John Irving (steamship Captain) - Fraser and Stikine Rivers

Fraser and Stikine Rivers

In 1873, John Irving took command of the Onward and ordered a new sternwheeler, the Glenora which was launched in 1874 and taken up to the Stikine River to provide freight and passenger service for the miners during the Cassiar Gold Rush. Though the Stikine was William Moore's territory, he was busy prospecting so the Glenora's only competition was Captain Parson's Hope. The two sternwheelers both worked on the Stikine until that June when the owner's agreed to share in the profits of Parson's Hope and Irving brought the Glenora back to the Fraser River.

In 1874, John Irving purchased the Royal City from Captain Parson, who would perish the following year with his wife and daughter during the sinking of the SS Pacific.

In 1875, John had his first rate war with his father's old rival, William Moore. Moore ran the Gertrude against Irving's Royal City for a few weeks, creating a rate war that lowered fares to $1 between New Westminster and Yale. Seeing there was no profits to be made, Moore laid the Gertrude up at Victoria and John Irving was left to his river again.

In 1876, John had another sternwheeler built, the Reliance, which he first intended to run on the Stikine, but after consultation with Moore, the two captains decided it was more profitable for them to stick to their respective rivers.

In 1879, the Glenora sank and was badly damaged just below the Harrison River and John replaced her with a new vessel, the William Irving.

By 1881, only five sternwheelers were on the river, Irving's Reliance, Royal City and William Irving along with Moore's Cassiar and Western Slope and the two captains battled for the increased business caused by the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The old rivalry ran hot as Moore's and Irving's sternwheelers raced up and down the Fraser, competing for passengers. To compete with Moore's Western Slope, Irving built a new sternwheeler, the $80,000 Elizabeth J Irving which on its second trip to Yale, raced Moore's Western Slope and, midway through the race, caught on fire near Hope and was soon reduced to a charred wreck, resulting in the deaths of four First Nations crewmen, two horses and two cows. The loss would be a tremendous financial blow to John Irving who had just allowed the vessel's insurance to expire a week earlier.

In 1882, Irving ordered another sternwheeler, the RP Rithet, the finest yet on the river. Simply gorgeous... the RP Rithet is truly a floating palace raved the New Westminster newspaper. Meanwhile, William Moore had fallen on hard times, losing not only his sternwheelers, but also his home and properties in Victoria. John Irving purchased the Moore's Western Slope at auction, and in a grand gesture that proved he was a man of great honor, hired William Moore's three sons to be her crew, Billie to be her captain, Henry her mate and John her purser, thus helping his rival's family remain solvent.

In 1883 John, then 29, was made the general manager of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and the future looked bright, but the completion of the railway replaced Yale with Ashcroft as the gateway to the Cariboo and points further north and sternwheelers were demoted to working for local trade. After becoming general manager, John Irving arranged for the company to purchase the sidewheel steamboat Yosemite which had been lying idle in Oakland, California from 1879 to 1883.