32 The Peace River District

a large cathedral has been undertaken at this village and the settlement, which
numbers upwards of 2,000 souls is making rapid progress. It extends westerly
as far as Fowler, another station on the railway. Farther west and along the
Smoky river are found fairly heavy spruce woods.

Peace River

The town of Peace River, the hub of the great district whose name it bears,
has grown in a few short years from a rude collection of divers small buildings,
clustered about the old trading posts, to a flourishing agricultural and business
centre. The original trading post was located a few miles upstream from the
present town, and about it the Shaftesbury Settlement blazed the way in grain
growing in the Peace valley. The newer posts and the town are beautifully
located on sunny flats, nestling between high rolling banks immediately below
the junction of the Smoky and Peace rivers, and at the mouth of the Heart.
Here the wagon road from Edmonton, winding its way down the narrow gorge-
like valley of the Heart, reached the Peace, and the weary traveller caught
his first glimpse of that great river, the name of which had lured him on over the
long trail.

A favourable spot for crossing the river was found at this location, and for
many years a cable ferry has been in operation. The Old Hudson’s Bay steam-
boat Peace River here exchanged great bales of raw furs for supplies of all kinds
which the freighters brought from Edmonton. It plied up and down the river,
supplying the lonely outlying posts with provisions for a new year and bringing
out their fur catch of the past year. The trail, interrupted by the river, resumed
its way westward, and after traversing the settlement of Shaftesbury, wound up
the hill to the high plateau above, which it followed as far as Dunvegan.

“Peace River Landing” and ‘Peace River Crossing” were names variously
applied in earlier days, but ‘‘Peace River’”’ is now the official name of the town.
The trail from Edmonton has served its purpose. ‘The railway now reaches
the town, and the hardy freighter has gone to new fields. The trail to Dunvegan
is still a much-travelled highway, as it serves a very fertile and thickly settled
section of land west of the town. It is in good condition, and automobiles are
regularly seen upon it. Grading has been commenced for the extension of the
railway which will follow this trail, as it has followed it from Edmonton, and the
erection of a mighty bridge to span the river at Peace River town, has recently
been accomplished.

The Dominion Lands Agency for Peace River Land district is located here,
also the posts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Provincial Police.
Railway, telegraph, telephone, and semi-weekly mail service keep the town in
touch with the outside world. Two weekly newspapers are published. Schools,
churches, a hospital, and an immigration hall are among the public buildings.

Various places of business supply the needs of the town and adjoining
country. A board of trade and an agricultural society take active interest
in the building up of the district. Coal has been found within 6 miles of the
town, and gas and oil within its limits. The extent of these discoveries has not