonde'' is preserved at the Wakami Lake Provincial Park near

Chapleau, Ontario Chapleau is a township (Canada), township in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. It is the access point to one of the world's largest wildlife preserves. Chapleau has a population of 1,942 according to the 2021 Canadian census. The major industri ...

. An Alligator tugboat called the ''Missinaibi'' is on display in the

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

. Surviving remains of an alligator tug have been the subject of a contested restoration effort in Northern Ontario between the Connaught and District Historical Society and another interest group. The abandoned remains of another alligator can be found on a small island in Catfish Lake in Algonquin Park.

Photographs

File:Alligator boat 2.jpg, Alligator tug ''Amable du Fond'', c. 1900 File:Alligator boat 3.jpg, Bow view of ''Bonnechere'', 1907 File:Alligator boat 4.JPG, Alligator tug ''North River'', 1905 File:An Alligator, a tug used in the logging industry.jpg, Alligator tug steams up in the Muskoka area File:Alligator Boat 1908 Lac Tremblant Que combo.jpg, Alligator, St. George, on Lac Tremblant, Quebec, 1908 File:Abandoned Alligator in Algonquin Park.jpg, alt=The rusted gears and body of this ancient logging tool lie on a piney forest floor. The parts are strewn about, long abandoned on this remote island., Abandoned Alligator ''Algonquin Park, Ontario'', 2013

References

*Harry Barrett and Clarence F. Coons, ''Alligators of the North – The Story of the West & Peachey Steam Warping Tugs'' Dundurn Press, Toronto (2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Alligator tug Boat types Amphibious vehicles Logging