A Viking Funeral

SS Minto Burning, 1968. Stevens Studio Photo, Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery.

They called it a Viking Funeral.

The SS Minto was towed into the middle of the lake across from Galena Bay and set alight. It was the summer of 1968.

The SS Minto was launched at the Nakusp boat yards on November 19, 1898, as part of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Arrow Lakes fleet. It was a lifeline for the many small communities in the region and connected them with the outside world.

Black-and-white photograph. Three steam ships sit side by side on the water beside a dock. People are on the ships, and a few stand on the dock. Railway lines are beside the dock. Mountains are in the background.

SS Trail, SS Rossland, and SS Minto at Arrowhead, ca. 1900. RMA photo 745. Photographer: R.H. Trueman.

Its usual run was from Arrowhead, where it would meet the passenger trains coming in from Revelstoke, down to West Robson, near present-day Castlegar, a trip of 217 kilometres. In its heyday, it was the height of luxury and convenience and could accommodate 93 passengers.

Black-and-white photograph. A steamship on the water with mountains in the background. The steamship has people on board the front, multiple flags sticking out of the ship, and a large wreath on the front of the boat.

Last trip of SS Minto at Burton, 1954. RMA photo 1486.

By 1954, the CPR decided that the ferry was no longer financially viable to maintain and run, with motorized ferries in place to serve some of those communities without road access. The Minto started on its last run north from West Robson on April 23, 1954, with a cedar wreath decorating its bow.

A black-and-white photograph of four people standing on top of a steamer boat. The photo cuts off the second half of the boat. A mountain and some water can be seen in the background on the left side.

John Nelson, second from left, stands on the deck of the old SS Minto. May 25, 1958. RMA, photo 8764. Photographer: Estelle Dickey.

The village of Nakusp purchased the SS Minto for $1, but they could not afford to restore it, and it was sold for salvage. John Nelson bought the hulk of the ship and towed it up the lake to his property at Galena Bay, hoping to restore it to its former glory, but he never achieved his goal.

BC Hydro said that the boat could not be left in the reservoir, so it was brought out to meet its fiery end and fall into the lake which had been its home for so many years.

Hall’s Landing We Were Lucky – Mount Cartier Community