The future of British Columbia, more than that of any
other province of Canada, is based upon its material resources. The first,
best known and the greatest of these is undoubtedly that of mining. In
preceding chapters details have been given of the discovery of placer gold,
and the rush of population which accompanied it. How recent, however, is the
knowledge of mineral wealth existing on the Northwest coast, may be judged
from the fact that Robert Greenhow, who in 1844 published a book dealing
with the historical basis of the Oregon Boundary dispute, not then settled,
wrote as follows: "Oregon, indeed, contains land in small detached portions
which may afford to the industrious cultivator the means of subsistence,
and, also perhaps, in time, of procuring some foreign luxuries; but it
produces no precious metals, no opium, no cotton, no rice, no sugar,
no coffee; nor is it, like India, inhabited by a numerous population, who
may be easily forced to labor for the benefit of the few. With regard to
commerce, it offers no great advantages, present or immediately prospective.
It contains no harbor in which articles of merchandise from other countries
will probably at any future period be deposited for re-exportation; while
the extreme irregularity of its surface and the obstruction to the
navigation of .its rivers, the removal of which is hopeless, forbid all
expectation that the productions of China, or any other country bordering on
the Pacific, will ever' be transported across Oregon to the Atlantic regions
of the 'continent."
Oreg6n, as it was then known, was of indefinite extent,
including the whole of the Pacific coast, north of California, as far as
Alaska; containing within its limits
:what are now the states of
Oregon and Washington and the Province of British Columbia, exclusive of New
Caledonia, which lay at the northeast corner, and was indisputably British
territory.
Greenhow was then, probably, the best informed man on the
subject in America, and was arguing that possession of this vast country,
except for political reasons, was of no particular advantage to either the
United States or Great Britain. This was the opinion expressed by the
majority of writers on the subject of the Oregon territory, and was
undoubtedly based on the best information available.
At that time the Hudson's Bay Company, although their
officials had prospected the whole of the territory for furs, had not
observed mineral indications sufficient to justify any other conclusions.
How greatly mistaken Greenhow was in the statement that there were "no
precious metals" it is not necessary to comment upon, at the time, since the
whole of the former Oregon territory has been demonstrated to be richly
mineralized, and is, and has been producing a vast amount of mineral wealth.
David Douglas, the gifted scientist, who botanized the
country in the early twenties, discovered a deposit of lead-silver, in what
is now known as the Blue-Bell mine, on Kootenay Lake, from which it is
alleged the Indians used to get a supply of lead with which to make bullets.
Early History of Mining.
Just how and where gold was first discovered in British
Columbia is not easy to state with precision. The early discoveries of gold
in small quantities range between the years 1850 and 1857. In 1850 specimens
came from Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands. An incipient mining
boom took place at Queen Charlotte Islands in 1851 and 1852. Dr. Dawson says
that from one little pocket or seam of gold in Gold Harbor, Moresby Island,
between $20,000 and $75,000 were taken, or were reported to have been taken.
It is also stated by others that more was lost in the harbor in the
operation of mining than was recovered. However much or little, the "find"
ended there. About the same time Indians from up the Skeena
River brought pieces of gold to the Hudson's Bay Company's fort, but the
several expeditions to find it in place met with failure.
In the interior, gold was found in the Natchez Pass and
Similkameen as early as 1852, and in 1854 Golville Indians were known to
have had nuggets in their possession. It is stated in Bancroft that Chief
Trader McLean procured gold dust from Indians near Kamloops in 1852. Various
authorities place the first finds at various places. However, between 1855
and 1857, discoveries were made on the Thompson, on the Fraser, on the
Columbia and at Colville, and the news of these discoveries, together with
the despatches of Governor Douglas soon attracted attention to British
Columbia as a possible gold field. Exploiting for gold was stimulated by the
California excitement, and the discovery of any new field was sure to
produce a rush. Several parties prospected and worked on the Fraser and
Thompson Rivers in 1857 with good success, and the news caused the Fraser
River excitement, many of the participants in which are still living.
The story has already been told of the rush of 1858 to
the Fraser River, and the subsequent discovery of immensely rich placers in
the Cariboo country. It was the discovery and exploitation of this gold that
gave population and permanency to the Colony of British Columbia, and
converted it from a fur-bearing preserve for the Hudson's Bay Company, to a
regularly constituted and politically organized British domain.
Up to 1866, the principal operations were confined to
Cariboo, but there were in the meantime, several lesser excitements, notably
the discovery of rich placer deposits in Similkameen, at Rock Creek,
Boundary Creek and on Wild Horse Creek in the Kootenay district, in the
extreme southeastern part of the province. Then the Leech River excitement
in 1864, in the southern part of Vancouver Island. And again the Big Bend
excitement of 1865. The deposits of the last named place were found to be
rich, but the inaccessibility of the region, the total lack of facilities
for bringing in
provisions, and the great hardships consequent upon
prospecting and mining in this district, proved too great for continued
success, and the excitement quickly subsided. It is quite probable, however,
that the Big Bend country will seen again excite the interest of miners and
prove a rich field for them.'
Shortly after the discovery
of Cariboo gold mines, the restless prospector began pushing his
investigations further North, arid in 1869, the Omineca Country was reached,
where an excitement of not inconsiderable dimensions took place and numbers
rushed in." These: mines were fairly remunerative for a time, and have been
more or less operated ever since, but in 1872 the rich northern mines of the
Cassiar district, at the head waters of the Dease, were brought to light,
and the second most notable mining epoch was effected. Out of this district,
some five or six millions' of dollars in gold were taken. True ,to his
instinct, after the first richness of the Cassiar creeks was exhausted,
the'prospector pushed,> further and further North, until finally in-1880
gold was found in paying quantities in the tributaries of the Yukon.
In 1897, rich discoveries of
gold having been made, in the tributaries of the Yukon, in the vicinity of
where Dawson City now is, another memorable rush took place, and one which
must, in -historical, importance, rank next to the Cariboo excitement. The
Yukon has been a rich field, and has yielded up annually .large quantities
of. gold ever since.
Attention having been
directed to the Northern country, it was extensively prospected, and other
mining camps were opened up with more or less success. One of these-was just
within, the Northern boundaries of British .Columbia, in Atlin District,
which has yielded ,from .$500,000 to $1,000,000 a .year since 1898.
In 1885, Granite Creek, a
tributary of the Sirnilkameen, afforded; evidence of rich placers, and a
small "rush" occurred, and although not so rich as .was reported at first,
it has ever since occupied the.attention of prospectors.
Coal, still the predominant
wealth producer in minerals in this province, was known to exist at a much
earlier period than was gold. It was discovered at Fort Rupert in 1835, and
was used in small quantities. The Indians are credited with making its
existence known to the whites, the circumstances being ascribed to an
accident. Some development work was done at Fort Rupert by the Hudson's Bay
Company, but the mines there were abandoned in 1851 for those at Nanaimo,
which were discovered in a, manner somewhat similar to those at Fort Rupert.
The Indians had observed a blacksmith using coal, and had informed him that
there was plenty of such black stone at Nanaimo, which, upon investigation,
proved to be true. The work of mining was begun in 1851, and has never been
discontinued.
Coal is said to have been
found at Burrard Inlet in an outcropping on the shore, and H. M. S.
"Plumper" obtained enough of it there to steam the ship to Nanaimo. No
subsequent indications have been reported. Borings in the vicinity have
proved unsuccessful in revealing a paying deposit. The coal beds of Queen
Charlotte Island, now attracting some attention, were discovered as far back
as 1852, and anthracite was known to exist.
The finding of coal at
Departure Bay by the late Hon. Robert Dunsmuir, and its subsequent
development by him into the great industry it is at present, and the fortune
it brought with it, are too well known to require detailed mention here.
From 3,000 tons in 1852 the output has gradually risen to 1,000,000 tons (in
round numbers) per annum.
Placer and Lode Mining.
Placer mining in British
Columbia has followed the usual course of events in all gold-bearing
countries. After the richest deposits had been worked over by the ordinary
methods, the annual yield began to decline. Cariboo saw its best days in
1863 and 1864. The experience of every other camp has been the same. The
output of 1863 was about $4,000,000. Thirty years later it was $360,000,
when it reached its lowest ebb. Then the scale began to turn, and it has
again reached over $1,000,000. There is a reason for that, not attributable
to new finds, but to newer methods. Grounds that no longer paid by the use
of the rocker, and sluicing, are being made remunerative by hydraulicing on
a large scale, and the expenditure of large capital. This promises a
revolution, whereby the extensive auriferous areas of gravel and old river
beds can be worked over. Extensive hydraulicing plants have been inaugurated
in Cariboo, notably that of the Consolidated Cariboo Hydraulicing Company,
which has mining leases aggregating* several thousand acres of land, all
auriferous. It is estimated that there are 500,000,000 cubic yards, which
are available for washing. Similar enterprises are contemplated in all the
old mining camps, wherever conditions are favorable, so that the era of
hydraulicing promises results even greater than in "ye olden times."
Dredging and ground-sluicing are also receiving attention.
There was a long interval between the time the harvest of
alluvial diggings made British Columbia famous, and the time when
lode-mining began to show results. At intervals along in the seventies and
the eighties, there were valuable finds reported in the way of quartz veins,
carrying silver and free gold principally. There was a silver mine at Hope,
of which much was heard, and into which much money was put. There was the
famous "Black Jack" of Cariboo, which created a temporary quartz excitement,
and relieved the public of a certain amount of money invested in shares.
Monashee Mountain in Southern Yale, attracted a good deal of attention and
some capital to it. The old silver trail leading from the main wagon road
into Jordan Meadows, from Raymond's Crossing near Shawnigan Lake, on
Vancouver Island, attests to faith in a silver mine, that was the base of a
vision of wealth for some one. These early attempts, in the light of an
understanding of the conditions which exist generally in British Columbia,
were foredoomed to failure, even if the mineral had been " in place"
according to anticipation. Many persons have wondered why it was that
this province, if as rich and as widely mineralized as
reported, did not develop faster as a mineral producer. In certain circles,
as a result of " hope oft deferred," the impression did gain ground that
British Columbia was a doubtful mining field, notwithstanding the rich
surface exposures, and we heard a good deal about " broken formations " and
"refractory ores," as an explanation of the unsatisfactory results of
preliminary exploitation. Over and over again, the most sanguine
anticipations were formed of some unusually rich prospect, and the public,
through the newspapers, each time felt confident of success; but soon or
later, according to the amount of funds at the disposal of the promoters,
silence reigned regarding them, and the public, not in their confidence,
wondered why. Now, the public were not "buncoed," at least, in the majority
of cases. The promoters believed in their properties implicitly, and backed
their faith with their own capital. Failure was usually the result of not
properly appreciating the conditions which make success in mining, They were
not mistaken, but they were too soon. Like the pioneer, the inventor, and
the reformer, who usually see the fruits of their efforts reaped by those
who have not sown, they were just a little in advance of their time. The key
to success lay in the providing of facilities of communication, without
which it was impossible to win. There were other things as well. Twenty or
thirty years ago, had there been the railway facilities we possess today,
many of the properties now worked at a profit, could not have been properly
operated. The reason for this is, that the processes of mining and smelting
have so improved in that time, that the low grade ores, such as are being
handled in great quantities in the Boundary and Rossland camps, would have
been useless. Every mining country has its peculiarities, and its particular
requirements, and time and experience are necessary to determine the
processes and methods best suited to the treatment of its ores.
Communication, however, was the principal want of the
country in the early days of the development of quartz mines. It is yet, to
a very large extent. Whatever are the metallurgical problems to be
solved, no success can be achieved until there are railways, or tramways to
connect mines with the waterways, affording cheap transportation. The
successful mining camps today, are located only in those parts of the
province, where such transportation exists, as in the Boundary, Trail Creek
and Slocan districts, in East Kootenay and on the coast of Vancouver Island.
These have only touched the rim of the mining possibilities, within which
are a vast field, over most of which prospectors have trodden, and
discovered indications of mineral wealth. This field still waits the whistle
of the railway train to make it alive with industry. We have the promise of
two more transcontinental railways, piercing the Rockies north of the line
of the Canadian Pacific Railway, within the next five years, and of one or
two systems following the natural lines of travel north and south, after
which will follow the inevitable network of branch lines. In twenty-five
years from now, the province should be yielding $200,000,000 worth of
minerals annually, instead of its present output of $20,000,000.
The first quartz mining of
any importance, was done at Camp McKinney, which was discovered in the year
1884. One mine there, the Cariboo-Amelia, paid dividends to the extent of
$550,000, and only closed down in 1903. Ainsworth, or as it was known in
early days as Hot Springs, on the Kootenay Lake, was one of the first camps
to be developed. Dr. Dawson, in 1889, found mining being actively carried
on, and it had been for several years previous. About that time, prospecting
and preliminary mining developments were very active all through the West
Kootenay country, and in parts of East Kootenay. In the vicinity of Nelson,
Revelstoke, Rossland, and Lardeau, in West Kootenay, and in East Kootenay in
the Golden and Windermere divisions, the country swarmed with prospectors
and miners. The celebrated Hall mines, on Toad Mountain, near Nelson, was
discovered in the fall of 1886, and located the following year. The Field
mine was in operation in 1888. A location was made in Comaplix, in the
Lardeau district in the same year. The first claim recorded in the Rossland
camp, was in 1889. The Centre Star, War Eagle and Le Roi, were located in
1890, and in 1891 came the almost sensational discovery of the Slocan, which
produced a boom in 1892, upon the top of which Kaslo came to the fore.
Ross-'and and Trail were later developments. The Boundary district, though
slower of development, on account of the lack of railway facilities, which
were not supplied until 1899, had its beginnings even earlier. In 1886-7,
mineral was discovered and located near Boundary Falls, in Copper Camp. But
it was not until the early nineties, that the properties that have become
the chief producing factors—the Mother Lode, the Old Ironsides and Knob Hill
claims—were staked. The North Star mine at Kimberly, in East Kootenay, was
staked in 1892. We have also the Eugene group of claims on Moyie Lake, and
the Sullivan group near Kimberly, which came into prominence about the same
time, and have been large producers. Fairview Camp, in the Yale district,
was the scene of active operations over ten years ago, and a good deal of
capital has been invested in development work and stamp mills. Important
discoveries of copper-gold were made on Mount Sicker, in 1896 or 1897, and
large developments followed, and two smelters. Prior to that, however,
Texada Island began to attract attention, and in 1896 a small test shipment
was sent out, and a smelter to treat the ores was erected in 1899. The
Marble Bay mine, near the Van Anda, has been a regular shipper. The largest
body of copper ore yet discovered anywhere on the Coast, has been on the
East shore of Howe Sound, and comprises what is known as the Britannia
group, officially described in the Minister of Mines report for 1900. Good
properties were located on the Alberni Canal about ten years ago, and
several fairly well-developed mines have been the result.
It is impossible in brief
space, to follow the course of mining development in the wide area of the
province over which the prospector has travelled and staked. Important
discoveries have been made at Quatsino, on the Northwest coast of Vancouver
Island, at various points up the Coast, as far as Windy Arm, at the boundary
between Alaska and British Columbia; on the Skeena River, and in the Bulkley
Valley; at Sooke and Goldstream, Vancouver Island; in the Pitt and Harrison
River districts, on the Lower Mainland; in the Mount Baker district, near
Chilliwack; on Burrard and Jervis inlets; on several islands not mentioned;
in the Lillooet; in the Fish River, Ferguson, Trout Lake, Poplar Creek
camps, and elsewhere in the Lardeau district. Perhaps the most important
district is in Yale county, included in what is known as the Similkameen.
This section of the province has been delayed, owing to the lack of
transportation. In Similkameen, there are many and extensive copper
deposits, and at Hedley, a new mining camp, there is located a very
promising gold property called the Nickel Plate, which has forty stamps in
operation. From the various local mining centres, hurriedly indicated, the
prospector has branched out and staked the country in many directions.
Many small towns and incorporated cities (every
incorporated town is classified as a city) have sprung up, following the
course of mining development, each with a bright future predicted by its
founders. Thus Kalso and Kamloops were incorporated in 1893 (Kamloops,
however, was for a long time the urban centre of the Yale District); Nelson,
Grand Forks, Greenwood and Rossland in 1897; Sandon in 1898, Phoenix in
1900, and' Slocan and Trail in 1901. There are others such as Fernie and
Revelstoke, which have been incorporated since that time; but there is a
long list that are the direct creation of the mining industry, such as
Ainsworth, Atlin, Comaplix, Crofton, Eholt, Elko, Ferguson, Fairview, Fort
Steele, Hedley, Ladysmith, Michel, Morrisey, Moyie, New Denver, Quesnel
Forks, Silverton, Three Forks, Trout Lake, Bullion, Camborne. Some of these
are already in the "sere and yellow leaf," following the fortunes of the
camps that gave them life and activity, but the majority are substantial and
growing, while others are springing up.
Coal and Other Minerals.
The history of coal mining is not less interesting than
that of the other minerals. Already, a short sketch has been given of the
very early operations. The mines at Nanaimo and Departure Bay developed into
extensive industries, finding their principal market in San Francisco. The
Vancouver Coal Company, which was controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company,
was subsequently reorganized in London, under the title of the New Vancouver
Coal Company, which carried on operations for years. Recently their
properties were acquired by the Western Fuel Company, whose shareholders are
American. The mines at Departure Bay are not now worked, and Wellington is
now practically a deserted town. R. Dunsmuir & Sons, the owners, have opened
up a new and valuable mine, known as the Extension mine, in Cranberry
district. The other well known mines, also operated by R. Dunsmuir & Sons,
are at Union, in the Comox Valley. The Union mines have shipped extensively
for years. Coal exists in many parts of the province, —at Quatsino, on Queen
Charlotte Islands, in the Northern Interior, in the Similkameen and Nicola
districts, and in the Crow's Nest Pass, but with the exception of the last
named, have not been utilized. An interesting history is connected with the
development of the coal fields of the Crow's Nest Pass. It dates back as far
as 1887. In June of that year, Mr. William Fernie, then of Fort Steele, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Baker, a member of the Provincial Legislature, decided to
prospect the coal measures, the existence of which had been reported by Mr.
Michael Phillipps, an old Hudson's Bay Company employee. Every summer, for
eight or nine years, Mr. Fernie took men from Fort Steele to the Elk River
district, where they prospected the coal seams outcropping there. A
syndicate was formed in Victoria, to acquire and develop them. Eventually, a
company was organized to take over the syndicate's holdings, and a charter
from the Provincial Legislature obtained, authorizing the construction of
the British Columbia Southern Railway, for which a land subsidy was
obtained, to give access to this coal district. After a long series of
negotiations, which forms a most important chapter in the political history
of this province and of Canada, an agreement was finally closed with the
Canadian Pacific Railway, for the construction of the railway through Crow's
Nest Pass, to connect with its line as Lethbridge, in the Northwest
Territory, thus affording direct connection between the Eastern wholesale
markets, and those of the Kootenay mining towns. In the meanwhile, the
Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company, controlled by Senator Cox, Robert Jaffray and
other Eastern moneyed associates, acquired the coal lands, and have
developed the mines, which are now producing both coal and coke on a large
scale. These mines, and the coking industry in connection, supply the
smelters of the Interior with coke, which is largely shipped to the United
States as well. To give an idea of the extent of these coal fields, their
area is estimated by Dr. Dawson, to be about two hundred (200) square miles.
For a portion of this area, Dr. Selwyn, formerly director of the Geological
Survey, estimates the coal underlying each square mile to be 49,952,000
tons. Thus we have one of the most remarkable coal basins known. Assuming
that the estimate of Dr. Selwyn holds good for half the area, and the
production at 10,000 tons a day, the supply in sight is sufficient to last
500,000 years, quite long enough to relieve immediate posterity from the
danger of a fuel famine.
For the present, the output of coal is affected by the
use of petroleum for fuel purposes, which is restricting the market,
formerly enjoyed. The increasing use of coke in smelters, however, is in
some measure compensating for the competition in oil fuel; and forever the
coal measures of British Columbia must remain one of the greatest of
provincial assets.
There is not time or space to review all the mineral
resources of the province. The next most important mineral, and it may prove
eventually to be the most important, is iron. As yet, it has not taken on
the same degree of economic importance as the other minerals reviewed, from
the fact that the iron industry has not yet been established on this Coast,
but prospects
in that direction are visibly brighter.,. Iron ores in
British Columbia are •widely-, distributed throughout the Mainland and along
the coast of both Island and Mainland. Although the Mainland has been but
little prospected •for iron ores, extensive deposits are known to exist at
Cherry Creek, near Kamloops; at Bull Creek, Gray Creek, and Kitchener (Goat
River) in East Kootenay; and are reported in the mountains north of Trail
and in the Cariboo district. On the Coast, iron deposits occur on Texada
Island and •adjacent islands, at Rivers Inlet, and on Queen Charlotte
Islands. The most important of these exist on-the Island of Vancouver, at
Sooke, Malahat Mountain, Port Renfrew (at the mouth of the San Juan River),
Barkley Sound (including Sarita River and Cooper Island), Alberni Canal,
Hesquoit Harbor, Nootka Sound arid Quatsino Sound." As a rule, "the iron
"ore is magnetite in character," but 'deposits of hematite have" been
discovered at Quatsino, hear Cheinainus, at 'Kitchener, and' one or two
other points, but not sufficient has been done to determine their 'extent or
value. There is little doubt' but that the bodies of iron especially on the
West Coast of Vancouver Island, are sufficiently extensive to maintain large
blast furnaces 'for' an indefinite' time.
The conditions which affect
manufacture of iron on the Coast of British Columbia, are favorable in the
extreme, if .we except the question of market, which is yet an undetermined
factor. They are: cheap water, transportation, and easy access to the water;
good fuel at low cost, with abundance of pure lime for fluxes. It is true
that labor is higher on this Coast, but the demand created by the existence
of blast "furnaces," would probably tend to equalize conditions in that
respect.' The other favorable conditions, however, would, tend to offset the
price of labor, and place the industry on a very favorable basis as compared
with other parts of the world! The other minerals) which are possessed in
British Columbia in sufficient quantity to be of importance economically are
zinc, associated principally with the silver-lead ores of the Kbotenays;
cinnabar, the quicksilver bearing zone, two miles wide, having been traced
for thirty miles, crossing Kamloops Lake, about three miles above the lower
end of it; platinum, which occurs principally in the Tulameen, a branch of
the Similkameen, and in the copper ores of Boundary and Rossland, and in the
placers of Cariboo and Cassiar; mica, found in large quantities and
excellent quality, in the vicinity of Tete Jeune Cache; gypsum in the
vicinity of Kamloops; and lime in abundance in many parts of the province.
Sulphur in the form of pyrites is more or less general; arsenic, osmiridium,
scheelite and other minerals are also found. Tin, nickel, asbestos and
manganese have not been reported to exist to any extent.
It would be difficult to say which of the four main
resources of the Province are the most important. Mining has by general
consent been given the first place, and it will probably continue to occupy
that place for some years to come, if not forever. The value and extent of
the fisheries are as yet somewhat problematical, though it is doubtful even
if fully developed, they would yield the same amount of wealth as the
minerals of the Province. Development in the case of the fisheries means
depletion, unless means and methods are adopted to insure propagation on a
scale commensurate with the fishing operations. There is great forest wealth
on the Pacific Coast, but the timber is doomed to extinction along with that
of the older parts of America. Up to the present time, no systematic or
comprehensive system of protection and of forestration has been adopted, and
without it, between the forest fires and the lumbermen, this capital
resource will soon vanish. As yet, we have vast reserves, but with many
loggers and mills at work, its disappearance will be much more rapid than
the growth of new timber. The resource, however, upon which the highest
permanent hopes may be based, is that of Agriculture in all its branches. We
are told that the rainbow was placed in the sky as a token that as long as
it remained there, there would be seedtime and harvest. It is morally
certain that with rain and sunshine the industry, which is the
foundation of all industry and wealth, will continue
unimpaired and perpetually productive. Owing to the potentialities of the
soil and climate in British Columbia, the future of the Province is of the
brightest possible character, and although the area of arable land is
limited as compared with other provinces in Canada, it is not inconceivable
that the output of the farms and orchards of British Columbia will yet be
greater than that of the mines. Taking these resources in the order of their
relative importance, as they appear at present from the value of the annual
output, they are:
Fisheries.
There is a considerable variation in the value of the
output of the fisheries from year to year. In 1901, which was the record
year, owing to the large salmon pack, the yield of fisheries was estimated
in value to be about $8,000,000. The word "estimated" is used because
outside of the salmon pack, there are no absolutely exact returns. In 1902,
the value of the yield fell to $5,280,000. It is not proposed to go into a
minute history of the fishing industry in this Province.
The salmon canning fishery, which has developed to such
large proportions, practically began in the year 1876 on the Fraser River,
New Westminster District. The first pack amounted to almost 10,000 cases,
which rapidly increased. The pack was 225,000 cases in 1883; 204,000 cases
in 1887; 315,000 cases in 1891; over 1,000,000 cases in 1897, and over
1,236,000 cases in 1901. These were mainly big years. Statistics show, with
more or less regularity, every fourth year to have been big years, followed
by one or two lean years. The exact cause of this periodicity, which is
peculiar to the Fraser River, has never been definitely ascertained. The
development of the salmon fishing for commercial purposes was gradual at
first, but proceeded more rapidly in later years. It extended from the
Fraser River to the Northern rivers and inlets, and we find canneries
located at Rivers Inlet, Skeena and Naas Rivers, Lowe Inlet, Dean
Canal, Namu Harbor, Bella Coola, Smith's Inlet, Alert Bay, and on the West
coast of Vancouver Island.
Recently, presumably as a
result of the numerous canneries operated and the catching- of fish in traps
by American fishermen before they reach the Fraser River, there has been
signs of depletion, and attention has been directed particularly to the
increase of the natural supply by artificial methods of propagation, and by
an endeavor to secure co-operation with canneries operating on the American
side, and uniformity of regulation with a view to prevention of destructive
methods and permanent sources of supply. The cannerymen, both north and
south of the boundary line fully appreciate the importance of this and
undoubtedly in the near future a mutual understanding will be arrived at.
The artificial propagation of salmon by means of hatcheries began in 1885.
In 1902 the Province erected a large hatchery at Setori Lake, which last
year had an output of over forty million of salmon fry. About the same time
that the Province undertook artificial propagation, the Dominion Government
began erecting other hatcheries, and there are now four operating on the
Fraser River, Granite Creek, Shuswap Lake, Skeena and Nimkish Rivers.
A comparatively small trade
is carried on in fresh, dry, salted and smoked salmon. The salmon most used
for cannery purposes are the sockeye and co-hoes. The spring salmon and
steelhead form the staple product for fresh fish export, while the dog
salmon is now being utilized for the Japanese and other markets, in which a
cheap product finds a demand. The fish next in importance to the salmon is
the halibut, which is found in great quantities in Hecate Straits and along
the coast to the northward. Within the last ten or twelve years, the halibut
industry has developed into large proportions, and now over ten to fifteen
million pounds is being shipped annually by the New England and other
American companies, from Vancouver and Seattle, to the Eastern markets.
The range of food fishes on
this coast is not as wide as on the Atlantic, but the quantity available in
each is much larger. The prime food fishes outside of the salmon and halibut
referred to, are the oolachan, or candle fish, herring, sea bass, cod,
sturgeon, shad, and a fish found in great quantities on the coast of Queen
Charlotte Islands, known as black cod or " skill," somewhat resembling the
mackerel. The herring industry, recently inaugurated, promises to become
important, as the herring run in immense numbers. Whale fishing has been
inaugurated on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and a guano factory has
been established in connection. There are other fish, such as dog fish and
sharks, which are utilized to some extent for their oil. The principal game
fish in the Province is the trout, which is found in all the waters of
British Columbia, and the spring or tyee salmon. Those who have paid
attention to the fishery resources of the Province claim that there is a
great future ahead, as soon as markets have been found. Considerable capital
has been expended in experimental work in various processes in the curing of
fish. So far it has not assumed large proportions.
Forest Wealth.
Turning now to the timber- resources of the Province, it
is rather hazardous to make an estimate of the amount of standing timber
available for commerce. No estimate can be regarded as reliable. Official
publications give the timber area of British Columbia as 182,750,000 acres,
but a great deal of that, while timbered, is not commercially of use except
for local purposes. Much of it is covered with small trees, only fit for
fuel and mine timber. However, it may be safely stated, that the largest and
most important reserves of timber available on the North American continent
for commercial purposes, are to be found in British Columbia. There are
large detached limits of useful forest in the southern interior of the
Province, now being utilized for export to the Northwest. This timber is
much smaller than that found on the coast, where the trees grow to very
large proportions; but still large as compared with that grown in the East.
On coast limits as high as three hundred thousand feet of
timber have been cut from one acre, but the best limits average from
twenty-five to fifty thousand feet. These are found on the lower Mainland,
on Vancouver Island and the adjacant coast of the Mainland, and intervening
islands as far north as the northern part of Vancouver Island, where the
Douglas fir disappears. The principal timbers are the Douglas fir, which is
the most important and widely distributed of the commercial trees, red
cedar, spruce, western white pine, western yellow pine (or bull pine),
hemlock, western larch, and to a limited extent, yellow cedar. There are no
deciduous trees of great commercial importance. Alder and maple are used in
a limited way for finishing woods, but the supply is not large. There is
some oak on the southern end of Vancouver Island, but of little use
commercially. Cottonwood has been used for the manufacture of "excelsior,"
while arbutus, dogwood, buckthorn and crab apple have occasional special
uses. It is possible, however, to greatly diversify the useful hard woods of
the Province, as walnut, butternut, hickory, elm, oak, beech, hard maples,
ash, etc., can be cultivated and grow rapidly. The utilization of spruce,
hemlock and Douglas fir along the coast, for the manufacture of paper pulp,
has had considerable attention paid to it within the last few years, and
several large companies have been organized with the purpose of engaging in
the pulp and paper industries. Only preliminary work has yet been
undertaken, but great hopes are entertained for the future. There are over
one hundred saw mills in the Province, big and small, with a combined daily
capacity of over two million feet, but • this limit has never been reached;
the annual cut running between three hundred to three hundred and fifty
million feet. An important feature of the timber industry in recent years
has been the manufacture of shingles from red cedar.
A large market is found in the Northwest and Eastern
Canada. With the exception of the foreign export trade, amounting to about
fifty million feet per annum, and a considerable local demand, the principal
market for the timber of the mills of the Province is found in the Northwest
provinces and Manitoba. For a long period of years, the timber industry was
in a depressed condition, but with the opening up of the Northwest, a new
avenue of trade was found, and this market has been increasing in importance
with the remarkable rush of population which has taken place recently, so
that at present, the lumber industry is in a more prosperous condition than
ever it was before. Timber lands have been in great demand, and new mills
are being erected and old ones enlarged and modernized.
Statistics of the timber and lumber industry are not
available prior to the year 1888, when the reports of the Inspector of
Forestry began to be published. Since that time a very complete annual
statement has been included in the report of the Chief Commissioner of Lands
and Works. However, a careful estimate of the cut of timber in the Province
since the commencement of the industry, made from available data in various
years, gives the following results: To 1871, 250,000,000 feet; from 1871 to
1888, 595,000,000 feet; from 1888 to 1904, inclusive, 2,569,759,262 feet, or
in the aggregate, 3,414,759,262 feet. If we add to the above the amount of
lumber manufactured on Dominion Government lands, and that cut from private
lands concerning which there is no official record, the total will be very
materially increased.
Agriculture.
Reference has already been made to the permanent
character and bright possibilities of the agricultural industry in British
Columbia. The achievements in this direction for the past ten years are
sufficient upon which to base the most sanguine anticipations. There are
several elements which give great promise to the industry. The first is
climate, which except in the most remote northerly parts of the Province, is
conducive to the best results. On the Coast it is particularly mild and
equable, and, therefore, favorable to small fruits, pears, plums, cherries,
and several varieties of apples, to nearly all kinds of vegetables, for
dairying and stock purposes, and to grain growing, with the exception of
wheat, which does not ripen sufficiently hard for milling.
In the interior valleys, where the heat is much greater
in the summer time and the winters are dry and cold, the range of
agricultural products in all lines is even greater because we have added to
the fruits and grain already referred to those which require more heat and
greater cold for maturing perfectly, for instance, it is possible to grow
tomatoes, peaches and grapes, which require greater heat, and a greater
variety of apples, which reach their perfection in a cold, rigorous climate.
The finest of wheat for milling purposes can also be grown. The soil
suitable for agriculture is everywhere very productive, and the yields on
the average are greater than in any other part of Canada. This
productiveness is a result of a combination of soil and climate. The growing
season is long and conduces to the best quality. From a commercial point of
view, the conditions are peculiarly favorable. The distance from Eastern
Canada affords a natural protection in the way of freight rates, and the
duty on agricultural products prevents over competition from the Pacific
Coast states of America. The condition, however, which peculiarly favors
fruit growing in British Columbia is the continuity of the Northwest
Territory, now rapidly filling up with population. In addition to the home
market, which is a large and profitable one and continuously growing, the
fruit-grower has the Northwest practically to himself, and has heretofore
been able to obtain the highest prices for all he could grow of the right
varieties properly packed. The market, in fact, for fruit is increasing more
rapidly than the ability of the fruit grower to supply it, and particularly
in view of the expanding population, there need, therefore, be no anxiety
for many years to come in regard to over production.
There has always been, too, a large local demand for
dairy products, poultry and eggs, which the home product has been unable to
fully supply. Farmers obtain the highest prices for their butter, eggs and
poultry. With the exception of the interior valleys—where stock growing has
been carried on on a large scale, by being able to take advantage of the
bunch grass ranges of the hill sides—British Columbia is not a country for
large ranches; all the conditions are opposed to farming on a large scale.
Therefore, the agriculturist is, by virtue of such conditions, compelled to
undertake mixed farming on a small scale, which, in the experience of the
world, has proved to be the most profitable and most permanent. One of the
conditions referred to is the cost of securing land and bringing it into
cultivation, or if it be located in the dry belt, it requires irrigation, or
if low-lying, demands extensive draining and under draining. In other words,
taken as a whole, it is much more expensive to bring land under proper
cultivation in British Columbia than in most other parts of America, and
therefore not favorable to land holding in large areas, but once fitted for
cultivation, it becomes by reason of a combination of favorable
circumstances, exceedingly productive, and yielding large dividends upon the
capital invested. It is a country eminently suited to intensive cultivation
of whatever character, and as at the present time fruit growing and dairying
give promise of the greatest returns, particular attention is being paid to
these • branches of the industry. Within the past ten years no other
industry of whatever character has made such rapid and substantial progress
as that of farming, and no other has such bright prospects of continuous
expansion and enduring success. It has not been usual in the past to regard
British Columbia in the light of an agricultural country, and therefore it
has become better known on account of its mineral, timber and fishing
resources, but it is estimated that the value of farm products for 1905 was
six million dollars. It will thus be seen that it compares favorably in
agriculture with other natural resources. As an instance of the
possibilities in this respect, the census of 1891 gives the extent of
improved land at considerably less than half a million acres, and as a
matter of fact, much of that is only partially improved. It would be safe to
say that the area actually under cultivation does not exceed two hundred or
two hundred and fifty thousand acres at the outside, so that the amount of
arable land in the whole Province, the area of which is about two hundred
and fifty million acres, is very small in comparison; there is nevertheless,
sufficient to afford room for an agricultural population of half a million
persons, allowing each farmer, or head of a family, ninety acres each, or at
the present rate of production, capable of producing one hundred million
dollars worth of farm produce annually. It is impossible at the present
time, basing figures upon official returns, to give an accurate estimate of
the areas of the various arable districts of the Province, but in a rough
way it is possible to give approximately the following: The lower Fraser
valley in the Westminster district, 350,000 acres; the southeastern portion
of Vancouver Island, 250,000; the north end of Vancouver Island, 300,000
acres; Okanagan district, 240,000 acres; north and south Thompson River
valleys, 75,000 acres; Nicola, Similkameen, and Kettle River valleys,
350,000 acres; Lillooet and Cariboo, 200,000 acres; East and West Kootenay,
150,000 acres; Canoe River valley, 75,000 acres; the Chilcoten, including
the Nechaco and Blackwater valleys, 750,000 acres; Bulkley and Kispyox
valleys, 200,000 acres; Ootsa Lake, 150,000 acres; Bella Coola and other
Coast districts, 150,000 acres; New Caledonia, including Peace River,
5,500,000 acres; making a grand total of nearly 9,000,000 acres. This is an
estimate that cannot be verified officially, as but little is known as to
the exact extent of some of the Valleys enumerated, but it will probably be
found to be not far wide of the mark. It will be seen that only a small
percentage of this land has yet been made available, in fact, by far the
largest part of it is still in the hands of the Government and until
communication is effected, settlement and population must necessarily be
slow. To show how rapidly the agricultural industry is developing, it may be
stated that in 1897 the output of butter from the creameries did not exceed
75,000 pounds, whereas in 1904 there were about 1,120,000 pounds
manufactured, with fourteen creameries in operation, showing an increase of
160,000 pounds over the previous year.
The possibilities of further development is shown by the
fact that in 1904 considerably more butter was imported than was
manufactured, or butter to the value of $1,180,000, which came from the
Northwest, Oregon, Washington, California, New Zealand and Australia.
The value of the fruit shipped in 1904 was estimated at
$240,000, and the total value of the fruit produced and marketed exceeded
$500,000, which amounts were largely exceeded in 1905, though returns are
not available at the time of writing. The area of land planted in orchards,
according to census returns of 1901, was 7,430 acres, the estimated value of
the acreage of orchards planted in the three following years was 6,000
acres, so that at the end of 1904, there were about 13,500 acres of
orchards, and it is estimated that in 1905, taking the number of trees
planted as a basis, between 7,000 and 10,000 acres of land was added to the
area under cultivation, and devoted to fruit growing.
Conclusion.
The Province of British Columbia, though it has material
and the natural conditions out of which to create great industries, has not
yet been placed in the position in relation with the commercial world to
take advantage of its opportunities. Development in that direction is a
matter of slow progress, and follows in the wake of trade with the Orient,
via the Pacific Ocean. Remoteness from centers of supply, price of labor,
the relatively high cost of transportation as compared with the Atlantic
ports, and, in particular, with the great ports of Europe, with which the
Pacific Coast must come into competition when striving for foreign trade,
and other conditions, all enter into the problem of success, and have to be
overcome by degrees. Trans-continental railways and trans-Pacific stseamship
lines and Pacific cable and the proposed Panama Canal, are altering the
conditions, and we are gradually building up Liverpools and New Yorks. It
is, therefore, almost as certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in
the west, that in time the center of commercial gravity will be shifted. We
shall then stand in the same relative position in regard to the trade of the
world as those world centers, and in point of industry British Columbia will
have exceptional advantages in relation to the Orient. The large industries
which effect the international situation are iron and steel, pulp and paper,
timber, fishery products, preserved and canned fruits and vegetables,
manufactured woolens, etc. Respecting all of these and others that might be
included, no country is in a better natural position to compete. It has not
only geographical advantages by ocean navigation, but it has a great wealth
of natural resources easily accessible. It is indeed, in a much better
position than Great Britain ever was, and the Mother Country until recently
stood unrivalled in trade and industry. We may, therefore, look with
unbounded confidence, even though we have to exercise patience, to the
future, when mammoth factories of various kinds will produce goods for every
part of the globe, to be conveyed thither by fleets of steamers. Our ocean
ports will be the entrepot for commerce flowing freely to and fro along the
new route between the Occident and the Orient, and from the nether
hemisphere of Australasia to the northern and congenerous parts of the same
empire. Progress towards that end, as has already been remarked, has been
extremely slow, and those in the early days who dreamed dreams of things we
now see and have more certain knowledge of their approach, experienced many
disappointments. They saw truly but too far ahead to reap of the harvest
they had anticipated. In Hudson's Bay Company days there was a considerable
trade carried on with points on the Pacific coast north and south, with the
Sandwich Islands, China and Siberia, and of course, with Great Britain, from
which all merchandise came. The Oregon territory then produced furs, wheat,
lumber, meat and skins, flour, etc. This in a small way gave promise of
things to come. After the organization of the colonies, subsequent to the
first gold rush, there was little exported except gold, lumber and furs,
which percolated through Victoria, principally from the northern and
interior posts of the company. For a number of years these were practically
the only items of export. Canned salmon did not enter the list until after
1876, while the exports of foreign lumber never materially increased from
the early days. Practically everything important in the line of export trade
is modern.
To some extent, it may be said that British Columbia for
years existed on prospects. The first gold rush produced an excitement and
real estate booms in Victoria and New Westminster, followed by extreme
depression, which was relieved by the second rush, the result of the Cariboo
excitement and discoveries. Depression then became and remained chronic,
with occasional spurts arising out of new finds and rushes here and there,
or new developments in the political situation, promising union, or
confederation, or the building of the railway. It was only after the
building of the Canadian Pacific Railway became a. certainty and work
actually began, that the business of the Province revived. Then inflation in
real estate set in, the like of which British Columbia never experienced.
Business in every line revived, and speculation was greatly stimulated by
the prospects. The movement grew in strength until about 1890, when it had
attained its height, and had reached every inhabited part of the Province.
Vancouver City was the center of the speculative whirl, but Victoria, New
Westminster and many other places boomed out of all proportion to business
actually being done. Speculation extended to timber limits, wild lands, farm
lands, to mining properties, and even to the fisheries. After the climax had
been reached there was a very rapid shrinkage in values, and in 1893, 1894
and 1895 the after effects were very severe. In 1896 matters began to
improve and improvement may be said to have continued ever since, though
mining, fishing and lumbering each has experienced ups and downs of a
serious character, hard body blows from various quarters and for various
reasons too long to explain. At the present time, the opening of the year
1906, the Province is in sound condition industrially and commercially, and
enjoying general peace and prosperity, with prospects of railway
construction and development that have not seemed so assured for many years.
It may be that we shall be carried on the whirligig of fortune through past
vicissitudes, and land in a position somewhat similar to what we were in
1893-6. The exercise of business discretion and wisdom fraught of experience
should steer us through the inevitable era of depression safely, and without
the acute sufferings following reckless and unwarranted investments and
business ventures. That period of reaction, however, is not likely to occur
again for several years, and until after the Province has made tremendous
strides forward and become the Mecca of the multitudes who are now looking
to the boundless West for new homes and new careers. The movement, which is
fast gathering force must exhaust itself before the clouds of adversity
again appear on our horizon. That we shall have undue speculation and
inflation, as a consequence of population overflowing the Rockies, is as
certain as it is apparently unavoidable, but while those periods of great
activity, like electrical storms, leave many business wrecks in their
tracks, they also sow the seeds of new industries and suggest new
possibilities. It will, at the worst, in the future be as it has been in the
past. Each time when we sink low in the valley of depression we ascend
higher mountains beyond, until some day we shall view the world at our feet.
Author's Postscript.
The Author desires to acknowledge valuable assistance
rendered by E. O. Scholefield, provincial Librarian; Captain Walbran, of the
Marine and Fisheries service; Miss Maria Lawson and Miss Agnes Deans
Cameron, of the staff of the Victoria public schools; and Mr.D. W. Higgins,
late speaker of the Legislative Assembly, all of whom contributed materially
to the information contained in the foregoing pages.
