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See also: paddle steamer, ships, steamboats, steamships, sternwheelers, canoes, models

The Ramona was a sternwheeler that ran up and down the Fraser River from New Westminster to Chilliwack. She was 178 feet long and considered one of the finest sternwheelers on the river at the start of the 1900s. Owned by the Lower Fraser Valley Navigation Company, the Ramona was in direct competition with the Beaver, sharing the same route and alternating daily. However, the vessel was considered accident prone. On April 17, 1901, while pulling into Henry West's landing at Hope, her boiler exploded. Four people including Richard Powers, the engineer, and Mrs. Hector Morrison, a passenger from Fort Langley, were killed. A number of enterprising New Westminster merchants who had formed the Western Steamboat Company bought the salvaged hull. Captain Hollis Young was given command of the new Ramona after she was rebuilt. Trade was continued as before, accepting harvested crops and goods produced along the Fraser River and delivering them to the Farmer's Market at New Westminster. On April 21, 1909, the Ramona foundered at Gilbert MacKay's landing at Haney and sank near the Harrison River. No effort was expended to retrieve the rebuilt sternwheeler.
See Also: boats
Term Source: Don Waite, "The Langley Story Illustrate