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MAR x APR, 1979 Page 32 the lines westward and to open the area to in- creased settlement. As the railways grew across the prairies, com- pany officials hastened to provide direct passen- ger service from Montreal towards the West Coast and start receiving some income on their investment. The rail link north of Lakes Superior and Huron was incomplete, so it was decided to build steamers to transport passengers and goods to the Canadian Lakehead from the head of the rail lines at Owen Sound in Georgian Bay. The Canadian Lakehead, the present Thunder Bay, was known at the time as Prince Arthur's Land- ing. At that point, railroad connections could be made to the West. The company planned for five ships to provide daily service, but contracts were let for only three. While these were being built in Scotland during 1883, a pair of St. Lawrence River sidewheelers, Magnet and Spartan, were chartered to begin the service. The new passenger ships were designed to be of the finest quality afloat. They had the distinc- tion of being the first large steel vessels to sail the Great Lakes (as compared to iron hulls, which had been in merchant service on the Upper Lakes since 1861 and on the St. Lawrence even longer). The first of these vessels was launched on July 3, 1883. She was built by Aiken & Mansel of Glasgow (Hull 123) and, according to the Glasgow Herald, was apparently named "Athabaska" when launched. This was changed to Athabasca (registry number 85764) before she sailed for the lakes. Alberta (85765), built by Connell & Co. of Whiteinch, Scotland (Hull 136), was launched on July 12. Algoma (85766) followed on July 31, having been built by Aiken & Mansel at Kelvin- augh. Each vessel measured 270 feet long, 38.2 feet at the beam and 23.3 feet in depth. Alberta was registered at 1779 gross tons, Algoma at 1773 tons and Athabasca at 1774 tons. A 1700 horsepower compound engine measuring 35"-70"' x 48" pro- vided power. Each ship also came equipped with sails to assist the engine on the open lakes. Some finishing touches remained, but by the late summer of 1883 these ships were ready for their only transatlantic voyage. Athabasca, loaded with coal, sailed for Canada on August 23, but returned on August 29 with boiler problems. These were quickly rectified, and Athabasca set out once again on September 1, arriving at Montreal on September 23. Alberta loaded coal and cleared Glasgow on September 10, but she McDONALD Collection/DOSSIN MUSEUM The St. Lawrence River rapids steamer SPARTAN was chartered to open the CPR route from Georgian Bay to Lake Superior in 1883.