RESHAPING THE LAND
AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
by
Robert Neil Diaz
B.A., King's College, The University of Western Ontario, 1992

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

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MASTER OF ARTS

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in
HISTORY

©Robert Neil Diaz, 1996
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
April1996
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or
other means, without the permission of the author.

Abstract

Perceptions often dictate the understanding, definition and interaction that people have with
the real world. Northern British Columbia was and still is , perceived by Canadians as a frontier
region that offered limitless opportunity to those willing to come north. These opportunities were
more often than not found within the natural environment. Using Prince George, British Columbia
as a case study, this thesis seeks to understand how people interacted with the natural environment
up to 1915. Evidence suggests that during the early settlement period of Prince George, the
dominant perception was that the natural environment was a storehouse of natural resources
available for human use. What resulted from this human perception were changes in the land.
I began with an examination of how Native people viewed and interacted with the
environment and furthermore how their experiences differed from that of European settlers.
Second, was an investigation of what early non-Native explorers wrote about when travelling to
Prince George. Third, an examination of town boosters was undertaken to expose what aspects
of nature they promoted in attempts to lure people to the central interior. Furthermore, boosters'
success or lack thereof was measured. Modes of transportation in Prince George during the study
period were also considered as it was apparent that people needed to access the resources before
extraction could occur. In this sense, transportation became a means to an end. Finally, this thesis
includes an exploration of the forest industry . Settlers initially viewed forests as a hindrance to
settlement, but soon realized that forest harvesting could lead to profits, resulting in massive
cutting. In sum, up to 1915 the human-environment relationship was based on resource extraction,
which resulted in unprecedented changes in the land.

11

Table of Contents

Abstract

11

Table of Contents

lll

List of Figures

iv

Acknowledgement

v

Chapter One

Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven

Defining Environmental History
Introduction and Overview

1

The Natural Setting

9

From the Land

20

Boosterism and the Environment

43

Landscape in Motion

84

Choice Timber

102

Conclusion

122
124

Bibliography

lll

List of Figures
Figure 1

Prince George in relation to the province

11

Figure 2

Study area

12

Figure 3 & 4

Hudson' s Bay Company, Fort George

36

Figure 5

Land for sale advertisement

61

Figure 6

Three George' s outlined

62

Figure 7

Map of Fort George

64

Figure 8

Map of South Fort George

65

Figure 9 & 10

South Fort George, clearing the land

67

Figure 11

Prince George map

68

Figure 12

Prince George lots for sale

69

Figure 13

Prince George, 3rd A venue

72

Figure 14

City Beautiful

73

Figure 15

George Street - changes

77

Figure 16

Map of Blackwater Road

85

Figure 17

Stagecoach

88

Figure 18

BX Express

92

Figure 19

Fraser River Bridge

97

Figure 20

Ten railroads to Prince George

99

Figure 21

Sawmill Fort George

111

Figure 22

Logs on the Fraser

112

Figure 23

Logging

116

IV

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to William Morrison and David del Mar for
their direction and support during the course of my research and
writing, and also to Doug Baker and Robin Fisher for their helpful
guidance. Further appreciation is extended to Gail Fondahl and
Ken Coates both of whom offered insight and encouragement. I
would also like to acknowledge the Prince George Public Library,
Fort George Museum and Prince George Development Services
for their assistance in piecing together this environmental history.
My fondest thanks to Brian Bowman and Mike Evans who
helped me keep my focus and spurred me on to completion during
the course of my M.A. work. And finally, to Meredith Bogle,
your countless suggestions and enthusiastic interest in my project
was invaluable, you experienced many of the joys and difficulties
associated with this thesis, and I sincerely thank you, Cheers!

v

Chapter 1
Environmental History

The environmental history of Prince George, British Columbia is based on a record of
natural resource exploitation that has evolved over the past two centuries. As with other northern
resource communities, the landscape of the Prince George area has gone through massive changes.
Environmental history reconsiders economies, politics, values and social events to understand why
such changes in the land occurred. This thesis examines Prince George up to the outbreak of
World War I, suggesting that the dominant society's perceptions of the environment often dictated
how that society interacted with the environment.
Various scholars describe the human-environment relationship. In his book The
Fisheunan's Problem: Ecolo2:}' and Law in the California Fisheries. 1850-1980, Arthur McEvoy

'

observed that human interaction with the environment was driven by "the idea that human life
had no ecological nature at all. The earth was a store of resources to be used for the satisfaction
of human wants. " 1 That is, even though the California fisheries economy was witnessing the
depletion fish stocks, it continued to operate. It seemed that economic progress and stability
determined actions, and the extraction of fish by humans continued. William Cronon's Changes
in the l..and, described how settlers and natives interacted with New England's environment. He
concluded that humans often defmed the environment in terms of extractable commodities for
human use. 2 In "Wilderness and Culture" John Wadland claimed that Canadians appreciated
nature, but only insofar as it enhanced human wants. He stated that they"pick off bits and pieces
of the whole, reconstructing them as artifacts to serve ... [them]. " 3

1

Wadland asserted that

Canadians cherished their wilderness areas, particularly those areas that were deemed to be useful
for camping, skiing and hiking , essentially, any activity that enhanced the human experience.
George Altmeyer's article "Three Ideas of Nature in Canada, 1893-1914" also presented
the notion that Canadians appreciated their environment. He felt that the growth of Canadian cities
in the early twentieth century led to crowded conditions, crime, pollution and monotonous
lifestyles for citizens. Many city residents consequently looked to nature as a "Benevolent Mother
capable of soothing city worn nerves and restoring health. " 4 This led to a "back to nature"
movement throughout the country. Canada's back to nature movement was similar to that of
America's in that it sought to calm the soul from the hardships of city life. As a result, in Canada,
provincial parks were created, cottages were frequented by city dwellers on weekends, and
summer camping and nature walks became common activities. 5
However, during the early twentieth century, residents of Prince George did not experience
this back to nature movement that was sweeping throughout the rest of North America. Rather,
residents of Prince George looked to nature solely in economic terms . The resources available in
British Columbia's interior were viewed to be limitless, therefore people who lived there were
concerned with making a living from nature, not with escaping the ills of city life. Hence, in
Prince George, appreciation of nature existed on the basis that it could be controlled and
dominated by humans to acquire resource commodities.
The purpose of this thesis is to test the ideas presented above in a local setting, and to
examine how humans perceived the natural environment. The focus of this thesis is Prince
George, British Columbia up to and including the settlement period (circa.1915). Evidence
suggests that during the specified study period, human perceptions defined the natural environment

2

as natural resources, resources that should be controlled and extracted by humans. These human
centred attitudes guided actions, leading to a reshaping of the land.
At the macro level this study accomplishes a number of tasks. First, it challenges the
traditional notion that history is concerned only with politics, economies, or individuals, and it
considers the role of the natural environment into historical thought. Second, by introducing
nature to the historical record, environmental history joins class, race and gender history, all of
which were traditionally placed on the periphery of study by historians. Since it strives to
illustrate the history of land change, familiar events and words like "railroads", "The Hudson's
Bay Company", "nature", "wilderness", "trees" and "resources" are approached with new
lenses, provoking analysis of why nature has changed over time.
There is utility in this study. Information recorded here could be referenced in future
conservation and/or resource management practices. Prior to the formation of regulations and
decisions involving natural resources, decision makers should have a firm understanding of what
has occurred in the past, why new regulations are being made, and for whom. This exercise will
reveal the connection between perceptions of nature and how human actions consciously and
inadvertently affected the environment.
This study is also useful at the micro level. Prince George represents a northern town that
emerged due to its geographic location near the rivers and its resource rich surrounding.
Consequently, the environmental history of Prince George can serve as a model for similar
environmental histories of other northern resource centres.
At this point it is important to defme some terms that will be used frequently in this thesis.
An understanding of "perceptions" is crucial to this study. Schiff's article "Hazard Adjustment,

Locus of Control, and Sensation Seeking Some Null Findings" suggests that a social defmition
3

of perceptions must be utilized when considering nature. Accordingly, "perceptions " are the
impression one has of a social stimulus or set of stimuli. Schiff claims that "impression is
modified by the perceiver's past experiences , his previous experiences with the same or similar
stimuli and the individual's state at the moment he is viewing the stimulus of interest. " 6 This
definitions raise two issues. First, human perceptions are different for various cultures, and within
particular groups or organizations in community. In Prince George, the perceptions of Native
women, Asians, children, non-Native women, Mennonites or any other minority group
undoubtably are varied. The second problem is that perceptions do not always dictate
corresponding behaviour.
Within this study the perceptions that will be considered are those of the dominant society.
A vast majority of the evidence presented here originated in newspapers , novels , real estate
advertisements, and government policies . Therefore, the literate society' s perceptions of the
natural environment drive this thesis. Geographer Bruce Mitchell points out that multiple
perceptions simultaneously occur in a society, and that a hierarchy of views should be
acknowledged. But he concludes that a dominant perception overrides other existing perceptions.
In fact, the presence of a hierarchy results in the more dominant one directing actions, only if "it

is not dominated by a more pervasive" perception. 7 Therefore, it is the more predominant attitudes
that are dealt with in this study. Yet perceptions do not always lead to behaviour. Hence, each
chapter describes human perceptions and then concludes by outlining related land changes that
actually occurred. It is certain that the land has changed or been reshaped by humans in Prince
George. Working backwards then, this thesis identifies change, then associates key variables or
attitudes that contributed to such changes . That is, this thesis concentrates on human perceptions

4

and actions . This approach addresses uncertainties of whether or not perceptions directed
behaviour.
Ecofeminist Carol Merchant claims that the "environment" is an "aggregate of external
conditions." Nature is the physical universe, all its features , processes and organisms , excluding
humans and their cultural and social institutions. 8 Therefore, the "natural environment" is all non
human elements, this includes flora, fauna, water, soils, landforms, sounds and smells.
The perception that the natural environment can be defmed chiefly in terms of natural
resources, raises the important question of what constitutes resources. Erich Zimmermann's often
cited work Introduction to World Resources provides a concise explanation of what resources are.
He asserts that the natural environment is not made up only of resources. In fact, components of
the natural environment become resources to serve human wants and needs . Resources are
therefore cultural constructs, and only with the presence of humans are they defmed as such. Prior
to such presence, nature remains a combination of 'neutral stuff. ' 9 Finally, "changes in the land"
is described as "land shaping" , "remoulding" , "new landscapes" and "altering" . In this case,
these words indicate that the natural environment has been modified from its pre-human state,
creating new "landscapes", "smellscapes", and "soundscapes. "
Four aspects of Prince George's past help to reconstruct human interactions with the
environment. The following chapter describes the natural environment of Prince George and
region, including a chronological history of the region's geomorphology and an assessment of the
local flora and fauna. This illustrates that the natural environment under went natural changes and
recognizes that nature is not static and in fact has its own processes. Moreover, the description
of the natural setting exposes those elements in the natural environment that humans encountered
and subsequently defmed as resources .

5

Chapter three examines Prince George during three distinct phases of human occupation,
beginning with the Native group that resided in and around Prince George, exposing their
perception of and interaction with the natural environment. Next comes a consideration of early
explorers attitudes as they passed through the study area. The final phase of Chapter Three deals
with perceptions of head traders at Forts. It examines the way in which the establishment of Fort
George Fur Trading Post, (the first European settlement) led to new landscapes.
Chapter Four, "Boosterism and the Environment: Perceptions of a Northern Town", deals
with the way in which Prince George was promoted at both the local and national level,
specifically, the degree in which the natural environment was described in terms of natural
resources available to potential investors and settlers. Chapter Four concludes with an account of
the unparalleled change that the land went through during the settlement period.
Chapter Five, "Landscape in Motion", further supports the notion that the environment
was made up of resources available for human use. This chapter describes the important role of
modes of transportation in acquiring natural resources. Chief among these were wagons,
sternwheelers, and trains, three innovations that reshaped, redefined and moved the land.
Human perceptions also defined the forests as resources, and this is the topic of Chapter
Six. Evidence suggests that government policies promoted forest extraction and this led to similar
attitudes at the local level, resulting in further changes in the land. The concluding chapter of this
thesis draws upon all of the evidence provided, reaffirming that in Prince George, during the early
settlement period, perceptions of the natural environment altered it substantially.
To complete this study, an array of literature written before and after 1915 was consulted.
These sources provided an understanding of what people were concerned with. The utility of this
approach was the fact that the natural environment was referenced many times within each

6

document, providing an idea of social perceptions and attitudes with respect to nature. These
documents also described Prince George geographically and visually, producing an image of how
the land changed over time. Among these sources were town and regional promotional literature,
travel books, government policies, The Fort George Tribune, Fort George Herald, Prince George
Post, real estate advertisements, brochures, diaries, journals and taped interviews on record at the
Prince George Public Library. Archaeological and anthropological data helped piece together the
attitudes and practices of Native groups. Of equal importance was the contribution of surveyors
and photographers who left an excellent visual record of the study area. All of these sources
assisted in describing new landscapes that were formed by humans in Prince George.

7

Chapter 1-Endnotes
l.Arthur McEvoy, The Fisherman's Problem: Ecology and Law in the California Fisheries,
1850-1980 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 252.
2.William Cronon, Changes in the Land (New York: Hill and Wang, 1983), 21.
3.John Wadland, "Wilderness and Culture"in Consuming Canada: Readings in Environmental
History Gaffield and Gaffield ed. (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press , 1995), 13.
4.George Altmeyer, "Three Ideas of Nature in Canada, 1893-1914" in Consuming Canada:
Readings in Environmental History Gaffield and Gaffield ed. (Ottawa: University of Ottawa
Press, 1995), 98.
5.Ibid.; See also Jasen, Patricia Wild Things Nature. Culture and Tourism in Ontario 17901914 for more information of appreciation of nature. Her study deals particularly with
tourism, romantic notion of nature and the establishment of parks.
6. Bruce Mitchell, Geography and Resource Analysis (Essex, England: Longman Scientific
and Technical, 1979), 102.
7. Ibid., 103.
8. Carol Merchant, The Death of Nature (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983), appendix
viii.
9.Erich Zimmermann, Introduction to World Resources, (New York: Harper and Row
Publishers, 1964), 21 .

8

Chapter 2
The Natural Setting

"Resources are not, they become "1

Prince George is located in the geographical centre of British Columbia, specifically, in
the central interior plateau of the province, representing an area of approximately 341,880 square
km. The plateau itself is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Rocky Mountains to the
east, the Central Interior and Columbia Mountains to the north and south2 (Figure 1). The study
area lay on a horse-shoe shaped section of land, carved out by the Nechako and Fraser Rivers
(Figure 2). The glacial formation of two rivers which chiselled this distinctive triangular piece of
land illustrates that the natural environment underwent changes and processes autonomously of
humans. A description of these natural processes that created the habitats for the various types
of flora and fauna to exist is provided. The aim of this chapter is to describe the environmental
components in the area that humans would later defme as resources.
Glacial History

The glacial history of the plateau richly illustrates that the natural environment changed
prior to human presence. In the Pleistocene period, the central interior of British Columbia bore
a sheet of ice roughly 1700 metres thick. This glacial blanket began to slowly melt about 11,500
years ago , resulting in the readvancement of the lower portions of the glacier.
Deglaciation continued until the temperature was suitable for modern vegetation, close to
10,000 years ago. It was during the readvancement stage that massive sections of ice
approximately 10,000 metres thick drifted down the Coast and Cariboo Mountains onto the central
interior plateau.3 Donahue' s study claims that the entire Fraser River Valley, from Prince George
9

to Mission was buried under ice at this time. During the deglaciation process the plateau's
landscape acted as a basin holding three glacial lakes. Of these lakes , the two largest were in the
Prince George and Vanderhoof basins. Proglaciallake Prince George, which covered the area of
this study , drained northward. Estimations describe the Lake as being no more that 72 metres
deep, until further melting occurred in the Fraser River Valley, allowing complete drainage to
take place. 4 The period of time that these proglaciallakes existed is unknown.
The Nechako Plateau constitutes the most northern subsection of the central interior
plateau.5 It is both moderately undissected, and deeply cut along the Fraser River and its
tributaries . The Nechako Plateau is bordered on the north by the Skeena and Omineca Mountains,
the south by West Road River, the east by the Fraser Basin, and on the west by the Hazelton
Mountains .6 "The Plateau was occupied by ice, which, in moving across it, marked the surface
with thousands of grooves and drumlin like ridges which are parallel to the ice flow. " Moreover,
after the ice withdrawal the land surface was marked with many kettles which would later form
lakes and ponds. 7
The geomorphology of the Plateau is made up of bedrock that originates from Mesozoic
and Palaeozoic sedimentary and volcanic rock. Over time, the erosional process formed the
landscape by reducing the original amount of bedrock. This process led to the appearance of
gently rounded surfaces and the Quanchus, Fawnie and Nechako mountain ranges. At this point
volcanic disruptions released further materials which covered the region.

10

I

I

so• f-.

I

l
2

L EGEND

~

w.. .. n Sys!cm
~~

~

(adapted from Holland, 1976)

Figure 1: The City of Prince George B.C. located at
the juncture of the Fraser and Nechak:o Rivers.

11

Fili/ST

AJu>rn oN

i

~

Foi.T
E. ORS£.

Fou !;EOR..g£.
JN.biAN 1?.ES£R.Y£

To

N
So-tc.RN"''E:.NT
1CE:SE..RVE:

(adapted from Runnalls, 1946)

Figure 2: The focus of this study is the horseshoe shaped piece of
land that extends south west from the river juncture. As this map
illustrates humans heavily occupied the area as early as 1909.

12

The soils of the study area were created by Late Pleistocene glacial deposits . Within Prince
George the soils were grey wooded and grey black belonging to the Northern Woodland soils
region. Provincial land surveys determined that most of the soil between Prince George and
Smithers is suitable for crop production, an important resource for arriving settlers .9
Climate

By 7000 B.C. the region was ice free. A majority of the glacial lakes had reduced in size,
establishing current drainage patterns .10 Donahue's study indicates that previous research
concentrating on Holocene fossil pollen in south central British Columbia can be employed as a
guide to climatic change in the northern regions . Accordingly, during this ice-free period there
existed pine and spruce forests. The existence of these types of flora suggest that the conditions
were moist. By 6500 B.C. grass and sporadic sagebrush dominated the terrain. This type of flora
thrives in arid climates. In 4700 B.C . the climate was somewhat cooler and moister, which
resulted in a high growth of birch, alder and hazel. 11
Land features also influenced the climatic conditions in the study area. These features
included the elevation, latitude, and geographic positioning in relation to mountain systems.
During the time period of this study the winters were long and cold, and summers were cool and
short. The precipitation in the area was minor, except during the winter months when snow
appeared between October and April. 12 There also existed high elevation flat lands prompting the
creation and maintenance of cool air. 13 Consequently, the climate of Prince George was
characteristic of the central interior, with low rainfall , and extreme seasonal temperatures. 14

13

Fraser River
Below the surface of the Nechako Plateau is the Fraser Basin. This basin covers the area
from Williams Lake north to McLeod Lake, and from Sinclair Mills west to Fraser Lake. Most
of the surface of the Fraser Basin is below 3, 000 feet and in some areas portions of bedrock are
revealed. 15 The Fraser River merges with the Nechako River at Prince George. The most evident
feature of the Fraser is that it dissects the interior plateau from north to south. Lord states that "it
is incised in a deep valley of numerous rock canyons and a series of well-developed terraces. " 16
"Rising in the Rocky Mountains, it drains an area of 238,000 square kilometres, running first
northwest through the wide valleys of the Rocky Mountains Trench to Prince George. Here it
turns south, gathering in the waters of the Nechako, the Chilcotin, Quesnel and the Thompson and
a host of smaller tributaries as it drives through the bedrock of the Interior Plateau on its way to
the Pacific. " 17 All of these tributaries are characterized by steep sided canyons, particularly at
their mouths. Yet these tributaries are accompanied by relatively low valleys in their northern
portions.
Tipper addresses the hypothesis that the Fraser River did not always flow southward. He
suggests that the Fraser flowed north releasing its flow into the McGregor-Parsnip river valleys,
draining into the Peace River. Moreover, the sedimentary formations that exists in Miocene river
gravel, hints that a northward flow may have occurred. The northward flowing Fraser River was
interfered with by the ancient Chilcotin River or one of its tributaries . 18 Tipper states that the
Fraser River between Soda Creek and the Chilcotin River is relatively young in character,
possessing steep valley walls. These valley walls of the Fraser do widen north of Soda Creek.
From that point the valley continues to widen up to Prince George, characteristic of a northward
flowing body of water. "The Chilcotin River or a tributary thereof apparently worked head ward
14

from the present mouth of Chilcotin River and intersected the northward drainage of the ancestral
Fraser River. This capture probably occurred in the late Pliocene and was older than the MiocenePliocene plateau lavas and the last major glacial deposits. " 19

Flora
The study area belongs to the Sub-Alpine Forest Zone. The macroclimate of sub-alpine
forest zones promoted particular soils, vegetation and nutrient patterns . When humans started to
frequent the area they noticed that the plant life was composed primarily of Englemann spruce,
white spruce, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir paper birch and aspen. Donahue's study reveals that
the swampy or wet regions in the interior were often accompanied by willows, alder, and white
spruce. 20 The shrub layers that were.present in the dry open areas included western thimbleberry,
Rocky Mountain maple, prickly rose, willows and blueberry . Herbs such as wild sarsaparilla,
Canadian bunch berry and asters also grew in abundance. 21

Fauna
There were also numerous animals that would be defmed by humans as resources, in and
around Prince George. Among these animals were the moose, grizzly bear, elk, beaver, mule
deer, hoary marmot, and ground-hog are commonly seen. According to Cowan and Guiguet,
mountain caribou were also quite numerous. Preferring the deciduous tree landscape, moose fed
upon willows, aspens, red osier and horsetails. It is interesting to note that studies completed by
Cowan, Guiguet, and Lamb suggest that during this study period, moose were not as plentiful as
they are today. Their migration to Prince George is often attributed to railway tracks, which
provided snow trails for moose during the winter. The Beaver living in the region preferred
forested areas that were not exposed to flash floods. They consumed aspen and willow that were
found within travelling distance of their lodges, two types of flora that were readily available in
15

Prince George.
Hare resided in somewhat open forested areas , where deciduous vegetation occurred. The
Prince George area also possessed a variety of bird species including geese, duck, grouse and
grebes. Grizzly bears were usually located in the higher elevated regions near slopes or clearings
where a varieties of berries grew. The bears fed on vegetation in the southern regions during the
spring months and then moved to berry patches in the summer. Towards the end of the summer
bears spent most waking hours trying to catch the numerous salmon that were weaving their way
through the rivers and streams.22
Salmon in the area included coho, sockeye and kokanee. Other fish present were the trout,
sturgeon, whitefish, and sucker. Coho salmon (average weight 8 pounds) spawned in AugustSeptember. It is characteristic of coho to remain in fresh water until their second year at which
time they migrated to the sea, only to return to their birthplace three years later where they
spawned and eventually die. The sockeye began their spawning run in late summer and travelled
up to 650 miles north along the Fraser River. The Chinook (average weight 10 to 50 pounds) as
the coho, spawned a short distance from the sea. Yet, unlike the coho, chinook spawned in large
rivers and tributaries. The chinook matured in their 3rd to 7th year and their run took place in late
summer. 23
At this stage a general descriptive overview of the Prince George indicates certain key
elements. Geographically, it possessed the characteristics of various glacial processes. The most
distinctive aspect of the study area is the presence of the Fraser River system and its tributaries,
particularly the Nechako River. Of equal importance are the landforms , mountains, and flatlands,
all of which relate to the climate, flora and fauna environments . The significance of this chapter
is that nature in fact lives, and continued to evolve during human presence. Moreover, this chapter
16

describes the evolution of the natural setting which provided the agricultural land and flora and
fauna that humans valued as commodities and defmed as resources for extraction.

17

Chapter 2-Endnotes
1.Erich Zimmermann, Introduction to World Resources (New York: Harper and Row Publishers,
1964), 21.
2.Paul Donahue, "4500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau of
B.C. "(Ph.D. thesis. , University of Wisconsin, 1977), 33.
3.H.W. Tipper, Glacial Geomorphology and Pleistocene History of British Columbia (Ottawa:
Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1971), 4 7.
4.Ibid.
5.Donahue, "4500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau of B.C." , 46.
6.Stuart Holland, Landforms of British Columbia: A Physiographic Outline (Ottawa: Department
of Mines and Petroleum, 1976), 51.
7.Ibid., 68 .
8.Tipper, Glacial Geomorphology and Pleistocene History of British Columbia, 50.
9.Perry Anderson, A Study of Land Settlement in Prince George. Smithers Area of B.C.
(Victoria: Department of Lands, 1947), 60.
lO.Ibid.
11. Donahue, "4500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau of B.C." , 71.
12.Ibid.
13 .T.M. Lord, Soils of the Quesnel Area B.C . (Vancouver: Land and Resource Research
Institute, 1961), 6)
14.Anderson, A Study of Land Settlement in Prince George. Smithers Area of B.C., 62.
15 .Holland, Landforms of British Columbia: A Physiographic Outline, 75.
16.Lord, Soils of the Quesnel Area B.C., 9.
17 .Geoff, Meggs, Salmon: The Decline of the B.C . Fishery (Vancouver: Douglas Mcintyre,
1991), 7.
18.Lord, Soils of the Quesnel Area B.C., 11.
18

19.Tipper, Glacial Geomorphology and Pleistocene History of British Columbia, 5.
20.Donahue, "4500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau of B.C." ,143.
21.Department of Lands, The Forests of B.C. (Victoria: Charles F. Banfield, 1937), 9-22.
22.1an Cowan and Charles Guiguet, The Mammals of B.C. (Victoria: B.C. Provincial Museum,
1975), 2-46.
23 .Carl Clemmons and C.Lindsey, The Freshwater Fish of B.C . (Victoria: B.C. Provincial
Museum, 1967), 74-83

19

Chapter Three
From the Land
Recognizing that the natural environment has its own processes and changes, an important
question to ask is, how did human occupation further these changes? This chapter discusses the
manner in which Natives, early explorers and European fur traders perceived and interacted with
the environment. Current anthropological and archaeological studies reveal that Carrier people
resided around Prince George for thousands of years. The post-contact history of these people can
be reconstructed from the journals of explorers , surveyors, and traders. Much of the data here
has been borrowed from studies of Natives who lived in similar ways, yet who resided in areas
slightly outside of this study area. Chief among the early explorers who passed through Prince
George were Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser and George M. Dawson. These explorations
were made possible by the backing of larger institutions which were interested in the region for
monetary reasons. Therefore, one should keep in mind that Mackenzie, Fraser, and Dawson had
the specific job of assessing the economic potential of the land.
The relevance of explorers journals is that they expressed early perceptions of the natural
environment. Moreover, these journals described the land during the pre-European settlement
stage, descriptions that help measure the environmental changes that were to come. The journals
of various traders who lived in trading posts at Fort George and Fort St. James will also be
examined. These latter journals assist in understanding the trader's perceptions of the
environment. This chapter shows that with the arrival of non-natives, the land was perceived for
the first time as a commodity available for human wants.

20

First Nations

The Carrier lived part of the year at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. It
is difficult to trace the Carrier's perception of and impact on an environment, for they did not
maintain a written rec9rd of their views or actions. It is clear that the Carrier braided aspects of
the natural environment into their spiritual and political belief systems .
The residents of the village of Leit'li (where Prince George would later develop), practised
a non-sedentary lifestyle, regulated by clan membership. Each clan had a leader who controlled
hunting and fishing sites. 1 The importance of hunting and fishing sites indicate that these
resources were important to the Carrier. The fact that authority over these resources was
considered to be a privilege or indicated a position of stature within the society also illustrates the
importance of these resources within their society. Daniel Harmon, a trader at Fort St. James
from 1800 to 1816, described clan leaders ' "owning" resource-rich territories. He wrote that "the
people of every village have a certain extent of country which they consider their own in which
they may hunt and fish; but may not transcend these bounds without purchasing the privilege of
those [leaders] who claim the land. " 2 Salmon fishing weirs serve as an excellent example of clan
leaders' controlling resources. To catch fish, the Carrier built fishing weirs across rivers and
streams. Each weir was controlled by certain individuals or head clan member, whose authority
was increased and maintained with the number of weirs controlled. Hudson' s study provides an
example of clan leaders' power hinging upon the ownership and use of a fishing location. In
1911 the Federal Department of Marine and Fisheries outlawed Native fishing weirs on the Fraser

River System. In many instances the elimination of these resource locations resulted in the clan
leader losing stature or influence within his tribe .3

21

Elements of the natural environment also appeared in the Carrier spiritual belief system,
demonstrating the importance that this Native group assigned to the environment. When George
Dawson surveyed the central interior of British Columbia he observed the taboos associated with
the beaver. He reported that the Carrier were careful not to let dogs eat the head of the beaver.
The beaver's bones were burnt to ensure that this did not happen. This custom of burning bones
exhibited respect for the beaver, hence ensuring a good hunt in the future. Similar spiritual
practices reveal the values associated with bears. Natives respected bears and never spoke badly
of this animal in fear of being ripped to pieces by a bear when in the bush.4 The honour and fear
that Natives afforded these animals illustrates their importance to Native subsistence.
Crests were another aspect of Carrier culture that were intertwined with the natural
environment. These crests were clan property, patterned on ceremonial blankets and totems. The
crest of one particular clan could never be used by another unless it was on loan. Each individual
clan member was supposed to have a certain amount of control over his or her crest. The
underlying message of crest protocol was that clan members had a certain amount of control over
the animal on their crest, in essence the environment. For example, a Laksamasyu man claimed
that the sun was one of his crests. Displaying control over his crest he claimed he could "beseech
the sun to stop continuous rain; or a Jitumten man could plead with the grizzly bear not to attack
him. " 5
Chief Maxine George at Fort Fraser insisted that members of his clan did " not shoot the
wolf because at one time his people were descended from the union of a wolf and a human. " 6
Father Morice, who spent a considerable amount of time with the Carrier, observed that the
Natives calender year reflected the importance that they placed on the natural environment.
Morice's translation of the calender year is as follows: satco=big moon, ts9-sal=?small, ts9z22

teo= ?big, c in-uza =month of the spring, t9k9s-uza =month of the carp, tanx-uza =month of the
summer, kes91-uza=month of the land locked salmon, thall-uza=month of the red salmon, pituza=month of the bull trout. 7 The above descriptions illustrate that the Carrier wove into their
political and spiritual system aspects of the natural environment that they perceived to be of
significance in their lives. Subsequently, these elements such as animal crests, or the season of
red salmon would dictate how the Carrier interacted with the environment.
At this juncture, let us examine how the Carrier actually utilized their immediate natural
environment and in tum, the changes in the land that occurred. James Hackler's examination of
the Carrier revealed that they "moved their residences several times per year each [move]
designed for a different type of living. " 8 In this sense, the Natives perceived the environment to
be the deciding factor, which directed their actions . Carrier winter villages were erected only
where there was a dependable amount of fire wood to sustain the village population. These
wooded areas also had to provide enough animals to be hunted to supplement the cache of dried
fish. 9

The significance of erecting a village near forests and animals is supported by

archaeological work conducted at Punchaw Lake (territory of Nadkutin, Southern Carrier,
Southwest of Prince George) . From the excavations at this particular site, it was revealed that
during the winter, small groups would hunt and trap animals. The campsites or satellite villages
during these activities were chosen for the shelter and firewood that was available. 10
The environment also dictated the location of spring and summer settlements. During the
warmer months , fish runs determined the location of villages, so that various fish species such as
salmon, could be caught. Daniel Harmon wrote that the Carrier built and lived at Salmon
villages part of the year, awaiting the huge salmon run. Harmon also observed the importance of
fish to the Carrier, when "in mid April [they left] their villages and live[ed] upon fish that they
23

[took] out of the small lakes. " 11 There is no disputing that the Carrier lifestyle during the spring
and summer was determined by where the salmon were located. For example, the Chinlac village
near Prince George was made up of settlement sites predominantly on riversides or lakes . These
river settlements were located on major rivers where the Natives could build fish weirs. The
settlements on smaller rivers supported fewer family units , but provided the right soil to dig cache
pits. Carrier satellite settlements served only as cache pit locations, not living quarters. 12 From
this information, one can surmise that since the Fraser and Nechako Rivers experienced large
salmon runs, they too felt the touch of the Carrier.
The materials used to build Carrier dwellings reveal that these people reshaped nature by
extracting pieces from it. They depended on the natural environment to shelter them, keep them
warm, catch fish and make tools. Central interior Carrier lived in two types of structures, a
summer and a winter house. These dwellings were supported by four large posts with connecting
beams, and four additional posts made of spruce slabs which held up the walls . The roof consisted
primarily of spruce bark, bound together by strips of yellow bark. The summer homes, occupied
during salmon season were materially similar to the winter homes but of poorer construction. 13
Alexander Mackenzie described a Carrier home as being thirty feet square, having spruce timber
walls five feet high, and three fireplaces or hearths. The size of these homes and the placement
of three hearths indicate that wood was used for fuel and construction in each village.
The utilization of the forest for both fuel and building material affected the land. Trees
of transportable size were felled to fuel the fires for both cooking and heat. It is not unreasonable
to presume that many summer villages were abandoned during the winter months because the
wood available for fuel had been exhausted. In the Prince George region the dense coniferous
forest is indicative of a climax stage of arboreal succession. Coniferous trees will replace shrubs,
24

herbs and deciduous trees, after the former have been cleared. Therefore , by comparing the ratio
of coniferous to deciduous trees and the age of this distribution, a gauge of past forest clearing
can be obtained. 14 Surveying the Carrier village at Punchaw Lake, Fladmark inspected the
percentage and age of deciduous and coniferous trees. He found that there were a number of
smaller areas with low tree density and narrow avenues of reduced tree occurrence. Fladmark
concluded that the level of Carrier "harvesting of forest for firewood and construction material"
was such that it left an imprint on the land. 15 Additional tests involved replicating Carrier
dwellings. These half size replications required the destruction of 80 young spruce trees that were
felled or girdled for bark. 16 The construction of small replicas represented the felling of a
substantial amount of trees. Moreover, because the Carrier moved settlements, these homes would
be built or repaired every year. An additional Carrier practice was to strip trees of their bark for
building material. Following the Fraser down from Prince George, Mackenzie noticed that "the
bark had been stripped off many of the spruce trees and carried away , as [he] presumed by the
natives for the purpose of covering their cabins. " 17 Thus, it is safe to say that a large amount of
timber was used to build structures.
In 1876, George M. Dawson observed the effects of Carrier burning forests close to Prince

George. Dawson stated he saw "Douglas fir often over 2 feet, tall and straight, black
spruce, ... [and] for the latter half of the way the country [was] partly burnt and open. " 18 Dawson
described young coniferous trees and open burnt landscapes, two attributes that denote an area that
had either been recently burnt or in the process of regrowth. Mackenzie 's journal also sheds light
on the Carrier use of fire at the Fraser-Nechako confluence. He wrote " when we passed the last
river we observed smoke rising from it , as if produced by fires that had been fresh lighted, [he]
therefore concluded that there were natives on its banks ... [as] clouds of thick smoke rose from
25

the woods, that darkened the atmosphere accompanied with a strong odour of the gum of cypress
and the spruce fir. " 19 These descriptions of forest use imply that the altering of the land was done
by the Carrier, the only inhabitants who were residing in the area at the time.
The Carrier used the local flora and fauna for consumptive purposes, and some trade.
These "resource options included salmon, lake fish, berries, small game and to a limited extent
large game. " 2°Foremost amongst the many animals that the Carrier consumed was salmon. The
importance of salmon to the Carrier is described by Daniel Harmon, who wrote that the first
Native who sees a salmon coming up river yells "Ta loe nas lay", meaning "the salmon have
arrived", and soon the entire village would be overjoyed, with everyone yelling the same few
words. 21 The Hudson's Bay Company on Lake Babine recorded similar evidence . Hudson Bay
Company journals stated that "the Indians do not only catch and cure salmon for their own use,
but herd it up every year for sale and barter, it is sort of a legal tender among them. " 22 To catch
salmon the Carrier constructed barricades or weirs across the river. "The barricades were
constructed of immense quantity of material and on scientific principles ... there were posts driven
into the bed of the river which is 200 feet wide, and from two to four feet deep ... this made a
magnificent fence which not a single fish could get through. " 23 This description demonstrates the
considerable amount of physical and mental energy that was spent creating and implementing this
fishing apparatus. Alexander Mackenzie encountered similar Native fishing technologies. When
Mackenzie navigated the Blackwater River he found a Native house that contained a machine that
was "cylindrical [in] form, 15 feet long and 4 feet and an half in diameter, one end was
square ... [he felt] this machine was certainly contrived to set in the river to catch large fish. " 24
Many European traders noticed that "were it not for the salmon that come up these rivers
every year, more or less the natives would truly be miserable, as they have little else that they can
26

depend on for a subsistence. " 25 Daniel Harmon's journal added that "the natives at the village
took eleven salmon, they are in need of them for they have been subsisting upon berries" 26 For
example, in 1849 the salmon run was plentiful, yet the Natives were still in want because the
water level was too high to erect a fish barrier. Two years later the salmon run was low, Fort St.
James was confronted with Carrier from Fort George who were suffering because during the
winter for they are destitute of a salmon. 27 These accounts provide a window into the lifestyle of
the Carrier, and specifically the importance of a fish resource.
The Carrier utilized many other types of flora and fauna . The Chinlac village (precontact) did not contain many ungulate bones, and when such bones were unearthed, antlers were
fewer than bones. This archaeological evidence suggests that larger game such as moose and deer
either were not common or were not hunted intensely. Both Daniel Harmon and John Mclean
noticed that moose were not plentiful in the area and were hunted by Natives irregularly. 28
Additional fmdings reveal that awls made of beaver ulnae were plentiful and were used more than
any other bone. Other animals consumed by the Carrier were bear, swan, dog, porcupine, squirrel
and muskrat. 29 Dawson claimed that the Natives "[did] not trap many mink but rather a large
amount of beaver and fish which are the staple of their diet." 30 It was especially "during the
winter months, as well as after the opening of the spring that beaver hunting [was] practised on
the most extensive scale. " 31 The natural environment provided materials such as beaver, badger,
and muskrat skin for clothing. Tools were constructed from grained basalt, chert, obsidian and
river cobbles. Canoes were generally made from cedar trees, and black spruce. Black spruce bark
was also utilized to make various containers, and cooking pots.
These observations illustrate that the environment played a very large role iri the Carrier
lifestyle. First, aspects of the natural environment were woven into spiritual and political systems,
27

indicating the importance placed on nature. Moreover, nature dictated settlement patterns,
depending on the availability of fuel, food and construction material. Plants and animals provided
these peoples with food, clothing and tools . Unlike the non-natives that were to arrive, the Carrier
perception of and interaction with the environment was not one of dominance and exploitation.
The holistic approach of these Natives allowed them to honour and utilize nature simultaneously.
In this sense their seasonal patterns and lifestyle depended on the environmental processes. That
is not to say that Carrier interaction with the environment did not result in changes in the land.
The use of local flora and fauna had an impact on both animal populations and the forests.
However, this impact was minor compared to the changes that were to come.

Euroveans Arrive -Early Exvlorations
The presence of Europeans marked a major shift in the way that the study area was
perceived. For the first time the natural environment was commodified. Alexander Mackenzie and
Simon Fraser were among the early explorers who passed through Prince George. Both explorers
were funded by corporations that sought economic interests in the central interior of British
Columbia. These particular Europeans perceived the natural environment as being bountiful in
resources that could be exploited, dominated and extracted by humans.
In 1793 Alexander Mackenzie travelled across British Columbia and entered the territory
of what was to be called New Caledonia (Fraser chose the name New Caledonia as this region
reminded him of a region in Scotland). Representing the interests of the North West Company,
he travelled over the Rocky Mountains from Fort Chipewyn on Lake Athabasca in search of furs
and trade alliances. 32 On his voyage, Mackenzie described his surroundings . Passing territory east
of British Columbia, he stated, " the land to the right is of a very high elevation ... and of equally
enlivened with the elk and the buffalo, who were feeding in great numbers and unmolested by the

28

hunter. In an island which we passed there was a large quantity of white birch whose bark might
be employed in the construction of canoes. " 33 On route to the juncture of the Fraser and Nechako
Mackenzie wrote that the Pine River "would be an excellent spot for a fort or factory, as there
is plenty of wood and every reason to believe that the country abounds in beaver ... the country is
so crowded with animals as to have the appearance in some places of a stall yard from the state
of the ground and the quantity of dung which is scattered over it. " 34 He also observed "beaver
in the course of the afternoon ... swans in great numbers, with geese and ducks ... " 35 The
enthusiasm of seeing fur bearing animals epitomized the concerns and attitudes of early explorers.
Mackenzie noticed that " by the number of their [deer] tracks it appeared that they abounded in
this country. They are not so large as the elk of the Peace River but are the real red deer which
[he] never saw in the North though [he had] been told that they are to be found in great
numbers ... " 36 It is clear that Mackenzie valued the natural environment in terms of the fur
potential of the animals, or how the forests could supply building material and fuel. He regarded
nature for its individual parts, parts that could be utilized for human purposes.

In the preface to Mackenzie's journal he described his exploration as a personal battle by
means of which he was breaking through the lines of a mighty foe (nature) for economic pursuits.
He wrote "I was led, at an early period of life by commercial views to the country northwest of
Lake Superior ... and being familiar with the toilsome exertions in the prosecution of mercantile
pursuits. I not only contemplated the practicability of penetrating across the continent of America,
but was confident in the qualification, as I was animated by the desire , to undertake the perilous
enterprise. "37 According to his journals, James Creek, east of Prince George, near the McGregor
Range was scattered with felled logs and debris. These barriers, combined with the "violence of
the current...and force of the water" prompted Mackenzie to name the river Bad River. 38 His

29

descriptions and naming of the river suggest that parts of the natural environment that did not
comply with the human agenda would be deemed negative. Moreover, upon navigating the river,
he had defeated it, leaving behind the negative place name to remind all followers that nature
could be forced to comply with human designs .
The end of Mackenzie's journal provides a summary of the similar attitudes that he and
his audience shared with respect to the environment. Their attitude was that the environment
would remain incomplete and idle until humans arrived. These people felt it was their duty to
reach north and grasp the resources and opportunity offered to them by nature. He wrote that the
River (Fraser) would be "the line of communication from the Pacific Ocean, pointed by nature,
as it is the only navigable river in the whole extent of Vancouver' s minute survey of that coast,
its banks also form the first level country in all the southern extent of the continental coast ... the
most northern situation fit for colonization and suitable for the residence of a civilized people ...the
entire command of the fur trade of North America might be obtained ... promising the most
important advantage to the trade of the united kingdoms . " 39
Thirteen years later on behalf of the North West Company, Simon Fraser followed
Mackenzie's lead by journeying through the central interior of British Columbia in search of fur
trading prospects. Fraser's attitudes were consistent with those of Mackenzie, and he too appealed
to an audience interested in the animal resources of the region. Fraser chose to write about "the
country round [consisting] of plains, well stocked with animals ... [and] plenty of deer. " 40 After
meeting with a Sekani tribe near McLeod Lake, with the help of a translator Fraser sought to fmd
out if "the animals are very numerous " in this part of the country .4 1 Fraser' s journal also
revealed his attitude towards the environment with regards to the fish in the McLeod Lake region.
According to Fraser the resources (fish) were plentiful, and there was no question as to the
30

amount of resources readily available for human consumption. In fact, they "lived upon fish
without touching [their] dried provisions all the time[they] were [there] ... [they] saw 30 men, who
had beaver cat and badger robes for covering ... there were plenty of fish and fowl and some meat
and they told me that beaver were plentiful. .. " 42
In some instances Fraser viewed the natural environment in negative terms. However, he
saw the opportunity available if the environment was dominated and reshaped. For example, when
resting at camp east of Prince George, he commented that he "scarcely ever saw anything so
dreary and seldom so dangerous in any country, and at present while [he wrote] what ever way
[he] turned mountains upon mountains whose summits are covered with extensive snow close the
gloomy scene. " 43 A few days later, Fraser again reflected upon the environment saying that "the
country through which [they] had passed [that] day was the most savage that can be imagined, yet
[they] were always on a beaten path and always in sight of the river ... its iron bound banks having
a very forbidding appearance. " 44 Travelling on a beaten path would suggest that the river was
unnavigable. There were many instances when the rivers that made this exploration possible were
"impossible to pass, not only thro the badness of the channel but also thro the badness of the
surrounding country ... [he] remarked that [their] determination of going on was fixed. 45 Fraser's
. accounts stress that the natural environment was a "dangerous place" if it did not meet his and
other human plans. However, Fraser stated that regardless of the difficulties and the
unpleasantness of the land, their determination was fixed. His statements suggests that the human
will to overcome the land was overpowering and this determination could bend the land to meet
human needs and wants.
In essence, these men viewed the environment as a supply house of resources for human
consumption. This attitude was powerful, so powerful that it overruled any conflicting perceptions
31

of the envirorunent. For example, Fraser ignored his "negative" perceptions of the envirorunent
when writing to John Stuart. He decided to carry through with his plan to bring all goods they
needed, from Stuart Lake overland to "the confluence of this river. .. [to be] left en cache. "46 This
storage point, at the Fraser and Nechako confluence would serve as a supply and trading base to
aid preparations for his journey down the river that would soon hold his name, in search of more
resources .
Establishing Trading Forts
The perception that the envirorunent could provide fur resources .for people led to the
establishment of fur trading posts. These forts were created so that the animal resources could be
more efficiently exploited. Fort George was first established by Simon Fraser in 1807, and then
operations were taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1821. The purpose of this
Fort was to maintain a fur trade monopoly in the central interior. The writings of Daniel Harmon
and John McLean, both HBC traders, were consulted. Although neither man spent a great amount
of time at Fort George, their journals do offer general ideas of how traders perceived and
interacted with the natural envirorunent. The similarity in their attitudes also illustrates that a
common perception was placed on the natural envirorunent by people who migrated to the central
interior of the province. Both men had jobs that involved harvesting furs and fish, a job for which
the prerequisite was that the envirorunent be valued for its eco'nomic utility . Yet they could not
help but despise the country that surrounded them. Concerned with the consequences of living in
the wilderness , Harmon wrote about the need to place his son in an envirorunent other than that
of New Caledonia. He worried about "who will have it more in their power to bring him up [son]
in the paths of virtue in the civilized part of the world, than it could be possible for [him] to do
in this savage country . " 47 McLean held similar sentiments about Fort George. When visiting,
32

he looked at his surroundings and saw "a high hill that shades the sun until late in the morning
and in the midst of woods and wilds, whose melancholy gloom is saddening enough. " 48 Each
trader perceived the natural environment as either savage or wild, offering no virtues of civility
or happiness. Yet, regardless of these feelings, their jobs dictated that they view the environment
in terms of furs, meaning that the environment had to be subdued to provide resources, hence
they remained at the forts.
Harmon travelled to and from Fort St. James assessing the condition of the various posts .
During these travels he commented on the importance of the salmon to the fur trading posts. In
October, 1812, according to his journal, they purchased 25,000 salmon that [would] be stored
to feed the men until next Autumn. With 25,000 fish in storage, Harmon still felt that more fish
could and should be caught. Consequently, he sent men out to catch more white fish and they
returned with 7000. 49 There were also instances when traders defined fish in terms of human
consumption, being either "good" or "bad." It was a common sight to see salmon "in such great
numbers that they cause for a considerable distance around a terrible stench but the Natives often
even in that condition gather them up to eat and even appear to like them better than good
salmon. "50 Here too, is an example of viewing the environment in terms of usefulness to humans.
A fish was only good if humans deemed them to be eatable or tradable .
The idea that the natural resources were a "gift" from God was quite evident. In early
August 1813, the salmon run was slow in reaching the interior. Thus traders feared starvation.
Fortunately, a few weeks later the salmon arrived and Harmon wrote that it was "providence that
[watched] over and supplied [them] with every necessary of life. Surely in so benevolent a God
[they] ought willing to put [their] trust and accept with greatful hearts the innumerable favours
which He is constantly bestowing upon [them]. " 51 Harmon, like many of the chief traders, was
33

a religious man, who was following a

~

plan of subduing the earth. This belief implied that

man should unquestionably accept the supplies (natural resources) given, because they had been
earned. For example, the trader's possessed furs and salmon because God had granted these
resources to men for doing God's work.
McLean spent a great deal of time describing the importance and location of "fur bearing
animals especially beavers and marten, which are likely to continue numerous for many years to
come. " 52 Knowing that the beaver is being hunted at a rapid pace he ensures his readers that "this
is still the great beaver nursery which continues to replace the numbers destroyed. " 53 Harmon,
too, showed contradictory feelings with respect to the animals in the region. The last pages of his
journal listed the various types of animals to be found in New Caledonia. His descriptions
contained the name, appearance, habitat, taste, and patterns of the many animals mentioned. This
list appeared to be a unbiased presentation with no agenda at mind. But following this list of
animals is a catalogue that "exhibits the comparative values of the furs which are annually
purchased and exported to the civilized parts of the world by the North West Company. " 54 One
then realizes that the descriptions of the animals included the quality of the fur. For example,
Harmon characterized the bears as grey , chocolate or perfectly black, "two kinds of wolves .. .light
grey, but some of them are nearly white ... foxes ... yellowish red ... some are of a beautiful silver
grey and some .. . .are almost black. " 55
Europeans also manipulated the environment by planting crops . These men felt that the
"soil at many places in New Caledonia [was] tolerably good. " 56 Soon, the Forts introduced and
grew crops, and by 1878 seeds were a regular part of the trade . For example, in Fort St. James
a garden was planted with palisades around it. In this particular garden potatoes, onion, carrot,
beet, parsnip barely, and corn were grown and harvested. Harmon boasted that potatoes, barley
34

and turnip were planted on soils west of the mountain for the first time. Consequently, "all hands
were busy at Fort St. James clearing the ground for a garden. " 57 Mr. Ogden, the HBC manager
at Fort George routinely began working the ground at the post by April 20 of each year. 58
Planting of gardens was a new practice in the central interior, and for the first time land was
plowed and seeded. Introduction of seeds, weeds and crops that had hitherto been absent from the
region were now apparent. Crosby illustrated the potency of introducing flora to a region. He
claimed that "seeds arrived in folds of textiles in clods of mud, in dung and in a thousand other
ways .. . "59 Hence, humans were not just manipulating the environment that they encountered, but
rather introduced new elements to the land.
These Forts with their gardens also meant that fences were built (Figures 3 & 4). Fences
served to keep animals out of the crops and to mark property boundaries . Building of fences
illustrated that animals were no longer free to roam the land and now there were lines drawn
placing humans on one side of the land and animals on the other. Moreover, the appearance of
fences began the process of outlining property and ownership. They , not rivers and mountains
demarcated territories. Construction of fences brought a new sight and meaning to the landscape
of the forks , a meaning that was promoted and welcomed by the European settlers in search of
a piece of land and prosperity that lay amongst nature 's environment.

35

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 3: Fort George Hudson's Bay Company (c.a. 1911), completely fenced in, 2 chimneys per
building indicating the amount of fuel used.

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 4: Fort George HBC. 1912. Note the presence offences and a garden.

36

The potential of resource extraction, agricultural opportunities and settlement in the central
interior, prompted further explorations in the late 1870's. Between 1875-1876 George M. Dawson
began surveying the land west of the Fraser River. This resource assessment was conducted on
behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway . He represented
another example of a European entering the area to assess the natural resources available for
human consumption. In this case, Dawson was responsible for recording the landscape, marking
the feasibility of railway routes and the agricultural potential of the region. 60 In the late summer
of 1875, Dawson, on a steamer plying up the Fraser, noticed that "the area does not contain
much farming land. The prairie portions are liable to flood and therefore unsuitable for raising
grain, and the clearing of the wooded portions, covered with such heavy pine can hardly yet be
attempted. " 61 In this example Dawson described the land in terms of poor agricultural potential
and also timber extraction. Waiting for the stagecoach in Quesnel that same summer, Dawson
wrote that "there has been very little or remarkable sceneries. The general surface of the country
is a more or less irregular plateau with hills and ranges ... some of the river valleys are very
large ... occasional meadows, swamps and hillsides with good grass and in some places open woods
of large Douglas pines. " 62 His statement exposed the values placed on nature. The only aspects
that were attached to the word "good " are grass and open woods, two areas that could
accommodate farms and ranching. At the Blackwater Depot en route to Prince George, Dawson
wrote a letter to a woman in which he observed that " the country much resembles a gigantic
game of spillicans and [he] believed if one was to go to Fort George and begin shaking the pile;
sticks would be seen moving down at New Westminster on the Fraser. " 63 This may imply the
forestry potential in the area was limitless. Spillicans is a game that involves removing one stick
at a time without tumbling the entire pile. By shaking the pile(forests) at Fort George the
37

sticks(wood) could be floated down the Fraser to the lower mainland.
Arriving at Fort George on October 14, 1876, Dawson's journal illustrates his perception
of the natural environment. Upon arrival he rested on the river bank and washed through the sand
and gravel to trace any signs of the yellow colour that seemed to abound in the Quesnel area. He
then recorded that "the upper level is gravelly and clayey but the lower seems to be fine fertile
soil and though mostly covered with small trees shows a fme meadow. " 64 Dawson did not discover
gold in Prince George, but he did envision the possibilities that the land offered. Prince George
could serve as a gateway, with its navigable waterways , and a rail built, a town could develop and
its inhabitants could make a living off of the commodities in the land.
This period of human occupation witnessed natives and non-Natives interacting with the
environment in similar ways. The Carrier did not commodify the environment per se, but they did
treat nature as resources that could be used for human purposes. In tum, these people that resided
seasonally at the forks altered the landscape to meet their needs and lifestyle. With the appearance
of non-Natives, the environment was also perceived as resources to serve humans. However, nonNatives began the process of commodifying nature into extractable parts , a process that would be
accepted, maintained and encouraged by the non-Natives to come.

38

Chapter 3-Endnotes
! .Michael Cranny, "Carrier Settlement and Subsistence In the Chinlac/Cluculz Lake Area of
Central British Columbia: (M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1986), 43.
2.W. Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Countzy: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon
(Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1957), 250.
3.Douglas Hudson, "Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier
Indians ofNorthern British Columbia" (Ph.D. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1983), 57.
4. Douglas Cole and Bradley Lockner, ed. The Journals of George M. Dawson. British Columbia
1875-1978, (Vancouver: British Columbia Press, 1989), 286.
5. James Hackler, "Factors Leading to Social Disorganization Among the Carrier Indians of Lake
Babine" (M.A. thesis, San Jose State College, 1958), 68.
6.Ibid., 69.
?.Hudson, "Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier Indians of
Northern British Columbia", 61 .
&.Hackler, "Factors Leading to Social Disorganization Among the Carrier Indians of Lake
Babine", 24.
9.Paul Donahue, "4500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau ofB.C."
(Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1977), 63.
1O.K.R. Fladmark, "Punchaw Village: A Preliminary Report, Archaeology of a Prehistoric
Settlement" in Current Research Reports Carlson ed., (Burnaby, Simon Fraser University, 1976),
20.
II. Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Countzy: The Journals ofDaniel William Harmon,
140.
12.Cranny, "Carrier Settlement and Subsistence In the Chinlac/Cluculz Lake Area of Central
British Columbia", 51.
13.Ibid., 42.
14.Fladmark, "Punchaw Village: A Preliminary Report, Archaeology of a Prehistoric
Settlement" , 12.
15 .Ibid. ,23 .
16.1bid., 25 .

39

17.W. Lamb, ed. The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1970), 309.
18.Cole and Bradley, ed. The Journals of George M. Dawson. British Columbia 1875-1878,
290.
19.Lamb, ed. The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie , 306.
20.Hudson, "Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier Indians
of Northern British Columbia", 60.
21.Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon.
154.
22.Hackler, "Factors Leading to Social Disorganization Among the Carrier Indians of Lake
Babine", 13.
23.Ibid., 11.
24.Lamb, ed. The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie , 310.
25.Hudson, "Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier Indians
of Northern British Columbia" , 98 .
26.Lamb , ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon.
86.
27.John McLean, John McLean's Notes of 25 Years in the Hudson Bay Company (London:
Richard Bently, 1932),151.
28.Ibid.;Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country : The Journals of Daniel William
Harmon, 92.
29.Cranny, "Carrier Settlement and Subsistence In the Chinlac/Cluculz Lake Area of Central
British Columbia" ,116.
30.Cole and Lockner, ed. The Journals of George M. Dawson. British Columbia 1875-1978,
97.
31.Hackler, "Factors Leading to Social Disorganization Among the Carrier Indians of Lake
Babine" , 15 .
32.Lamb, ed. The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie ,8.
33 .Ibid., 264.
34.Ibid.

40

35.Ibid., 295.
36.Ibid., 309.
37.Ibid., 57.
38.1bid.' 298.
39.1bid., 417.
40.W. Lamb, ed. The Letters and Journals of Sir Simon Fraser. 1806-1808 (Toronto: The
MacMillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1960), 65.
4l.lbid.
42.Ibid.' 233.
43 .Ibid.' 77.
44.Ibid., 79.
45.Ibid., 64.
46.Ibid., 251.
47 .Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon.
130.
48.McLean, John McLean's Notes of 25 Years in the Hudson Bay Company, 166.
49.Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon.
147.
50.Ibid.
51.Ibid., 161.
52.McLean, John McLean's Notes of 25 Years in the Hudson Bay Company , 174.
53.1bid.
54.Lamb, ed. Sixteen Years In The Indian Country: The Journals of Daniel William Harmon.
176.
55 .. 1bid., 177.
56.1bid.,169.
57.Ibid., 169.
41

59.Cole and Lockner, ed. The Journals of George M. Dawson. British Columbia 1875-1978,
53.
60.Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492
(Connecticut: Greenwood Press , 1972), 73.
6l.Cole and Lockner, ed. The Journals of George M. Dawson. British Columbia 1875-1978,
53.
62.Ibid. , 53.
63.Ibid., 94.
64.Ibid.
65.Ibid. , 99.

42

Chapter Four
Boosterism and the Environment: Perceptions of a Northern Town

"Settler's perception of resources was diluted with a concept of commodity to satisfy not only
local communities but faraway markets. "1
Prince George experienced a flood of settlers between 1900 and 1915. Along with their
personal possessions , settlers carried attitudes , hopes and perceptions of Prince George. In many
instances settlers hopes and perceptions were created by boosters. Boosterism appeared in
newspaper articles , novels , government reports and real estate advertisements. The spreading of
these ideas laid the foundation that elicited a phase of land changes. This chapter discusses two
issues. First, promoters lured people to Prince George by preaching that the natural environment
could and should be manipulated to acquire natural resources. Second, upon the arrival of settlers
the landscape experienced unprecedented change.
Studies of town building processes and boosterism, have not focused on social perceptions
of the natural environment, but rather on government policies , government and business cooperation and core-periphery relationships. 2 Despite the shortcomings of such studies, they
provide definitions of boosterism. Knight observed that boosting was an "exaggerated
proclamation of worth of a particular place over all others . " 3 For example in Lower and Upper
Canada, Ottawa was described as a town with "convenience, sobriety and elegance, " 4 when it
was in fact a squatted lumber town full of drunkenness and disorder. Likewise, promoters
described Prince George as a place like no other, as it provided humans with a limitless supply
of natural resources. Voisey's article "Boosting the Small Prairie Town 1909-1931" discusses
the techniques that boosters used and why. He claims that town promotion attempts to stimulate
population and economic growth. This is done through various means such as lobbying,
43

advertising or offering incentives to potential settlers .5 Moreover, a society's promotion of a
locale often indicates the "attitudes and aspirations " of settlers. 6 Although this description derives
from a case study of Southern Alberta, it can be applied to the attitudes towards the natural
environment in and around Prince George.
Prince George, was a young hamlet consisting of people from all over north America and
Europe, all in search of opportunity that was to be found in nature. The potency of boosterism
provided an identity or bonding between people in a newly established community. It gave early
settlers with no common background a united goal to work towards . Hence, the common aim of
these people was to promote the land 's potential. 7 Artibise adds that "there are references to
groups in which demonstrations of the booster ethic were taken as a sign of being part of a team
and showing community spirit. " 8 This implies that those who did not boost were displaying signs
of individualism and alienation from the larger community, a risky act during the hardships of a
settlement period. This form of social pressure led to the formation of various competing
businesses and organizations . Although these groups competed for business and memberships,
they were united in their effort to populate Prince George. Foran's study examines the
personalities of boosters, concluding that boosterism as an institution often dominates over
individuals . This tells us that when boosterism takes place, it may not be supported by all
individuals within a society, however, as an institutional phenomenon it imposes itself upon
members of a community .9
Background

Three Prince George land holding companies, all vying for settlers , were in the forefront
of promotion during the settlement period. In 1909 the Northern Development Company
established South Fort George on the banks of the Fraser, one mile south of the Fraser-Nechako
44

confluence. To the west, on the banks of the Nechako, two miles from the Fraser-Nechako
junction, the Natural Resources Security Company formed Fort George and Central Fort George.
Finally, the Grand Trunk Development Corporation, began operations on the southern banks of
the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. The names of the first two corporations foreshadowed the land
changes that would occur. In both cases the land is defmed in human terms . For example, the one
company stressed northern development while the other emphasized natural resources (Figure 6).
Each corporation had its own tract of land, but they shared similar development agendas.
In all three cases, the development of a town depended largely on the exploitation of the natural
environment. George Hammond, a real estate dealer from Minneapolis and president of the
Natural Resources Company, purchased lots west of the HBC in 1908. He later added to his
original claim at Central Fort George additional lands at Fort George , on the right bank of the
Nechako. Beginning in 1909 Hammond's boosting appeared in provincial, national, and foreign
papers. In 1909 similar promotional activities occurred in South Fort George. Under the direction
of A. G. Hamilton, N. Clarke, W. Cooke, C.M. Wiggins, G.E. McLaughilin and B. Laselle, the
Fort George Townsite Northern Development Company began promoting available land in that
area. 10 One year later, J.A Adamson and Dr. J. McClennan from Winnipeg took over ownership,
and continued the process of promoting South Fort George. Another townsite was created in 1911
at the juncture of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. Under the direction of the Grand Trunk Pacific
Development Company, the land had been purchased from the Natives for $125,000 (Fort George
Indian Reserve No.1). By September 1913 lots in Prince George went on auction. As Holmes
observed, all three townsites wished "to be the core of the future city " and promoted themselves
accordingly . 11

45

Additional individuals and groups contributed to the boosting of the three companies. Chief
among them were the Federal and Provincial governments, Board of Trade, Fort George
Commercial Club, Chamber of Commerce, Agricultural Association, Industrial Association, and
Citizens Association. By utilizing vehicles such as "exhibitions, illustrated pamphlets and the
reports of journalists, knowledge of the resources" were extended to the public. 12 These events
set the stage of the various interests groups all concerned with promoting Prince George by
enticing settlers with the "limitless" supply of resources available to them.

Boosterism and the Environment
Brochures
As mentioned, the Natural Resources Security Company Ltd. spent time and money
advertising the resources of Prince George. Implicit in the company's descriptions of the
environment was that the land could and should be manipulated to acquire natural resources
because " ... the new section of this continent, [is] beyond a question one of the richest and most
varied in its natural resources. " 13 Applauding the progress in Fort George, Hammond, the author
of the pamphlet, wrote that "two years ago this stxetch of country was virgin forest ... today it is
a flourishing town fairly athrill with faith with courage and with optimism. " 14 This optimism was
justified as being part of the frontier process. Using the words "manifest destiny", these boosters
likened the development of Prince George and region to the American expansion onto the frontier,
an occurrence that illustrated the inherent dominance that humans had over the land. 15
Boosting Prince George magnified the possibilities found within the land itself. After the
land was plowed the "very best farming land and crops of either hay roots, or grain" were
available. 16 Additional resources obtainable to settlers were "rich and cheap agricultural land ... a
land where wheat -the finest wheat grown-averages from 25 to 45 bushels to the acre .. " 17

46

Accompanying the successful possibilities of growing wheat were the returns from planting
potatoes that usually total300 bushels per acre, or the 4,000 pounds of turnips that were cultivated
on a quarter acre.
Hammond's boosterism boasted that resource extraction did not always demand cultivation.
These natural riches came in the form of mineral resources. Hence, mineral extraction would "be
one of the permanent and profitable aids in upbuilding the future city." 18 Unnamed mineral
authorities seemed to agree with Hammond that gold bearing quartz and coal were among the
mineral formations which were "remarkable and very rich." 19 The forests were also considered
a natural resource available for commercial exchange. "On the Willow river there [were] large
areas of fir and spruce while cedar, a rare wood in the district grows in great abundance. The
Upper Fraser [was] also well timbered while on the Nechako west of Fort George [were] large
bodies of splendid fir. " 20
In 1911 the "British Columbia Bulletin of Information" circulated periodic brochures that

boasted of the ease with which resources could be obtained in Prince George. The Bulletin
contained information on timber, fisheries, mining, farming and fruit culture in "the richest
province of Canada. " 21

Headlines read "B.C. Natural Resources are Inexhaustible." This

particular article stated that British Columbia was the "orchard" of the Empire containing farms,
fertile valleys, fisheries and timber that went beyond any other place in the world. 22 The
significance of this statement is that the entire province was perceived to be an orchard, or a
garden that supplied humans with natural fruits. The British Columbia Bulletin also responded to
public enquiries. For example, a reader wrote questioning the potential for apple growing in
Prince George. The editor responded that there were no apple trees growing in Fort George
simply because no one had planted them, but that the ground was so fertile that wild fruits grew

47

in abundance second to none. 23 The mere fact that readers were inquiring about the growing
potential of the region indicates that the boosters' work was succeeding, and that interest in
manipulating the natural environment was increasing. Moreover, the growing of apples in Prince
George was highly unlikely considering that cold temperatures dominated a large part of the year.
Hence, boosters provided information that they felt potential settlers wanted to hear, that the
region supplied every kind of natural resource to every kind of person. These special bulletins also
promoted Prince George's extractable resources by comparing them with other resource cities and
towns . The article stated that, like Saskatoon, Prince George was a "fme agricultural dairying and
stock raising country, at its very door millions of acres will support large populations engaged in
the most profitable of all agricultural pursuits-mixed farming. " 24
Keeping apace with its competition, the Grand Trunk Pacific's promotional techniques
presented to the public a natural environment in terms of a cache of resources available for human
use. The completion of the railway would aid the settler or the businessman' s quest for natures
riches .

The GTP promotional brochure, published four years before trains reached Prince

George, announced that the "exploitation of the resources of the country will make a considerable
market in itself. " 25 Reflecting on the large number of land seekers and prospectors that came to
Prince George, the GTP praised "the marvellous possibilities of the country through the
development of its agricultural and other natural and diversified economic resources. " 26
Resources in the region would provide a profitable living, in fact "the fisheries alone are sufficient
to support at least one million people: the mining industry, timber, and general manufactures are
in their infancy with unlimited possibilities in the future. •m
The climate was also a topic of promotional literature. Numerous advertisements ,
described Prince George as a place where temperatures rarely fell below zero degrees Fahrenheit.
48

The blatant exaggeration or deception of these climate related stories were a ploy, as many readers
were interested farmers , dairymen and fruit growers who needed the proper climatic conditions
to be successful.
The federal government's literature and policies regarding the natural resources available
in Prince George reveal that, it too, viewed the natural environment in a utilitarian manner.
Deputy Minister Scott' s inventory of resource potential in British Columbia was advertised
extensively in Britain in hopes of attracting more Europeans. Moreover, the federal government's
policy on pre-empting land stated that anyone who was a head of a family, widow, single man
(over 18) or "alien" intending to become a British subject could pre empt land if they were
seeking agricultural pursuits. After surveying a tract of land, the applicant had to make
"permanent improvements on the land to the value of two dollars and fifty cents per acre. " 28 The
government's classification of first and second class lands was also a point of significance. Lands
that had agricultural potential and were manipulatable for cultivation were considered first class.
These laws are significant because they reveal the importance that the government placed on
manipulating the land to extract resources. Land could now become property if it was improved,
that is, cultivated for agriculture, and the lands which did qualify as resource rich, were labelled
as "first class"! Not surprisingly, the government utilized the development of land to populate the
country. However, the important point is that the government used the land as an object that could
be exchanged and controlled, and in return received development, increased population and
additional revenue in the form of taxes.
Travel books also boosted Prince George, by defining the natural environment as natural
resources. In 1911, F .A. Talbot wrote The New Garden of Canada. He reinforced the concept
of human dominance over the land by listing the resources available to settlers in "undeveloped

49

New British Columbia. " 29 His tales of Prince George followed the chapter heading "A Metropolis
in the Making." The title of his book and the chapter heading are prime examples of boosterism.
British Columbia was described as Canada's new garden, suggesting that the land was available
and waiting to be sown, and cultivated. Talbot's subheadings drew the readers' attention to "its
position of commercial strategy ... an inland port that is to be ... a splendid country for mixed
farming ... [and] fruit culture ... " 30

The New Garden of Canada described the possibilities of

manipulating the land to accommodate humans. Talbot optimistically "looked down upon the
pulsating little town rapidly pushing out its tentacles of streets and avenues north and west, forcing
the wall of dense forest back farther and farther. " 31 The land surrounding the Fraser and Nechako
Rivers were described as being close to 300,000 acres in valleys and plains providing fertile soils
for the farmer. The progress of settlers was astounding, and Talbot commends the undaunted
motivation of these land shapers when he penned that the "possibilities of the new land of
promise, [and soon] a wave of prosperity would burst upon it. " 32
Henry Boam's British Columbia: Its Histozy. PeQPle Commerce. Industries and Resources
advertised and encouraged the manipulation of the natural environment. Interestingly enough,
Boam's book was written with the patronage of the provincial government of British Columbia,
which suggests that the province supported Boam's ideas and attitudes. Providing the reader with
the geographic location of the town, was a description of "the land and what may be won
therefrom ... " 33 Citing "experts", Boam defmed Prince George in terms of the grade of silver,
gold and copper available that could be located and "then be profitably exploited. " 34 As for the
process of settling the area, Boam dismissed the hard work that may be required when clearing
the land. He stated that land could be purchased and timber easily cleared.

50

British Columbia: Its History. People Commerce. Industries and Resources illustrated the
use or purpose of animals in the region via conservation principles. This chapter on fauna was
written with the aid of Bryan Williams, a provincial game warden. Commenting on the sporting
possibilities, Williams proclaimed that among the game roaming the province were moose, sheep,
mountain goat, bears, deer, cougar, and salmon. Yet, because of over hunting, "one of the
province's greatest attractions was doomed. " 35 Presuming that animals existed for human use,
he applauded the government's 1905 Protection of Game Act. Not only did this act allow 'game'
to increase in numbers, it also permitted the continuance of the "excellent sport of such a variety
that the most ardent sportsman here fmds his Mecca." If a hunter were to come to Prince George
he would fmd prosperity if he is "blessed with the necessary qualification, [he adds that] there are
few sports to be compared with sheep hunting. " 36 Moreover, the Mule deer was described as "a
fine sporting animal", and the bear hunt described as "long and arduous, but those who have
enjoyed the sport speak in glowing terms of the pleasures obtained. " 37
Newspapers articles of the time also support the concept of valuing animals in terms of
human wants. In 1909 the Tribune wrote that the government should pay a bounty on wolverines
as they are very destructive on deer and moose. " 38 By defming certain animals as a predator, the
newspapers promoted hunting in the area and defined one animal as game and the other as
predator. The immediate question that arises is predator to whom or to what? In this case the
game animal is the prey which must be protected so that it could be hunted at a later date. The
Herald noted that "Theodore Burnby an English big game hunter left here ... to hunt caribou,
returned from the Upper Fraser early in the week ... [he brought] back several fme
trophies ... including the antler of three caribou and a set of moose horns besides a splendid grizzly
skin ... he is favourably impressed with the country and the prospects ... " 39 Again, hunters were
51

congratulated for their kill and their actions were encouraged. The concept of sport hunting helps
explain why animals were valued for the utility that they brought to humans . Accordingly, hunting
for sport was perceived to be a test of character. When individuals hunted, they maintained
pioneer virtues through a "fair chase." Dunlap observed that "the hunter killed only game
species by fair methods. He acted in the field according to the sportsman's code. This made
animals, at least game animals , a resource. They would be killed, but the stock had to be
preserved and renewed", if the hunt was to continue. 40

Exhibits
The Fall Fair was a prime example of how community gatherings promoted the resources
in the land. Attracting visitors and newspaper articles, the fair was a form of boosterism that
tangibly displayed the regions agricultural potential. Organized by the Fort George Agricultural
and Industrial Association, the first fair took place in 1912 and offered a venue where local
farmers displayed their crops, which in effect exhibited the progress that individuals and families
had made in converting the forested lands to fertile fields. Encouraging and promoting crop
production, the first Fall Fair poster exclaimed "Liberal Cash Prizes Given for Agricultural
Exhibits. " 41 In a front page article the Tribune declared that "the Fort George Agricultural and
Industrial Association is working hard now on an energetic campaign to make the second annual
exhibition... The exhibition is primarily intended to encourage agricultural and stock raising in the
Fort George District. Its success is of vital importance to everybody interested in the progress and
development of this country ... There is better weather for growing this year and more land is
under cultivation. "42 One year later the Prince George Post wrote that the aim of the fair was to
"judge the merits of a section of the country ... by viewing [its] products ... " 43 Support would also
come from Victoria, when the provincial government acknowledged the purpose of the Fair by
52

donating $500.00 in prize money as well as the Ross Cup, named after Donald Ross, Provincial
Minister of Lands, for best product display . The significance of this fair was that it united people
within the society who had similar attitudes about their garden. The fact that the Fair was both
popular and successful indicates that the majority of people in and around Prince George agreed
with what it represented and accomplished.

Newsoaoers
Newspapers were a very powerful, far-reaching illustration of the booster' s perceptions
of the natural environment. The goal of a newspaper was to inform, encourage settlement and
make a profit. This being the case, editors would presumably print what the population agreed
with or were interested in. As well, because Provincial law dictated that any proposed purchase
of Crown land had to be advertised, a substantial number of the Prince George population during
the settlement period must have familiarized themselves with at least one of the newspapers.
Because Prince George was relatively isolated, the newspapers were items that people looked
forward to reading, as they were the one connection with the events taking place in the outside
world. The success or failure of newspapers also indicates the readership, so if a paper survived
the entire boom period, one can surmise that it was widely read by locals and populations in other
towns and countries.
The Fort George Herald, Prince George Post and the Tribune featured articles, editorials,
and advertisements that promoted the ease with which people could come to Prince George and
make a living from the land. After visiting Prince George in 1910, Premier McBride praised the
human manipulation of the environment by commenting on the potential of the land when
developed. He stated that Fort George has "upon its [land] productiveness in its wild state. " 44
The editor of the Fort George Herald subsequently wrote that McBride had predicted an era about
53

to start in which there would be a "universal belief in the ultimate destiny of this place to be the
site not of a city but of a metropolis. " 45 Simultaneously , the Herald boosted Prince George as
a place that held resources only available on a last frontier . Prince George was the "Land of
Opportunity ... [that possessed] the raw material awaiting the right hand of man. It is the haven
of the youngster with pluck in his baskets and in his craw, and brains in his head. It is an empire
in the nude calling out to the world for a covering of man's enterprise. It is a region of liberty and
freedom, tempered with charming chinooks and invigorating frosts ... :Lastly, it is the last great
west. .. Come young men, for this is the young man' s country and grow up with the last west. " 46
This contradiction of boosting a metropolis and a frontier may have been because boosters wanted
"civilized" images, but did not wish to transplant entire metropolitan communities. That is, they
wanted the conveniences of larger cities but did not want the social ills that were often found in
cities. In fact, it is only within an "empire in the nude" that the resource potential could be
boosted while , keeping the negative elements of the metropolis at bay .47 Thoreau's opinion of
civilized developments stressed that man needed "to secure all the advantage without suffering any
of the disadvantages . "48
Realtor advertisements found in newspapers also nourished the attitude that only the lands
that served humans were of value. Roberts , Jones and Wilson, real estate and insurance agents
in Fort George, publicized 160 acres of land suitable for subdivision all containing "five acres
garden tracts ... open land with good soil and good water. " 49 Acreage within a mile of Prince
George Business Centre, proclaimed one advertisement, in fact "all the land lays level and the
river front will make sure of the choicest ... sites ... "50 The Union Realty Company and I.E. Haight
called their lots Georgia Park. This subdivision was identified as being " a good piece of level,
productive and admirably situated ground, [having] over a mile of waterfront, no hills, no
54

ravines.51 These examples illustrate that land containing hills and ravines were not deemed to be
valuable. Moreover, land that was close to water, and large enough to be subdivided was worthy
of attention. Defining land as good or bad was directly related to the resource extraction potential.
If the natural environment was defmed as natural resources , then the land had to be manipulatable.
Therefore , farmers desired level land that could be irrigated. In this sense the land could be
cleared, seeds planted and crops grown.
As early as 1912, examples of a "back to the land ethic" were evident in Prince George
newspapers, aimed at recapturing the pioneering frontier traits of earlier days. Undeveloped lands
were crucial to pioneering and progress, for "without wild country the concept of frontier and
pioneer were meaningless . " 52 Development and resource extraction were signs of an advancing
civilization. Consequently , to achieve this end, the land had to be moulded. A visitor to Prince
George in that year disclosed that "he did not know of a place where the genuine pre empter could
do better. As an indication of the fmancial returns , hay is selling at $100.00 a ton and when it is
remembered that an acre yields 3 tons it can not be disputed that the country holds an
attractiveness worth the attention ... and to the call.. back to the land. " 53 A. H. Macgowan, a
member of the Vancouver legislature, insisted that the land should be cleared by the unemployed.
Adopting a combination of both make work projects and back to the land, he claimed that "the
plan would work out for the general benefit of all. It would place idle land in use, would supply
the necessities of life and give work to a great number who need it. " 54 Soon the call for back to
the land would be directly related to the war effort in Canada. Natural resources were the
country' s backbone. With this in mind all able bodied farmers were encouraged to produce their
maximum yield. In Canada the "strength [lay] in her great natural resources ... Farmers throughout
the country [were] being urged to increase their acreage under crops and number of stock upon

55

their farms. " 55 The Edmonton Hay and Grain Company Ltd. , which had an office in Prince
George, stressed that "the true patriot in 1915 will be the citizen who causes two blades of grass
to grow where there was only one before. " 56
This rally call of back to the land was echoed in Prince George at a public meeting held
in 1915. At this meeting a group of 250 farmers , businessmen and land owners sought to form
a Lands Improvement Association. Their next step was to petition the provincial government for
funds to assist settlers who wanted to "quickly develop their lands and produce results. " The
Association employed the infectious power of boosterism by declaring that their idea "should
appeal to everyone for without the development and settlement of [their] lands there [could] be
no real prosperity in the province. "57 These incidents prove that back to the land was defined in
terms of increased manipulation and development of the natural environment. For when humans
were in contact with an undeveloped environment, they were presented with a blank slate. In turn
this slate provided the opportunity to affirm human dominance and superiority over all else.
Dominance and the a successful struggle against nature increased pride , and assured "man's
highest potency, the ability to endure ... " at the expense of nature. 58
Prince George was also promoted for its natural beauty. This form of promotion suggests
that the settlers held perceptions of nature that were contrary to the notions of exploitation and
development. However, upon closer examination, the appreciation of Prince George ' s natural
beauty was directly related real estate and the human alteration of the environment from its natural
state to one of controlled beauty. A newspaper article from 1913 asked citizens "To Promote the
City Beautiful." The author wrote that "one of the most beautiful spots in the country is
undoubtably the lake created by the high water on the Hudson Bay property ... [and] if a dam were
put in across the mouth of the creek at the Fraser, this beautiful little lake could become a
56

permanent feature ... that would wonderfully enhance the value of the property along its shores. "59
Similar sentiments of beautifying Prince George occurred when the editor of the Fort George
Herald commented on Mrs. McLaughlin's well-kept garden. Her home at 4th and Clark Street was
so attractive to the eye that "it was worth going miles to see. " 60 Additional representations of
Prince George as an attractive place to live were displayed in Miller Addition advertisements.
Utilizing language such as "natural beauty", the advertisements stated "justice cannot be done to
a description of the natural beauty of the Prince George townsite without alluding in words of
praise to the beautiful Miller Addition ... the streets have been graded and marked by comer posts
and a sidewalk runs through the property ... the Miller Addition is beautifully situated ...on the
choicest residential property in Prince George. " 61
There are various reasons that explain the contradiction of promoting human domination
over the environment whilst admiring its beauty. First, as mentioned, in most cases the beauty of
the natural environment was achieved by altering it from its natural state . For example, if a dam
were built, a beautiful lake would be created. Similarly, if gardens were built or streets graded,
an area was deemed to be beautiful. Therefore, locales in Prince George that combined the
conveniences of a city with human-controlled aesthetics of nature were deemed to be significant.
However, in all instances the areas being described as beautiful were in relation to the economic
property value. All samples illustrate that nature was appreciated if altered, and only if it
contributed to the human experience of increasing the economic worth of the land.
The City Beautiful Movement also helps explain why the land was altered to please the
human eye. This planning concept was popularized in North America during the first half of the
twentieth century. Hired by the Grand Trunk Pacific, the Boston planning firm of Brett Hall and
Co. designed Prince George. Like their Canadian counterparts, this American firm was"active
57

in campaigning against the squalor and the ugly environment that were developing in Canadian
communities ... prior to World War I" 62 This design was "rooted in powerful aesthetic principles
[of] symmetry, coherence perspective and [as Hodge puts it] monumentality. " 63 In essence, the
natural environment provided the means that promoted settlement in Prince George. The City
Beautiful Movement placed an aesthetically pleasing urban environment upon this natural setting.
This was but a continuation of human dominance over the land, creating a desirable vista. This
made Prince George not only a place where people wanted to live, but, where they could also
make a living from the natural environment.
Transforming the Land
It is evident that boosters used certain aspects of the environment to entice settlement to
Prince George. In 1920 at a Railway Commission meeting, George Hammond stated that "[they]
acquired this property and endeavoured to make some money out of it. We subdivided it, we
graded the streets laid sidewalks , put up water works and built certain buildings and so on, and
people began to come." This influx of people remained steady until World War I erupted and
young men throughout the country left for France. In 1915 alone, one hundred men left Prince
George bound for Europe.64 The ramifications of settlers prior to this exodus is the concern of
this section. Who came to Prince George, what did they do once they were there and how did the
landscape change with their presence? The land at Prince George proper did not support many
of the elements that the boosters promoted, such as farming and mining . This was primarily
because the owners of the land sought greater economic return by establishing a town to service
the farmers. A majority of farmers settled on the other side of the rivers opposite the town sites,
and towards Mud River (west). Instead, Prince George developed as a gateway for these
resources , a place that could ship goods south, east or west. It also served as a supplier of tools ,
58

transportation, social gatherings and the like. This gateway turned into a settlement, which
brought with it businesses, surveys , maps , fences , land laws , people, private . property and
roadways , all elements that transformed the landscape.
In 1910, when provincial land surveyor Frederic Burden arrived in Fort George, the only

buildings in Fort George were a store, and the old Hudson Bay Fort on the Fraser River. 65 As
for South Fort George, it was a scattering of two or three buildings . In 1910 Reserve No. 1,
where Prince George would develop, consisted of "about 200 Indians and a few garden patches,
but the rest was just a wilderness. " 66 These early accounts of Prince George suggest that since
1820, when the Hudson Bay Post was established, human impact had remained consistent and
minimal. There existed the HBC and the Reserve, but the land changes accompanying settlement
had not yet occurred.
Surveying the land was the beginning of the changes that were to come. For the first time
the land was mapped and divided. Subdividing the land placed the landscape into rectangular
sections. Aside from the HBC post and Reserve No 1, Prince George's landscape now possessed
lots that could be owned by various individuals. The surveying of the land opened the
opportunities that boosters proclaimed in their literature. When the surveyors arrived in 1910,
their government contract dictated that the land be divided into sections and 114 sections so that
"settlers could take up land as pre emption. " 67 When surveying the banks of the Nechako, the
surveyor felt that it was not worthy of development. However, at a rapid pace land pre emption
occurred and on the banks of the Nechako settlers "began flocking in. " 68 Burden watched as new
arrivals kept "coming in and taking up land. They built a great many shacks of one kind or
another in Fort George and worked out on their places from there. " 69 Between 1881 and 1911
the population of British Columbia increased by 700 percent, largely because of the extractable
59

resources available. In 1909 the population of Fort George was estimated to be 100 non-Native
men, women and children and by 1911 this figure was up to 600. Settlers kept arriving and by
1914 the permanent population was estimated by local historian Reverend Runnalls to be 1500
people, in South Fort George and Fort George combined.
Manipulating the landscape into sections and quarter sections for sale attracted interest
from many places. The tax roll from 1915 indicates that landowners original residences were
places as far apart as Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Spokane, Quebec, Minnesota, Alaska, Ontario,
Seattle, New Orleans, Winnipeg, San Francisco, California, Iowa, Idaho, Colorado and Detroit. 70
This suggests both the distance the boosters sent their message and the array of attitudes that new
and foreign landowners had accumulated through past experiences. All of the locales mentioned
were already settled areas that had previously experienced the process of development and
resource exploitation. For example, in both the United States and Canada the first stages of
European settlement occurred in the 1600's. Therefore some of the settlers coming to Prince
George were perhaps exposed to two centuries of settlement experience. The rate of settlement
is illustrated by the increased number of land purchase certificates in the Caribou and Fort George
Districts between 1900 and 1913 . For example, from 1900 to 1909 land purchases in the Caribou
District went from 23 to 451. Meanwhile, in the Fort George District land purchases peaked in
1910 with 2097 and then slowly bottomed out to 434 in 1913 .71
Ownership and Surveying

The area was slowly becoming defined by those who owned it. No longer was it the
environment but rather property. No longer was it a whole , but rather like a pieces of a puzzle,
each tract holding a different value (Figures 5) . For example by 1911 , the reserve that was located
at the merging of the Fraser and Nechako was now in the hands of the Grand Trunk Pacific.
60

(Source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 5: A brochure, circulated in Vancouver to promote land in the Georges, 1914.

61
.

..

Similarly, to the west of the GTP property were lots 937 and 938, 412.8 acres owned by the
Natural Resources Security Company (later to be Fort George). South of lots 937 and 938 was
lot 1429 also owned by the Natural Resources Security Company (136.2 acres , later to be Central
Fort George). South of the GTP property was lot 777, 601 acres owned by the NRSC. To the
west and south of the Hudson Bay Company was land comprising South Fort George, and the Bird
Addition, both owned by the Northern Development Company. Following the surveying of lands
into various sections, all owned by a variety of individuals and corporations, came change.
Essentially, the landscape was now tracts of land in the hands of private owners who established
legal boundaries. In turn these legal boundaries had assigned to the land a price, thus treating it
as a commoditv (Figure 6) .
....._,_ _ _ _ _
~

NRS

husiness
district

River

••

(;\.IY\'"l'\1...-d

t

TOWNSITE

N

Scale

mittee

1,500

3,000 feet

(Source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 6: 1914- Three distinct towns formed where the rivers meet.
62

Fort George, comprising lots 937, 938 and 1429, totalled 549 acres. After Hammond and
his company NRSC had it surveyed, they began a transformation that continued for many years.
A survey was conducted in 1910 creating 51 blocks from the Nechako to 5th Avenue and as far
east as Central Avenue (Figure 7). Each block was then subdivided into separate lots of up to 36
purchaseable slivers of land. Then by "early 1910 a crew of men was sent to clear the new
townsite and by midsummer it was a small city of tents. "72 The land bordering the Nechako river
was cleared of all growth that was deemed to be a barrier against development of a townsite. It
is true that a majority of the trees felled were utilized for building material, but this deforestation
affected the soils and animal habitat (See Chapter Six). J.A. Shearer was the flrst non Native to
build a home on the land in Fort George, and this marked the beginning of the of wooden
structures upon the landscape. All sites belonged to different individuals who claimed authority
over the land. 73 Many other men and women claimed parcels of land in Fort George and began
the process of forging out a new existence in the central interior. They too, set to work clearing
the land and using the wood from it to build homes. Among the buildings that were planted on
Fort George's landscape by the close of 1910 were a Presbyterian Church that like similar
churches spread the Lord's gospel of subduing the land, a town hall to orchestrate development
and the Fort George Hotel, to temporarily house pre emptors and labourers. 74 This progression
of subduing the land was unstoppable and by the end of that year Fort George had three blocks
of business buildings.

63

(adapted From Runnalls, 1946)

Figure 7: The land in Fort George was divided into grids with streets running N-S, E-W. Streets
defined locations and land became property.

64

In 1906 parcels of land along the Fraser were staked and divided. Three years later,
beside the old HBC post, A. G. Hamilton managed to clear ten of his sixty acres, preparing it for
settlers to come. 75 He then preceded to build one of the first structures in South Fort George, a
store that could supply settlers with the tools they needed to convert the land into a town. The
Provincial Land Surveyor's map of 1909 furthers the notion of the land being parcelled. The
South Fort George Addition was divided into 25 different blocks, each block containing up to 16
lots (Figure 8). South along the Fraser River Joseph Thapage and Pierre Rois pre-empted land,
while to the west James Bird set to work on his land.

DDDdUDDD
~~
@ F!R.ST J(cnHEIU'I HoTE.L ~

<D .J,.. C.

~

L

.

Co.
LAH.DII(!;

@ SAWMILL

@

~

ScHooL (''f'o)

® NE.w .ScHooL (''f"·)

® NoRTHE71:N' HonL (1111)

@ AH!it.ICAH CHUii!CH ('911)
(j) PRES.BYTE.RtA.N CHUR.CH ("f11
(!) Mt:.THO.PI.ST TEHT (•'flO)
MAP

OF

Fo"RT

(adapted from Runnalls, 1946)

Figure 8: The land at South Fort George was also divided up and defined by human names that
enclosed property lots.

65

Here too, the timber that was cleared was then used to construct the townsite76 (Figures 9 & 10).
The creation of a fire committee in 1911 indicates the amount of forest resources used to build
structures . Upon the committee' s recommendation four main fire brigades were hired and an
alarm system was placed in three different locations in town because "South Fort George had no
viable means of fire protection which left the community in a great state of danger. " 77 The
structures built in South Fort George provided settlers with similar services found in Fort George.
They included the First Northern Hotel on the comer of Clark and Fourth, the first school on
Thapage Lane, the Northern Hotel on Hamilton Avenue, and an Anglican Church on Seventh
Street. 78
By 1913 the Grand Trunk Pacific rail construction crews had begun the process of clearing
the land for settlement. Reserve No. 1 was burnt to the ground, creating yet another blank slate
to work on, and the entire Native village was relocated up the Fraser River where new buildings
were constructed, hence repeating the same process of land change. 79 The GTP newly acquired
land was "then subdivided and laid out. " 80 An examination of the town plan for Prince George
in 1915 is revealing. The Reserve land was transformed into 349 blocks from the Nechako and
Fraser, south and west until it met the other two Georges. Again each block contained numerous
lots that became the property of individuals (Figure 11). An auction that was held in Vancouver
sold 1175 out of 4259 lots , mostly along the soon to be George Street (Figure 12).

66

(source: Prince George Public Library)

Figure 9: Common sight of clearing the land of trees, temporarily living in tents until a home could
be built with local materials.

(source: Prince George Public Library)

Figure 10: Land of stumps, (c.a. 1910-11).

67

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 11: Prince George Town Plan.
Planned by the Boston firm of Brett, Hall & co. 1915.

68

SALE OF LOTS
AT

Prince George
;

BRITISH COLUMBIA

S

ITUATED at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechaco Rivers jn
Central British Columbia, 450 miles northeast of Vancouver, B.
C., and 467 miles cast of Prince Rupert, B.C., or miclway bebYeen
Prince Rupert and ~
Alta., on the main li1ie of the Grand
Ti,unk Pacific Hailway.
·
lf
By reason of its central-location, Prince. George will be the natural
distribnting point of the extensive territory comprised ~ the Pacific ·
province of the Dominion, and i"t ha8 therefore long .beeu the cxpechi:
I
tion of the general public that upon the completion of the Grand
I· Trunk Pacific Railway, Prince George will early become a large and
important centre. ·
. Having purchased what v•ras known as the Fort Geol'ge Iudiau
·Reserve No.1 for the purpose of locating a to\vnsite thereon, the Grand .
Trunk Pacific Development Company IJimited·has caused the -same to :
·. be surveyed ancl, platted and will offer lots in this townsite fol' sale by
public auction at Vancouver, British Columbia, vYednesday,. September 17th, 1913, and at Edmonton, Alberta, \Vednesday, September 24th 1',
1913.
.
.
The tenns of this sale ·will be one-quarter cash and the balance 1'
payable in one, two and three years ·with six per cent. interest. For 1
further particulars and plans apply to:

G. ·u. · RYLEY

and Commissioner, Grand Trunk

~

Railway Company. Winnipeg ~
(source: Fort George Museum,)

Figure 12: Scaled down version of a poster that circulated throughout Vancouver, Britain and
Ontario selling Prince George.

69

Services

Accompanying the buildings scattered across the new community was the development of
services to accommodate the growing population. George Hammond wasted no time providing
the settlers in Fort George with conveniences of "civilization." For example, he initiated the
building of a water system to meet the increased demands of the local population. This
rudimentary structure included a gas pump that drained water from the Nechako River into a large
wooden tank on Central Avenue. 81 One year later a Citizens Water Company was chartered to
manage this liquid resource. The first act of the Company was to fulfill the desires of the growing
population by enlarging the tank on Central Avenue. Hence, the landscape facilitated water
running up hill from the river into a man made reservoir servicing its creator. Increased settlement
also meant that the dirt roads were raised and graded so that water mains could be laid under the
streets of Fort George. 82 As for the water needs of the residents of South Fort George, a majority
of them dug wells and used outdoor earth enclosures for sanitation purposes . In this case the
landscape was marked with punctures that accommodated human intake and output.
The construction of streets were another instance of humans altering the land. In 1911,
- .............

- -

---

.

Fort George District alone was granted $109,000 by the provincial government for road
construction. 83 Shortly thereafter, Fort George Townsite developed streets. By 1914, Hammond's
property afforded its settlers graded streets and sidewalks. The grading of streets not only widened
the throughways for human travel

but also deeply scarred the land, a process that had a

drastically different effect than that of the foot and wagon trails that once connected different
locales . The creation of streets in a town, encouraged further development in the form of shops
and stores. Moreover, when streets were laid they provided the foundation for future road
improvements and connecting roads. Interestingly enough the placement of streets also demanded
70

the resource of felled trees. The sidewalks that bordered streets were built with wooden planks.
The demand for such conveniences is illustrated by the fact that Don McPhee and Roy Spur made
considerable profits by supplying the planks for these sidewalks . Similarly, in 1911, South Fort
George petitioned the Department of Lands for street improvements. A short time later under the
guidance of the Northern Development Company, the terrain was graded and paths were widened
to create streets in South Fort George. For example, 8th Avenue had been transformed into a 80
foot wide thoroughfare. 84 New permanent sidewalks also adorned the streets . Made of cement
they circled the centre of the townsite.
Prince George's incorporation came in 1915 . The main reason for this move was to acquire
Federal and Provincial funds for improvements such as water systems and road works . For
example, in 1914, following the City Beautiful city plan, the GTP spent approximately $500,000
on building construction in Prince George to accommodate the onslaught of settlers. 85 By 1915
there was a concern over the need for sidewalks, and it was declared that if lumber were acquired
sidewalks could be built along 3rd Avenue86 (Figure 13). Three years later the city of town of
Prince George would set aside $3,000 for plowing and clearing roads in the winter season, to
prevent flooding in the spring during melt down. The development of Prince George proper saw
the Boston planning firm establish crescents , streets and avenues throughout the town.

Of

significance is the fact that the crescent streets in north west Prince George served as human made
barriers on the land (Figure 14 ) . The nature of crescents (horseshoe shaped roads) prohibited
throughways . Crescents replaced straight road access and introduced curved roads that were time
consuming when travelled.

71

(source: Prince George Public Library)

Figure 13: 3rd Avenue Prince George.
Note the wooden sidewalks. Also, the road seems to be used extensively by horse and wagon.

72

(source: Fort George Hearald, 13 April, 1913)

Figure 14: A closer examination of P.G. reveals the concepts of "City Beautiful Planning":
1) curved crescents; 2) open park space; 3) residential areas; and 4) note the crescents prohibit flow
to Fort George.

73

In fact, Hammond would later comment to the Railway Commission that the Prince George town
plan purposefully excluded access to Fort George in hopes of halting settlement in a competing
town.
The GTP also established Connaught Hill, the irony of this park was that it's aim was to
provide residents with the elements of the natural environment, such as trees and grass. Located
just behind Princess Square, this park epitomised the fact that the land was changing. As a
consequence of laying streets and erecting buildings, the natural environment was disappearing.
The town that developed with the aid of the forest industry lacked trees . A park fulfilled this
desire by providing trees and grass. Parks represent a human-made and controlled natural
environment. Connaught Hill also kept the ills of metropolitan areas at bay and maintained the
frontier image by providing a combination of both civilization and the natural environment.
Located in a residential area, the park also became a real estate attraction to pre-empters. In
essence, Connaught Hill was part of the City Beautiful Movement, which sought to incorporate
natural space in developing towns.
Defining the Land

Accompanying the laying of streets were street names which illustrated the order and
dominance of human agents. A majority of street names in Prince George reminded residents of
the early residents who had successfully manipulated nature. For example, moving south from the
Nechako, Fort George defined the land by Barby Street, Holden Street, Cameron Street and
Hammond Street. Moreover, the creation of a Central Avenue meant that a once open space of
land now had a centre piece where development and activities should take place within a town.
Street names lined the land of South Fort George as well. A map of South Fort George in 1910
helps to explain this process (Figure 8). Just south of Reserve No .1, from west to east was Bird

74

(

Avenue, followed by Hamilton Avenue in honour of A.G. Hamilton, Thapage Lane after an
original owner of Northern Development property, Laselle Avenue after an American who bought
part of South Fort George, Clark Street also a landowner in South Fort George. Running from
the north down to the Fraser were First to Ninth Streets. Prince George streets also redefmed the
landscape. The centre of the Georges now had names such as Gillet Street in honour of W.G.
Gillet a builder who became the first mayor of Prince George, and Cain Drive after Martin Cain,
a prominent lumberman, Patricia Boulevard named after Princess Patricia, the daughter of the
Duke of Connaught, Aitkens Street in honour of John Aitkens who came to Prince George in 1912
and purchased two lots and built a house, and George Street named after King George V. P>l In all
cases the landscape had changed from paths or wooded areas into roads. In turn these roads and
streets identified the land in terms of humans not nature. Moreover, street names such as Oak,
Maple and Ash represented parts of nature that had either been cut down or did not grow in the
region. Hence, this provided parts of nature without nature itself.
Structures on the Land
By transplanting a familiar scene of buildings, water supplies and roads, Fort George and
South Fort George attracted even more settlers. What resulted was an increase in the amount of
water that left the Nechako and wells dug, hence repeating the land moulding process. The
directory for both townships from 1914 illustrates the activities that were taking place on the
various streets. These activities came in the form of large buildings on the land. No longer were
log structures scattered throughout the central interior. In Fort George many buildings rose, such
as the Bank of Vancouver, Bookhuts Hardware, Buchanan Real Estate, Fort George Hotel,
Hospital and Meat Market, Northern Lumber Company and McElroys Lumber. In South Fort
George various buildings that accommodated human wants marked the landscape. These buildings
75

included the Bank of British North America, Empress Hotel, Fort George Hardware, Robarts
Hotel, Fort George Trading and Lumber, a Forestry Office, and the Northern Lumber and
Navigation Company.
The major structures that dotted the landscape in Prince George after 1914 included a City
Hall at the south end of George Street, a high school at 5th and Winnipeg, the hospital on Fort
and Lethbridge, the court house at 3rd and Brunswick, as well as King George Hotel, St. Regis
Hotel, York House, Fort George Drug Company, J.B. Lamberts Store, North Coast Land
Company and the Princess Theatre. Moreover, the tax rolls from 1915 to 1930 outline the money
spent on city improvements that came in the form of fuel stations, ice houses, tool houses, stock
yards, the Fraser River Bridge, and a road house. Additional structures migrated from Fort
George and South Fort George. With the growing investment in Prince George, many businesses
and buildings were transplanted in the new town. In 1920 Mayor Harry Perry stated that "over
the past four years the business community has developed along George Street and 3rd Avenue" 88
(Figure 15).
The establishment of a land tax also encouraged land change. For example, the monies
collected in land tax were redirected back into community development that led to further changes
in the land. The importance of this is that land taxes constantly reinforced the notion that the land
had a intrinsic economic value. By 1921 the total land tax was $80,604, while four years later it
was $95 ,674 and by 1928 it was $99,259.

~ increase in taxes collected illustrates that settlers

treated the land as private capital, improving it increased its value and therefore increased the
holdings of the owner. The concept of improving the land to create an asset furthered the notion
of individual private property via land change. 89

76

~

..

i }..

. J\

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 15: Same location. George Street, Prince George.
Top photo: March, 1914
Bottom Photo: June 1914
Notice: 1) widening of road; 2) appearance of buildings; 3) less trees on the cutbanks.

77

The settlement period of Prince George was based a common perception of the
environment. Boosters went to work promoting the region as a place that afforded humans with
a infinite supply of natural resources. Accompanying the limitless resources was the attitude that
manipulating the natural environment was an acceptable consequence . The evidence provided
describes the impetus that facilitated settlement in Prince George. Upon their arrival these settlers
began to change the landscape. Farming, mining and commercial fishing did not occur on a large
scale in Prince George and therefore are part of the changes that occurred. Instead, changes in the
land came with the creation of roads, maps , structures and property systems , all components that
promoted further changes. This chapter deliberately avoids a discussion about perceptions of
forests and the impact that this industry had on the land, as these issues are dealt with in chapter
six.

78

Chapter 4-Endnotes

!William Cronon, Changes in the Land (New York: Hill and Wang, 1983), 166.
2.For further definitions of boosterism and different boosting studies see:
Alan Artibise, "City Building in the Canadian West, From Boosterism to Corporatism" in
Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol17, No.3. (1982). ; Max Foran, The Booster in Boosterism,
Some Calgary Examples (Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1979) .; T .C. Meredith, "The
Upper Columbia Valley 1900-20: An Assessment of Boosterism and the Biography of
Landscape" in The Canadian Geographer Vol. 29 , No 1. (1985).
3.David Knight, "Boosterism and Locational Analysis : One Man's Swan is Another Man's
Goose" in Urban Historical Review No.3, (1974), 10.
4 .1bid.' 11.
5.Paul Voisey, "Boosting the Small Prairie Town 1909-1931: An Example from Southern
Alberta" in Town and City (1981) , 147.
6.1bid. , 147.
7.1bid.
8.T.C. Meredith, "The Upper Columbia Valley 1900-20: An Assessment of Boosterism and
the Biography of Landscape" in The Canadian Geographer Vol. 29, No 1. (1985), 45.
9.Max Foran, The Booster in Boosterism. Some Calgary Examples (Ottawa: National Museum
of Canada, 1979), 77-82.
lO.Neil Holmes, "The Promotion and Early Growth in the City of Western Canada: A Case
Study of Prince George, 1905-15" (B.A. thesis , University of British Columbia, 1974),17.
ll.lbid., 29.
12.1bid.' 51.
13 .Natural Resources Security Company, Fort George (Vancouver:l912), 3.
14.1bid.' 11.
15.1bid.
16.1bid., 29.
17 .Ibid. ' 4.
79

18.Ibid., 39.
19.Ibid.
20.Ibid., 29.
2l.Natural Resources Security Company, B.C. Bulletin of Information No. 6 (Vancouver,
B.C.: 1911), 8.
22.Ibid., 6.
23.Ibid., 8.
24.Ibid., 19.
25. Grand Trunk Pacific Development Corporation, The Central Interior and Coast District in
British Columbia Along the GTP (Winnipeg: Grand Trunk Pacific Development Co. 1910), 6.
26.Ibid.' 2.
27.Ibid., 1.
28.Ibid., 19.
29.F.A. Talbot, The New Garden of Canada, (Toronto: Cassell Co. Ltd ., 1911), cover.
30.Ibid.' 160.
3l.Ibid.
32.Ibid., 171.
33.Henry Boam, B.C. Its History. People. Commerce. Industries and Resources (London:
Sells Ltd., 1912), 385.
34.Ibid.
35.Ibid., 152.
36.Ibid.
37.Ibid., 155.
38.Fort George Tribune, (Fort George), 24 December 1909.
39.Fort George Herald, (Fort George), 28 October 1911.
40.Thomas Dunlap, Saving America's Wildlife (New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
1988), 9.
80

41.Fort George Tribune, (Fort George), 19 August 1912.
42.Ibid., 2 August 1913.
43 .Prince George Post,( Prince George), 15 August 1914.
44.Fort George Herald. (Fort George), 27 August 1910.
45 .Ibid.
46.Ibid., 8 October 1910.
47.Voisey, "Boosting the Small Prairie Town 1909-1931: An Example from Southern
Alberta" , 164.
48.Brooks Atkinson, ed., Walden and Other Writings ofHem:y David Thoreau, (New York:
Random House, 1937), 258.
49.Fort George Herald, (Fort George), 20 October 1913 .
50.Ibid. , 15 November 1913 .
51.Ibid., 26 December 1913.
52.Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind, (Yale: Yale University Press, 1967),
145 .
53.Fort George Herald, (Fort George) , 14 September 1912.
54.Ibid., 31 October 1914.
55.Ibid., 9 January 1915.
56.Fort George Tribune, (Fort George), 21 November 1914.
57.Prince George Post, (Prince George), 2 January 1915.
58.Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind, 154.
59.Fort George Herald, (Fort George) , 28 June 1913.
60.1bid., 18 August 1914.
61.Prince George Post, (Prince George), 21 November 1914.
62.Gerald Hodge, Planning Canadian Communities (Toronto: Methuen , 1986), 58.
63.1bid.

81

64.Fort George/Prince George Board of Trade Minutes Prince George. B.C . 7 June 1915.
65.Frederick Burden "Interview with Frederick Burden, Provincial Land Surveyor"
interviewed by C.D. Orchard (October 1959) in Prince George, B.C.
66 .1bid.
67 .1bid.
68.1bid.
69.1bid.
70.Prince George Tax Assessment, Prince George, B.C. 1915.
71.Hudson, "Traplines, and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among Carrier Indians of
Northern British Columbia", 97.
72.Prince George Branch of Canadian Federation of University Women, Prince George Street
Names A-Z, (Prince George, B.C.: 1970), 102.
73 .Canadian Board of Railway Commissioners, Considerations of the Petitions of the
Residents of Fort George (Prince George, B.C. 1920), 7679.
74.Holmes, "The Promotion and Early Growth in the City of Western Canada: A Case Study
of Prince George, 1905-15", 31.
75.1bid.
76.1bid.
77.1bid. , 41.
78.F.E. Runnalls , The History of Prince George (Vancouver: Wrigley Printing Co . Ltd. ,
1947).
79.Holmes, "The Promotion and Early Growth in the City of Western Canada: A Case Study
of Prince George, 1905-15" , 46.
80.Canadian Board of Railway Commissioners, Considerations of the Petitions of the
Residents of Fort George (Prince George, B.C. 1920), 7667.
81.Burden "Interview with Frederick Burden, Provincial Land Surveyor" .
82.Holmes , "The Promotion and Early Growth in the City of Western Canada: A Case Study
of Prince George, 1905-15" , 36.
83.1bid.
82

84.Ibid.
85.Ibid.
86.Fort George/Prince George Board of Trade Minutes Prince George . B.C. 4 May 1915.
87 .Prince George Branch of Canadian Federation of University Women, Prince George Street
Names A-Z, 7.
88.Canadian Board of Railway Commissioners , Considerations of the Petitions of the
Residents of Fort George, 7691.
89.Tax rolls begin in 1915, therefore it is difficult to assess money spent on improvements
prior to this.

83

Chapter Five
Landscape in Motion

The powerful perception that defmed the natural environment as limitless natural
resources, could only be realized through access to them. To accommodate the need to access
resources, the government and private businesses provided various modes of transportation to
British Columbia's central interior. Transportation was the means by which people could travel
to Prince George to fulfill their hopes and dreams of making a living from the land. The
development of wagon roads brought passengers from Quesnel to Prince George. Sternwheelers
floated settlers, entrepreneurs and labourers up the Fraser and the Grand Trunk Pacific brought
people overland to British Columbia's gateway to the north. To reach this resource rich region
the landscape had to be reshaped, a small price to pay for what would be waiting.
Wagon Roads
Environmental historian Wayland Drew claims that the "tentacles of the progressive,
ordered metropolitan culture reach everywhere, grasp everything. " 1 Prince George experienced
a similar grasp in the early 1900's when wagon roads aided the onslaught of new arrivals who
were hoping to strike it rich, bring in a massive harvest or pre-empt choice land.
These roads were initially developed because the terrain prohibited the use of any other
mode of transportation. The Blackwater Road joined Prince George with Quesnel and was the
"descendant of the original Indian footpath" that crept its way through the interior (Figure 16).

84

/

I

I

I
I

I

• 1

...

l\ / ~

(source: Scott, 1981)

Figure 16: The Blackwater Road heading to Prince George.
Circled are the stop houses where one could rest.

85

During the early real estate boom, between 1900 and 1914, this meagre footpath was transformed
into an increasingly busy wagon road. The use of this road was initiated by the various attitudes
towards the natural environment which prompted the use and maintenance of these particular
roads. The Northern Development Company of South Fort George submitted a half-page
advertisement in the Fort George Herald claiming that there was four thousand feet of river front
land available to anyone willing to become rich. This advertisement also declared that Fort George
was the natural centre of the great Fort George district, and that "five months ago [it was] brush
and today it is where 95% of the business of the entire district is. " But if this progress was to
continue, improved access to Prince George was needed. Newspapers urged men to come to Fort
George and "clear the remaining uncleared portion of South Fort George and the cutting down of
the ridge intersecting the town sight...to the Blackwater Road ... to make the ascent for vehicles
and pedestrians an easy matter. .. "3
The attitudes of early town boosters conveyed a strong message to the general public. The
aim of boosters was to encourage people to travel north, and fmd an opportunity among the
commodities found in nature. The Blackwater Road brought supplies as well as people to Prince
George, performing the duty of funnelling settlers, freight, miners , railway supplies and workers
to the town. The growing population also intensified the manipulation of the local environment
by increasing the use of the road. Scott described the years 1909 to 1913. He stated the "rush of
settlers to the Nechako Valley and Fort George peaked ... [leading] to the first major use and
development of the northern half of the Blackwater Road. "4 In 1909, A .G . Hamilton recognized
the demand of people to access the unclaimed resources. He set to work by arranging a bi-monthly
stage between Fort George and Quesnel which travelled along the Blackwater Road. Similarly,
the rush of settlers seeking opportunity in the local environment prompted the B.C . Express

86

Company to start a regular stage over the Blackwater Road.
The increased use of the Blackwater Road led to direct changes in the landscape. First
were the physical characteristics of this bush trial. It changed from a footpath, to a wide road that
accommodated horses teams and stagecoaches . In 1909, "J.P. Cameron, provincial road
superintendent, was in Fort George ... corning from the Blackwater Road camp, to help younger
men break a trail. .. He [had] built over 75 miles of new road and repaired 50 miles of old road
[that] year. "5 The environment was reshaped one year later, when a government construction
crew indicated that the trail had been broken and "the Blackwater Crossing to Fort George [was]
adequate for stage trail. " 6
The stage coach also constituted a new mobile landscape, introducing for the first time,
bright red coaches drawn by horses and carrying many people with their supplies. 7 (Figure 17)
This linear cut through the land also exposed the forest to new sound scapes, the unheard noise
of horses stomping and carriages rattling on the land. Moreover, many incidental landscape
elements appeared on the Blackwater Road. For example, road houses began to appear along the
Blackwater Road. W.R. Scott claimed that "the pattern of stopping houses and remount stations
on the Blackwater changed continually throughout the boom period as entrepreneurs carne and
went and the maintenance standard of the road improved ... Most settlers, [who operated road
houses] while primarily engaged in farming or ranching would offer travellers a bed and a meal. "8
Road houses illustrate changes in the land in that homes and barns replaced forests and
grass. Second, the comfort of being able to have a home cooked meal and bed on a trail amongst
the dense forests of the Central Interior of British Columbia was not only an experience that had
only been dreamt of by folk who had left metropolitan areas, but such amenities were landscape
elements that became positive reinforcements for further use of the road . The fact that there was

87

a need to build road stops is further testimony that new arrivals were arriving non stop to seek
opportunities in the north at an unprecedented pace.

(source: Prince George Public Library)

Figure 17: Typical mobile landscape entering Fort George, a team of horses pulling a stage coach
from Quesnel.

88

Again, the building of homes along the Blackwater Road meant that the local forest was used to
both construct and heat the dwellings . Local fauna was also used to feed the numerous guests that
stopped for the night. The use of the Blackwater Road continued, especially during the winter
months when stages could be pulled on sleds . However, this mode of transportation experienced
fierce competition from another mode of transportation. Sternwheelers plying north, up the
navigable waterways were viewed to be more efficient, able to transport more people and supplies
to the central interior.

Sternwheelers
Sternwheelers were the second major mode of transportation that opened resource
opportunities to the public. New arrivals coming north to Prince George often opted to travel on
wagon roads to Soda Creek, then board a comfortable sternwheeler bound for destinations in the
central interior. 9 For example, between 1863 and 1921 approximately 12 paddle wheelers
frequented the Upper Fraser. Of these 12, six attracted the largest amount of people. They were
the Chilco (latter called the Nechacco), the Charlotte, the BX, Fort Fraser, Chilcotin and the
Quesnel. The BX was owned and operated by the BC Express Company and the Fort Fraser and
Chilcotin by the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company. 10
At this point it is crucial to understand why people were taking sternwheelers to Prince
George. Art Down's book Paddlewheels on the Frontier aptly describes the sternwheelers as a
"link to the outside world for those settling on the frontier. " 11 Down's book title is indicative of
a society's perception of the environment. This region was viewed as a frontier, the last vestige
of opportunity to carve out an existence on the land. Stemwheelers were a medium that connected
civilization with the frontier . More importantly, the potential use of resources were realized via
sternwheelers.
89

Stemwheelers brought people whose lives revolved around progress and development. In
an article written about the B.C. Express, it was suggested that the company be commended "for
its enterprises and progressive policy towards the development of the new north. " 12 In Down's
earlier works he writes that men "lived north by the yellow metal.. .[and] he too learned that the
river resented intruders ... [they were] crafty and persistent opponent and bent the rivers to his
ways. "13

Down's statements with respect to stemwheelers illustrated that humans were

successfully defeating nature, at the time thought to be the enemy. Once defeated , resource
extraction and manipulation could begin. Similarly, in 1910 the Fort George Herald newspaper
contained an article titled "Inland Waterways" claiming that "the advantages of inland waterways
of the north are becoming recognized ... from Victoria to South Fort George ... we will take up the
advantages of the many waterways from South Fort George which will come into use during the
next few years. "14 Endorsing the manipulation of the river ways, this article embodied the idea
that the natural environment should be harnessed in the pursuit of progress .
Stemwheelers encouraged additional resource use. Accordingly, floating up the Fraser
River became"a veritable sportsman paradise. It is the home of thousands of moose and caribou
and bear are numerous. We see the animals every time we go up or down the river. " 15 This quote
exemplifies the tales of wild animals in abundance and defines them as game to be used by humans
who were passing by . Consistent with this theme is an article in a Toronto based magazine the
Canadian Magazine. Written in 1911 it claimed that "for a thousand miles the waters, the first
natural highways of commerce stretched out and brought the rich furs upon the trading in which
Canada is said to have been founded. "16 This is additional evidence suggesting that animals were
defined as game for humans. By hunting these animals one would be partaking in a patriotic
endeavour, upon which Canada was founded .
90

The B.C. Magazine of 1910 contained another article consistent with the ideas of using
stemwheelers to access the resources of the north. It asserted that workers came from Vancouver
via sternwheelers to "lustily [attack] the woods with their axes and soon Fort George had
streets ...became long avenues in the woods. " 17 Paddlewheels on the Frontier cites stories from
passengers about their journey to Prince George. Dr. Cheadle (1863) wrote that the steamer
docked at around two o'clock bringing in a large crew of miners (presumably gold seekers). 18 In
both examples, from B.C. Magazine and Dr. Cheadle, passengers on these vessels represented
an army of manpower whose main purpose was to chop down and dig up the land, acts which
encouraged resource extraction for monetary gains .
New landscapes that the stemwheelers created were numerous and diverse. First, the
obvious new landscape element was the vessel itself that became a new addition on the river
system (Figure 18). The average stemwheeler had three decks and was 125 x 30 feet, had a rather
blunt bow, flat bottom and iron braces to strengthen the hull. 19 Essentially, the river experienced
a floating hotel that housed people and their supplies . In 1910, a Prince George real estate
promoter Billy Davis built a sternwheeler named Fort George. This mobile landscape was
described by old timer Wiggs O'Neill, who wrote that "she [Fort George] was built like a scow,
with a shovel nose. Her stem was square as if she were made by the yard then sawn off.. .she had
a big stationary gas engine and a paddlewheel run by chains. "20 Additional descriptions of this
new soundscape were of "a stemwheeler bucking the current [that] could be heard for miles since
the steam exhausted into the stack with a roar .. .producing the characteristic puff-puff-puff. "2 1
With ironic foreshadowing , Wiggs O'Neill wrote that "in sight and sound a sternwheeler
chugging up river has been likened to a steam locomotive. " 22 With undertones of humour, Art
Downs book wrote that "when the vessels arrived .. .and blew her whistle the natives were
91

considerably astonished ... they were frightened and scampered away into the woods . "23

Figure 18: Stemwheeler BX. Express resulted in a new soundscape, landscape, smellscape
(smoke) on the river.

92

Bev Christensen's history of Prince George echoes Art Down's narrative . The new landscape now
included sight, sound and smell, all changes that had never been experienced before. She wrote
that these shallow ships created a unique slapping noise when approaching a community, which
must have alarmed the Native residents who heard these noises for the first time. 24 What can be
deduced from the above descriptions and reactions to stemwheelers is that their presence on the
upper Fraser created a new and very different environment.
Sternwheelers cargo and passengers also constituted land changes in Prince George.
Perceptual expectations of settlers and promoters became reality. In 1912, the Fort George Herald
contained an article entitled "Steam boating is Active on the Fraser." It stated that the BX
"brought about 60 tons of freight and a passenger list of about 25. " 25 This commentary is
accurate because according to Downs , these stemwheelers were built to carry over 100 tons of
freight plus 130 passengers. Supplies arriving included railway equipment, animals, camp
supplies, settlers and their cargo. The land now supported horses , pigs, farm equipment, and
baled hay .26 Crosby goes into detail about the importation of foreign plants and animals into a
region. He concluded that foreign weeds and plants often destroyed native fauna, altering the
ecosystem. These vessels plying up the Fraser and Nechako Rivers often altered the rivers . For
example, a new landscape was created when 30 tons of dynamite was used to clear obstructions
on the river. Tampering with the natural lay of the land and the waterways was "very welcomed
information in the district ... blowing out the many rapids on the Nechako river which will be
cleared to permit their navigation by large steamboats ... "27 Another article applauded "the work
done last fall by the Dominion Government in straightening the channel and removing dangerous
boulders, [which] made the swift passage much easier for navigation. " 28 Concern with navigating
the rivers dictated the drastic alteration of nature and shaping of the land. In turn, this changed
93

the flow of the water and the composition of its shoreline. The need to access the north justified
these land changes. The consequences of blowing rock into the river can be related to a similar
occurrence that took place at Hells Gate, on the Fraser River in 1912.

In this case, the

dynamiting of rock by the Canadian National Railway clogged the natural flow of the water,
making the river impassable for most salmon. The CNR was so preoccupied with "driving in the
last spike" that it neglected to assess the ramifications of blowing tonnes of rock into the
waterway. Meggs suggests that this destroyed the interior salmon economy for three generations. 29
Railways

In Prince George during the early twentieth century, the dominant attitude was that the
railway was immediately needed to access the resources of the north. Laurier and the Liberals
sponsored the building of a second transcontinental railway in hopes of repeating the success of
the Conservatives and their Canadian Pacific Railway in accessing resources and settling the land.
The Liberals urged the Government of British Columbia to encourage railway development.
Hence, Premier Gawler Prior in 1902 offered "a large land grant to any company that [would]
build through to the coast .... [stressing that there] was not very much money, but ... lots of land and
will readily help any company that will help develop it. "30 This government statement supports
the hypothesis that people viewed the environment as a commodity, which could be dominated,
traded and manipulated according to human desires .
The excitement that surrounded the possibilities of a railway opening up the north spread
throughout the country. Consequently, promotion and justification for railway development
appeared in all forms of literature. In 1911, Wilfrid Playfair wrote that "there are mountains in
the way and fierce rivers, but these are only barriers to the weak. Our strong men reach out and
put the mountains aside. They harness the turbulent rivers. Their steel thoroughfares creep into

94

valleys ... and make easy the trails for the cultivators who are to be . " 31 These men believed that
humans had authority over the environment, especially considering the strength and will of "our
men", Canadian men! The manipulation of the land permitted the steel to weave into and out of
valleys. In all, this was done so that more people could come north to grow crops and use the land
for what they thought it was worth.
Describing Prince George, S. Washburn's article "The Greatest Little Town in America"
communicated similar sentiments about the necessity of a rail. He believed that the coming "of
the steel, those magic words, had suddenly laid the foundation of a metropolis in the very heart
of a wilderness. " 32 In 1911, Canadian Magazine

proclaimed that the development of the

agricultural, and mineral potential of the land depended solely on transporting the resources to the
market, "the railroad mul)t be brought in. " 33 The Fort George Herald claimed that the province
needed a railroad "in order that the stupendous mineral, agricultural and timber resources ... be
brought within reach, [of] the farmer, the miner, and the lumber[man] ... "34 The Grand Trunk
Pacific Corporation circulated various pamphlets describing the role that the rail would play in
harvesting the natural resources in Prince George, professing that the mineral, timber and coal
resources along the rail line would ensure constant traffic. Moreover, the "railway would lead to
the rapid development of large deposits of coal and stands of timber. " 35 The Grand Trunk would
put "a pulse beat in a land long dormant. " 36 A similar statement that justified the building of the
railroad was found in a Fort George Herald article entitled "Railway will Open a New Empire in
the District. " It read: "it has possibilities of lumbering, farming, mining, and fishing on an
immense scale. First of all it is not mountainous and is composed mostly of clay not rock ... The
soil lacks the redundant natural fertility of the prairies and of course must be cleared of woods
before it can be cultivated, but where cultivation has been tried it has been reasonably
95

successful ... to put the matter in a few words the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific is
creating a new Empire. " 37 Settlers, miners, government and industry possessed similar feelings.
They worried that the land was idly wasting away , and awaiting human hands. For example,
timber resources , minerals and agriculture were bountiful and available for selection. Yet, to
enjoy the rewards of these resources, humans had to have a link with markets. The markets were
to the south and the east along the rail line. There was also a need to transport human power north
to harvest these resources. Both dilemmas were solved with the building of a railway, a mode of
transportation that could be utilized all year round.
Many changes accompanied locomotives. The appearance of a massive metal machine that
chugged its way over mountains, across waters and along flatlands was the primary landscapes
that entered the vista in Prince George. These mechanical horses bellowed a rhythmic hum as they
spewed smoke from their tubular smokestacks. By 1914, Prince George fenced rail yard on
George Street felt the vibrating noise of trains coming and going. The railway also meant that the
land had to be shaped so that ties and tracks could be laid upon the soil. For example, George
Hardie was contracted to clear a hundred miles of right of way for the rail. In many cases "almost
entire hillsides [were] put in motion by the construction of the road, filling up ditches and cuts and
moving embankments. "38 Railway engineers were concerned with elements of the land, such as
grading of the land, cutting of rocks that obstructed the steel, the proper location of tunnels, and
bridges39 (Figure 19). Each concern was dealt with how the land would be altered to permit rail
passage. Along the rail route town sites arose and inspired to become district capitals. "The
coming of the railway immediately stimulated the forest industries along the rout, at first for

° Furthermore, along the

construction requirements of the railway then for wider markets ... " 4

route " .. .settlers and farms competed directly for fur bearing animals ...because of economic

96

necessity and the attractiveness of high fur prices in the early 1900's. " 41

Figure 19: New addition to the river was the Fraser River Bridge (ca. 1915) Encouraging further
human impact across the river.
·

97

Imaginary landscapes also emerged in Prince George due to the rail. In 1911 promotional
brochures were circulated by George Hammond's Natural Resources Security Company.
Hammond's propaganda was entitled "Even if they Should Try To , They Cannot Skip Fort
George." This pamphlet stated that 10 railroads were being built or chartered towards Fort George
(Figure 20). Among these railways was the Grand Trunk Pacific, the British Columbia and
Alaska, the Victoria and Fort George, Portland Canal Short Line, Pacific and Peace River.
Moreover, this railroad document claimed that "we are doing something to help nature. We are
calling attention to the natural resources and ourselves trying to take advantage of these .. . " 42
Imaginary landscapes of rails , vividly illustrated the hopes and desires of linking modes of
transportation to the resource wealth of the land. The dominant society deemed the rail to be
essential in realizing resource potential. Consequently, Hammond gave the people what they
wanted. Although the picture of 10 railways coming to Prince George was false, it became real
in the minds of those who were in far off places. Ten railroads meant ten different markets to sell
resource commodities.
What does this tell us about the nature of changing landscapes in Prince George, during
the late nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries? To begin with the concept of the power of a
particular groups perceptions is exposed. The dominant society's attitude or perception of the
natural environment was the key to this theory . Whether they be new settlers , businessmen,
construction workers , industry or government bodies , a unified idea of nature existed. All these
people looked north for economic opportunity . To them, opportunity came in the form of frontier
land that contained infinite amounts of natural resources . Resources were defined in terms of
timber, minerals, big game, choice agricultural land and real estate. Modes of transportation were
however, needed to acquire these commodities . What resulted were new landscapes, soundscapes

98

and smellscapes, unnoticed changes during a time of progress.

4f

r c~.. ;.u~ r 0 ~~ s-bui!c!ing
or
~ ~
~
all headed to FORT -cEORGE . .

"

.!. V

(1)

Grand
Trunk
Pa.:ific Railroad.

(:!)
(3)
(4)

(S)
(6)

Pacific & Peace
h!t.-er R. R.

(7)

Vancouver
\Vest minster &
Yukon.

(8)

Bella Coola &
DunvegMt.

(9)

Pacific and ~
chaco Valley

RR.

(1(1) Orand

Pacific.

Trunk

1-"on

~ Vancou-

v« Branch.

(source: B.C. Bulletin of Information, 1912)

Figure 20: The dreams of ten railways leading to Prince George.

99

Chapter 5-Endnotes
l.John Wadland, "Wilderness and Culture" in Consuming Canada: Readings in Environmental
History. ed. Gaffield and Gaffield (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press , 1995), 13 .
2.W.R. Scott, History of Baldy Hughes (Prince George: Privately Printed, 1981), 4.1.
3.Fort George Herald (Fort George), 27 October 1910.
4.Scott, History of Baldy Hughes, 4.3.
5.Ibid., 4 .6.
6.Ibid.
?.Ibid.
8.Ibid. ' 4.10.
9 .Department of Lands, South Fork of the Fraser River, (Victoria: Government Printing
Office, 1914), 3.
10.Downs, Paddlewheels on the Frontier,51-55.
1l.Ibid., 16.
12.Fort George Herald (Fort George), 16 March 1912.
13 .Downs , Paddlewheels on the Frontier,12.
14.Fort George Herald (Fort George), 17 September 1910.
15.Ibid., 21 June 1913.
16.R.R. Walker, "Fort George: Its Awakening" in Canadian Magazine (September 1911), 3.
17.Wilfrid Playfair, "The Miracle of Cities " in B.C . Magazine (October 1914), 255 .
18.Downs, Paddlewheels on the Frontier, 52.
19.Ibid.
20.Ibid. , 51.
21 .Ibid.' 15

0

22.Ibid.
23.Ibid.,53.
100

24.Bev Christensen, Prince George: Rivers Railways and Timber (Burlington: Windsor
Publications, 1989), 29.
25.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 4 May 1912.
26.Playfair, "The Miracle of Cities", 4.
27 .Fort George Herald (Fort George) 3 August 1912.
28.Ibid. ,4 May 1912.
29. Geoff Meggs, Salmon: The Decline of the B.C. Fishery (Vancouver: Douglas Mcintyre,
1991), 90.
30.Leonard Frank, "A Thousand Blunders: The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company and
Northern B.C. 1902-19" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1988) 28.
31.Playfair, "The Miracle of Cities", 251.
32.S. Washburn, "The Biggest Little Town in America" in Trails Trappers and Tenderfeet
(1912), 328.
33.R.R. Walker, "Fort George: Its Awakening" in Canadian Magazine (September 1911) 35.
34.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 17 September 1910.
35.Frank, "A Thousand Blunders: The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company and Northern
B.C. 1902-19", 22.
36.Downs, Paddlewheels on the Frontier, 54.
37.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 23 August 1913.
38.Royal Commission, Report to the Enquiry into Railroads and Transportation in Canada
(Ottawa: DeLe Tache, 1917), 59.
39.Ibid.; The Fraser River bridge was built to accommodate GTP railcars. Interestingly
enough this bridge rose so that sternwheelers could continue operations.
40.Morris Zaslow, The Opening of the Canadian North 1870-1914 (Toronto: McClelland
Stewart Ltd., 1971), 206.
41.Hudson, "Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier on Lake
Babine", 130.
42.George Hammond, Natural Resources Security Company Pamphlets (Fort George: 1912),
16.

101

Chapter Six
Choice Timber

"All the resources of the forests .... are for use "1

From the Carrier who resided in Prince George to the early non native settlers, one aspect
of the natural environment that went through drastic changes was the forests . In Prince George,
settlers harvested trees for many reasons. Whether forests supplied material for fishing weirs , fuel
wood or shelter, trees became a resource that was crucial to human existence and eventually their
economy . Unlike, furs, fish, minerals and agriculture, the blanket of forests were easily accessible
and seemed to be there for the taking . This idea of taking the forests , was a very powerful attitude
in Prince George, if not the entire province. By defining forests as lumber, trees as timber and
mills as money, the government, newspapers and mill owners fostered a perception of the
environment that outlasted all other resource extraction activities in the area. To encourage the
extraction of the region's forests was the Grand Trunk Pacific, which could transport logs to
larger markets as fast as they could be cut. This chapter describes the manner by which the
provincial government and local residents of Prince George encouraged forest extraction, and how
these attitudes altered the landscape.
Background
In newly settled regions humans deliberately shaped the forests. After the depletion of
forest resources in America, the southern regions of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, people
began to look to northern Canada's untapped forests . When Prince George was exposed to this
settlement process in 1906 it too felt the touch of capitalism. Initially, trees were felled for local

102

use or outside markets. For example, accompanying the local demand for building material, wt
the growing Canadian prairie settlements (1909-1913) which increased the demand for lumber.
By far one of the greatest demands for lumber came from the construction of the GTP. A person
could make quite a profit by erecting a mill along the route of the rail. These small-scale mills
supplied the rail company with ties , cedar, poles and other construction material. 2 Accompanying
the cash that these mill operators received was the assurance that when the rail was completed
forested areas further north would become accessible for extraction. This exact process occurred
when the Grand Trunk Pacific initiated logging activities in the Nechako Plateau. The excitement
surrounding forests was illustrated in the years between 1890 and 1910 when the government
boasted that "almost every available area in the province was cruised. " 3
As settlers flowed into Prince George the forest began to recede. To begin, land preemption dictated that the land itself had to be improved. With fixed properties, settlers spent a
great deal of time getting rid of the trees so that seeds could be planted, minerals found or frontier
homes built. Hence, as Cronen observed, to improve the land "one had to simply cut down
timber. "4 To early settlers, these forests supplied an abundance of building material and fuel
wood, to warm homes throughout Prince George's nine-month winters . "The B.C. government
also attached little or no value to the standing timber it owned; timber was given away to every
purchaser of Crown land, thrown into the bargain as it were ... " 5 It did not take long for
enterprising men to realize that trees were a resource commodity that people needed in the remote
central interior. Therefore, in the early 1900's a shift in attitudes occurred, forests were no longer
a hindrance to progress and town development, but rather a source of wealth that would promote
town development. Recognizing the profits that could be made from this wooden resource, mills
began to scatter the landscape, felling and cutting up trees at an unprecedented pace.
103

Provincial government's role

Prior to and during settlement, the provincial government maintained various policies
regarding the forests and forest use, inherent in these policies was the idea that the forests existed
for human use. An understanding of the provincial government's attitude and policies is important
because these attitudes were funnelled out to the private loggers and mill operators in Prince
George. The earliest alienation of timber harvesting rights were void of any regulations or terms
directing activities . Those settlers or industrialists had to merely obtain parcels of land, after
which they could engage the forests in any manner they deemed appropriate. Between 1865 and
1907 Crown harvest rights were available under five different harvesting rights . Of the five, two
were leases, two licences and one a berth. Accordingly, the 1865 Land Ordinance Act permitted
forest hMVesting on Crown land without the alienation of either the land or the resources, hence
~

was not a government concern, progress was. 6 These timber leases stipulated that

only those actually engaged in harvesting could hold such leases. By 1888 the Land Act limited
these timber leases to 30 years . Thirteen years later the leases were renewable for a 21 years
period. Leases were imposed to encourage manufacturing in the province. Before 1888, the
royalty on harvested timber was fixed at 50 cents pr Mfbm. Of this royalty, one half was
refundable to the harvester if he exported spars, piles shingles and manufactured lumber from the
province. Moreover, milling was encouraged because the government stated that the leasee had
to have a sawmill that had a 12 hour capacity of at least 1Mfbm for each 400 acres under lease.7
The second type of harvesting right that promoted forest exploitation were licences , introduced
in the 1884 Timber Act. Initially, these licences were limited to 1000 acres and each individual
~ limited to one licence, for a one year period.8 If logging did not take place the government

had the right to sancel the existing contract, making the resource available for someone who
104

would log the land. 9 This act treated the timber as a resource by alienating forests, hence the
government

~

the selling of timber not the land. 10 Between 1901 and 1903 Premier

McBride continued to encourage forest production when he modified timber licences. By 1905,
one year timber licences were exchangeable for 16 year licences (then 21 years) and were
renewable annually . In return, the government received fixed rental and royalty money.
Furthermore, government objectives for forest production were achieved through the removal of
limitations on the number of licences an individual could hold. In the long run the modified 21year renewable timber licence provided individuals and lumber companies with the security
needed to invest money in logging and milling operations, ensuring the future of the industry. 11
One year later the Forest Act (1906) stipulated that all timber felled west of the Cascades had to
be processed in the province. In tum, this policy increased the forest related revenue that the
government collected, as well as promoted the erection of more mills to process the freshly cut
trees. 12 The final timber rights imposed were timber berths. This form of tree harvesting dictated
that railway companies had access to a 20-mile belt of land on each side of the main line. This not
only encouraged the development of the rail itself, but also placed the forests in a position of
hindrance to rail progress. Therefore the forests were classified as an expendable and cheap
resource for rail construction. 13
The extraordinary pace with which humans felled the forests prompted the government to
change policies, to ensure the future of this industry. In 1907 the '' insatiable nature of the
continental demand for standing timber aroused a certain uneasiness , and the government at the
end of 1907 decided to impose a reserve upon all remaining Crown timber. " 14 The significance
of this reserve is that the government feared that the revenue generated from forests would hit
a maximum and then fall. Therefore, a halt on all Crown timber would slow down the process
105

of new timber licenses, although existing licences continued. Between 1909 and 1912 timber
licence holders were granted permanent and adjustable tenures . These tenures assured the
continuation of forest harvesting that was actually taking place.
In 1910, "with so much timber already alienated, to meet future needs the Fulton
Commission recommended that the forests reserve be kept in-tact ... " 15 This concern for future
forest use was based on the notion that there would be a timber famine . McBride created the
forestry department and W.R. Ross was put in charge. Two years later the province appointed
H.R. MacMillan as chief forester of British Columbia's forests . This department sought the
protection crown timber interests through efficient harvesting. W.R. Ross "like American
counterparts was pushing conservation, he stated that reckless extraction of forests ... must stop or
be doomed, [and that] a Forest Bill [would] ensure forest conservation." Two years later the
Forestry Branch began administering and managing the timber resources of British Columbia.
To protect the forest industry this branch began an extensive forest fire prevention and
conservation policies. 16 The aim was the "prevention of timber destruction and for the
conservation of the timber resources of the province in the every possible manner. " 17 Likewise,
trees along rail lines were now patrolled throughout the province, watching for fire sparks,
"guaranteeing safety of forests . " 18 These conservation policies illustrated the important role forests
played in British Columbia resource extraction economy. The Fort George Herald stated that "the
supreme importance of the forest and the industries dependent upon them has made the prevention
of forest frres an important matter of public interest. " 19 The government repeatedly reminded the
public that the forests were currently being harvested for human use, therefore future use was
equally important. In promotional literature the provincial government recorded that more than
half of the wage earners in the province were in the lumber industry. As for the money generated
106

by lumber, close to $400,000 per day was paid to these wage earners , therefore it was crucial that
this industry be protected. 20
The implementation of these forest related policies reveal the government attitudes which
were imposed upon the people of British Columbia. Prior to conservation regulations the felling
of trees illustrated raw forest exploitation, with lands being cut completely over. But to have a
continuous supply of timber for the future , protection was needed, and a new approach was taken.
Avenues such as licences, leases, reserves , and fire protection serve as examples of the long term
profit that could be guaranteed if the forests were harvested wisely. To H .R. MacMillan, "British
Columbia contained one of the few great bodies of commercial timber left in the world which are
not yet reduced by destructive lumbering ... the timber wealth of British Columbia is unparallel in
any other country. " 21 MacMillan' s First Annual Report

summed up the attitude that the

provincial government would take toward nature's forests for the next six decades. He wrote that
the land held one hundred million acres of forest land and three hundred billion commercial timber
feet. At present rate of one billion and a quarter feet cut a year the industry could go strong for
another 250 years (using only the mature standing timber). He strongly felt that "the growth of
our timber industry until it equals the production of our forests , it is our clear duty to do so, in
order that timber which otherwise will soon rot on the ground may furnish the basis for industry,
for reasonable profits to operate and Government, for home building and in the last analysis for
the growth of British Columbia. " 22

Local forest users
The events and policies taking place at the provincial government level fostered similar
sentiments about resource exploitation in Prince George. To many residents "the timber was of
the most magnificent description. Within an area comprehended by [their] eyes lay an easy fortune
107

for any man of most moderate means. " 23 Accordingly, the lumber available in and around Prince
George, was boasted as being the most compact and largest in the world. The faster that producers
arrived in Prince George, the faster the industry could increase and money generated. The hopes
and desires of settlers were encouraged in 1909 when the Fort George Tribune stated that by next
spring the local mill will have close to one million feet of logs ready to sell .24 The forests existed
for humans to utilize, and Fort George lands alone could supply up to 400 ,000 feet of lumber to
anyone wanting to build.25 The appetite of settlers was never ending and this attitude was
consistently reinforced within the society.
Forests supplied material, employment and profits, three elements that Prince George
locals wanted. With "great satisfaction to a large number of people who will build ... in the spring"
news spread of the three mills that would be opening in Fort George by the end of 1911. 26
Furthering the development of Prince George's forests was the assurance that "there [was] no lack
of material in the district and a plant could be placed in any location in the district and a good
supply of logs would be available. " 27 The central interior's forest resources were so plentiful that
they became one of the main attraction to potential investors. Promotional literature from 1910
claimed that the British Columbia' s forest industry and forest-related industries contributed over
12 million dollars annually into the economy, and the good news was that the untapped forests
could provide "millions of acres of paper making material. " 28 With the growing interest in
milling timber, the community hoped that lumber manufacturing would become the biggest
industry in Fort George, after all the "supply of raw material [was] equal to the demands of all
time. " 29 To advertise the "360 billion feet of finest mature timber ... awaiting manufacture" the
provincial government Department of Trade campaigned existing and potential markets. 30 The
building of mills meant that employment would follow. This was welcome news, and newspapers
108

applauded the new sources of employment that would arrive, especially "in the winter for people
to cut logs to be sent down river. "31
The speed and capacity of forest industry activities in Prince George was regarded by
locals with pride. With every tree cut, humans reinforced their view of managing and utilizing the
forests. In 1911, Talbot assured his Prince George readers of the progress taking place. He
observed that near the water the sawmill employed many men as it "was screeching from
morning to night ripping up logs and the 30,000 feet of lumber it turned out in the day
disappeared like magic. "32 But this manipulation could not have occurred without the
determination of the human will. It was saw-mill operators who brought to Prince George steam
engines and circular saws "by superhuman efforts ... [turning] tree trunks into planks [allowing]
the settlers to change from canvas to wooden dwellings. " 33 This entire process of moulding the
land was encouraged, mills became the symbol of progress and human power over the
environment. Timber factories were upgraded to ensure that they operated "every working
hour. " 34
The continual whine of the saw came to signify the true growth of the town. In 1914 a
series of articles ran in local newspapers assessing the "development of the town [being] evident
by growth of the lumber companies. 35 Within these articles Prince George's development was
attributed and acknowledged because of the prosperous mills operating. Likewise, the role of
lumber mills in Prince George were deemed to be so significant that individuals wanted the town's
time standard, like a noon whistle, implemented "in some systematic arrangement, hence the mills
were looked to as the point of time reference. 36
The tree cutting process itself led to further land changes. Trees were initially cut into
useable dimensions by axes and hand saws . However, the economic potential of this resource
109

introduced circular saws that could cut as much as 20 to 30,000 feet of lumber daily.37 Usually
exploiting one to two quarter sections of forests , the first saw-mills were small scale and provided
rough building lumber for local use. 38 Utilizing steam or water power, mills cut timber into
dimensions which could be easily manipulated. A majority of mills were built near rivers , and
man-made dams were constructed to store the cut trees , hence the Fraser and Nechako Rivers
were used for their power and storage. In fact, the ideal mill site was accessible to a large timber
supply, provided a river to float or store timber, and a railway to distribute the resource, all three
elements that Prince George possessed by 1914. 39

Prince George mills
With the dominant perception that forests were resource commodities, the area's trees were
exploited by mills in and around Prince George. The settlement building process building created
the first demand for large-scale lumber production. In 1909, under the directorship of Nick
Clarke, the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company erected the first saw mill on the
Fraser River in South Fort George40 (Figure 21). This company was formed in Vancouver by
lumber industry entrepreneurs who eyed the opportunities available in the forested regions of the
central interior. Throughout the entire winter of 1909 Clarke' s company "took out logs ...on the
townsite running the mill all winter" with the lumber being purchased by residents who quickly
erected homes. 41 The business potential in Prince George overwhelmed initial wood forecasts ,
and one year later the local demand for lumber prompted the Fort George Lumber and Navigation
Company to expand its operations . Overextending its fmances , the company met with financial
trouble and was taken over by Winnipeg capitalists who knew too well the opportunities available
of supplying prairie settlers with lumber. Led by men such as FA Thompson, Allan Adamson,
Dr. J. McLennan and R.L. Hay, the mill continued to grow. 42 The newly expanded mill was
110

moved to lot 2160 (just below the Hudson Bay Fort) banking on the Fraser River, and increased
the cutting pace threefold, getting lumber from as far away as Shelley. Keeping the 100 employees
busy the mill was fed with "logs brought right from the woods to the saw" and using a 25 foot
boom raft the logs were floated down the Fraser processing 300 to 1000 logs into the mill yard
daily _43 (Figure 22)

....

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 21: Fort George 1910. Standard sawmill banking on the Nechako River.

111

,.,

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 22: Storing logs near Aleza Lake. ca. 1913.

112

By 1910 the demand for lumber continued, and a second mill was built inland to the west,
just south of South Fort George near present day Peden Hill. Financed by William Cooke, Clarke
and George Hamilton, this mill was managed by Russel Pedan. 44 Luring more men to Prince
George to fell trees , operations began in the fall of 1910, and ran throughout the winter. 45 By
l912, Peden's mill was the largest cutting between 5000 and 10000 logs per day . The mill itself
met the never ending demands of its consumers (predominantly building material) by operating
10 hour days six days per weeic-46 • Using the figures supplied by Strimbold who resided in South
Fort George at the time, Peden's mill cut 30,000 to 60,000 logs per week. This mill also
contracted people to cut and clear cordwood for human use. The town's third mill , known as
Bogue and Browns, was erected in Fort George on the Nechako River and was built by the
Natural Resources Company. This company increased the pace of logging to meet the "extensive
building taking place .. .taking out one and a half million logs for the mill in the district tributary
to the Nechako [River] " and storing the logs beneath the saw in the mill pondY All three mills
illustrate the increasing demand for forest resources in Prince George during the settlement
period.
Additional mill activity
The thriving forest industry in Prince George also depended on the untapped resources in
areas adjacent to the area. The existence of mills in the region underscores the perception that the
forests were an unlimited commodity that was available to anyone . One such mill was the Cariboo
Timber Company that in 1913, staked operations on the Fraser River close to Prince George.
Under the directorship of Barney Keegan, this company possessed forested lands in the district,
cutting an estimated 25,000 feet of lumber daily. 48 A large portion of this cut came from the
company's 32,000 acres of land just five miles out of town, which had the potential to produce
113

in the excess of 5,000,000 feet of lumber. 49 The Willow River Mill also operated just outside of
Prince George. Located north east of Prince George this mill cut until it exhausted available
resources. Accepted procedures were that the mill be relocated to Giscome on Eaglet Lake were
felling continued on unexploited land. Mr. Seaman, mill manager claimed that the new mill would
fell it's" enormous timber limits " by cutting 20,000,000 feet per year, keeping the mill running
for many years. 50
The erection of mills outside of Prince George illustrates that the entire region was part
of the forest economy. Prior to the completion of the GTP in 1914, the smaller mills located in
hamlets and river tributaries all had to bring their products to Prince George. This meant that at
times the transient population in Prince George was fairly high. A Prince George Post newspaper
article in 1916 stated that mill workers would benefit Prince George because of the "amount of
money [that would] be spent, ... for supplies, and especially after the completion of the road to
Vancouver. " 51 This fluctuating population also frequented Prince George for recreational
purposes, in terms of drinking establishments and female companionship. Hence, mills in the
region impacted Prince George, as they stimulated local economies that encouraged development
and progress in a growing town. Stephen Gray's study on Forest Policy assists in describing the
impact of these various mills. He observed that the amount of timber scaled in board feet in the
central interior represented the growing use of forests. Accordingly, in 1912 it was 325,371,873
feet and one year later this number increased by 368,496,677.

New landscaoes
aooear
...
The attitude of exploiting the forests , led to a variety of land changes that resulted from
deforestation and mill operations. The process of felling trees was similar across North America
during this time period. During the fall season, men would arrive at the logging depot and begin
114

work. First, a chopper notched the trees , then the men with saws actually felled the tree. The tree
was then marked into desired sections. After this tattooing, the forest was cut open to form a trail,
or an existing one was used to skid the log out of the bush to the river by horse power (Figure
23). When steam donkeys were used to transport logs, "the ground necessitated that the land be
as free of obstacles as possible this meant that both commercial and non commercial land was tom
up" reducing natural seeding and prohibiting young growth. 52 These "trees often hit adjacent trees
breaking off limbs and bark and knocking smaller trees to the ground. Logging then added to the
waste by cutting off branches and great lengths of wood .. .leaving it as slash. "53 In addition, after
cutting trees down, their stumps were left to rot. However, on the town sites, these worthless
stumps were removed. This removal involved the burning of leaves and wood "rubbish" at the
base of the stump. Therefore, the unwanted timber was eliminated and the stump dried out so that
it could be easily pulled from the ground. This technique was observed in Prince George by
Talbot. He noticed that one "avenue was in flames and there was a piles up mass of levelled tree
trunks smouldering and smoking. " 54
Lumbering had a large impact upon the area, significantly altering the composition of the
forest. It is difficult to quantify changes with accuracy , but a degree of soil erosion likely
occurred. Cronon noted that the "soils caused forests as much as forests caused soil. " 55 When
trees are removed from the land, the soil changes. Roots systems disappear, the sunlight heats up
the ground, rainwater is not filtered ," most soil in a forest was there because the forests kept it
there. " 56 With the reduction of forest cover, rain water ran off of the soil, rather than sinking in
and being absorbed by the fauna . Therefore, with no tree or plant roots to hold back the water,
river levels rose as happened in Prince George in 1917.57 The loss of moisture also occurred
because there were no longer leaves to catch rain, which evaporated prior to hitting the ground.
115

(source: Fort George Museum)

Figure 23: East of Prince George 1914.
Logs brought through a bush clearing to be horse-drawn to the mill.

116

In tum, this added to the amount of water that directly landed on the ground, increasing land
water flow. 58 The clearing of land also meant that during the winter the land received more
sunlight and the snow melted at a quicker pace. When snow rests on the ground it acts like a
blanket that maintains the soil's temperature. Therefore, the rapid snow melt induced the ground
to reach colder temperatures than it would have normally with the presence of the forest. This
ground freeze did not absorbed the water from the melting snow, resulting in yet another process
that permitted the flow of water on the land.
The land experienced a different type of change during the milling process. Inland and
river front mills created mill dams. These man-made barriers altered the natural flow of the water,
creating stagnant ponds that stored both cut logs and timber waste. When logs were stored in the
water, many floated to the river bottom and lost their bark which did the same. This led to timber
rubbish littering the waterways and impacting the aquatic fauna. Sawdust accompanied logs and
bark. With mills cutting 10 to 12 hour days, often six days per week, sawdust became a menacing
by-product. Sawdust was either cast into the river or burnt. Both practices resulted in a form of
pollution that was new to the area. When entering the river system this dust floated until the water
forced it to the river bottom, a process that directly impacted the fish habitat. 59
More than any other resource, the forests of British Columbia provided the province with
revenue and employment. Hence, the forests in and around Prince George were continually
exploited by human agents. The Carrier felled trees to build and heat shelters as well as construct
fishing weirs. This led to a reshaping and burning of the forests, as observed by Alexander
Mackenzie and George Dawson. With the onslaught of settlers forest reshaping continued. Initially
arriving and clearing the land of tree obstructions, settlers toiled to create a civilization out of the
woods. Again, utilizing and defining the trees as lumber, settlers built structures upon the
117

landscape. Three years after the settlement process began, the first mill operators set to work in
hopes of turning a profit from the limitless supply of standing lumber. As the lumber industry
grew so did the provincial government's policies regarding forests. Forest policies were initially
void of regulations and concerns for the forests. But as the pace of cutting increased, a concern
grew that the province's main resource industry would run out, therefore conservation policies
were instituted. At a glance such policies seemed to represent a harnessing of the unbridled assault
on the forests . Although, these policies did establish rules concerned with protecting the forests,
they did so with the aim of maintaining the tree cutting industry for years to come. In this sense
forest conservation arose from the fear of losing an economic force that fuelled the provincial
economy. Hence, forests were not protected for their own sake or out of concern for eroding soils
and flooding, but rather to ensure longevity of the forest economy . These events illustrate that
during the time period of this study forests were perceived as a economically lucrative resource
that prompted extraction and exploitation, leading to a reshaping of the land.

118

Chapter 6-Endnotes
l.Douglas Strong, Dreamers and Defenders: American Conservationists (Nebraska: University
of Nebraska Press, 1988), 71 .
2.Eric Vance, "The Impact of the Forest Industry on Economic Development in the Central
Interior of British Columbia" (M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1981), 10.
3.Doreen Mullins, "Changes in the Location and Structure of the Forest Industry of North
Central BC " (M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1967), 39.
4.William Cronon, Changes in the Land (New York: Hill and Wang , 1983), 45.
5.GeoffTaylor, The Railway Contractors (Victoria: Morriss Publishing, 1988), 88.
6.British Columbia Forest Service, Crown Charges for Early Timber Rights, (Victoria:
Government Printing Office), 53.
?.Ibid., 54.
8.Ken Bernsohn, Cutting Up the North (Vancouver: Hanock House Publishers Ltd., 1943),
21.
9.British Columbia Forest Service, Crown Charges for Early Timber Rights, 56.
lO.Bernsohn, Cutting Up the North, 11.
ll.Stephen Gray, "Forest Policy and Administration in British Columbia, 1912-1928" (M.A.
thesis, Simon Fraser University , 1982), 19.
12.Bernsohn, Cutting Up the North, 25.
13.British Columbia Forest Service, Crown Charges for Early Timber Rights , 60.
14.Ibid.,58.
15.1bid., 61.
16.G.W. Taylor, Timber: History of the Forest Industry in British Columbia (Vancouver: J .J .
Douglas Ltd., 1975), 88 .
17.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 10 August 1912.
18.1bid. , 22 March 1913 .
19.1bid., 7 October 1914.
20.1bid., 11 June 1915.
119

21.Ken Drushka, HR: A Biography of H.R. MacMillan (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour
Publications, 1995), 69.
22.1bid., 74.
23.Myrtle Bergen, The Loggers of British Columbia. Tough Timber (Vancouver: Elgin
Publications, 1979), 10.
24.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 20 November 1909.
25.1bid., 27 November 1909.
26.1bid., 24 December 1910.
27.1bid.
28.Natural Resources Security Company Facts: What British Columbia Offers You (Fort
George, 1912).
29.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 24 December 1910.
30.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 17 October 1914.
31.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 24 December 1909.
32.F.A. Talbot, The New Garden of Canada (Toronto: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1911),
166.
33.1bid., 163.
34.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 1 February 1913.
35.1bid., 21 January 1914.
36.Ibid., 7 January 1911.
37.Mullins, "Changes in the Location and Structure of the Forest Industry of North Central
BC" (M.A. thesis, 1967), 44.
38.Vance, "The Impact of the Forest Industry on Economic Development in the Central
Interior of British Columbia", 9.
39.1bid., 86.
40.Burnsohn, Cutting Up the North; F.E. Runnalls, The History of Prince George
(Vancouver: Wrigley Printing Co . Ltd., 1946).
41.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 25 July 1914.
120

42.Ibid.
43.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 21 January 1914.
44.Burnsohn, Cutting Up the North; Eric Strimbold, "Interview with Eric Stimbold" interview
By C.D. Orchard (Prince George, 1959).
45.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 25 July 1914.
46.Strimbold, "Interview with Eric Stimbold".
47.Fort George Tribune (Fort George) 23 November 1912.
48.Fort George Herald (Fort George) 1 February 1913.
49.Ibid.
50.Prince George Post (Prince George) 6 October 1916.
51.Ibid.,
52.Robert Bunting " Forest Economy" in Environmental History Review (Winter 1994), 50.
53.Ibid.
54. Talbot, The New Garden of Canada, 165.
55.Cronon, Changes in the Land, 116.
56.Ibid.' 115

0

57.Michael Williams, "Americans and Their Forests : A Historical Geography"(M.A. thesis ,
Cambridge, 1978).
58.Ibid.; Cronon, Changes in the Land.
59.P.R. Gillis, "Rivers of Sawdust: The Battle Over Industrial Pollution in Canada 18651903" in Journal of Canadian Studies Vol.21, No.1 (1986) ; Gilbert Allardyce, "The Vexed
Question of Sawdust: River Pollution in Nineteenth Century New Brunswick" in Consuming
Canada:Readings in Environmental History.

121

Chapter 7
Conclusion

This thesis has examined the envirorunental history of Prince George, focusing on the
manner in which humans have interacted with the natural envirorunent before 1915. Fuelled by
their perceptions of nature, people reshaped the landscape to suit their needs . Therefore, the aim
of this thesis was to understand how human perceptions furthered changes in an ever evolving
natural envirorunent.
The envirorunent played a large role in Carrier decision making processes, politics and
spiritual belief systems, illustrating that these people adapted their activities to the envirorunent.
Evidence suggests that the Carrier lifestyle and technology impacted the land. These societies
harvested certain local flora and fauna and therefore altered these natural systems. Yet, Native
land reshaping was not as severe or permanent as what was to come with non-Native occupation.
When non-Natives arrived in Prince George, another stage of land change occurred.
Encouraged by their hopes and ambitions, early explorers trail blazed through Prince George to
note geographical areas of economic importance. They inventoried the natural envirorunent as
resources that could and should be managed and extracted. With these explorers came new ideas,
attitudes, technologies and economic markets. For the first time, the land was valued for its profits
and limitless resource opportunity.
Rivers, railways and timber were crucial to the development of Prince George. These three
components represent the location of a settlement, modes of transportation and a resource. During
the settlement period, the natural envirorunent was extensively promoted by boosters as being an
'orchard empire' or 'last frontier', to anyone willing to come north and acquire nature's profits.
122

Without transportation the extraction of and domination over nature could not be realized. Trains,
stage coaches and stemwheelers constituted new landscapes, smellscapes and soundscapes that
brought people and cargo to Prince George and left with resources. Finally, the history of Prince
George cannot be mentioned without describing the role of local forests.
Initially, the forests were not valued as a resource. They were deemed to be a hindrance
to progress and were cleared, being replaced by wooden structures on the land, a material bonus
of land pre-emption. But soon, entrepreneurs realized that profits could be made from the forests.
Again, another component of the natural environment was singled out as a resource to be used by
humans. This land reshaping was justified because in Prince George, the dominant perception
dictated that nature existed for people to dominate and exploit. These early settlers belonged to
a generation that sought opportunity in the land during a period of national growth. Canada
offered its citizens hopes and dreams that accompanied freedom which was expressed through
human creativity seeking opportunity by reshaping nature. These perceptions were overpowering
during the study period, and because people were so engulfed in this system of progress, it was
difficult for them to realize that new landscapes, smellscapes, and soundscapes were replacing
nature's environment.

123

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