He was buried and commemorated by a table tomb at St John's Church at West Wickham in Bromley.

Memorial at Tulliallan Kirkyard, Dumfries, Scotland - "Sacred to the

memory of John Adamson, surgeon R.N. born 25 Aug 1769 died 7th

He was distinguised for great professional abilities,

philanthropic spirit and sincere though unostentatious piety.

Erected by his widow Thomasina Brown.Thomasina Brown born 6 Sept

Memorial at St. Peter's Church, Hurstbourne Tarrant,

to the memory of Captain Charles Alder RN sixth son of the late

Gilbert Alder Died the 16th Nov 1903 at Ham House West Buckland

Russian War 1854-55 and in 1857-8, 60 in the Second China War and

was present at the Storming of the Taku Forts the blockade of the

Pei-ho River and the Capture of Canton also in the Congo River

Expedition and in the supression of the slave trade on the West

Grave at Cheltenham Borough Cemetery, Gloucestershire - "In loving memory of

Brigadier Surgeon William Ashton, RAMC of Doneraile, Co. Cork,

grandson Cdr. William Ashton DSC, RN Born Canada 15 January 1914.

Memorial at St. Andrew's church, Shrivenham, Oxon - "Sacred to the

memory of the Honourable Samuel Barrington Admiral of the White

Born Feby 15th 1770 Died Augt. 16th 1800."

Assistant-Surgeon George Hext - HMS Gladiator

Memorial at St. Mary's church, Penzance - "In affectionate remembrance of

Bellringer, Jun., late acting assistant surgeon of HMS "Gladiator"

who departed this life near the Island of Bermuda, on the 4th

Grave at Lambeth churchyard, London - "Sacred to the

memory of William Bligh Esquire FRS Vice Admiral of the Blue, The

celebrated Navigator who first transplanted the bread fruit tree

from Otahette to the West Indies, bravely fought the Battles of

his Country and died beloved respected and lamented on the 7th

Memorial in St. James Church, Sydney, Australia - "Sacred to the memory of Commodore Sir James Brisbane, Kt, CB,

KW, who closed with his life, an honourable career of active and

Whilst commanding HM Squadron in India he

conducted in person the naval force employed in the difficult and

harassing war which ended with the submission of the Burmese Empire:

subsequent to its termination he sailed for South America, in command

of H M Ship Warspite; but being greatly impaired in health by that

arduous services, landed at Sydney, and after protracted suffering died

on 19th of December 1826 aged 52 years."

Memorial at St. Mary's church, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire - "To the glory of God

and in memory of Edward John Brooks RN. Commander of HMS Ringdove

who was accidentally drowned in Yedo Bay 7-12-1870 and was buried

Memorial at St. Nicholas' church, Deptford, Kent - "In

memory of Lieut. Peter Butt, R.N., at 17

eldest son of Peter Butt, esquire, who died 7th July 1780, of

wounds received on board H.M.S. Conqueror on the 19th of May

proceeding in the Fleet under the Command of Vice Admiral Sir

George Rodney in action with the French fleet in the West Indies.

Also of Lieut. John Butt, second son of Peter Butt, esquire, who

was drowned while in command of an armed ship in the North Sea 24th

Grave at the Protestant Cemetery, Rome, Italy - "Sacred

Bar Commander RN. Born October 22 1817 died at Civitavecchia

Admiral Chamberlayne - Royal Navy - died 24th April 1810.

Captain George Chamberlayne - Royal Navy - died March 1799.

Post Captain Edwin Chamberlayne, CB - Royal Navy - died December

Lieutenant Bickerton Chamberlayne - 12th Foot - died April 1822.

Memorial at St. Edward Church, Stow on the Wold - "In memory of

Admiral Chamberlayne of the Family of Chamberlayne, formerly

Tancarville long settled at Maugersbury in this Parish and four

of his Sons all now waiting for a blefsed Resurrection therough

the merits and mercis of jesus Christ Admiral Chamberlayne after

long and arduous Services to his King and Country died in the

bosom of his own family at Plymouth April 24 1810.

George the eldest Son of the Admiral died in November 1802 Aged

22 a Captain in command H.M.Sloop Busy in the West Indies Charles

died in March 1799 aged 16 on his return from Sea a Naval Officer

Edwin died in December 1821 aged 37 a Post Captain in his

Majesty's Navy and companion of the most honourable order of the

Bickerton died in April 1822 aged 30 a Lieut. in his Majesty's 12

Each in their several Stations having done

honour to the ancient and honourable name they bore verily their

Son of Admiral Sir Charles Cotton (below)

Memorial at St. Mary's Church, Madingley, Cambridgeshire - "Commander Charles

Cotton R.N. Died on board HMS Zebra in the Mediterranean on the

Church at Malta, where a monument erected by his officers and men

..... His death was occasioned by a fever resulting from the

fatigue of an arduous service in the course of which he was

eminently conspicuous in rescuing the crew of HMS Cambrian off

Father of Cmmander Charles Cotton (above). Served at the battle

squadron based off Lisbon, Portugal, followed by commands of the

Memorial at St. Mary's Church, Madingley, Cambridgeshire - "Sacred to the

memory of Sir Charles Cotton Bar T, Admiral of the White Fleet.

At an early period of his life he entered into the service of his

From the active and almost incessant occupations of

which neither the subsequent possession of an ample fortune, nor

the still more powerful ties of domestic and local attachment

DACRES - Captain James Richard - HMS Nimrod

Memorial at Parish Church at Tetbury, Gloucestershire - "In memory of James Richard Dacres, Esqre.

Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron, who died at Catisfield Lodge,

Hants., on the 4th December, 1853, aged 64 years.

son, James Richard Dacres, Esqre., Commanding H.M. sloop Nimrod,

who died at Mozambique, on the 14th February, 1848, aged 37 years.

And of his youngest son, Hew Dalrymple Dacres,

., who died at sea, on his passage from Barbadoes, 11th

Regt. of Foot, died in the service of his country, at the Helder,

on the coast of Holland, September 28th, 1799, aged 20 years."

(Son of Lieutenant Henry Wayet Davenport (39th Foot) - see entry)

Grave at St. Peter's Church, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Glos - "Sir Salusbury

Davenport, of Bramhall Hall, Cheshire, Rear Admiral of the White,

He died at Cheltenham on the 17th November 1845 and

was buried in this church yard by his own written desire."

St. Anne's Church of Ireland, County Donegal, Ireland - "In loving memory of

John William Dickson, Lt. Col. D.L.I. Born November 19th 1802

Also Thomas Hyacinth Dickson, Commander R.N.,

Born Sept. 11th 1844 died September 12th 1888."

Admiral Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood

Memorial at Largo church, East Fife - "In

Calderwood Durham of Fordell, Polton and Largo, Admiral of the

Red, Knight Grand Cross of Bath and of military merit in France.

He was born on 29.7.1763 entered the R.N at 14 and was made Post

Captain in 1793, his activity, gallantry, judgement and Zeal were

excelled by none in his profession and his numerous captures and

successes were acknowledged by many public testimonials.

became Rear Admiral in 1810 with Comander in Chief for he West

Indies from 1813 till peace in 1815 and held the command at

Portsmouth from 1837-1839, he represented Queensburgh and Devises

in several Parliments, but passed his later years cheifly at

Fordel. Courted in society and generously spending an ample

fortune, in 1799 he married Lady Charlotte Matilda Bruce,

daughter of Charles, 5th Earl of Elgin who died in 1816 and

secondly in 1817 Ann Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John

Henderson of Fordell, Baronet, whom he survived only 3 months, he

died at Naples on the 21.4.184 and was interred beneath the West

Memorial at Rippon Cathedral - "To the memory of the late

of Elliot House, near Ripon, Commander R.N., having entered the

naval service of his country early inlife, he circumnavigated the

globe as a Midshipman in the Resolution, under the command of the

celebrated Capt. Cook; he subsequently served as a Lieut. of the

Ajax of 74 guns, and was present in Lord Rodney's glorious action

of the 12th of April 1782, in which he was severely wounded; he

resided at Elliott House many years, greatly respected for his

strict integrity and uprightness in all the relations of life;

was born Jany. 11th 1759, and died September 17th 1834; also to

the memory of Isabella Elliott, his beloved wife, who was born

Memorial at St. Thomas of Canterbury, Goring-on-Thames,

loving memory of Lt Herbert Lefroy Hunter

Fell RN Bey of the Soudanese Service Born at Worldham Rectory

Hants 16 December 1873 Died at Tambura in the Bahr El Ghazal

Memorial at St. Peter's church, Sandwich, Kent - "In the family vault

beneath are deposited the mortal remains of John Ferrier Esquire

Admiral of the Blue Squadron of His Majesty's Fleet a native of

this town he passed a long and active life in the arduous duties

of his profession with unblemished honour serving in all quarters

as a British officer he was assiduously attentive

and he laboured to promote with zeal punctuality and diligence

the best interests of his country his professional character and

qualifications as drawn by drawn by the illustrious Nelson are

publically recorded in the retirement of private life in which

his latter years were passed he lived to his family, to his

erected in grateful remembrance of his kindness and affection by

Esquire, Rear-Admiral of the White Squadron, who, after bravely

serving his country for more than forty years, died at Banff 12th

continued and uniform exertion of humanity, patriotism and valour.

Gentleness and elegance of manners, a friendly benevolent and

tender heart, and a strict regard to every religious and social

duty, are some of those engaging qualities that distinguished him

in private life, and have left upon the minds of his surviving

friends a regret which no length of time will be able to remove.

. . . Mrs. Elizabeth Forbes erects this marble as a memorial of

her gratitude and love to a most affectionate husband and most

HART - Lieutenant Henry Chichester Hart - HMS Venus

Memorial at St. Mary Magdalen's church, Taunton, Somerset - "In Memory of George

Hart, Esq. R. Admiral of the White Squadron of H.M. Fleet, who

departed this life 28th April 1812, in his 60th year; In his

profession, zealous, intrepid, humane, a fond father, an

affectionate husband, a pious Christian.

Chichester, his only son, who on the 30th June 1813 and the 24th

year of his age, a Lt. of the Royal Navy and first of H.M.S.

Venus, was cut off, in the execution of his duty, in Carlisle

Beloved and regretted by his brother officers,

his Ship's Company, and all who knew him.

Anne, the widow and mother of the deceased, A feeble but sincere

Rear Admiral Hart, who died the 31st of March 1815."

Memorial at Johnstone Church Burial Ground, Dumfries, Scotland - "Admiral Sir William

James Hope Johnstone, KGB. Born 28 Jul 1798 d. Jul 11 1878, the

second son of the late Sir William and Lady Anne Hope- Johnstone

Memorial at Shiplake church, Oxfordshire - "In memory of Vice

Admiral Lord Mark Robert Kerr (Third son of William John Kerr

Fifth Marquis of Lothian) whose remains are interred beneath this

He departed this life Sept. 9th 1840 in the 64th year of

Most exemplary as a Christian, a husband, a father and a

Admiral Evelyn Robert Le - Royal Navy - died 12th February

Memorial at St Peter's Church , Little Rissington - "Evelyn Robert Le

1949 he served throughout the Great War 1914-18 and was awarded

the DSO for distinguished service on many seas.

Memorial in Husband Bosworth Parish Church, Leicestershire - "William Bruce

Mason, RN. Lieutenant of HM Ship 'Fox', drowned in the Rangoon

Born 3 Oct. 1832 son of Earl Clanwilliam and his wife

the Baltic 1854-5; China 1857 (wounded at Canton).

in memory of Richard James Fourth Earl of Clanwilliam RN GCB KCMG

Admiral of the Fleet Born October 3rd 1832 Died at Badgemore

Grave at Inveresk Kirkyard, Scotland - "In

&c. For 60 years he served his country in the Royal Navy; his

gallant deeds are recorded in her annals.

private life he was upright, exemplary, and esteemed.

at sea on the 5th of May 1845, aged 82 years, whilst returning to

his native home from Devonport, at which station he had been for

the three previous years Commander-in-Chief.

the remains of Grace, wife of Rear-Admiral David Milne, who died

at Bordeaux, in France, the 4th of October 1814, where she had

this country by her affectionate husband, and re-interred here

Alexander Purves of Purves, Bart., by Mary Home, daughter of Sir

James Home of Coldinghame, Bart., in the County of Berwick."

Memorial in Cantonment Cemetery, Rangoon - "Fred Morgan (Asst.

R.N. H.M. Ship Fox. who was present in every

engagement with the enemy on Board, and on deatched service

during the war; worn out by his exertions on behalf of others he

fell a victim to cholera on 22nd Sept. 1852."

Memorial at St. Mary's Parish, Church Conwy, North Wales - "Griffith Owen

Mariner of this port died June 29 1860 aged 78.

ship 'Conquoror' in the Battle of Trafalger AD 1805."

Memorial at Parish Church at Tetbury, Gloucestershire - "Alfred John Paul, Esqre., Commander R.N.,

sixth son of Robert Clark Paul, Esqre. of this town, born 11th

in January 1824; was midshipman of the Dartmouth, at Navarino,

and Flag Lieutenant in the Wellesley, at the taking of Chusan,

and in the operations against Canton and subsequent capture of

that city, in the year 1841; in which service he obtained his

This tablet is erected by his brothers as a token of

the sincere love and affection which they bore him."

Memorial at Golspie Cemetery, Sutherland, Scotland - "Alexander

Pendrith, died 14 may 1855, age 70; wife Ann Gunn, died 9 May

; children, Reverend John Pendrith, died 1 Jul 1853,

age 26; Alexander Pendrith, died 14 Aug 1844, age 12; Donald Gunn

Pendrith, Royal Navy surgeon and medical store keeper, Royal

Naval Hospital, Port Royal, Jamaica, died there 1 Nov 1867;

Margaret, died 5 Nov 1889, age 65; Helen, died 26 Jul 1903, age

Commander Walter Willshire - HMS Euryalus

Memorial at Parish Church at Tetbury, Gloucestershire - "To the memory of

Walter Willshire Pike, Commander Royal Navy, son of the late

And his remains lie interred within this

Captain Pike served as Lieutenant in the Euryalus frigate

at the ever memorable battle of Trafalgar; and was not less

repected in his profession as an officer, than he was esteemed by

a large circle of friends in private life as a gentleman."

Captain John - Royal Navy - died 10th October 1829.

Memorial at Kirk Arbory, Isle of Man - "Sacred

In his early service he was appointed by

Adm Lord Duncan to act as Lieutenant at the battle of Camperdown

after the Victory was achieved, this appointment was confirmed.

His gallantry and professional skill at the Battle of Copenhagen

attracted notice of Lord Nelson, who subsequently sought for his

services on board his own ship and as his Lordship's first Lieut,

he steered the Victory into action at the Battle of Trafalgar.

the example of Duncan and Nelson, he learned to conquer, by his

distinguished professional service, he retires to this, the land

of his affectionate solicitude and birth

station as a member of the House of Keys, and in private life he

was in arduous times the uncompromising defender of the rights

and privileges of his country men and the zealous and able

supporter of every measure tending to promote the welfare and the

October 1829, in the 59th years of his age.

erected by Margaret C. Quilliam, to the memory of her beloved

Memorials at Inveresk Kirkyard, Scotland - "This is the

burying ground of Captain Ramsay, R.N. David Ramsay, Esq., Post-Captain

in the Royal Navy, died 18th Nov. 1818, aged 68.

Captain Ramsay, R.N., eldest daughter of John Macleod of Macleod,

Capt. Ramsay, died on the Jamaica station July 1815, aged 22

John Ramsay, Lt. R.N., 2d son of Capt. Ramsay, died on the

Leeward Island Station, May 1807, aged 19 years.

Memorial at Knockholt, Kent - "Sacred to the memory of Rear

Admiral William Ricketts of this Parish who departed this life on

Ann Mantell Ricketts daughter of Capt. W.

Ricketts, R.N., died 27 June 1836 in her 28th year.

widow of the late Rear Admiral William Ricketts died 19 December

Memorial at Banff Cemetery, Scotland - "Errol Russel,

First Lieut. of Marines, died at sea on board L'Amiable, frigate,

midshipman, of H.M. Ship Queen, died at sea off St. Domingo 31st

October 1797, aged 16, all sons of Thomas Russel of Rathen and

Mrs. Anna Innes of Rosieburn, his spouse."

Grave at the Protestant Cemetery, Rome, Italy -"Sacred to the

memory of Charles Dudley Ryder second son of Henry Lord Bishop of

Litchfield and Coventry and late Midshipman in HBM Ship Naiad

Captain Hon. Robert Spencer he was drowned with five of the crew

by the upsetting of a boat at the mouth of the Tiber on the 28th

Memorial at St. Michael's, Aldbourne, Wiltshire - "To the memory of

Captain Henry Frowd Seagram RN eldest son of the present vicar of

this parish, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Gambia who in

various climates and countries having for a period of 21 years

served his country zealously and faithfully died in the execution

of his duty at Batherst on the Gambia 26th August 1843.

Grave at Clifton Street Graveyard, Belfast - "In memory of Peter

Stark Lieut R.N. died 11th May 1852 aged 59 years."

Memorial at St. Mary's church, Penzance - "Sacred to the

memory of General Walter Tremenheere, RM, Knight of the Royal

Hanoverian Guelphic Order, and Aide-de-camp to his late Majesty

He entered the army in 1779; served in the North Sea;

in the Channel Fleet; and in the West Indies

time Lieutenant Governor of ths Island of Curacoa, and received

the thanks of the inhabitants for his able administration.

commanded the Chatham division of his distinguished Corps from

Born at Penzance 10th Septr. 1761; died at his

honour, was closed amidst the regrets of his sorrowing family and

His remains were deposited in the Cemetery of Kensal

His widow Frances, third daughter of Thomas

Apperley, Esqre., heir of Mary Westfaling, of Rudall,

sons and daughters were deeply indebted to her affection and

- Lieutenant Robert James Darley - HMS America

Memorial at Rippon Cathedral - "Sacred to the

memory of Lieut. Robert James Darley Waddilove, R.N., of H.M.S.

America, who died at sea, Oct. 7th, 1844, within a few days' sail

depths of the South Pacific till that great day, when earth and

the eldest grandson of the Very Rev. R.D. Waddilove, D.D., many

by his afflicted parents, Apil 1st, 1845."

Memorial at Compton churchyard, Berkshire - "Cyril Leigh Wasey

Lieut RN died of fever at Malta March 16th 1892 aged 26."

Son of Lt-Col. Temple West, born 28th July 1774.

lie interred the remains of Admiral Sir John West, Knight Grand

Cross of the most Honourable Order of the Bath and Admiral of the

Born July 28th 1774 died April 18th 1862.

of Temple West, Esquire, a Lieutenant-Colonel, 1st Regiment of

Guards, and representative of the family of the Wests.

of the counties of Buckingham and Northampton to whom a tablet is

Lieutenant George August - Royal Marines

Memorial at Kirk Arbory, Isle of Man - "Sacred

Woods of Balladoole, Esquire, Justice of the Peace and acting

Speaker of the House of Keys, formerly Lieutenant of the Royal

He served through the siege of Copenhagen, and also at

Memorial at St. Mary's church, Penzance - "This monument is

consecrated to the memory of James Wooldridge, Esqr., Captain in

the Royal Navy; who died the 31st of August 1814, aged 42 years.

The honours of rank, of a pension, and of a golden chain with a

medal struck expressly for the occasion, and conferred by his

king individually upon him for his conduct in an attack upon the

French fleet in Basque Roads, are memorials of his public

In private life he was an affectionate husband and a

tender parent, and in every station he was mindful of his duty to

Despite not undertaking an active service, West was promoted to rear admiral on 12 August 1819 and to vice admiral on 22 July 1830 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 4 July 1840. However, after being promoted to full admiral on 23 November 1841, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, with his flag in the first-rate HMS "Queen", in April 1845.
 West was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 25 June 1858 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 18 May 1860. He died at his home in Eaton Square in London on 18 April 1862.


He has experience and views on the subject.

Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned' - Sri Lanka Guardian

# Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned'

(November 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)

Victor Ivan's new book "Innocence of the pen questioned" (Ravaya publication, Sept.2010) makes its appearance at a crucial point in time in the trajectory of Sri Lankan media and politics.

During a phase when both the media and the political system are struggling to adjust to the new realities of a post-war situation, the contents of this book are likely to re-ignite intractable debates surrounding these subjects.

Ivan's intensity and candour in setting down his thoughts invest the book with a no-holds-barred quality that makes it a riveting read.

More importantly, the views expressed, subjective and individualistic though they may be, would hopefully initiate discussions towards the creation of a media culture that is more honest and self-critical.

(This is in fact a stated objective of the book)

'Innocence of the pen questioned' dwells on several aspects of Ivan's own journalistic experience, including but not limited to Ravaya, the newspaper he founded and owns and edits.

But this material is always related to larger social and political realities, the author's conviction of the need for change at broader systemic levels, and questions relating to the journalist's role in society.

In the process of talking about his own experiences, Ivan raises some key issues that bedevil the Sri Lankan media scene.

It would appear that these issues have not been subjected to public scrutiny for complex reasons.

Perhaps partly owing to the risky circumstances that prevailed during the war, and the dangers involved in naming names and relating stories.

Ivan however names names, and relates stories, and does so in detail.

As a result he (and the book) will be vilified by some, and praised by others.

Herein lies the courage of his enterprise.

One of the important questions raised is, whether or not the journalist should engage - as an actor - in politics.

Ivan has by his own admission played this "king making" role in recent Sri Lankan politics.

He describes in some detail his work as the chief architect of the SLFP's publicity campaign during the 1994 general elections, as well as an image-building exercise relating to Chandrika Kumaratunga, that contributed to her rise in the political firmament at the time.

Kumaratunga went on to win the presidential election that year.

"A question however remains whether a media person could appear for a political objective or not.

It is a controversial issue," he writes.

He raises this vital question and comes to the verge of addressing it, but does not proceed.

This is unfortunate, seeing that Ivan would have been well placed to lead such a discussion, having 'been in the belly of the beast,' so to speak.

But he does discuss and compare his involvement with politics with that of the late Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga who, he says, strove to bring a UNP government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe into power.

Ivan goes on to speculate on reasons why he escaped the grisly fate of his colleague.

Another area subjected to extensive discussion in the book relates to the activities of media NGOs, and the whole question of media freedom.

In his writings elsewhere too, Ivan has highlighted peculiarities of the organization called the Free Media Movement.

Here again, having been a founder member who has now parted company with the group, he is well placed to critique it.

He questions its cliquishness as well as its lack of transparency.

Ivan's discussion prompts the question as to why media NGOs like FMM are wary of opening their membership and decision-making committees to the broader community of professional journalists.

Is it because independent minded journalists are inclined to ask questions (Where's the funding coming from? What's the donors' agenda, etc.?)

One of the criticisms he makes of the FMM is that the foreign aid it received was contingent on its adopting an ideological stance opposed to the war - "consequently their political stance had become an income source for them to earn money," he says.

This situation hampered the outfit's ability to make "an impartial and correct assessment of the war," he argues.

It is no secret that scribes in Sri Lanka had to carry out their duties in a most uncongenial environment, fraught with multiple dangers during the decades of conflict.

Ivan describes in some detail, cases where journalists were threatened, intimidated, assaulted or killed.

He shows that not all these violent incidents could be blamed on the government or security forces, but that the FMM unfailingly portrayed them as such.

There was a lack of interest in investigating the background to these incidents, and as a result the true picture was often not revealed.

1) journalists who were attacked for doing things that could not be described as falling within their call of duty

2) journalists who were attacked for doing things that advanced their political agendas (in this category were LTTE activists claiming to be media persons)

3) journalists who exploited the volatile situation for personal gain, using political asylum as an easy way to go abroad

Among these categories were bona fide journalists as well as persons whose media credentials were dubious or non-existent.

The author illustrates this with anecdotes from his personal experience.

Ivan's argument is that none of these cases could strictly be considered as attacks on media freedom.

Yet all of them were uncritically seized upon by the FMM.

Again, he hints at the corrupting influence of large injections of foreign funds.

"The Free Media Movement presented itself as a movement of media freedom," he writes.

"At the same time, it received foreign aid for this project.

In 2008 alone, it received foreign aid to the tune of over Rs.10 million for various projects.

It had received a substantial amount of money by way of foreign aid to ensure the safety of the media people.

Perhaps, they may have exaggerated the situation of the country painting a dismal picture with the view to obtaining an increased share of foreign aid for the movement."

Ivan is critical of the conduct of individual journalists as well as the media organizations.

Perhaps the biggest disservice to the journalist community resulting from the media organizations' misrepresentation of the media landscape is that when a real journalist somewhere actually does get intimidated or attacked by state agents, it is met with public apathy and skepticism.

Ivan highlights the need to restore public confidence in the media as an urgent need.

He makes a number of recommendations to this end.

The book may have some stylistic flaws, and tends to be rambling and repetitive in parts.

Love it or hate it, its value lies in its underlying honesty.

It's a "must read" for journalists, ex-journalists, wannabe journalists, charlatans and hucksters alike …

The writer is a senior freelance journalist.

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He has an acidic criticism about the media culture in Sri Lanka and some acknowledged theoretical aspects of media as well.


He expressed them in the book titled ‘Innocence of the Pen Questioned.'

Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned' - Sri Lanka Guardian

# Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned'

(November 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)

Victor Ivan's new book "Innocence of the pen questioned" (Ravaya publication, Sept.2010) makes its appearance at a crucial point in time in the trajectory of Sri Lankan media and politics.

During a phase when both the media and the political system are struggling to adjust to the new realities of a post-war situation, the contents of this book are likely to re-ignite intractable debates surrounding these subjects.

Ivan's intensity and candour in setting down his thoughts invest the book with a no-holds-barred quality that makes it a riveting read.

More importantly, the views expressed, subjective and individualistic though they may be, would hopefully initiate discussions towards the creation of a media culture that is more honest and self-critical.

(This is in fact a stated objective of the book)

'Innocence of the pen questioned' dwells on several aspects of Ivan's own journalistic experience, including but not limited to Ravaya, the newspaper he founded and owns and edits.

But this material is always related to larger social and political realities, the author's conviction of the need for change at broader systemic levels, and questions relating to the journalist's role in society.

In the process of talking about his own experiences, Ivan raises some key issues that bedevil the Sri Lankan media scene.

It would appear that these issues have not been subjected to public scrutiny for complex reasons.

Perhaps partly owing to the risky circumstances that prevailed during the war, and the dangers involved in naming names and relating stories.

Ivan however names names, and relates stories, and does so in detail.

As a result he (and the book) will be vilified by some, and praised by others.

Herein lies the courage of his enterprise.

One of the important questions raised is, whether or not the journalist should engage - as an actor - in politics.

Ivan has by his own admission played this "king making" role in recent Sri Lankan politics.

He describes in some detail his work as the chief architect of the SLFP's publicity campaign during the 1994 general elections, as well as an image-building exercise relating to Chandrika Kumaratunga, that contributed to her rise in the political firmament at the time.

Kumaratunga went on to win the presidential election that year.

"A question however remains whether a media person could appear for a political objective or not.

It is a controversial issue," he writes.

He raises this vital question and comes to the verge of addressing it, but does not proceed.

This is unfortunate, seeing that Ivan would have been well placed to lead such a discussion, having 'been in the belly of the beast,' so to speak.

But he does discuss and compare his involvement with politics with that of the late Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga who, he says, strove to bring a UNP government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe into power.

Ivan goes on to speculate on reasons why he escaped the grisly fate of his colleague.

Another area subjected to extensive discussion in the book relates to the activities of media NGOs, and the whole question of media freedom.

In his writings elsewhere too, Ivan has highlighted peculiarities of the organization called the Free Media Movement.

Here again, having been a founder member who has now parted company with the group, he is well placed to critique it.

He questions its cliquishness as well as its lack of transparency.

Ivan's discussion prompts the question as to why media NGOs like FMM are wary of opening their membership and decision-making committees to the broader community of professional journalists.

Is it because independent minded journalists are inclined to ask questions (Where's the funding coming from? What's the donors' agenda, etc.?)

One of the criticisms he makes of the FMM is that the foreign aid it received was contingent on its adopting an ideological stance opposed to the war - "consequently their political stance had become an income source for them to earn money," he says.

This situation hampered the outfit's ability to make "an impartial and correct assessment of the war," he argues.

It is no secret that scribes in Sri Lanka had to carry out their duties in a most uncongenial environment, fraught with multiple dangers during the decades of conflict.

Ivan describes in some detail, cases where journalists were threatened, intimidated, assaulted or killed.

He shows that not all these violent incidents could be blamed on the government or security forces, but that the FMM unfailingly portrayed them as such.

There was a lack of interest in investigating the background to these incidents, and as a result the true picture was often not revealed.

1) journalists who were attacked for doing things that could not be described as falling within their call of duty

2) journalists who were attacked for doing things that advanced their political agendas (in this category were LTTE activists claiming to be media persons)

3) journalists who exploited the volatile situation for personal gain, using political asylum as an easy way to go abroad

Among these categories were bona fide journalists as well as persons whose media credentials were dubious or non-existent.

The author illustrates this with anecdotes from his personal experience.

Ivan's argument is that none of these cases could strictly be considered as attacks on media freedom.

Yet all of them were uncritically seized upon by the FMM.

Again, he hints at the corrupting influence of large injections of foreign funds.

"The Free Media Movement presented itself as a movement of media freedom," he writes.

"At the same time, it received foreign aid for this project.

In 2008 alone, it received foreign aid to the tune of over Rs.10 million for various projects.

It had received a substantial amount of money by way of foreign aid to ensure the safety of the media people.

Perhaps, they may have exaggerated the situation of the country painting a dismal picture with the view to obtaining an increased share of foreign aid for the movement."

Ivan is critical of the conduct of individual journalists as well as the media organizations.

Perhaps the biggest disservice to the journalist community resulting from the media organizations' misrepresentation of the media landscape is that when a real journalist somewhere actually does get intimidated or attacked by state agents, it is met with public apathy and skepticism.

Ivan highlights the need to restore public confidence in the media as an urgent need.

He makes a number of recommendations to this end.

The book may have some stylistic flaws, and tends to be rambling and repetitive in parts.

Love it or hate it, its value lies in its underlying honesty.

It's a "must read" for journalists, ex-journalists, wannabe journalists, charlatans and hucksters alike …

The writer is a senior freelance journalist.

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He has shown the world that he is a man of principles, mora...

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He has an acidic criticism about the media culture in Sri Lanka and some acknowledged theoretical aspects of media as well. He has experience and views on the subject.


Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned' - Sri Lanka Guardian

# Media in the dock – 'Innocence of the pen questioned'

(November 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)

Victor Ivan's new book "Innocence of the pen questioned" (Ravaya publication, Sept.2010) makes its appearance at a crucial point in time in the trajectory of Sri Lankan media and politics.

During a phase when both the media and the political system are struggling to adjust to the new realities of a post-war situation, the contents of this book are likely to re-ignite intractable debates surrounding these subjects.

Ivan's intensity and candour in setting down his thoughts invest the book with a no-holds-barred quality that makes it a riveting read.

More importantly, the views expressed, subjective and individualistic though they may be, would hopefully initiate discussions towards the creation of a media culture that is more honest and self-critical.

(This is in fact a stated objective of the book)

'Innocence of the pen questioned' dwells on several aspects of Ivan's own journalistic experience, including but not limited to Ravaya, the newspaper he founded and owns and edits.

But this material is always related to larger social and political realities, the author's conviction of the need for change at broader systemic levels, and questions relating to the journalist's role in society.

In the process of talking about his own experiences, Ivan raises some key issues that bedevil the Sri Lankan media scene.

It would appear that these issues have not been subjected to public scrutiny for complex reasons.

Perhaps partly owing to the risky circumstances that prevailed during the war, and the dangers involved in naming names and relating stories.

Ivan however names names, and relates stories, and does so in detail.

As a result he (and the book) will be vilified by some, and praised by others.

Herein lies the courage of his enterprise.

One of the important questions raised is, whether or not the journalist should engage - as an actor - in politics.

Ivan has by his own admission played this "king making" role in recent Sri Lankan politics.

He describes in some detail his work as the chief architect of the SLFP's publicity campaign during the 1994 general elections, as well as an image-building exercise relating to Chandrika Kumaratunga, that contributed to her rise in the political firmament at the time.

Kumaratunga went on to win the presidential election that year.

"A question however remains whether a media person could appear for a political objective or not.

It is a controversial issue," he writes.

He raises this vital question and comes to the verge of addressing it, but does not proceed.

This is unfortunate, seeing that Ivan would have been well placed to lead such a discussion, having 'been in the belly of the beast,' so to speak.

But he does discuss and compare his involvement with politics with that of the late Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga who, he says, strove to bring a UNP government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe into power.

Ivan goes on to speculate on reasons why he escaped the grisly fate of his colleague.

Another area subjected to extensive discussion in the book relates to the activities of media NGOs, and the whole question of media freedom.

In his writings elsewhere too, Ivan has highlighted peculiarities of the organization called the Free Media Movement.

Here again, having been a founder member who has now parted company with the group, he is well placed to critique it.

He questions its cliquishness as well as its lack of transparency.

Ivan's discussion prompts the question as to why media NGOs like FMM are wary of opening their membership and decision-making committees to the broader community of professional journalists.

Is it because independent minded journalists are inclined to ask questions (Where's the funding coming from? What's the donors' agenda, etc.?)

One of the criticisms he makes of the FMM is that the foreign aid it received was contingent on its adopting an ideological stance opposed to the war - "consequently their political stance had become an income source for them to earn money," he says.

This situation hampered the outfit's ability to make "an impartial and correct assessment of the war," he argues.

It is no secret that scribes in Sri Lanka had to carry out their duties in a most uncongenial environment, fraught with multiple dangers during the decades of conflict.

Ivan describes in some detail, cases where journalists were threatened, intimidated, assaulted or killed.

He shows that not all these violent incidents could be blamed on the government or security forces, but that the FMM unfailingly portrayed them as such.

There was a lack of interest in investigating the background to these incidents, and as a result the true picture was often not revealed.

1) journalists who were attacked for doing things that could not be described as falling within their call of duty

2) journalists who were attacked for doing things that advanced their political agendas (in this category were LTTE activists claiming to be media persons)

3) journalists who exploited the volatile situation for personal gain, using political asylum as an easy way to go abroad

Among these categories were bona fide journalists as well as persons whose media credentials were dubious or non-existent.

The author illustrates this with anecdotes from his personal experience.

Ivan's argument is that none of these cases could strictly be considered as attacks on media freedom.

Yet all of them were uncritically seized upon by the FMM.

Again, he hints at the corrupting influence of large injections of foreign funds.

"The Free Media Movement presented itself as a movement of media freedom," he writes.

"At the same time, it received foreign aid for this project.

In 2008 alone, it received foreign aid to the tune of over Rs.10 million for various projects.

It had received a substantial amount of money by way of foreign aid to ensure the safety of the media people.

Perhaps, they may have exaggerated the situation of the country painting a dismal picture with the view to obtaining an increased share of foreign aid for the movement."

Ivan is critical of the conduct of individual journalists as well as the media organizations.

Perhaps the biggest disservice to the journalist community resulting from the media organizations' misrepresentation of the media landscape is that when a real journalist somewhere actually does get intimidated or attacked by state agents, it is met with public apathy and skepticism.

Ivan highlights the need to restore public confidence in the media as an urgent need.

He makes a number of recommendations to this end.

The book may have some stylistic flaws, and tends to be rambling and repetitive in parts.

Love it or hate it, its value lies in its underlying honesty.

It's a "must read" for journalists, ex-journalists, wannabe journalists, charlatans and hucksters alike …

The writer is a senior freelance journalist.

India & Pakistan Tension: Some Reflections

Imran Khan has demonstrated his wisdom and leadership skills in this skirmish.

He has shown the world that he is a man of principles, mora...

A Rajapaksa's Story: 350 Tons Gold For US $ 13,300 Million?

| by Lanka E News ( December 28, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Rajapakse family had planned to flee the country in the ev...

How Google and Facebook Corrupted Capitalism?

The Resurrection WE SOMETIMES FORGET that, at the turn of the century, Silicon Valley was in a funk, economic and...

He has an acidic criticism about the media culture in Sri Lanka and some acknowledged theoretical aspects of media as well. He has experience and views on the subject. He expressed them in the book titled ‘Innocence of the Pen Questioned.'


The Dakota War of 1862 delayed further improvements.

(meta data) TITLE: MHS Transactions: Steamboating on the Red

(meta data) COPYRIGHT: Manitoba Historical Society

# Manitoba Historical Society Keeping history alive for over 140 years

MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1950-51 season

MHS Transactions were originally published by the Manitoba Historical Society on the above date.

We make online versions available as a free, public service.

As an historical document, Transactions may contain language that is no longer in common use and which may offend some readers.

They should not be construed to represent the views of today's Manitoba Historical Society.

This online version was prepared using Optical Character Recognition software so that spelling and punctuation errors may have occurred inadvertently.

If you find any such errors, please inform us, indicating the document name and error.

Please direct all inquiries to webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.

In the first half of the nineteenth century the Red River Valley was crisscrossed by cart trails that linked together Fort Garry (Winnipeg) and Fort Snelling (St. Paul).

Graham's Crossing, about three miles south of Fort Abercrombie on the east side on the Red River, was a well used ford as early as 1817.

There was another ford at Frog Point over the Red River, fifteen miles south of Grand Forks, known to our first settlers in the early 1880s, which was used two hundred years earlier by the Red Lake Indians who brought Hudson's Bay Company goods down from the north.

The forks of the Assiniboine and Red rivers, at Winnipeg, was the crossroads of the fur traders' highways.

Later, to accommodate the advancing hordes of settlers and immigrants, flatboats and rafts made their appearance on the Red River and were followed by steamboats.

Manitoba is an inland water province and the old sternwheeler was especially devised for inland navigation.

"A boat to carry 400 tons on about three feet of water," said an old timer.

Major W. F. Butler wrote in The Wild North Land: "Place on the river a steamboat of the rudest construction wherever the banks are easy of ascent or where a smaller stream seeks the main river.

Your new land will be thoroughly civilized."

Wood yards for the accommodation of the boats along the river were often the means of developing frontier towns.

In 1857, the Hudson's Bay Company completed arrangements with the United States Secretary of the Treasury, whereby goods of the Company could be carried in bond through the United States, practically doing away with the traffic through York Factory where vessels had arrived and departed only once a year.

Captain Russell Blakeley, at the instance of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, made the first move to establish steamboats on the Red in 1859.

He made a tour of investigation, accompanied by Mr. John R. Irvine, in October 1859, and reported upon his return from Georgetown that steamboat navigation on the Red River was practicable for several months in the year.

The Chamber of Commerce immediately offered a bonus of $1,000 to anyone who would put a boat on the Red River the following spring.

Anson Northup offered to accomplish this feat for $2,000, and his offer was promptly accepted.

On the Mississippi River above the Falls of St. Anthony there was a steamboat called the North Star.

Her machinery had originally been brought to Minneapolis from Bangor, Maine, and put on the Governor Ramsey, built in 1851 by Captain John Rollins.

Anson Northup bought the North Star in Minneapolis and had her taken up the river to Crow Wing in the fall of 1858.

Here she was dismantled and lumber cut for the hull.

Early the next year an expedition left Crow Wing, consisting of sixty men and thirty-four ox teams.

The machinery, cabin and furniture of the North Star, along with the cut and framed lumber, were loaded on wagons, and they made the trip of about one hundred and fifty miles in one of the coldest winters on record.

They arrived at Lafayette, opposite the mouth of the Sheyenne about three miles above Georgetown, on the evening of the first of April.

In about six weeks the boat was finished.

Then she was christened Anson Northup after the owner and run up to Fort Abercrombie and Breckenridge on a trial trip.

She had a capacity of from 50 to 75 tons, engines of 100 horse-power, was 90 feet in length and 22 feet wide, [5] and drew 14 inches of water light.

[6] Captain Russell Blakeley said: "The hull was new but it was made of pine; the machinery was eight years old; the furniture was very limited and the boiler was of locomotive kind.

The head was cracked clear across, leaking so badly that it was not possible to get up a sufficient head of steam to he called seaworthy or hear inspection."

In the winter of 1859-60, it became necessary to have a new head.

Hargrave, in his book, Red River, describes her further, as she was in July 1861, rechristened the Pioneer: "She was provided with four staterooms, each containing two berths.

Passengers over and above the number of those who could be accommodated in these, slept in a series of open berths extending along the main saloon, from which they were separated only by their curtains.

She is a small vessel propelled by a sternwheel."

On the Anson Northup's first trip to Fort Garry, she left Breckenridge on 6 June 1859 and reached Fort Garry on 10 June, thus taking only four days.

The commander of the British force ordered the firing of the cannon in honour of the event.

The British flag was hoisted to greet its sister of the Stars and Stripes, waving at the head of the Anson Northup and the great bells of the St. Boniface Cathedral chimed merrily.

The throngs of people, including Indians, pressed all around in confusion, cheering madly.

The officers of the Hudson's Bay Company were most cordial in welcoming the pioneer of progress and prosperity on that great day.

Samuel Taylor, a carpenter for the Hudson's Bay Company at the Lower Fort, kept a diary at this time, and there is a notation to the effect that the boat took an excursion trip to the Lower Fort on 13 June, and "there were plenty of people on board."

Charles Cavalier of Pembina, who was running a store in Winnipeg at the time, was on hoard with his young wife.

"It was a perfect circus all the way down."

he said, "to see the surprise of the Indians."

For some years the Indians were to protest against the use of the river for steamboats, complaining that the craft drove away the game and that they disturbed the spirits of their dead.

They demanded four kegs of yellow money to quiet the spirits of their fathers.

They said the blowing of the whistles was the cause of it all.

An arrangement was finally made and agreed to, with Chief Red Bear of the Turtle Mountain Indians and others, that it was to be blown only on departure and arrival at Georgetown, Pembina and Fort Garry.

The Anson Northup stayed in Fort Garry for a week and then left on 17 June for Fort Abercrombie, taking twenty-five passengers, one of whom was James Ross, a merchant of Red River Settlement.

They were eight days making the return trip upstream, running only by daylight and having again to stop to cut wood along shore.

On reaching Fort Abercrombie, the boat was tied up and used to ferry passengers and Red River carts back and forth over the Red River.

Anson Northup had agreed to place a steamer on the Red River for the bonus and only that.

He refused to run it on any regular trips.

Captain Blakeley's associate, J. C. Burbank, then bought the Northup for $8,000 and placed Captain Edwin Bell in charge.

He had trouble after leaving Goergetown (the Hudson's Bay Post located on the Minnesota side of Red River sixteen miles north of the site of Moorhead) but he finally navigated the boat past Goose Rapids and reached Fort Garry safely and laid the boat up at Cook's Creek on 18 August.

The pumps were drained and the water blown out of the boilers, and according to Taylor's diary, she was left there for the winter.

In 1860 she was run by Captain C. P. V. Lull, who said she was nothing but "a lumbering old pine basket, which you have to handle as gingerly as a hamper of eggs," but she made regular trips from Georgetown to Fort Garry and hack all that year.

Mr. Burbank told J. J. Hargrave the next summer that he had done it to prove that it could be done, but in 1861 he was going to make the boat pay by running it when there was sufficient freight to carry.

As she had sunk in her winter quarters at Cook's Creek the second winter, he had her rebuilt, and she was thereafter called the Pioneer.

Ultimately the Pioneer passed into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, was dismantled and her engines used to run a sawmill.

James W. Taylor, later to be American consul at Winnipeg, was most earnest in his enthusiasm for promoting traffic on the rivers.

He was especially the friend of the water route by way of the Red and the Saskatchewan rivers to the gold fields, and advanced this route so constantly that he was in later times known as "Saskatchewan Taylor".

He expressed his sentiments as follows: "When the whistle shall sound the advent of the first steamboat in Fort Garry, Bishop Tache, who has prayed so earnestly and waited so long, will spring instantly to his feet, and, raising his hands reverently above his head, exclaim, 'In the name of God, let the bells of St. Boniface ring, for civilization has come.'"

There was an old steamboat lying in the Minnesota River, six miles below Big Stone Lake, which it was intended to bring over into Red River in 1859.

The Minnesota River was in flood and Captain Davis thought he could run the old Freighter, which was a small flat-bottomed, square-bowed boat, into the Red River, but the water went down and the boat was left stranded.

It was sold at sheriff's sale, and was bought by Burbank & Co.

Taking the boat to pieces, Burbank's men brought it to Georgetown in the fall of 1861 to be rebuilt.

The hull, left buried in the sand about ten miles below Big Stone Lake, remained visible for twenty or thirty years.

The new boat was launched under the name International towards the end of May 1862, and was 150 feet long, had a 30 foot beam and was rated at 133 tons, drawing 42 inches of water.

Her first trip from Georgetown down to Fort Garry, where she arrived May 26, took seven days three days longer than the Northup's first.

But she brought two hundred passengers, including Governor Dallas, Bishop Tache, and Judge Black.

In August she attempted another trip to the mouth of the Assiniboine, but was turned back by the opening of Indian hostilities and the difficulty of descending Goose Rapids.

A barge attached to the boat was cast off and floated down the river with E. R. Hutchinson in charge.

The Sioux outbreak influenced James W. Taylor to write to Major-General Pope of the United States army in regard to the International.

As a result of this letter, on 15 April 1863, Captain Barrett, with a detachment of troops escorted Captain Painter and crew to Georgetown.

The engineer on this occasion was E. R. Abell, who later lived at the Lower Fort.

On the 24th, they returned on board the steamer International to Fort Abercrombie.

The boat stayed there for a year and was then sold to the Hudson's Bay Company.

Low water, scarcity of freight, and alarm about the Indians curtailed shipbuilding until 1870.

The International only made one trip to Fort Garry in 1864.

In the winter of 1870-71, the Selkirk, under the ownership of James J. Hill, Alexander Griggs and C. W. Griggs, known as Hill, Griggs & Company of St. Paul, was built at McCauleyville and launched with Alexander Griggs in command in 1871.

She arrived in Winnipeg in May of that year with Hill and George L. Foster as passengers.

There was also lumber on board for J. H. Ashdown's new store.

Her tonnage was 108 and with her flat bottom she was able to move in 18 inches of water travelling light, although she drew four or five feet when loaded, which was often the case.

Mr. John Kelley, who was employed as a clerk in the early 1880s, gives a description which shows that it compared favourably with the Mississippi steamboats of an earlier period: "The boat was handsomely finished inside and out and there were two decks with the usual row of cabins on the upper deck.

The engine room was on the lower deck and it was there the freight was carried.

The pilot house was above the upper deck.

A list of the personnel in 1881 follows:

"Captain, Alexander Griggs; two pilots, two mates, two engineers, two firemen, two clerks, a steward, a cook and even two maids and two cabin boys; seventeen altogether.

Besides these there were required from ten to fifteen roustabouts to handle the freight.

Sometimes half breeds from Manitoba were hired.

They generally made only one or two trips, seeking only to earn enough money to keep supplied with powder and shot for hunting."

Arrangements in 1871 were made for the Selkirk to carry goods in bond, and this marked the dawn of a period of brisk steamboat trade as well as flatboat trade on the Red River.

In the winter of 1871-2, all boats on the river passed into the control of Norman W. Kittson, a St. Paul man who was Canadian-born and whose great-grandfather had fought under General Wolfe at the siege of Quebec.

In the spring he organized and managed the Red River Transportation Company, joining forces with the Hill, Griggs Company of St. Paul, and built the Dakota at Breckenridge.

Next, they built the sidewheeler, Cheyenne, at Grand Forks in the winter of 1873-4, and then bought the Alpha, built at Breckenridge by Captain Harrison of Wayzata and belonged to Captain J. W. Lane.

It was 125 feet long, breadth 24Y2 feet, draught 12 inches and launched July 5, 1873.

Traffic on the Red was considerable, both in freight and passengers by this time.

The Hudson's Bay Company had a large warehouse at Moorhead, Minn., and about 350 tons of miscellaneous freight were stored there awaiting the breakup.

Hundreds of Mennonites had arrived in Winnipeg, with more waiting to come the following spring.

The next August, in two weeks, 880 had come on the International and the Cheyenne.

In 1874, an opposition line of steamers known as the Merchants International Steamboat Line was organized by Manitoba and St. Paul citizens in order to force freight rates down by competition.

The first two boats operated by this line were the Manitoba and Minnesota, built at Moorhead in 1875 with a tonnage of 197.75 each.

This new company passed into Kittson's control in 1876, and once again the Red River Transportation Company held sway, backed by the Hudson's Bay Company.

The Red River, owing to its sharp bends and shallow waters, was by no means an easy river to navigate.

Goose Rapids, (between present Caledonia and Grand Forks, N.D.; there was a town there previously called Belmont, but now known as Caledonia) was a glacial moraine and the river had large boulders and sand bars at this spot which made it difficult to navigate.

J. J. Hargrave in his Red River writes of his trip in July 1861:

"The Pioneer (formerly Anson Northup) would partially ground, while the greater part of her keel would be floating in water flowing like the sluice of a mill.

On such occasions she would whirl cork-like around, setting at defiance the utmost efforts of the rude sternwheel to regulate her motions.

At last the rapids, which extend over a length of about two miles, were passed, and we steamed ahead to good purpose."

In 1877, the railroad, owing to trouble encountered during low water in getting over the bar at Goose Rapids, built a spur track from Crookston to Fisher's Landing, which has since become Fisher, Minnesota, and the rails and other supplies were loaded on barges there instead of Moorhead.

The new shipping point became the head of navigation for a number of years, a large volume of traffic being handled, the steamboats also taking Canadian-bound passengers from the railroad to that point.

Thousands of settlers, both those who located in Northwestern Canada and those stopping in North Dakota, came in by way of Fisher's Landing.

Lord Dufferin, popular Governor-General who had been the first vice-regal representative to visit Winnipeg, and Lady Dufferin, visited Fisher's Landing in August 1877.

They embarked on the Minnesota, and Lady Dufferin, who kept a diary, told of trying to write while proceeding on that part of the

"very narrow and extremely sinuous river.

I can tell you that we go from one bank to the other, crushing and crashing against the trees, which grow down to the waterside; the branches sweep over the deck and fly in our faces, and leave pieces behind them.

I had just written this when I gave a shriek as I saw my ink bottle on the point of being swept overboard by an intrusive tree; and D's (Lord Dufferin's) hat was knocked off his head by it.

The consequence of this curious navigation is that we never really go on for more than three minutes at a time; we run against one bank, our steam is shut off, and in some mysterious manner we swing round till our how is into the other; then we rebound, and go on a few yards, till the sharp curve brings us up against the side.

Our stern wheel is very often ashore, and our captain and pilot must require the patience of saints...

This exceedingly twisty river is the 'Red Lake River'; it is forty miles to travel though the distance is only twelve from point to point.

When we reach the Red River itself, we found the stream wide enough for us to go straight down it, less sinuous.

and one can see nothing beyond them; behind stretches out the prairie, and every now and then we were just able to see how thin the screen of trees really is between the river and the plains."

That evening after dark they met another steamboat, the Manitoba.

"It looked beautiful in the dark, with two great bull's-eyes, green and red lamps and other lights on deck, creeping toward us; we stopped, and backed into the shore, that it might pass us.

It came close and fired off a cannon, and we saw on the deck a large transparency with the words, 'Welcome, Lord Dufferin' on it, and two girls dressed in white with flags in their hands; then a voice sang, 'Canada, Sweet Canada,' and many more voices joined the chorus."

After they had visited Pembina and Emerson, "the gentlemen bathed in the Red River," and they arrived at Winnipeg the next morning.

On their way back in September Lady Dufferin described a cinnamon bear on board the Minnesota, a tame pig, which answered to the name of Dick, and a dog.

"The bear sometimes hugs the pig, and the dog rushes to the rescue.

Someone tied a bun to the pig's tail today, which the bear perceived, and seized; but while he was leisurely arranging himself to enjoy it, the pig seized it, and ate it up."

At the end of the voyage Captain C. B. Thimens of the steamboat Minnesota was presented by Lord and Lady Dufferin with autographed photographs and an autographed copy of His Excellency's book, Letters from High Latitudes; a letter accompanying these presents stated they were meant as mementoes of his lordship's very pleasant trips on Captain Thimen's boat.

At Fisher's Landing again they saw a locomotive which Lady Dufferin records in her diary as "No. 2 of the Canada Pacific Railway.

It is going to Winnipeg," she added, "with a train of railway trucks, and it is to be called the `Lady Dufferin'."

This engine now stands in front of Winnipeg's C.P.R. station, and is designated as "C.P.R. No. 1, Countess of Dufferin".

With the "railway trucks", it was taken on barges to Winnipeg by the Selkirk and used to lay track between Winnipeg and Whitemouth.

Later it took Sir William Van Horne. president of the line, through the West, and pulled the first train to cross the Rockies when it took Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald on his first trans-Canada journey.

The arrival of this first engine with its cars at Winnipeg, on 8 October 1877, was celebrated with great rejoicing.

But it meant the beginning of the end of steamer navigation on the Red River of the North.

It was, however, a few years more before the railroad got in good working order and many more steamers were built for the Red River trade.

In the spring of 1879, attention of steamboat owners was turned to the navigation of the Assiniboine and the Saskatchewan rivers.

An amusing news item in the Free Press of 7 May 1879, reads:

"Winnipeg's first railroad, the Pembina branch, was past the novelty stage, and outgoing passengers, especially the oldtimers, were going back to the comfortable steamboats on the Red, with their open, airy decks and changing scenes on the river loops."

The J. L. Grandin of 218 tons, 125 feet long and 4 foot hold for carrying grain in bulk, was constructed at Fargo, 1878, to carry wheat from the Grandin farms in Traill County, although she was also used for pleasure trips and general cargo.

Her skipper was C. B. Thimens, formerly of the Minnesota.

There were double staterooms, two cabins, kitchen, pantries and captain's and clerk's rooms.

She had cost less than $15,000, thanks to the good management of the builder, Captain W. W. Allen.

A boatyard was established in Grand Forks by D. P. Reeves, and the steamer Cheyenne, one of the few Red River sidewheelers, was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company.

It was used as a traffic boat first on the Red and later on the Assiniboine.

It was noted for the latest arrival on record up until 26 November 1878 and for enormous loads of freight pulled on barges.

She had also done heroic work in the flood of 1882.

The steamer H. W. Alsop, 157 tons, was built by H. W. Alsop of Fargo, in 1881-2.

He had built the White Swan at Brainerd, then cut the hull in two and transported it by rail to Moorhead where he lengthened it and again launched it under the name Pluck.

Both the Alsop and the Pluck were later bought by the Red River Transportation Company and subsequently the same company constructed another steamer and numerous barges.

The Pluck, 36 tons, was a sidewheeler and noted for pulling loaded barged of freight.

On one occasion, she had pulled out of Moorhead with one of the largest loads of freight from that port, namely 400 tons.

She was sold along with the Alsop to the Red River Transportation Company in 1883.

The William Robinson, the Marquette and the Northwest, were built at Moorhead in the eighties for Winnipeg owners for service on the Assiniboine.

The first was a small propeller and the others sternwheelers.

The Northwest finally was used on the Saskatchewan river.

The Manitoba spent her last days there also after plying on the Assiniboine river for a short while.

The last two boats built in the United States for use on the Red River were the Fram at East Grand Forks in 1895, and the Grand Forks at Grand Forks in 1895.

The latter was built by the Red River Transportation Company, was of 100 tons and powered by the machinery of the Alsop.

Boats of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Winnipeg & Western Transportation Company, built for use on the Assiniboine and the Saskatchewan rivers, are too numerous to mention here, but life on the Red River, particularly at Winnipeg, was very busy even after the railroad came to this city in 1878.

Racing was the order of the day, beginning with one between two flatboats where a keg of whiskey was involved.

The one between the Selkirk and the International to Fisher's Landing in 1876 was outstanding, followed by one between the Manitoba and the Minnesota in 1878.

The Manitoba, on her way from Moorhead to Winnipeg in 1875, was rammed amidships by her rival International on a sharp bend, and foundered in shallow water.

Her owners entered suit against Kittson's Company for $50,000; but the vessel was soon raised and six weeks after the collision she was again puffing up and down the river.

Two years later she established a record by arriving at Winnipeg on April 23, and the next spring she beat that record by a month.

Accidents were by no means infrequent on these river boats.

Sometimes pranksters fell in and had to be rescued.

Careless sleepers on the decks fell off and were sometimes drowned.

On the Dakota in May, 1874, a child who had fallen in was spectacularly rescued by a shackled prisoner.

More violent was the murder of a passenger on the International in 1871 - a mystery that was never solved.

Another murder was of a cabin boy on the Manitoba in 1878.

Extraordinary floods had occurred in the steamboat years of 1860, 1861, 1882 and 1897, and caused trouble for the boats, but the dry seasons, particularly 1877 and 1878, were worse.

There is the story of a captain yelling to a man on shore dipping water into a pail: "Hey! You put that water back."

Considerable immigration caused new towns and villages to spring up, and the Red River Valley began to take on new life, although between 1873 and 1876 it lessened from 50,150 in the former year to 24,633 in the latter, a decline attributed mainly to two causes.

The condition of the agricultural labourers in Great Britain had been greatly improved and secondly, the crowded labour markets in the United States sending workmen back to Europe.

The Winnipeg papers printed longer and longer lists of passengers; the record for 4 May 1878, being over a column long.

By that year Canada was supplying wheat to Britain.

On 5 May, Higgins, Young & Jackson, a Winnipeg firm, shipped on board the Selkirk 2,100 bushels of Manitoba wheat consigned to the Old Country.

The Minnesota had carried the first shipment of wheat, 857-1/6 bushels in 21 October 1876, to Messrs. Steele Brothers of Toronto who have the credit of being the first buyers for shipment as well as the first shippers of grain from the Province of Manitoba.

More than 10,000 bushels were shipped up the river in 1877, with one shipment alone of 5,266 bushels from J. H. Ashdown.

In April 1878, the International took out over 100 tons of wheat—the largest shipment ever made by water from Manitoba.

This wheat was loaded at Bannatyne's warehouse and was consigned to David Dowes & Company, New York, in bond for exportation to Europe.

Freight consisted of numerous items on these boats; in the early days, bags of flour and barrels of pork.

Then stoves, organs, furniture, safes, billiard tables, horses and animals.

One woman said: "It is nice to have our cow along so we can have fresh milk on the boat."

A circus was brought to Winnipeg on the Grandin and a photographer put his equipment on a boat and toured the river looking for business.

There were seventeen steamboats operating in Canadian waters in 1878, with eighteen being built for Peter McArthur of Winnipeg.

Many of the captains had served as skippers on Mississippi and Missouri river steamboats.

Captain Townsend of the Minnesota in 1878, said that he had been running steamboats on the Missouri during the Sioux trouble.

Sitting Bull, in his opinion, "wasn't much to look at, but was a brainy redskin."

Not until 1909 did the last steamer run from the United States to Winnipeg.

She was the Grand Forks, and arrived at her destination, Winnipeg, on 7 June, thus bringing to a close fifty years of steamboat traffic between the two countries.

1 Russell Blakely, "Opening of the Red River of the North to Commerce and Civilization," in Minnesota Historical Collections, vol. 8, p. 47.

2 Dr. O. G. Libby, "Convocation Address to University of North Dakota," Grand Forks, N.D., October 19, 1939, p.7.

3 Douglas Mackay, The Honourable Company, Toronto, 1948, p. 135.

4 Letter from Russell Blakeley, Manitoba Free Press Weekly, 22 December 1877.

(The daily edition of the Free Press is cited throughout, unless otherwise indicated.)

7 Minnesota Historical Collections, vol. 8, p. 56.

J. J. Hargrave, Red River, (Montreal, 1871).

8 The Detroit Free Press, 16 July 1859; Earl of Southesk, Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains, (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 34.

9 History of the Red River Valley, I, 221.

11 St. Paul Pioneer & Democrat, 13 July 1859.

Captain Edwin Bell, "Steamboating on the Minnesota and Red River, 1859," Minnesota Historical Collections.

12 Thomas Hughes, "Steamboating on The Minnesota River," Minnesota Historical Collections.

13 Robert B. Hill, History of Manitoba, (Toronto, 1890), 146; Alexander Begg, The Great Canadian North West, (Montreal, 1881), 41; Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, II, 2 and 24.

14 Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 17 September 1949; Walsh Country Record, Grafton, N.D., 25 July 1940, Section 5.

15 Free Press, 11 May 1888; History of the Red River Valley, X, 804; Red River Star, Moorhead, Minn., 12 July 1873.

16 Canadian Illustrated News, Montreal, 27 November 1874.

17 Fred. A. Bill, Life on the Red River of the North, 1857-1887, (Baltimore 1947), 74; The Manitoba was the same as the Minnesota.

Built at Fargo, 1875; hull, 135 feet long, 31.4 foot beam.

18 Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, My Canadian Journal, 1872-78, (London, 1891), 316.

20 John Macoun, Manitoba and the Great North-West, (Guelph, 1882), 583.

22 History of the Red River Valley, I, 89.

23 Free Press, 14 October 1881; Free Press, 26 November 1887; Hill, Manitoba, 308.

24 History of the Red River Valley, II, 804.

26 Moorehead Star, 2 October 1875; Free Press, 23 April 1877; Free Press, 22 March 1878.

28 Free Press (Weekly), 24 November 1877; Free Press, 5 May 1878.

30 Free Press, 3 November 1877; Free Press, 7 January 1878; Free Press, 12 April 1878; Alexander Begg and Walter R. Nursey, Ten Years in Winnipeg, (Winnipeg, 1879), 186.

31 Free Press, 2 January 1877; Free Press, 6 December 1879.

Free Press, February 1879; Free Press, 15 April 1878.

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At times, some ox cart trains did not go all the way through, but were supplemented by river craft. First flatboats and then shallow-draft steamboats ascended the Minnesota River to Traverse des Sioux and upstream points, where they were met by cart brigades travelling the West Plains Trail. In 1851, weekly steamboat service on the Mississippi began between Saint Anthony Falls and Sauk Rapids on the Middle and Woods trails. In 1859, steamboat machinery was carried overland to the Red River where a boat was built, but service was intermittent.