In 1892, John Bonser was contacted by Captain George Odin, a Fraser River captain, who was currently employed by the Hudson's Bay Company to navigate a route on the Skeena River from Port Essington to Hazelton. Several attempts had been made by other pilots to navigate the treacherously swift Skeena River but none had been successful. Part of Odin's letter read, ""We understand that you have the reputation of not being afraid to take a steamboat over Niagara Falls, across the Sahara Desert or from hell to