All this indicates that the American boat had not been launched and in December was still under construction.
It is more reasonable to accept the statements of Capt. Van Cleve and others close to the scene of operations rather than to base conclusions upon the single item in the publication issued at so far a distance and without definite details.
It is quite evident that the item in Niles Register should have read "was lately commenced," instead of "was lately launched." The change of this one word would bring it into complete agreement with all the other evidences of the period and into accord with the facts.
No absolute date for the launching of the Ontario or of the giving of her name has been ascertainable, but as she was not commenced until August it certainly could not have been until after that of the Frontenac on Sept. 7th, 1816. The first boat launched was, therefore, on the Canadian side.
The movements of the steamers in the spring of 1817 are more easily traced. Niles Register, 29th March, 1817, notes, "The steamboat Ontario is prepared for the lake," and Capt. Van Cleve says, "The first enrollment of the[Pg 22] Ontario in the customs office was made on 11th April," and "She made her first trip in April."
The data of the dimensions of the Ontario are recorded, being only about one-third the capacity of the Frontenac, which would ac-
count for the shorter time in which she was constructed. The relative sizes were:
Length. Beam. Capacity, tons. Frontenac170 32 700
26
Ontario 110 24 240
No drawing of the Frontenac is extant, but she has been described as having guards only at the paddle wheels, the hull painted black,
and as having three masts, but no yards. The Ontario had two masts, as shown in the drawing by Van Cleve.
No distinctive date is given for the first trip in April of the Ontario, on which it is reported (Beers History of the Great Lakes) "The waves lifted the paddle wheels off their bearings, tearing away the wooden coverings. After making the repairs the shaft was securely held in place."
Afterwards under the command of Capt. Francis Mallaby, U. S. N., weekly trips between Ogdensburgh and Lewiston were attempt-ed, but after this interruption by advertisement of 1st July, 1817, the time had to be extended to once in ten days. The speed of the steamer was found to seldom exceed five miles per hour. (History of Jefferson County. Hough).
The Ontario ran for some years, but does not seem to have met with much success and, having gone out of commission, was broken up at Oswego in 1832.
In the spring of 1817 the first mention of the Frontenac is in Kingston of her having moved over on 23rd[Pg 23] May to the Government dock at Point Frederick, "for putting in a suction pipe," the Kingston Gazette further describing that "she moved with ma-jestic grandeur against a strong wind." On 30th May the Gazette reports her as "leaving this port for the purpose of taking in wood at the Bay Quinte. A fresh breeze was blowing into the harbor against which she proceeded swiftly and steadily to the admiration of a great number of spectators. We congratulate the managers and proprietors of this elegant boat, upon the prospect she affords of facilitating the navigation of Lake Ontario in furnishing an expeditious and certain mode of conveyance to its various ports."
It can well be imagined with what wonder the movements of this first steam-driven vessel were witnessed.
In the Kingston Gazette of June 7, 1817, entry is made, "The Frontenac left this port on Thursday, 5th, on her first trip for the head of the lake."
The opening route of the Frontenac, commanded by Capt. James McKenzie, a retired officer of the royal navy, was between Kingston and Queenston, calling at York and Niagara and other intermediate ports. The venture of a steamer plying on the open lakes, where the paddle wheels would be subjected to wave action, was a new one, so for the opening trips her captain announced, with the proverbial caution of a Scotchman, that the calls at the ports would be made "with as much punctuality as the nature of lake navigation will admit of." Later, the steamer, having proved her capacity by two round trips, the advertisements of June, 1817,
state the timetable of the steamer as "leaving Kingston for York on the 1st, 11th, and 23rd days," and "York for Queenston on 3rd,
13th, and 25th days of each month, calling at all intermediate ports." "Passenger fares, Kingston to Ernestown,[Pg 24] 5s; Prescott,
PS1.10.0; Newcastle, PS1.15.0; York and Niagara, PS2.0.0; Burlington, PS3.15.0; York to Niagara, PS1.0.0." Further excerpts are: "A book is kept for the entering of the names of the passengers and the berths which they choose, at which time the passage money must be paid." "Gentlemen's servants cannot eat or sleep in the cabin." "Deck passengers will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions or be furnished by the steward." "For each dog brought on board, five shillings." "All applications for passage to be made to Capt. McKenzie on board." After having run regularly each season on Lake Ontario and the Niagara River her career was closed in 1827 when, while on the Niagara River, she was set on fire, it was said, by incendiaries, for whose discovery her owners, the Messrs. Hamilton, offered a reward of PS100, but without result. Being seriously damaged, she was shortly afterwards broken up.
Such were the careers of the first two steamers which sailed upon Lake Ontario and the Niagara River, and from the data it is apparent that the Frontenac on the British side was the first steamboat placed on Lake Ontario, and that the Ontario, on the United States side, had been the first to make a trip up lake, having priority in this over her rival by perhaps a week or two, but not preceding her in the entering into and performance of a regular service.
With them began the new method for travel, far exceeding in speed and facilities any previously existing, so that the stage lines and sailing vessels were quickly eliminated.
This practical monopoly the steamers enjoyed for a period of fifty years, when their Nemesis in turn arrived and the era of rail competition began.
The ONTARIO. 1817. The second Steamer on Lake Ontario. From the original drawing by Capt. Van Cleve page 21
The GREAT BRITAIN. 1830.
By courtesy of Mr. John Ross Robertson reproduced from his "Landmarks of Toronto." page 29 [Pg 25]
27
CHAPTER III.
More Steamboats and Early Water Routes.
The River the Centre of Through Travel.
The Frontenac was followed by the Queen Charlotte, built in the same yards at Finkle's Point, by Teabout and Chapman, and launched on 22nd April, 1818, for H. Gildersleeve, the progenitor of that family which has ever since been foremost in the ranks of steamboating in Canada. He sailed her for twenty years as captain and purser, her first route being a round trip every ten days
between Kingston, York and Queenston. The passage rates at this time were from Kingston to York and Niagara PS3 ($12.00), from
York to Niagara PS1 ($4.00).
In 1824 appeared the first "City of Toronto," of 350 tons, built in the harbor of York at the foot of Church Street. Her life was neither long nor successful, she being sold by auction "with all her furniture" in December, 1830, and broken up.
Passenger traffic was now so much increasing that steamers began to follow more quickly. The Lewiston "Sentinel" in 1824, in a paragraph eulogizing their then rising town, says:--"Travel is rapidly increasing, regular lines of stages excelled by none, run daily by the Ridge Road to Lockport, and on Fridays weekly to Buffalo. The steamboats are increasing in business and affording every facility to the traveller." The Hon. Robert Hamilton, who for so many years afterwards was dominantly interested in steamboating, launched the "Queenston" in 1825[Pg 26] at Queenston. His fine residence, from which he could watch the movements of his own and other steamers, still stands on the edge of the high bank overlooking the Queenston dock.
In 1826 there was added the