Koira the Sternwheel Cat

Koira the Sternwheel Cat part 1/1

Koira was a stray cat on the streets of Penticton living near the steamboat landing eating mice and the food that was meant for the galley. One day she was inside a crate eating some tasty chicken. Meanwhile they were loading the newly built Peachland Queen and the crate of chicken was loaded in the cargo hold Koira extended her claws and dug them into the wooden walls of the crate for grip terrified for her life.

Once the crate was placed into the hold she heard all kinds of sounds, the shoveling of coal, the footsteps and chatter of the men and it was all new for her as while she lived at the landing she had never actually been aboard the boats around an hour later she fell asleep despite being terrified out of her mind.

At around 7:34 Pm she woke up to the sound of rushing steam and running while many people were yelling incoherently her not knowing what was going on arched her back and started hissing but as she started hissing the boiler exploded launching the crate into the air before it landed in the lake  with a big splash during the explosion the crates lid was blown off so Koira could stick her head out and see what was going on in the distance she could see a big ball of fire and could hear the screams of everyone on board, in the other direction she could see the lights of a town in the distance. She spent the next few minutes watching the boat burn as she slowly drifted around the waters of Okanagan lake.

The next morning she was still drifting around the lake meanwhile the sternwheeler Sicamous was dispatched to recover floating pieces of floating debris from the site Koiras crate was also recovered unfortunately the chicken was spoiled from not being refrigerated properly and was dumped back into the lake Koira however spent the rest of the journey in the captain's quarters until she got off at Okanagan Landing and was taken to a vet where it was found that she had one broken leg and three broken ribs but she was gonna be okay. She was the only survivor of the Peachland Queen Disaster.

After the disaster she was adopted by the crew of the Sicamous where she would deal with rodents until the boat's last voyage in 1937 after which she lived as a stray in Penticton until her death in 1939.

Today the Sicamous is preserved on the shore of Okanagan lake in Penticton and in 2008 a statue of Koira was built in the surrounding park in her honor.