SS Minto Near Arrowhead, circa 1950

The SS Minto began its long career on the Arrow Lakes in November of 1898 after being assembled at the shipyards in Nakusp. It was part of a fleet of steamboats owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and it took passengers from the railway dock at Arrowhead down to West Robson, at present-day Castlegar. The steamboat captains were skilled boatmen who could pilot the boats through extreme weather and water conditions. The SS Minto was a lifeline for the people who lived throughout the Arrow Lakes regions, and it was a sad day when it was taken out of service in April of 1954. Attempts to restore the boat were not successful, and it was finally towed to the middle of the lake and burned in the summer of 1968.