Francis Patrick Armstrong was a steamboat captain in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. He also operated steamboats on the Kootenay River in Montana and on the Stikine River in western British Columbia. Steam navigation in the Rocky Mountain Trench which runs through the East Kootenay region was closely linked to Armstrong's personality and career. In addition to being a steamboat captain, Armstrong was also a prospector, white-water boat pilot and guide in the Big Bend country of the Columbia River.
Duchess, steamboat, near Golden, BC 1887. A member of the First Nations. possibly serving as a crewman, is also shown near the steamer.
Frank P. Armstrong at the helm of Duchess, 1887
Duchess at Golden, BC, ca 1888
Completed lock at the Baillie-Grohman Canal, ca 1889. Armstrong deliberately destroyed these lock gates in making the transit of North Star through the canal in 1902.
The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs 781 kilometres (485 mi) from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, then west into the northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.
The Kootenai River at Libby, Montana
Kootenay River valley in Kootenay National Park
Kootenai group with tepees, circa 1900
Falls of the Kootenay River below Kootenay Lake, ca. 1936
