The Gazelle

The stern wheeler, Gazelle, was built in Brewer, Maine, and launched in April 1861. She was 127 feet long, with a beam of 20 feet, and a capacity of 78 tons. She had twin engines which could be controlled from the wheelhouse.

On her first trip on the St. John River above Fredericton, she carried a number of immigrants, cattle, and commodities.

A notice appearing in the spring of 1863 claimed that the Antelope offered the most reliable through connection to Grand Falls, leaving Fredericton every Saturday morning and connecting at Woodstock with the Gazelle carrying passengers and freight to Tobique and Grand Falls.

During the summer of 1863, the level of the water was unusually low. In November, with a near capacity load, she struck a rock in the Meductic Rapids, necessitating some minor repairs. The Gazelle served this section of the river until 1872, when she was dismantled and her machinery placed in the new steamer, the Andover.