HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

saved were the canned goods. Some food shortages occurred when the people started running out of flour, other
cereals, sugar, coffee, and tea. Every man who could work was hired. The railway confiscated all the horses and
anything that was needy.... It took well over a month of hard work for 20 men, eight teams of horses and all the
equipment we could master.” (M. Frye In: The Terrace Standard). Will Christy remembers after the flood eating in the
old hotel and looking at the high water mark just below the 8-ft. (2.4 m) high ceiling (W. Christy In: Weber 1986).
There was nothing left of Remo. At Remo, the water rose over the 1920 mark. All the houses but one had gone,
including the ferry house. The ferryman’s personal loss amounted to $100, one violin, and nine volumes of the
Harmsworth Encyclopedia. *1)
At the Kispiox Indian village, the river cut an entirely new channel through a group of houses, taking 20
buildings down the river. On June 1, the Bulkley River near Hazelton recorded a maximum daily discharge of 1,510
m 3 /s, an extreme for the period of record 1928-41 (Environment Canada 1991). At Hazelton, all the waterfront
property was practically destroyed. The Vancouver Daily Province reported 33 houses washed away at Hazelton while
more were being undermines by floodwaters. A 24- x 18-ft. (7.2 x 5.4 m) Indian house, two cabins, and the
powerhouse belonging to the Kitanmax Power and Light Company were swept down river. On June 1-2, the Skeena
River rose and cut into its bank at Hazelton. Hodder’s house went down the river and hit Hugh MacKay’s house.
Hodder’s house disintegrated and started a big logjam. On the Hudson’s Bay Co. property, the last clump of trees went
out and later that morning the old stone cellar collapsed. The lower section of Old Hazelton also sustained heavy
damage. The ground floor of the Hazelton Hotel flooded and many residents had to be evacuated. The old Hazelton
(Skeena Forks) Hudson’s Bay trading post store building, which was built in 1860, was undermined and collapsed. At
the confluence of the Bulkley and Skeena rivers, the water was right up to the floor of the bridge. At Hopkins place
near Cedarvale, 6 ft. (1.8 m) of sand was deposited. At Kitwanga, the water tank and pumphouse were carried away.
On June 1, supplies were sent to the village from Hazelton. The village of Glenvowell was completely inundated.
The Skeena River cut entirely new channels in many places. From descriptions of damage at Remo, it was
doubtful that the district would ever revive as a gardening area, at least for a long time. By nightfall on June 2, the
Skeena River started to drop about 6 in. (15 cm). The Skeena and Bulkley Rivers at Hazelton dropped 4 ft. (1.2 m) on
June 3. Though the warm weather continued, the Skeena River dropped another 10 ft. (3 m) at Hazelton on June 4.
On May 29, the westbound morning train got as far as Kitwanga but had to return to Smithers. The train
service was reduced to two trains a week. The trains only ran as far as Smithers. From there a stub train ran as far as
Hazelton. Plans for daily train service through the district to promote the tourist trade were put on hold. The railway
agreed to take some 700 Native Indian cannery workers for practically the same fare as from Hazelton to Port
Essington, all the way round via Jasper to Vancouver, up the coast by the steamers to Prince Rupert and then east to
Port Essington by train. This meant a total distance of some 1,000 mi. (1,600 km) to get to a point about 100 mi. (160
km) from their homes. Without this arrangement the canneries would have faced a complete shut down.
The rail line between Prince Rupert-Smithers was extensively damaged. Terrace old-timer Lloyd Johnstone recalls,
“From the 29 th of May until September the railway was washed out from Kitwanga to Kwinitsa. If you wanted to work,
you worked on rebuilding the railway.” Native Indian cannery workers were transported from Kitwanga via Jasper
Park to Vancouver by rail and brought to the Skeena River canneries by boat.
When the water levels went down enough, the damage was assessed and repairs started. Crews started at
Mile 62, west of Salvus, putting in a new 700 to 800-ft. (210-240 m) bridge. A fully equipped work train with 25 men
left for Kwinitsa. A second work and supply train left two days later. A major, 700 ft. (210 m) washout occurred 1.2
mi. (2 km) west of Salvus. Two additional repair crews of 20 men each were sent out from Terrace, one going to Usk,
the other to Shames. On June 8, the track was cleared as far as Mile 63, about 1.5 mi. (2.4 km) west of Salvus. The
repair work was also proceeding from Kitwanga. Six miles (10 km) of telephone and telegraph wire were swept away
between Terrace-Kitwanga. A telegraph repair crew of 10 men arrived from Vancouver on June 10 to assist in
restoring the communications. The CN Telegraph repair crews reached Terrace on June 12. By June 13, the telegraph
service was restored, according to H.A. Meadows, local manager, much earlier than expected.
The damage was extensive: All across Remo Flat, the railway track was just hanging in the air; the gravel
had all washed from underneath the track (W. Christy In: Weber 1986). The CNR waiting room at Remo and the
pumphouse and several other buildings at Vanarsdol went out. The new railway station under construction at Pacific
and the houses of the men along the tracks just west of Pacific were all flooded. At Vanarsdol, the railway depot was
hanging over the river and the water tower was badly undercut. Half of its foundations were hanging over the river.
Kitwanga was the scene of a big washout. The most serious trouble point was 2 mi. (3.2 km) west of Kitwanga.
On June 13, Cpl. H. Caybone and Game Warden E. Martin left Prince Rupert in a flat-bottomed boat for
Terrace with supplies for isolated settlers. They would go as far as Kwinitsa where contact would be made with CNR
employees. From Kwinitsa, a temporary freighting service would be established.
About 1-2 mi. (1.6-3.2 km) up the Bulkley River from Moricetown, a large logjam was reported. This would
account for the very little driftwood coming down the Bulkley River.
On May 31, Quesnel experienced a power outage when floating debris cut the powerline just above the traffic
bridge across the Fraser River. Between the morning of May 30 and the afternoon May 31, the river at Quesnel had risen 27
in. (67.5 cm), reaching 19.63 ft. On June 1, the Fraser River at Prince George rose to within 5 ft. (1.5 m) of the decking of the
CNR rail bridge. According to CNR superintendent W.H. Cobey, it reached the highest recorded level since 1912. (1911?)
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