In the early decades of New Westminster, transportation was either on land by foot, horseback or horse-drawn wagon, or on the river by some form of water transport. The river was more efficient for carrying cargo and passengers, and paddlewheel steamboats were the most reliable.
From 1866, we find an excellent set of maritime examples as we note the volume of marine activity on the river, across the Gulf of Georgia and up the B.C. coast over a period of just a few days in early spring.
In a regular newspaper “shipping intelligence” listing, there were 13 vessel movements through this city’s waterfront with connections to Yale, Victoria, Whidbey Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands (today’s Haida Gwaii).
The British navy vessel HMS Sparrowhawk was in the local harbour carrying the governor and other dignitaries for an event at the Government House. Also from Victoria was the Enterprise carrying freight and a dozen passengers but “no important news from Vancouver Island.”
Activity on the Fraser River was always noted to give a more localized focus and it supplied important news from up country and throughout the Fraser Valley. There was great interest in this “golden” news, but sometimes it didn’t arrive.
“The steamers Lillooet and Reliance arrived from Yale last evening. The Cariboo Express had not got in when the steamers left so we are without mining news.”
A report on another day noted the wagon road through the canyon was to open, and “Barnard’s stages will commence running,” and that “from Cariboo the news was rather more cheering, good prospects being reported from several of the claims.”
It was also reported that there was a problem with the telegraph line in Oregon so the local ships, agents and interested others did not have the information they needed “respecting the movements of the California steamers, and we do not have any definite information as to when our mail steamer will be due here.”
In dealing with marine traffic, the news was from the Queen Charlotte Islands where coal was central. A schooner named Goldstream had just sailed with supplies for the Skidegate Coal Company, and someone reported that they hoped to “ship two or three hundred tons of coal this spring.”
News from further up the coast said the steamer Otter was heading north. She “sailed for the coast on a trading cruise yesterday with a full cargo.”
We have simple shipping comments that contained valuable news for the Royal City of 1866.
