The Route
The Fraser River was not considered navigable by sternwheeler between Yale and Soda Creek due to many hazardous canyons and rapids. The last obstacle to navigation was just downriver from Soda Creek, the Soda Creek Canyon, so the terminus of river navigation on the upper Fraser River was located at Soda Creek. From there a steamer could travel with no obstructions to Quesnel where a stage road ran to Barkerville. The stages of Barnard's Express would travel on the Cariboo Road up from Yale and connect with the Victoria at Soda Creek, a distance of 167 miles. Passengers and freight would then be transferred onto the sternwheeler and travel upriver 56 miles to Quesnel. Once there they would be transferred to company stages again to Barkerville for the last 54 miles. The Victoria made this trip three times a week, from May to October, from 1869 until 1886. She would be taken out of the river and berthed at Steamboat Landing near Alexandria in the fall of 1886. With her departure the upper Fraser River would be without steamer service until 1906.
Read more about this topic: Victoria (sternwheeler)
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