''Beaver'' was a

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

originally owned and operated by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. She was the first steamship to operate in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, and made remote parts of the west coast of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

accessible for maritime fur trading. At one point she was chartered by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

for surveying the coastline of British Columbia. She served off the coast from 1836 until 1888, when she was wrecked.

Service

''Beaver'' served trading posts maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company between the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

and

Russian America Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

(

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

) and played an important role in helping maintain British control in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858–59. In 1862 the

chartered her to survey and chart the coast of the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: * Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) * Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also * History of ...

. She also provided assistance to the Royal Navy at Bute Inlet during the Chilcotin War.

Loss

A consortium that became the British Columbia Towing and Transportation Company in 1874 purchased her, and used her as a towboat until 25 July 1888. On that day an inebriated crew ran her aground on rocks in Burrard Inlet at Prospect Point in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

. The wreck finally sank in July 1892 when the wake of the passing steamer ''Yosemite'' struck it, but only after enterprising locals had stripped much of the wreck for souvenirs. The Vancouver Maritime Museum houses a collection of ''Beaver'' remnants including the boiler and two drive shafts for the paddle wheels, one raised in the 1960s and the other returned from a collection in Tacoma, along with the boiler. A plaque commemorates the site of the sinking. Divers surveyed the wreck in the 1960s. However, when the Underwater Archaeological Society of BC did so in the 1990s, they found she had mostly disintegrated due to rot and currents.

Image gallery

File:Engine of Paddle Steamer Leven, Dumbarton - geograph.org.uk - 174441.jpg, Side lever engine off ''PS Levan; Beaver's'' engine had two cylinders and was built by Boulton and Watt. File:Wreck of the Steamboat, S.S. Beaver, British Columbia (S2004-891 LS).jpg, The wreck of S.S. ''Beaver'' Image:SSBeaver Plaque.jpg, Plaque commemorating ''Beaver'' in

References

* Horner, John B. (1921).
Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature
'. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland * Pethick, Derek, ''The SS Beaver'', 1974 {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaver (Steamship) Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada Merchant ships of the United States Shipwrecks of the British Columbia coast Stanley Park Paddle steamers of British Columbia Steamboats of Washington (state) Sidewheel steamboats of Washington (state) Maritime incidents in July 1888 Maritime incidents in 1892 Steamboats of the Columbia River Ships built by the Blackwall Yard 1835 ships Fur trade Hudson's Bay Company ships