With the arrival of the Industrial Age on Malaspina Strait, there was a significant increase in timber cutting and crown grant applications in the area. The Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works made considerable efforts to ensure that both individuals and companies succeeded in their applications. This success translated into financial gain for them, while timber harvesting generated income for the Province of British Columbia.

The beginning of 1896 must have felt like an invasion to the indigenous people living along the coast. Sawmills were coming ashore, and huts, horses, and loggers were likely appearing everywhere. This landscape, once filled with birds, trees, old trails, and clear-running creeks, was rapidly changing. Mr. W. Smith was applying for a special license for a lumber operation located on 1,000 acres at the corner of District Lots 1479 and 671. He posted a notice on January 11, 1896. Mr. Smith secured his special timber license on the southern boundary of the Moodyville Saw Mill Company’s timber license along the Malaspina Strait.

Mr. Eric Erikson went to the Land and Titles office knowing exactly what he was looking for. On March 20, 1896, he completed the necessary paperwork and paid for his Crown Grant, receiving District Lot 1424, located on the shores just south of Grief Point on Malaspina Strait. This land became his because he was the original applicant for Timber License No. 135, issued on March 25, 1892, for District Lot 1424. Just around the corner at Grief Point, the Honourable B.W. Pearse requested a light to be placed on Grief Point, as reported by the Victoria Daily Colonist on Wednesday, November 4, 1896.

People actively applied for licenses to remove timber that others had already cut and left behind as scrap. One of those individuals was Mr. J. Cade, who was searching for their 1,000 acres located near the corner of the Deighton Brothers, McCormick’s, M. McEachern’s, and Moodyville Saw Mills timber claims along the shores of Malaspina Strait. Mr. McPherson’s claim, made on June 10, 1896, ran alongside Elizabeth Brew’s K. M. Brew’s claim on the coast of Malaspina Strait, which also contained 1,000 acres, as this was now the standard size for timber cut licenses.

Mr. Arthur Milton submitted an application for a timber license on a large island in Powell Lake, covering approximately 1,000 acres. He placed his application on record with the BC Gazette on April 2, 1896, stating March 23, 1896, as the official application date.

Mr. F.D. Gross submitted his timber‑license application for 900 acres on the same Powell Lake island while officials were still processing Mr. Milton’s application; this brought the total area requested by both individuals to 1,900 acres.

On the same day, Mr. Arthur Milton, along with John Clark and F.D. Gross, applied to establish a highway from the southwest corner of Powell Lake to a point on the east shore of Malaspina Straits. This application aimed to initiate the construction of the infrastructure necessary to remove resources, debris, and other related barriers to support their applications.

Powell Lake was a popular destination known for expeditions for hunting and fishing. Small-time loggers sought to harvest as much of the virgin timber as possible. Mr. John A. Clark received a license on March 23, 1896, to cut and remove timber on the west side of Powell Lake. This license covered 900 acres and added more timberlands to support the application to construct a highway to the Malaspina Strait.

Licenses for timber have become available along the coast of Malaspina Strait and beyond. Among them, Louis Anderson received a license for 640 acres from nearby Redonda Island, while Mr. Thomas Marsh was granted a license for 1,000 acres up Bute Inlet. These two licenses join a few dozen others issued recently.

Elsewhere in Canada, members of Parliament convened in the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Dominion of Canada to discuss various matters published in Volume 11 of 1897. Mr. P. O’Reilly, who served as the Indian Reserve Commissioner for the Dominion, wrote a letter to the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs in Canada on September 8, 1896, addressing several issues related to Indian Reserves.

In this letter, Mr. P. O’Rielly outlined the commission’s projected work as applied by the local agents and approved by the department. This work includes additions and extensions to reserves located partly on the mainland, which also encompasses the Sliammon Indians (Tla’amin First Nation).

The letter further explained the conditions, religion, education, and occupations of the various bands. It also included a census of the Sliammon (Tla’amin) Indians, noting that there are 286 individuals and identifying 286 as Roman Catholic, as recorded in the Sixth Session, Volume 10, of the Seventh Parliament, 1896.

On November 17, 1896, news of the discovery of an ore deposit at Powell Lake spread. The Powell Lake Mining Company was extracting ore from a 100-foot ledge located three-quarters of a mile from saltwater. As part of its mining operations, the company was investigating one of the six claims, which contained high-quality quartz assayed at the surface at $8 per ounce of gold.

Texada Island was still considered the best location for mining claims as of December 11, 1896. On that date, Mr. Walter Hunter received a Free Miner’s Certificate, which required him to make improvements within 30 days.

Mr. Hunter submitted another application for a Free Miner’s Certificate under the Last Link Mineral Claim in the Nanaimo Mining Division, located near Kirk Lake on Texada Island. Using the same miner’s certificate, he also made another claim for the Climax Mineral Claim, which is also near Kirk Lake on Texada Island.

Shortly after, Mr. S.Y. Wootton published a memorandum of association for The Texada Mining and Liability Company, Limited Liability. This memorandum corrected an error in the advertisement of shares, which had previously been published and stated as $80,000 at $10 per share. The corrected amount was $800,000 at $10 per share, and the memorandum was dated December 21, 1896.

The Texada Island Mining and Land Company was incorporated on September 28, 1896, by several wealthy and prominent individuals, many of whom are still well-known even in 2026. These founders included Thomas D. Jones, Thomas Morgan, Alfred Raper, Elijah Priest, William Edmund Webb, David Jones Senior, and John Hatswell Pleace. This venture marked the beginning of one of the longest and most profitable mining operations in the history of Texada Island, British Columbia.

To avoid losing any valuable ore, Mr. John Mahrer and Frederick McBain Young of the City of Nanaimo incorporated a company named The Lorindale Gold Mining Company, Limited. They established this company to purchase the Lorindale mining claim on Texada Island, with a capital stock of $300,000 divided into $1 shares. Among those who signed the articles of incorporation was Thos. W. Glaholm, on October 28, 1896.

As 1896 was coming to a close, the Daily Colonist published an article on December 3, 1896, stating that there were 67 mineral claims in the Nanaimo district, of which 48 were located on Texada Island. The mining boom loomed just ahead, and newspapers and officials actively worked to alert the public, signalling that a major wave of prospecting and investment was about to break across the region.

The Union Steamship Company Limited offered special trips to Texada Island in October 1896, providing passengers with the opportunity to explore mines and search for claims. A round trip on the SS Charmer, which included a berth and meals, cost only $13. These excursions were so popular that the SS Comox also began making special trips to Texada, accommodating passengers eager for a new life.

Crowded with those caught up in the gold fever, Captain Scott of the SS Comox sailed to Texada Island and docked to let the passengers disembark. With dozens of chartered steamboats passing through Malaspina Strait, hundreds of people were looking for jobs in the mines and for places to live.

During the year, the Province of British Columbia recognized the importance of Texada Island. Mr. M. Bray, the government agent, approved and arranged for Mr. James Craig, a Provincial Foreman, to go to Texada Island in September. His task was to hire numerous workers to extend the crossroad, connecting it from Van Anda to the western part of the island.

Land sellers and claim speculators were becoming so common around Texada Island that even neighbouring cities like Nanaimo saw individuals like Thos. Kitchin was paying top dollar to post advertisements on the Daily Colonist’s front page, as seen on October 30.

The events of 1896 reveal a coast undergoing rapid and irreversible transformation, as industrial ambition, government policy, and speculative opportunity converged on the shores of Malaspina Strait, Powell Lake, and Texada Island. Timber licenses, Crown Grants, mining claims, transportation proposals, and corporate incorporations multiplied at a pace that reshaped both the region’s landscape and its future economy.

Individuals and companies alike seized every available acre of forest and every promising vein of ore, while government officials facilitated this expansion through approvals, surveys, and infrastructure planning. At the same time, Indigenous communities such as the Sliammon (Tla’amin) faced the sudden intrusion of sawmills, settlers, and resource extraction into territories they had stewarded for generations. By the end of the year, with steamships crowded with prospectors, companies valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and dozens of new claims filed across Texada and beyond, it was clear that 1896 marked a turning point, a moment when the quiet coastal world gave way to an industrial frontier whose impacts would echo across British Columbia for decades to come.