SS Colvile docked at Norway House, Manitoba c. 1880
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History | |
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Name | Colvile |
Owner | Hudson's Bay Company |
Builder | John Reeves at Grand Forks |
Completed | 1875 |
Fate | Burned 1894 |
Notes | Two non-condensing side-valve engines made April 1872 by C. Dumont, Cincinnati, Ohio |
SS Colvile was a Lake Winnipeg steamboat built for the Hudson's Bay Company in Grand Forks, Dakota Territory. Colvile was constructed, using some parts of the vessel called Chief Commissioner which in turn used a boiler taken from Anson Northup. Colvile was one of the largest vessels constructed for the HBC. The company hired Captain J. Reeves to supervise the construction of the vessel.[1]
By 1878 Colvile was a vital link in the HBC trade on the Red River of the North and Saskatchewan River routes. When a railway was built to Selkirk, Manitoba, a storage area was built on the shore of the river. Later, this site became known as the Colvile Landing. A railway spur was constructed from the Selkirk station to the landing.[2]
Colvile was destroyed by fire in 1894 while docked in the town of Grand Rapids in the northwest corner of Lake Winnipeg. The fire also destroyed several dockside buildings.[3]