Tin Cup Rapids - Castlegar, BC - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Tin Cup Rapids

The double rapids above the mouth of the Kootenay River are today known as the Tin Cup Rapids, a name reminiscent of the fur trade. Regular travel through this area commenced in 1811 when David Thompson implemented the Athabasca Pass route across the Rocky Mountains. Although freighting along this route ceased in a few years when ocean transport via the Pacific was adopted, the Columbia remained part of the transcontinental route for scheduled Express runs for four decades. For voyageurs following the Columbia between Fort Vancouver and Boat Encampment, the local rapids were only a minor inconvenience when compared to the notorious Death Rapids north of Revelstoke. The Columbia rapids together claimed at least sixty-eight lives when the voyageur canoes ran the river.

When steamships started working the river, the Kootenay Rapids - as they were then known - posed a serious obstacle to navigation, especially late in the year when water levels were low. Efforts were made to improve the river channel by blasting underwater obstructions and constructing a breakwater dike on the east shore to increase the depth of the water in the main channel. These efforts resulted in only a limited degree of improvement, so that by 1895 a new steamer dock was built below the rapids, at the mouth of the Kootenay. This dock served the Robson - Trail traffic during the low water period. After 1897, scheduled navigation of this stretch of the Columbia was suspended as the newly-built Columbia and Western Railway provided a land link between Robson West and Trail.
From the sign

SNAPSHOTS
Sept. 6, 1811: David Thompson notes "a strong rapid" above the mouth of McGillivray's (Kootenay) River.

August 1888: Scheduled steamer service between Revelstoke and Sproat's Landing commences with the maiden voyage of the Despatch.

August 1890: The steamer Lytton starts service to Northport to connect with Corbin's Spokane Falls and Northern Railway.

Feb. 1891: Work commences on clearing the worst obstructions in the rapids. A month later, the work claims a life as "Dan" Reed is drowned when a work boat is crushed against a rock.

1895: A steamer landing is built at the mouth of the Kootenay with a railway spur connecting it with the main track at Brilliant.

Sept. 7, 1897: The steamer Nakusp grounds on the rapids so severely that she was freed only by jacking the vessel off the rocks and constructing ways beneath her for refloating at the end of October.

1898: CPR acquires the recently completed Columbia and Western Railway from Augustus Heinze and suspends river service below Robson.

Group that erected the marker: City of Castlegar Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 100 5th Street Castlegar, BC Canada V1N 2C8 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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