Robert Ayre Blackmore

Riverboat captain, Robert Blackmore, date unknown.

Dates: b. England 1867 d. 17 September 1944

Cemetery Location: Block A, Row 14, Plot 14

Profile:

English-born Robert H. Blackmore spent most of his life in the Big Bend country. He was a river guide on the Columbia River for 50 years.

In the early years, the Columbia was an important transport route for fur traders, but with the arrival of the railways, the use of the river for this purpose declined. Bob Blackmore, however, kept the route alive for timber cruisers, hunters and prospectors, guiding them through the treacherous waters of the Big Bend.

Tragically, in September 1944, the veteran voyager went missing, presumed drowned, on the Columbia River; his boat was recovered 16 kilometers south of Revelstoke. His friends believe he stumbled when making a landing somewhere along the river and lost his balance, falling into the water.

Robert Blackmore, Walter Nelson and unknown woman booming logs, Big Eddy, 1920.