S.S. Bobolink

*Courtesy Northern BC Archives, UNBC Accession No. 2009.10.3.37*

Bobolink was a sternwheel powered snagboat that operated on both the Nass and Skeena Rivers. Bobolink removed stumps, trees and any other obstruction in the river that might interfere with navigation or fishing.

On the night of June 19, 1927 Unsworth Rothwell, while performing duties as the night watchmen on the Bobolink, drowned after falling from the vessel and into the water. See the newspaper report below.

In June 1928, while removing snags from the Skeena River near the site of the old Aberdeen Cannery, the Bobolink snagged on to an interesting relic from the early days of steamboat navigation on the north coast. Capt. J D Watson brought to Prince Rupert a large, old-fashioned anchor, estimated to weight some 1600 pounds (725 kg) and believed was lost 50 or 60 years earlier from the historic old Hudson’s Bay Co. side-wheeler Beaver. Beaver was the first steamer to ply as far north as the Skeena River to trade with the local Indigenous people as far back as 1850 or very shortly after. The anchor is emblazoned with a dragon and certain markings which indicate the origin which has been concluded. Interestingly, the Bobolink, two years earlier only 200 yards from the location of the Beaver anchor, dragged up a steel anchor about half the size of the Beaver anchor which was stamped “Liverpool”.

*Anchor found by Bobolink believed to be from the Beaver Northern BC Archives Fred Jeffery Collection, UNBC Accession No. 2009.10.1.91*

According to a Daily News report in Dec 1929, the Bobolink was formerly called the Cygnet.

In November 1930, Prince Rupert Drydock received the contract to build a wooden hull sternwheeler to replace the Bobolink. The new vessel will be larger than the Bobolink. The new vessel would be called the Essington.

In October 1947, the Bobolink, by this time owned by Nelson Bros. Fisheries had been converted to a floating boat repair scow. The Bobolink was reported as a complete loss when her mooring lines were broken during a storm and she piled up on Bacon Point. These reports of doom were pre-mature and the vessel was taken to the dry dock and repaired. The vessel contained a complicated and valuable machine shop.

Capt. J D Watson was Master of the Bobolink.

Name, Reg	Tonnage	Len x Wid x Draft	NHP	Engines	Passengers	Info
Bobolink	u/k		u/k	u/k	u/k	u/k

*Prince Rupert Daily News June 21, 1927*

*Bobolink Courtesy Fred Jeffery and Northern BC Archives UNBC Accession No. 2009.10.3.37 – Copy*

*Snagboat Bobolink Courtesy Northern BC Archives UNBC and Fred Jeffery, Accession No. 2009.10.2.121*

Sources:

Armstrong, Cliff Sternwheelers on the Skeena , 2001

Bennett, Norma V Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River, 2001

Macdonald, Joseph F. Macdonald’s Steamboats & Steamships of the Pacific Northwest.

Wright, E. W. Lewis & Drydens Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, 1967.

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