Alpha (sternwheeler)
Alpha was a wooden steamship that operated on the rivers of Manitoba, Canada.
She was launched on July 5, 1873.
She had a reputation as being one of the fastest vessels in Manitoba, and one capable of proceeding during periods of shallow water, as her draft was just.
Running aground did not always end the career of prairie steamboats, but it did end the career of Alpha, when she ran aground on the Assiniboine River in April 1885.
Her wreck was found in 1958, and her rudder is now housed in a maritime museum in Selkirk, Manitoba.
