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James Rees Sons and Company in the Yukon and Alaska
Northern Ships and Shipping
Dateline: April 25, 2024.

    Although the name of the company appeared in newspapers in many forms and two spellings (Reese and Rees), by 1898-99 it was James Rees Sons and Company, based in Pittsburgh. Among other notable facts, they were the first company to build "knockdown" steamers - building the complete steamer in the boat shed, then taking them apart, packing up all the individual parts and shipping them by rail and freighter to their destination, where the boats would then be re-assembled and put to work. The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania has a complete history here.

Some of the Yukon-Alaska boats built completely or partially by James Rees Sons and Company:

  • Australian (1899)
  • Canadian (1898)
  • Columbian (1898)
  • Hamlin (1898)
  • Julia B. (1908)
  • M. L. Washburn (1911)
  • Victorian (1898)
  • Will H. Isom (1901)
The Pittsburg Press - Monday, January 3, 1898

Machinery for Klondike Steamers.

    Capt. R. A. Talbot, of Seattle, Wash., president of the Seattle-Dawson City Transportation and Merchandise company, is in the city to superintend the construction of a large order of machinery which is to be used in a line of Yukon river steamers. The contract has been given to James Rees & Sons. The boats will draw only 12 tnches of water and will be ready for the docks early in the spring.
The Pittsburg Press - Sunday, February 20, 1898

Headline: Boom in Boatbuilding. The Klondike Trade is a Good hing For This Neighborhood, 1898.

    The boat building trade in the vicinity of Pittsburg has taken a spurt in the past few weeks and the three boat bullding establishments on the Monongahela river have all they can get out in the next three months. This, rivermen claim, is the result of the many orders received hy tHe boat builders down the Ohio for boats for the Alaska rivers to supply the demand of gold seekers. Heretofore it has been the general rule for most all companies contemplating building boats to depend on bids from the builders in Cincinnati and lower river places, who were always able to outbid the builders in this part of the country on account of their abilly to get lumber and labor a great deal cheaper than the Pittsburg people. Builders around here have been compelled to be content with contracts for pumping boats and other smaller craft in order to keep their ways busy.

    Since the first of the year, however, there has been a change and buyers have been turning their eyes toward the boat building establishments of Pennsylvania, with a view to letting contracts for large boats. Two contracts have already been let and more are expected. The first intimation Pittsburg had of this intended change of the boat-building trade was when J. B. Lord, president and general manager of the Ayers & Lord tie company, of Chicago, came to the city last week and visited the different building establishments in and around Pittsburg. He said that his company contemplated building a boat and that he was in search of a plan that would suit him. He had been to St. Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati, but the builders tn that section of the country said they would not be able to turn out a boat for at least three months, as they were filled up with orders for boats for the Yukon river trade, which had to be turned out by May. He then came to Pittsburg to see what he could do. After looking around he finally awarded the contract for a boat to the Marine Ways company, of Elizabeth. The contract for the machinery was let to James Reese & Son, of this city. The hull of the boat will be 160 feet long, with a 30-foot beam and will have a five-foot hold. The machinery will be 18-inch cylinders, with a seven-foot stroke. The boat will be used in the the towing trade on the upper Mississippi. The next contract was let by the Memphis & Arkansas Steamboat company, of Memphis, to Axton & Son, of Brownsville, for a boat 170 feet long, 30-foot beam and a four-foot hold. She will be used in the cotton carrying trade, and will keep the marine ways in this vicinity going for some weeks.

    Several rivermen interested in the packet business are in the city now negotiating with the different companies for a packet for the New Orleans trade. These gentlemen say that they were unable to get any bids et Cincinnati, as so many of the workmen have left for the Pacific coast to work on vessels for the Klondike, that builders are unable to fill contracts. The builders in this vicinity are glad to get a start in the trade, and they will turn out vessels that will be a credit to Pittsburg in order to hold the business in the future. They have been waiting for a chance to break into the lower river trade, but have never been able to compete with their rivals in that section. Now that the chance has come they will profit by it and will hereafter enter into all competitions for contracts. More orders are expected in the near future, and builders will employ an extra force of men to get thelr work out in time.

    James Reese & Son have contracts for several engines, but as their machinery is known all over the country they do not have much competition to buck against. They will ship several engines to the Pacific coast during March for use on boats on the Yukon.
The Pittsburg Press - Monday, March 28, 1898

    Capt. Mark Clark, of Allegheny, will leave In a few days for Victoria, B. C., to build boats for use on the Yukon. He is being sent to this far northern country by James Reese & Son, who have contracts for machinery for several boats for use on that river, and as Capt. Clark has had much experience he was chosen by this tirm to fit up the boats.

    Capt. Clark has been in almost every country and his experience as a boat builder has been a long and varied one. His last trip was to South America, where he built several boats. He expects to leave in a few days with the machinery and will commence work as soon as he arrives, as the company which is having the boats built want them in time for the summer trade in the gold fields.
The Pittsburg Press - Wednesday, April 20, 1898

    James Reese & Son's have just completed two boats which will be placed on the Yukon river, in Alaska, and they have received an order for another one, which they will commence in a few days. The boats will be shipped to Seattle in sections and placed together at that place. When this last order is filled it will be the sixth boat that this firm has built for the Klondike gold regions. The last order received is from R. Reid, a wealthy Englishman, who has been traveling in this country. It calls for stern wheeler, 148 feet long by 28 feet beam. It is to be run as a packet on the Sticken river, a short route to the gold regions. The firm is looking for more orders for small packets to be used in the gold regions.

    One of the boats now ready is one for James Deitrich, to be used for prospecting on the small rivers. It was made in sections and will be shipped in that shape. It is fitted with a drilling machine, which will be used for testing the sand on the bottom of the rivers. Tests can be made to a depth of 30 or 40 feet, and if gold is found in paying quantities a deeper shaft will be sunk.

    Two other orders almost ready for shipment are the machinery for the Sioux City and Dawson City, two boats owned by Capt. Talbot. The machinery and sections will be sent to Seattle. The boats are lo be stern wheelers, 140 by 26 feet, and will be used for prospecting on the rivers in Alaska.

    The Canadian Development company was the first to give their orders to James Reese & Son and they now have three Pittsburg boats running on the Alaskan waters.
The Pittsburg Press - Tuesday, May 10, 1898

Headline: A Successful Trip. Alaskan Boat Planned and Machinery Furnished by Pittsburgers, 1898.

    Some time since the Pittsburg Press stated that James Reese & Sons company had prepared plans and furnished the machinery for a new boat to ply on Alaskan waters.

    The boat, which has been christened the Vedorian, has been finished and had a trial trip yesterday at Victoria, British Columbia. The Reese company received a telegram to-day from H. Maitland Kersey, of Victoria, stating that the trial trip was a complete success. The boat, with a load of 125 tons on board, made 15 knots an hour, and the machinery worked perfectly. The construction of the boat and plans of the machinery was superintended by Capt. John Todd.
Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette - Wednesday, February 20, 1901

Headline: To PLy the Yukon. James Rees & Sons to Build a $100,000 Craft to Run on the Distant Stream, 1901.

    James Rees & Sons have just taken a contract to build for the Canadian Development Company a $100,000 tow and passenger craft to ply on the Yukon river. The purchasing company is a Chicago interest of which W. H. Ison is one of the chief executives. The closing of the contract is another notable incident of Pittsburgh products being sent to various quarters of the globe, the Rees company having been for years a material factor in foreign trade, its boats and other products going to many distant lands, including Africa and South America.

    Axton & Son will build the wooden hull of the boat at their Brownsville yards and the Pittsburgh company will supply all the equipment. The boat to be built will be on similar lines to the Jim Moren, considered the best boat of similar proportions ever built. The Yukon boat will be used by the purchasing company to ply between the various trading stations along the river, where the company has an extensive ownership. It will draw three and a haif feet of water.

    James Rees & Sons now have their works and forces engaged day and night, which is an exceptional circumstance for this season in some years. This activity is assured to continue well into the summer. The new boat and boiler yards and construction plant of the company that is under construction on Penn avenue is nearing completion. The Riter-Conley Manufacturing Company has just completed the building for the new boiler works.