SS Colvile was a Lake Winnipeg steamboat built for the Hudson's Bay Company in Grand Forks, Dakota Territory. Colvile was constructed, using some parts of the vessel called Chief Commissioner which in turn used a boiler taken from Anson Northup. Colvile was one of the largest vessels constructed for the HBC. The company hired Captain J. Reeves to supervise the construction of the vessel.[1]
By 1878 Colvile was a vital link in the HBC trade on the Red River of the North and Saskatchewan River routes. When a railway was built to Selkirk, Manitoba, a storage area was built on the shore of the river. Later, this site became known as the Colvile Landing. A railway spur was constructed from the Selkirk station to the landing.[2]
Colvile was destroyed by fire in 1894 while docked in the town of Grand Rapids in the northwest corner of Lake Winnipeg. The fire also destroyed several dockside buildings.[3]