History Post-confederation (1867-)
Fire Canoes
Steamboats on Great Canadian Rivers
- Publisher
- Heritage House Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2012
- Category
- Post-Confederation (1867-), History
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781927051450
- Publish Date
- Apr 2012
- List Price
- $9.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781927051467
- Publish Date
- Apr 2012
- List Price
- $9.95
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 10
- Grade: 5
Description
Anson Northup, the first steamboat on the Canadian prairies, arrived in Fort Garry in 1859. Belching hot sparks and growling in fury, it was called "fire canoe" by the local Cree. The first steam-powered passenger vessel in Canada had begun service on the St. Lawrence River in 1809, and for the next 150 years, steamboats carried passengers and freight on great Canadian rivers, among them the treacherous Stikine and Fraser in British Columbia; the Saskatchewan and Red Rivers on the prairies; and the mighty St. Lawrence and Saguenay in Ontario and Quebec.
Travel back in time aboard makeshift gold-rush riverboats on the Yukon, sternwheelers on the Saskatchewan and luxurious liners on the St. Lawrence to the decades when steamboats sent the echoes of whistles across a vast land of powerful rivers.
About the author
Anthony Dalton is an adventurer, author and public speaker. Between 1970 and 1980 he led regular expeditions across the Sahara, through the deserts of the Middle East and into the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. In 1984 he travelled hundreds of nautical miles along the Arctic coast of north-western Alaska alone in an inflatable speedboat. In 1994 he joined twelve members of the Cree First Nation on a traditional York boat voyage on the Hayes River between Norway House and Oxford House. While canoeing the second half of the Hayes River from Oxford House to York Factory in 2000 he participated in a television documentary on great Canadian rivers for the Discovery Channel.
Dalton has written five non-fiction books and collaborated on two others. His illustrated non-fiction articles have been published in magazines and newspapers in twenty countries and nine languages. He is currently working on two television documentaries based on his books.
Anthony Dalton is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a Member of the Welsh Academy and National President of the Canadian Authors Association.
Librarian Reviews
Fire Canoes: Steamboats on Great Canadian Rivers
The author recounts the excitement of arriving in Canada aboard the SS Empress of Scotland and proceeds to tell of the hundreds of steam powered vessels that plied the waters in Canada for over 150 years. He introduces Prairie entrepreneur Peter McArthur whose boats appear throughout the book. The Yukon and Arctic area is covered, as is British Columbia and three rivers in eastern Canada. Dalton incorporates geographical information about the major rivers that steamboats navigated from the Red River to the Fraser. Stories of numerous steamboats, their captains and the many navigational hazards encountered are included. There are adventures of challenging the Saskatchewan River rapids and steaming up the main street of Emerson during a flood. Steam was a popular form of transportation for passengers and freight until the railway took precedence in Canada.Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2013-2014.
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