Skip to Content | Skip to Store Navigation

OUT OF STOCK/UNAVAILABLE Alligators of the North**

OUT OF STOCK/UNAVAILABLE Alligators of the NorthA Canadian invention, which very few persons have heard of today, the Alligator Steam Tug Boat had a profound effect on Canada’s forest industry during the late 1800s and the early decades of the 1900s. Before roads and railways, harvested timber was transported to the mill by the spring and summer river drive. The forests of the Ottawa Valley, Haliburton highlands, west to Georgian Bay, Lake of the Woods and Minnesota and east to Quebec and Maine were all being harvested. The tributaries of the Ottawa, the Trent-Severn System and the St. Maurice and the Saguenay Rivers were forestry highways. Enter the inventors, John West and his partner James Peachey in 1889, who with their foundry staff, built steam-powered warping tug boats that could tow or winch massive booms of logs on a lake and then go overland to the next lake, using its own power. The Alligator with its steam power and mile-long winching cable was high technology of the day.
Alligators of the North
This long-overdo book that chronicles the Alligator Steam Tug Boat is the combined work of authors Harry Barrett and the late Clarence Coons, with supporting data by John Corby. Harry Barrett is a life-long resident of Norfolk County, a noted naturalist, conservationist, and historian. Clarence Coons, now deceased, was a well-known professional forester in Kemptville Ontario. John Corby, is curator emeritus of the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Their combined work chronicles the intriguing history of West & Peachy and their invention, the Alligator.
The Canadian Forestry Association (CFA) supported this project early on in the 1980s and is proud to be involved in the publishing of this book some twenty-five years later. As a publishing partner, CFA offers a discounted price to each of you who enjoy Canadian northwoods nostalgia, forest lore and even technical innovation. This is a milestone book for your library! Harry B. Barrett & Clarence F. Coons with foreword by Ken Armson, R.P.F. softcover. 230 pages. 2010.

Price: $34.99

All prices are in Canadian dollars. All algonquinpark.on.ca prices are applicable to online purchases only.

Please note:
HST (5-15% depending on the Province) will be applied to all orders shipped to addresses in Canada. The exception are items marked with a ** which are only taxed at 5%.