Building the Boundary Line
BY: BG EDITOR
"Pioneer" Map of the Boundary District, British Columbia
Issued by Pioneer Pub. Co., Phoenix, B.C., c. 1904
Feb 17, 2018 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)
Greenwood at the turn of the century was greatly influenced by the arrival of the railway. In a previous feature we looked at the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway's arrival in the Boundary. It was joined by other competing lines, including the Columbia & Western and the Great Northern Railway.
On the Canada side of the international boundary, the Washington & Great Northern Railway was known as the VV&E — the Victoria, Vancouver & Eastern Railway operated under Navigation Co. Ltd. The VV&E became a hotly contested project, with intensely bitter sentiments on the part of the C.P.R., who it faced as a direct competitor.
The battle began in Ottawa, as C.P.R. lobbied to have the project pulled to a halt. Later on, there was trouble in the construction camps, as the VV&E pushed on at breakneck speed, trying to get their rail laid all the way to the coast.
In 1903, the VV&E line was laid from Grand Forks to Phoenix. Under the hand of John W. Stewert and construction manager Patrick Welch, the Grand Forks/Phoenix spur was laid in record time, despite the fact that a significant amount of heavy rock cutting had to be done. In one month alone, 25 to 30 miles of steel was laid on the main line and sidetrack, and trains immediately began to roll on them.
Dogging around the city of Greenwood, new rail continued to run west of Midway, dipping periodically across the border into Washington, as terrain demanded. The map above (click to expand the full view) shows the railway weaving along to Keremeos. Some 1,200 men cut, blasted and hammered their way towards the destination.
The map, drawn to scale and engraved for the Phoenix Pioneer, c. 1904, illustrates the following:
Every city and town in the Boundary
The several Boundary mining camps
Boundary's three smelters
C.P.R. lines and branches in the Boundary
Great Northern railway line from Grand Forks to Phoenix
Cascade electric power line
Grand Forks and Greenwood Mining Divisions boundary line
Grand Forks and Greenwood electoral divisions boundary line
The Dewdney trail (original route into the Boundary)
The several Boundary mining camps
Boundary's three smelters
C.P.R. lines and branches in the Boundary
Great Northern railway line from Grand Forks to Phoenix
Cascade electric power line
Grand Forks and Greenwood Mining Divisions boundary line
Grand Forks and Greenwood electoral divisions boundary line
The Dewdney trail (original route into the Boundary)
Greenwood Station, before a trail derailment and subsequent fire destroyed it in 1964
[ Photo: Greenwood Museum ]
The following poem from the 1904 Phoenix Pioneer, describes the epic era of copper mining in the Boundary, making clear the essential role of the railway by which the ore was delivered to market.
"Boundary's Copper Factory"
In these rock-ribbed hills of Boundary
There's almost a copper foundry,
And it's worth your while to take a closer look.
For we've copper ore by acres,
But no room here for fakirs,
As we're busy "making good" by hook or crook.
So we'll tell our little story,
Even though there's naught of glory,
In this old, prosaic searching for the "stuff."
We are setting an example,
That the world can see is ample
To show that we have diamonds in the rough.
In the nineties of the first part
Our prospectors made a good start,
And they found some gold and silver in our hills.
But without some transportation,
And with little information
They could hardly pay their grub and powder bills.
So the Boundary had a rest,
For a few years at the best,
Till the iron horse should hither wend its way.
Then it took a sudden leap
To a place that it could keep,
And has kept it, safe and sound, until this day.
When our copper lodes were found
By the delvers in the ground,
It was learned that they were very low in grade.
Yet the ledges were immense,
So, with coin and much hard sense,
Costs were gotten where some money could be made.
Five or ten years thus were spent,
While some millions also went
Just to prove that Boundary's mining zones would pay;
And today three thousand tons
Is the average of the runs
Taken out by two great railways every day.
Which are these mines, you ask,
That are worthy of this task?
The answer is now known from sea to sea.
First of all's the giant Granby.
And there's naught that's namby-pamby
In the daily tale of tonnage all can see.
Then comes the Mother Lode,
Which is on the same high road,
With a goodly dozen others great and small.
Then the Brooklyn and Rawhide
Are looked upon with pride,
And many that are far from least of all.
There's one thing we'd like to say:
If it ever comes your way,
Do not fail to take a look at Boundary mines,
In the future they'll be famous,
And none but an ignoramus
Will wish to be in darkness on these lines.
Take advantage of the chance,
Don't look at them askance.
But see them when you can on every hand.
Dividends will soon be coming,
And the monied men a-running,
And then the shares will soar to "beat the band."
~ Author Unknown
REFERENCES:
Phoenix Pioneer & Boundary Mining Journal, 1904 holiday edition, P. 51, 68-69
