SITE IDENTIFICATION AND KEY INFORMATION
Dive Site Information #
Vessel Information #
- Vessel name(s): Iroquois No other Names
- Year of Build: 1907
- Official Number: 116850
- Built at: South Portage, Ontario
- Vessel Type: Excursion Vessel
- Hull Materials: Wood, with a steel frame
- Number of Decks: 2
- Propulsion: Screw
- Length: 118.5′
- Beam: 23′
- Depth: 7.5′
- Tonnage (gross): 307
- Tonnage (net): 198
- Abandoned and sunk at the South Portage dock in December 1949.
HISTORY
The steel frame of the Iroquois arrived in March 1907 by rail and was transported by sleigh to South Portage, where it was fitted out by local carpenters. More than 500 spectators attended its launch on July 22, 1907. The vessel was owned by the Huntsville & Lake of Bays Navigation Company and was licensed to carry 340 passengers by 1914.
Shortly after the Iroquois was launched, C.O. Shaw, the general manager of the Anglo-Canadian Leather Company in Huntsville, put crews to work refitting another vessel, the *Florence Main*. He extended the hull by three feet, added a second deck, and renamed the ship the *Mohawk Belle*. In 1913, the *Mohawk Belle* was lengthened again and completely rebuilt with a steel hull.
In 1945-46, the *Mohawk Belle* was sold to the owners of Bigwin Inn. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1949, the boat filled with water at drydock at the rear of Bigwin Island and sank, remaining there until 1999 when its remnants were removed.
As for the *Iroquois*, by December 1949, it had been retired and sank at the South Portage dock, where its hull remains to this day. The *Iroquois* had been a staple on the lake, with its daily schedule often marking the time of day for local residents. The steamer would pass by around 11:00 a.m. on its way from Dwight to Dorset, where it typically berthed at night, and would return up the lake around 3:00 p.m. Residents would signal the vessel with a flag if passengers or mail needed to be picked up.
The *Iroquois* was part of a larger fleet of steamboats working Lake of Bays, which, under the control of C.O. Shaw after the death of Captain March in 1906, helped meet the increasing demand for summer vacation accommodations around the lake. This growth led to the opening of various family-run hotels, especially in Dwight and along Lake of Bays Lane.
References And Links
- Maritime History of the Great Lakes, website www.MaritimeHistoryOfTheGreatLakes.ca/
- “It’s Wayback Wednesday,” Doppler Online
- Ontario Heritage Trust, *The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Company 21 August 2007.
- Niall MacKay, *By Steamboat & Steam Train: The Story of the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway and Navigation Companies*, Boston Mills Press, 1994.
- Lake of Bays Lane, Lake of Bays Lane in an Historical Perspective
- Great Lakes Ships
- Wikipedia
