A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River

by Barlow Cumberland

The waggons with their horses, having come to Lewiston from Albany and Rochester by the Ridge Road, were placed upon the batteaux to cross the river, and although at first carried far down by the current on the eastern side were easily taken by the eddy up the west shore to the landing place at Queenston. Up this inclined road to the upper tier, in imagination one can see the lines of immigrants, with their teams and canvas topped wagons, in long extended line seeking the far West for their new homes and great adventures.

So great was the traffic in this direction that, in 1836 a "horse boat" was employed on the ferry and the first Suspension Bridge at Queenston was promoted in 1839 to accommodate the movement from the East towards the West. At present except when a Niagara Navigation Co. steamer is alongside, all is so quiet it seems scarcely possible that this landing place could at one time have been the centre of such busy movement.

The re-opening revived also the memories of an oft told narrative of a little family, which years before had arrived over the portage route, at this same dock at Queenston, and made their first acquaintance with the Niagara River and its navigation.

Mr. Fred W. Cumberland, our late Director, and his wife had come to the opinion that the position which the held on the Engineering Staff, in Her Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth, did not represent such a future as they would desire, and therefore they determined to emigrate to Canada. In the spring of 1847 they took passage on a sailing ship, bringing with them their ten-months-old baby. After a voyage of six weeks they reached New York, from where they came by Hudson River steamer to Albany, where they spent the night. From here they came by steam railroad at the unexpected speed of "twenty miles an hour." And again, as was usual, for there were no night trains, broke their journey and stayed over night at Syracuse, 171 miles, where there was a fine large hotel, and the following day leaving 8.00 a.m., arrived at Buffalo at 9.00 p.m. Leaving Buffalo next morning they came by steamer down the Niagara River to Chippawa, where they took the "horse railroad" for Queenston to join the steamer for Toronto.

The terminus at Queenston of the horse railroad was at the end of the "stone road," near the hotel above the road leading down to the steamer. Just when arrived at this, the car went off the track, and while Mr. Cumberland was endeavoring to extract their belongings, Mrs. Cumberland, the baby, and a young clergyman, the Rev. G. Salter, who had crossed the Atlantic on the same ship with them, were carried off on the steamer for Toronto, and the father was left behind. It was amusingly told, how, after they had landed at the foot of Church Street, and were walking up into the town, Mr. Salter, who had been consigned to an appointment under the Rev. Dr. John Strachan, then Bishop of Toronto, wondered what his Bishop would say if he should chance to meet his new curate with another man's wife and carrying a baby as he entered his Diocese. The baby was Barlow Cumberland, who then made his first steamboating on the Niagara River, on which he was afterwards to be so actively engaged.

It was determined that the new steamer should be a further advance in size and equipment to prepare for the increased traffic now to be fed from both sides of the river. Additional capital was therefore required, of which part was provided by the Niagara Company, and part by the introduction of new stockholders, including Mr. E. B. Osler, and Mr. William Hendrie.

Here, in 1892, the purely family relationship of the first members of the Company closed, the stock holdings being more widely spread and the Board increased from five members to seven.

The services of Mr. Frank Kirby, of Detroit, the most accomplished designer of passenger steamers, were engaged, the plans made, the tenders of the Hamilton Bridge & Shipbuilding Co. accepted for the hull, boilers and upper-works, and the engines contracted for with W. Fletcher Co., of New York, the builders of the fastest marine engines on the Hudson and the Upper Lakes. Mr. Geo. H. Hendrie left the next day for Scotland to arrange for the materials.

Cibola, Capt. McGiffin, and Chicora, Capt. Solmes, conducted the season 1892 with good success. Work on the new steamer was commenced at Hamilton.

Again the question of a new name arose, and this time it was considered that the name should still be Indian, but of Canadian origin. Thus the name Chippewa was selected as that of a renowned Canadian tribe of Indians which had flourished in the Niagara River District, and also as a renewal of the name of H.M. sloop Chippewa, upon which General Brock had sailed on Lake Erie. It will be noted that the name is not that of the village and postoffice of Chippawa, but is spelled with an "e," being that of the Indian tribe. A fine carving of a Chippewa Chieftain's head, taken from Catlin's collection of Indian portraits, is placed on the centre of each paddle box, similarly as a rampant Buffalo had previously been placed on those of the Cibola. On 2nd May, 1893, the steamer was successfully launched in the presence of many of the citi-townsman, Mr. William Hendrie, and of a number of visitors from Buffalo, Toronto and Montreal. The name was given and the bottle gallantly broken by Miss Mary Osler, daughter of Mr. E. B. Osler, and Miss Mildred Cumberland, daughter of Mr. Barlow Cumberland. Chippewa, the Indian Chief, was the first of our vessels to be constructed of steel. Her tonnage is 1,574 tons. Length, 311 feet; beam, 36, and is authorized to carry 2,000 passengers in lake service. The interior arrangements were more convenient and spacious than any previously, and an innovation was the addition of a hurricane deck, upon which ample space for passengers is provided. The Chippewa had satisfactorily passed through her trial trips, and in May, 1894, the steamer, completed in every respect, sailed from Hamilton to take up her station on the Niagara Route. A goodly number of railway and steamboating officials and friends were on board under the leadership of Sir Frank Smith.