During the early months of 1900, the settlements of Lund, Froeck, Frolander, Van Anda, and Blubber Bay were cutting timber, building roads and lumber mills, and starting families. Hotels were alive with the energy of visitors, while steamships arrived to deliver essential supplies and sailed away laden with goods destined for the market.

In 1900, a significant shift was occurring behind the scenes. Land and ore claims continued to be requested and submitted to the land office of British Columbia, while those looking to make money invested primarily in mining stocks. Texada Island’s stocks are highly sought after, trading at an impressive $8, while other parts of British Columbia offer opportunities at just $2.

People from various backgrounds, including Whites, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese, worked side by side to clear land in pursuit of prosperity, though a sense of silence also lingered.

In 1900, a visiting Indian Agent from the West Coast toured the Sliammon (Tla’amin) Reserve, located on the banks of the Malaspina Strait and encompassing 4,712 acres.

Upon returning, the Agent wrote his annual report, which noted an outbreak of measles at the canneries during July and August. Those infected spread the disease to other members of their tribe when they returned to their villages. This outbreak was followed by bronchitis and pneumonia, leading to a significant number of deaths.

The Indian Agent noted that the Sliammon (Tla’amin) Indians primarily engaged in fishing, hunting, and logging, with only a small amount of farming. He observed that their dwellings were improving, though their livestock roamed freely through the bush. Regarding education in 1900, he reported that none of the Indians could read or write, and that no school facilities had ever been offered or provided.

In the village, there was a small church, and he noticed that all the residents were Roman Catholics, deeply devoted to their faith. They were easygoing, scrupulously honest, and generally temperate and moral people, with only a few individuals using alcohol.

Stories of Van Anda and the quality of the ore coming from the area, usually 3 times that of other mines, kept bringing miners and claim buyers. Mr. John Campbell came and claimed District Lot 175, naming his mine the Saxon, on March 13, 1900. Some Lots were still available around Van Anda, and on April 9, 1900, two new people arrived on the island: Mr. William Challower and Mr. Charles R. Dingwall, who received their mining ore claim on Lot 10.

The August 25, 1900, edition of the newspaper reported on several campers at Powell Lake. Among those mentioned were Miss Nellie Pride, Miss Hattie Olmstead, Mrs. Miner, Miss Lynn, and Messrs. C. Wintermure, A. Pride, Fred Tubbs, and Sam McIntyre. Camping and hunting trips were very popular in 1900, with the SS Comox ferrying campers on their excursions, rowing them to shore, or providing them with small rowboats for their use.

Texada City and Van Anda were experiencing significant growth as people moved into new homes. The value of ore was high, making mining a very profitable venture. While Vancouver Island Copper Gold Ores were selling for only $2 per ton, Texada Island was averaging between $8 and $9 per ton, from Van Anda to Davies Bay. The Union Steamship Company provided regular service to Texada every Tuesday with the SS Comox.

The Van Anda Copper and Gold Company established its own smelter under the leadership of President R.W. Treat and Smelter Manager Mr. Thomas Kiddie. They purchased ore from the island and made cash payments upon assay completion. In January, the smelter generated a profit of $4,023.79, followed by $2,263.11 in February, indicating that the new smelter was performing very well.

In Marble Bay and parts of Blubber Bay, the lime kilns were as productive as the ore mines. By 1900, Marble Bay had become so prosperous that a hotel, the Marble Bay Hotel, was constructed. Between the two towns, there were approximately 500 to 600 residents. The Van Anda Sawmill produced 12,000 feet of lumber each day; new homes were under construction, and there were plans for a planing mill, a shingle mill, and an ordinary saw carriage.

At the end of 1900, the UK Hydrographic Office issued a new chart, known as Chart 580. On August 23, 1900, the office made a significant correction to this chart, the only one applied that day. This correction introduced Powell Lake; however, instead of depicting the entire lake, it depicted only a portion with a dotted line.

At the end of 1900, the UK Hydrographic Office issued a new Admiralty sheet of Chart 580. This document marked a significant turning point in understanding the Malaspina region’s coast from both maritime and administrative perspectives.

On August 23, 1900, the office applied a single, noteworthy correction to the chart, namely the introduction of Powell Lake. Yet the lake did not appear in full. Instead, the engravers added only a fragment, traced in a dotted line, a visual cue signalling uncertainty, provisional knowledge, or reliance on second‑hand reports rather than direct hydrographic survey. In the language of Admiralty cartography, dotted lines were never casual; they indicated a feature acknowledged but not yet verified, a presence known but not fully measured.

Thus, Chart 580 captures a moment when Powell Lake was transitioning from an inland body known primarily to Indigenous travellers, local settlers, and loggers to a feature entering the imperial cartographic record. Its partial, tentative depiction reveals the limits of official knowledge at the century’s turn. It highlights how the lake’s formal recognition came not from a grand survey but from a small, almost reluctant correction that ultimately transformed how the region began a new era of charting, navigation, and vision.

A small correction from the UK Hydrographic Office triggered a chain reaction. This submission resulted in the publication of nine versions of Chart 580, all depicting the same partial addition of Powell Lake. These charts became the standard for the steamers along the coast, bringing tourists, campers, fishermen, and hunters to visit the area.

In 1900, James Cullen applied for mineral rights to mine near an unnamed lake. The Copper King, Copper Chief, and Mineral Hill mines sit just east of the lake, concentrating their riches within easy reach. While these mines had limited success, they did attract attention in the Province’s local newspapers. What later became known as Olson Valley and Olson Lake became a hub of activity because of these small claims by a single man.

The mines at Olson Lake are located just above Powell Lake, where other mining operations are also being developed, primarily on the large Goat Island.

Everything is ready for spring, and this is the calm before the Colonial Storm arrives.