Unique Muskoka August

150th Anniversary Feature
Photographs: Courtesy of the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society
Photograph: Courtesy of the Muskoka Lakes Museum
The Wenonah was
retired in 1885 to an
island northwest of
Walker’s Point, serving as
a house boat for the
Cockburn family, which
owned property there.
The ship was sunk off the
island after a season or
two, but not before
Cockburn’s daughter had
sketched the boat at their shore.
Cockburn continued as general manager
until his death at 68 in June, 1905. By then
he had built “one of the most prestigious
boat lines on the inland waterways of
Canada,” according to Muskoka historian
Richard Tatley. Unfortunately, Cockburn
did not fare as well as his company. He was
no longer the chief shareholder in his later
years and a younger man was being groomed
for his job as general manager.
A discouraged Cockburn died
just before the arrival of what Tatley
calls “the Golden Age of the
Muskoka steamers.” Huge crowds
turned out in 1906 to welcome a
new flagship that could carry as
many passengers as any two of the
previous steamships. The Sagamo,
which had its maiden voyage on
June 15, 1907, was 152 feet long
and could hold 800 passengers and
26 crew members. It was followed a
year later by the Cherokee, which was
similar to the Sagamo but smaller at
123 feet long.
The navigation company soon
needed another steamboat to meet
Clockwise from top: The navigation company’s fleet
included the Islander, Cherokee and Medora. They
would transport tourists to and from Muskoka resorts
in luxury. A.P. Cockburn described himself in his later
years as “one of the hardest worked and worst paid
transportation managers upon the continent.” That
frustration is evident in a photograph taken not long
before he died in June 1905. An undated photograph
shows several Muskoka and Nipissing Navigation
Company steamers in winter drydock. A.P. Cockburn
provided land transportation to bring his customers
to Gravenhurst and the Wenonah, this poster reveals.
APRIL 7, 1837
1865
JUNE 1, 1866
1868
1871
Alexander Peter
Cockburn, the father
of Muskoka’s
steamboat era, is
born.
A.P. Cockburn
visited the Baisong
Rapids at the future
location of Port
Carling and sees the
tourism benefits of a
lock linking Lake
Muskoka and Lake
Rosseau.
Wenonah launches
on Gravenhurst Bay,
becoming the first
steamboat to sail on
Lake Muskoka.
After being
elected MPP in
Victoria, which
included Muskoka,
A.P. Cockburn
persuades the
coalition government
to pass legislation to
provide free land
grants.
Wenonah becomes
the first ship to pass
through the new lock
system linking lakes
Muskoka and
Rosseau.