The Bonny Doon
The stern wheeler, the Bonny Doon was built in Farmingdale, Maine in 1853 for the Glasier lumbering firm of New Brunswick. She was 116 feet long and had a beam of 21 feet, and when light was said to draw only 18 inches. Her gross tonnage was 44.
She was built like the Richmond and had two separate stern wheels. She operated mostly on the river above Fredericton, and her shallow draft and dual wheels provided her with good maneuverability in the upper river.
The driving force at Glasier was John B. Glasier, or "The Main John", as he was always called. This figure was New Brunswick's most famous lumberman, and one who became something of a legend, even in his own day. The tradition surrounding the naming of the new steamer is this
Glasier had his mare, Bonny Doon, who was tireless as a machine. She would whisk him from Saint John to Lincoln, 65 miles, in less than six hours, and he thought nothing of driving her from Fredericton to Quebec. Even in the depth of winter, he drove her single-team, and when they were on a long journey he would talk to her steadily about business conditions and politics and the state of the world. When she died "The Main John" bought a steamboat. He broke a bottle of champagne over the nose of the paddle wheeler, "I christen you the Bonny Doon, in honour of the greatest horse that ever lived", and as the boat slid down the ways - " Get-up there, you old devil".
The steamer business above Fredericton had been growing at a rapid pace. So much trade was being carried on that the government undertook to clear the river of rocks and boulders that were obstructions to navigation. The Reporter for September 2, 1853, reads:
"We learn that the Commisioner, Colonel MacLauchlan, is progressing successfully with the improvement of the River at Grand Falls. - He has about 60 men employed daily, and 70 tons of stone are removed in the same time. Loaded boats which a few weeks ago required 10 to 12 horses to tow them through, are now conveyed with one quarter of that number, and should the water keep low for 10 or 12 days longer, it is supposed the principle difficulties of steamboat navigation will be removed."
The Woodstock Sentinel reported in December 1857 that the steamers the Richmond, the Reindeer, and the Bonny Doon had together made sixty-four trips from Fredericton to Woodstock, twenty-one to Tobique, and nine to Grand Falls between April 20 and November 25. Well over four thousand passengers had been carried by the three vessels. They also carried 6,294 barrels to Woodstock, 2,788 to Tobique, and 1,456 to Grand Falls. Of freight downwards, they brought 102 cattle, 60 sheep, 8,664 bushels of oats, 2,528 bushels of potatoes, and 85 firkins of buckwheat. These totals were markedly higher than in the previous year, despite a falling off in lumbering. The Sentinel observed that "the trade, population and wealth of the country must have increased to a very large extent".
For several years, the Bonny Doon made many trips between Grand Falls and Woodstock, connecting the latter point with the steamer the Reindeer. In June 1863, while on her way down river, she ran on Watson's Rocks near Northhampton. The Antelope came to her rescue and freed her from the rocks and temporary repairs were made so she could proceed down river to Fredericton. Shortly after this, she was withdrawn from service.