S. S. Distributor was one of 5 vessels operated by Foley, Welch and Stewart during the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway along the Skeena River. Built in Victoria and launched in April 1908 she was based on the design of Alexander Watson’s Port Simpson plans. Space for only 6 staterooms with double bunks was allotted on the saloon deck in order to use the extra weight for cargo on the lower deck. She was also chartered by the Hudson’s Bay Company and worked for a time on the Stikine River trade.
In 1911, she was dismantled and her machinery placed in the Distributor C-130619 which went to work on the Canadian Northern Railway in the Thompson River system and Kamloops Lake. After completion of that railway she was dismantled and the hull was used by Capt Victor Jacobsen as a home at Victoria BC.
Name, Reg
Tonnage
Len x Wid x Draft
NHP
Engines
Passengers
Info
Distributor, C-122393
607
136.6×30.4×5.4
15
15×72
150
u/k
Officers: Captain W. H. Alexander Captain Doderick Captain Johnson Captain George H. Ritchie
Ships Registry for the Distributorcourtesy Library and Archives Canada:
Port of Registry for Distributor, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada
S. S. Distributor and steamer at GTP wharf Prince Rupert Courtesy Phyllis Bowman 1909 Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor near Kitwanga Skeena River Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Port Simpson and Distributor at Eby’s Landing, Kitsumkalum Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Port Simpson and Distributor at Prince Rupert Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Omineca and Distributor at Prince Rupert Courtesy McNicholl fonds, Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Omineca and Distributor Courtesy BC Archives
Omineca Herald September 12, 1908
Foley Welch boats on the Skeena Courtwesy Wrathall Photos 1910 and the Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor, Skeena, Operator and Conveyor at Prince Rupert Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Distributor on the Skeena Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Distributor on the Skeena Courtesy BC Archives
S. S. Distributor on Skeena at Kitselas Canyon Courtesy McNicholl fonds 1909 and Prince Rupert City Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor on the Skeena 1909 Courtesy McNicholl fonds and the Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor Mile 121 Skeena River Courtesy Fred Button 1911 and the Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor Courtesy McNicholl fonds 1909 and the Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor leaving Kitselas Canyon 1911 Courtesy Fred Button Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
S. S. Distributor in Kitselas Canyon Courtesy BC Archives
Four Foley, Welch and Stewart boats at Prince Rupert. Courtesy BC Archives
Four Foley, Welch and Stewart boats parading on the Skeena. Courtesy BC Archives
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.
O’Neill, Wiggs Steamboat Days on the Skeena River, 1963
Wright, E. W. Lewis & Drydens Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, 1967.
