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| Anna, Celia & William Cathcart ca 1910 |
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Friday July 9 .
[in Seattle] Friday we spent in shopping and in resting. We left the hotel about 9:30 and got aboard the Princess Charlotte where we spent the night, arriving at Vancouver about 8:30. The Sound was very smooth and the stateroom a model of comfortable luxury, so my first night on the water was a most pleasant one. We spent the day at the Vancouver Hotel which is under the management of the C.P.R.R. We didn't venture out all day, as it rained, except to go across the street to an Indian curio shop. One peculiar thing about the street car system of Vancouver is that the conductors pass around a little mug into which each passenger drops his fare so that the conductor is not tempted to be dishonest.
Friday night we left Vancouver on the Princess Royal for Skagway. The boat was billed to leave at 11:00, but there was so much loading to be done that it was between 3 and 4 before we left. The ship was one owned by the C.P.R. It was a three-decker, and a very big affair. It was crowded to its utmost, as there had to be two sittings at the dining room which accommodated about 100, The channel was very narrow the first day, as we passed through the Seymour Narrow, the water was very calm and of a dark green in color. About 4:30 Sunday evening the ship made its first stop at Alert Bay. This is an Indian village. The houses in which the natives lived were all alike except for a difference in the color of paint used. They all had three windows in the front, one high one and one on each side of that but lower down. These, of course, were in the fronts of the houses, which were perfectly plain except for a set-in doorway. The roofs were all V-shaped. To one side of each doorway stood a totem pole. These are great wooden monuments, carved and painted to represent all sorts of hideous figures such as persons, fish, and birds. These poles are the record of the family history of each household, and are very dear to the Indians. Sunday night, whales were seen at quite a distance from the boat. Later, it became very rough, and many persons got desperately seasick.
Monday July 12
Monday morning it was calm again. The first stop was made about 8:30 at Swanson's Bay, where a big pulp factory is located. The day was foggy as its predecessor had been, and the clouds hung very low over the heavily wooded mountain. Snowcapped peaks were to be seen, and at their base, pretty waterfalls. No stops were made during the day, but one Indian village was passed. Near this were numerous fishing boats in which men were manipulating their large nets. Snow-capped mountains were still plainly to be seen. Late in the evening, Prince Rupert was reached. On account of the large amount of freight to be unloaded, the ship remained here quite long, Prince Rupert is the terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad, and a great deal is expected of it. It is expected to become the city of southeast Alaska.
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According to this site, the Princess Charlotte was a new ship in January 1909. In 1949 after 40 years of service in the Pacific Northwest waters, Princess Charlotte was sold to a Greek shipping line and was in service another 15 years.
The “Princess” title came to be used for CPR [Canadian Pacific Railway] ships because of the aging CPNC [company bought by CPR] vessel Princess Louise. The popular “Empress” ships were already established in the Pacific, so the decision was made to carry out a royal theme, with smaller coastal ships bearing the prefix “Princess”. In the 1960s Stan McDonald chartered one of the Princess ships and became excited about cruising. His company, Princess Cruises, was named after the Princess Patricia, the ship he chartered a number of times.
Vancouver Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 1909 postcard
Princess Royal - ship to Skagway; image ca 1910
"Princess Royal, a larger wooden ship of 227 feet having 72 staterooms with 144 berths also from BC Marine Railways was fitted with large triple expansion engines designed for 15 knots. She made her maiden voyage on July 18, 1907 sailing to Alaska." source
Seymour Narrows - a treacherous part of the journey
Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada - Indian Village, totem poles. Celia's descriptions of the houses were very accurate based on the pictures at the link below. Click here for images of people & buildings at Alert Bay in 1909. You can see some of the totem poles that Celia didn't care for. History of totem poles here
Swanson Bay, pulp factory - Click here for a history of the town
History of Prince Rupert & Terminus of Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad - Click here
It's fascinating to follow the ship's route through narrow waterways of the Inside Passage
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Congratulations for making it to the end of the post. I hope you explored the links. I was surprised at the number of photos I could find from the time the Cathcart family was cruising these waters. I keep thinking about 16 year old Celia from very small town Illinois and all that she's experiencing on this trip.
annotations added to this map
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