Norman Kittson - Steamboat Operations

Steamboat Operations

Sir George Simpson, the Governor of Kittson's old rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, described him in the 1850s as "the most extensive and respectable of the American traders doing business at Red River." In 1858, to aid his trading capacity between there and St. Paul, Kittson was instrumental in establishing a steamboat service on the Red River of the North, a route which was also used by the HBC. Simpson’s successor, Alexander Grant Dallas, managed to convert Kittson "from an opponent into an ally". In 1862, the HBC appointed him shipping agent and head of navigation on the Red River, a position he retained throughout the 1860s to the great mutual benefit of both Kittson and the HBC. He co-ordinated the import of trade goods from England and the export of furs by cart brigades between St. Paul and Georgetown, and by the steamship International between Georgetown and the Red River Settlement.

Following the creation of the new Canadian province of Manitoba, in 1872 Kittson joined up with another former competitor, James Jerome Hill, forming the Red River Transportation Company. The line had five steamboats, and Kittson had invested $75,000 by 1873. They gained a monopoly on the Red River during the 1870s, and were important factors in the development of Winnipeg and south Manitoba through the transportation of immigrants and supplies.