At the beginning of every year, certain appointments by the Provincial Government were made and published in the Government Gazette of British Columbia. Mr. H. Gross, MD, was appointed as the resident physician of Van Anda on January 7, 1909.

Section 3 on Texada Island was being applied for purchase, originally applied for on November 29, 1907. Mr. William Henry Lee was placing one of the final ads in the British Columbia Gazette on January 7, 1909, for the 149.5 acres of land. Mr. Lee, who was the mine manager at Van Anda, was certainly being diligent in land acquisitions.

Mr. Vowell, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of BC, made a notation on January 13, 1909, for the expenditure of $38.35 in the purchase of sundry waterpipe, rubber hose, etc., for use in connection with the Sliammon (Tla’amin) Day School.

The January 1909 issue of Outdoor Life hit the newsstands, and it featured an interesting insert: Mr. James Draper of Van Anda, British Columbia, has a new 25-foot open launch with a 6 Horsepower engine, named the Buffalo, which will be used for his mining work.

Mr. Joseph Michael O’Brien of Vancouver, British Columbia, applied to purchase District Lot 1631 on January 16, 1909, which had originally been applied for by William Simpson in 1894. This land application followed the western boundary of District Lot 1500, which was Anna S. Frolander’s parcel granted in 1891. This land would later be titled Stillwater, and the bay would be called Stillwater Bay.

One such name was Mr. John A. Humbird of St. Paul, Minnesota, who wished, under the Rivers and Streams Act, to improve the Gordon Pasha Lakes, commonly known as Eagle Creek or Lewis River, as well as Second Gordon Pasha Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Newton Lake, and Dodd Lake in the New Westminster District.

The Electric World Magazine announced in its February 18, 1909, edition that the Canadian Industrial Company was considering plans for the construction of a large paper and pulp mill on the Powell River. With a 5000 hydroelectric plant to be built in connection with the development, Mr. Alfred Carmichael, a hydraulic engineer, has been conducting investigations into the development of water power for the company.

On February 17, in Vancouver, the Brooks-Scanlon-O’Brien Company awarded a construction contract to Messrs. Macdonald and Gzowski, well‑known engineers and contractors. Their task was to build five miles of railway from saltwater to Gordon Pasha Lakes, opening access to an extensive acreage of crown‑granted fir limits considered among the finest in British Columbia. These timber holdings, owned by the Brooks-Scanlon-O’Brien Company, lie entirely tributary to Gordon Pasha Lakes, making the lakes the central gathering point for future logging operations.

Under the company’s plan, logs will be driven into Gordon Pasha Lakes, floated to the upper end of the new railway, loaded onto cars, and hauled down to tidewater booming grounds. Although the company initially intends to sell logs directly on the market, it ultimately proposes to erect a mammoth sawmill to manufacture lumber for both the Canadian and export markets. Beyond the Gordon Pasha Lakes district, the Brooks-Scanlon-O’Brien Company also owns large tracts of high‑grade fir timber on the Lillooet River, further expanding the scope of its operations.

Sailing up the coast, one would pass Harwood Island, an Indian Reserve 3 miles north of Texada Island, and if one landed on the mainland shore, one could travel to Haslam Lake, 16 miles southeast of Lund. Or they could travel further up the coast to Hurtado Point, just one mile away from Lund. To find new settlement land, they could travel to Ireland Lake, southeast of Powell Lake.

Land was also available up Lancelot Arm, which was a branch of Malaspina Inlet, or at Myrtle Point, just 7 miles northwest of Jervis Inlet. From Powell Islets just 6 miles north of Lund to Powell Lake, a 40-mile-long lake only 12 miles southeast of Lund itself, and Powell River, which runs on the south end of Powell Lake into the Straits of Georgia. And if one wanted to have their own island, one could venture to the Ragged Islands, all 3 of them just 3 miles from Lund.

Coming in from the north, landing at Sarah Point just northwest of the entrance of Malaspina Inlet, was a parcel of land undisturbed by colonial presence. Savary Island, 2 miles southwest of Lund itself, held sandy beaches and much flat land. When nearly all lands on the Malaspina Strait were available, the lands in Malaspina Inlet were becoming known. Texada Island, 32 miles in length and 2 to 6 miles broad, already had settlements at Van Anda. Gillies Bay, Blubber Bay, and a multitude of mining camps and logging camps; this book was a fantastic travel guide.

As far inland as Theodosia Arm was off Malaspina Inlet, running east for 2 miles, and including Thors Cove in Lancelot Arm, Wootton Bay at the head of Theodosia Inlet and leaving Malaspina Inlet one passes Zephine Head on the east side of the enterance, to all the way to the south where Thunder Bay is situated on the north side of Jervis Inlet, including Wolfson Bay just 5 miles north. All of this, plus an entire map of the Province of BC, travellers would have this book in their bags as they boarded trains, paddlewheels, or steam cruisers on the coast of British Columbia.

District Lot 1376 was one of the final pieces of land available on Savary Island, sitting opposite Lund, British Columbia, and was sold to Mr. William C. Palmer on March 18, 1909. Containing 167 acres and covering both the west and east shorelines, it was a very well-positioned tract of land. At $1 per acre, it was a good purchase for Mr. Palmer at $167, with sandy beaches and low-lying land.

When the annual report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the year ending March 31, 1909, came out, the population recorded was 107 members on the 4,712 acres of the Sliammon (Tla’amin) Band. All members’ health was remarkably good, and their occupations were fishing, hunting, and logging, with a small amount of farming.

In most cases, their houses were well-framed buildings, and what little stock they kept was well cared for. There was a Day School on the reserve, in which they take a great interest, and their children attend regularly and are getting on very well. Each member is law-abiding and very industrious, with satisfactory progress; is temperate, with a few exceptions, and moral.

The Sessional Paper Report of the Auditor General for the year ending March 31, 1909, was published and widely distributed; it contained many interesting elements. Mr. J.W.H. Browne was the Sliammon (Tla’amin) teacher and received a salary of $75. Mr. Browne also received a table and chair for $0.95, 10 desks at $2.50, a stove and fittings for $13.00, a blackboard for $6.67, 2 dozen slates at $2.50, and cartage and freight at $5.75, for a total of $137.42.

The Sliammon (Tla’amin) Band started the year on April 1, 1908, with $754.73 in their account and, throughout the year, received payments and invoices. Mr. W. Johnston paid rent of $100.00 for concessions on the reserve, as did the Merrill Brothers. Management funds of $12 were paid as well as $11.10 for Brick and Lime, $14.40 for 4 doors, and $14.00 for hardware.

The letter was signed:
Thomas Timothy Chief
Chief Charley
Harry George
Timothy
Jim Frank
Sandy Timothy
Peter
Casper Francis
George August
Jim Timothy
Bob George
Felix with a witness Browne
Andrew Harry
Jackson Frank
Chief William
Alex Tom

Mr. McDonald, the Indian Agent for the area that included Sliammon (Tla’amin), wrote a letter to Mr. Vowell, the Superintendent, on June 12, 1909 and included an application to cut timber for sale on Sliammon (Tla’amin) Reserve No. 1. There was an abundance of fallen timber on the reserve. The members of Sliammon (Tla’amin) thought it was bad to see it rotting and going to waste, and wanted to cut and sell it to make a living for themselves and for those depending on them.

Additionally, Mr. McDonald added that the Indians are taking a praiseworthy interest in the day school recently established on their reserve, and fear that if they are compelled to leave the reserve to seek work elsewhere, the school will suffer. Mr. McDonald strongly recommended that the application be approved, and that the school would benefit and the timber would not be wasted. Mr. Vowell forwarded the letter to the Department of Indian Affairs on June 14, 1909, with the same recommendations.

The Department of Indian Affairs replied on June 24, 1909, granting permission by Mr. J.D. Niolean; however, under the condition that only fallen trees were to be cut and no green trees were to be touched.

Mr. Elliot A. Haswell published a Take Notice application that he, Mr. E.A. Haswell of Vancouver, BC, a Broker, intended to apply for lands at the Second Gordon Pasha Lake, at a post planted at the southwest corner of Timber License No. 14708, and commenced at the shore of the lake. Originally applied on January 10. 1909, and first published in the Government Gazette of British Columbia on May 12, 1909, and last published on July 2, 1909, before the grant date.

A 7000-acre tract of land at Gordon Pasha Lakes was sold and announced on July 9, 1909, to W.L. Keates on behalf of his American clients. Dr. Judson, who owned the land, sold it, and although the price has not been made public, it is said to have been sold at the record figure set under a license. Meanwhile, on July 10, 1909, the Steamer Yucantan was anchored off the shore of Powell River during a light swell.

The Steamer Yucatan, with George W. Perkins and his party of thirty, including several millionaires, was sighted heading northbound. The vessel left Powell River for Alert Bay, where they were proposing hiring Indians to pole up the Nimpkish River in Indian Canoes to the Nimpkish Lake, where the party would indulge in trout fishing.

During the year of 1909, the Geological Survey of Canada covered a portion of the coast of British Columbia, from Jervis Inlet to the mouth of the Powell River on Malaspina Strait, with its findings published in the EMJ Engineering and Mining Journal of 1909. This publication informs the public and those looking to invest in what is happening, including new and old mines, their concentrations and shipments, and new ore discoveries on the coast.

“Wild Man Has Been Caught At Last “, this was the headline in the August 9, 1909, Victoria Times Newspaper. Mike King told yarns about a wild man in the woods of Scow Bay, but this wild man went crazy and fancied himself the real thing. The Wild Man had a name: Cameron. For three weeks, he roamed the neighbourhood, and when he was discovered, Constable Lucas of Van Anda was contacted.

For three long days, Constable Lucas chased Cameron through the tall timbers, and when he was finally caught, he was brought to Texada and transferred to Vancouver on the steamer the Queen City. On the Steamer, Cameron behaved himself well and was not dangerous; however, he was still having the hallucinations that sent him into the woods.

Sitting out in the Strait of Georgia is Savary Island, its land not wide nor long, and divided into large parcels of lots. On September 17, 1909, one of those lots was granted under the Land Act to Mr. Lewis Anderson; it was District Lot 1373, in the middle of the island, with shores on opposite sides, comprising 150 acres altogether.

Elsewhere on Texada Island, Mr. Alexander Grant applied for the Crown Grant of District Lot 36 on October 7, 1909, which lies inshore of the Strait of Georgia on the west side of Texada Island. On the same day, another Crown Grant was given to the Tacoma Steel Company, applied for on September 29, 1909, for the sum of $910 for Lot 38, which contained 91 acres of land.

Further up the trail, there was another camp of two men and a female camper who were cleaning trout and asking if they had caught the fish themselves. A conversation about the fishing event started. After arriving back at the beach, the Tuscora, owned by WS Chambers of Victoria, Vice President of the Pacific International Power Boat Association, was lying off the sawmill landing.

The group trolled across the mouth of Powell River for over two hours, and only one fish bit, taking the line out of Mr. Walton’s rod. In a leaky dug-out canoe, two boys paddled by, proudly displaying three big salmon. The men landed in disgust and proceeded to interview an old hunter-trapper whose shack was on the point of land that conceals the mouth of the river.

With all the men on the cruise fishing, eventually catching 3 small trout, however Larry brought in 30 or more dark skinned fish, lifting anchor Charlie fried the fish as the skipper piloted inder the lee of Harwood Island, and to the starboard and astern was the Indian Village of Sliammon, deserted by its tenants, who were doing their seasonal shelling or fishing, and to the port lay Savary Island, which recently passed private ownership and had a cruising yatch that will serve as a ferry. Just as it was growing dark, Philistina entered the harbour of Lund, a typical trading post on the mainland.

With several timber enterprises near here to support the little town, the men went ashore to see what Lund had to offer in the way of conveniences of civilization. Gasoline and supplies of all kinds were available, and a very competent boat builder and a remarkable shop were available for repairs of all kinds. After leaving Lund, they returned to find the Tuscora lay in the harbour. After a rough night of sleep, with hours of woodchopping and being awakened by the big gasoline mail boat and the alarm set for 3:30 am, they all awoke and continued their sailing cruise.

On October 21, 1909, “The Powell River Paper Company Limited” was incorporated. Published in the October 28 and November 11, 1909, Government Gazette of British Columbia under the “Companies Act, 1897.

This publication, acknowledged by Mr. S.Y. Wootton of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, laid out all aspects of the new company’s intentions, including manufacturing, buying and selling, pulp and paper mills, lumber mills, and the acquisition of other companies and corporations. From purchasing timber leases to acquiring land and water power, the new company, Powell River Paper Company Ltd, made it known that they were here and had financial backing.

Those reading the Financial Post Newspaper in 1909 most certainly paid attention to the article on page 36 on the November 13, 1909 Edition. It gave out a tremendous amount of detail on the recent deal consummated, whereby the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company in the Security Building at Minneapolis, Minnesota, bought one of the largest tracts of pulp, paper, and timber leases ever sold in British Columbia.

With 3000 acres of Crown Land, a valuable water source at Powell Lake, and 40,000 horsepower of available power from the river, acquired from Mr. C.F. Pretty of Pretty’s Timber Exchange, off the Canadian Industrial Company of London, England, it was a very lucrative takeover.

The new company of M.J. Scanlon and Associates, of the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company, incorporated the name “Powell River Paper Company Ltd for $1,000,000. Its officers are Mr. DF Brooks, President; Mr. MJ Scanlon, Vice-President; Mr. AS Brooks, Treasurer; and Mr. PA Brooks, Secretary. These announcements will be noticed by other publications and repeated with details and new information as the days pass.

In the 1909 Edition of The Pulp and Paper Magazine, there was a notice that the Powell River & Construction Company had begun construction of its sawmill and pulp mill opposite Texada Island, indicating to investors that their investments were yielding results.

On a separate page, it announced that the $350,000 project to erect a large pulp mill in Powell River was definitely taking shape. Under the Superintendent, Mr. R.N. Calkins, now of Anacortes, Washington, negotiations were already underway for machinery, material, land, timber, etc., and a turpentine-extracting plant would be part of the equipment.

It was earlier announced that plans for a new pulp and paper mill, to be erected at Powell River, BC, by the Canadian Industrial Company of Vancouver, are being prepared by Mr. A. Carmichael, a hydraulic engineer.

Meanwhile, the Powell River Paper Company Limited of Vancouver has been incorporated with a capital of $1,000,000 to manufacture pulp, paper, and lumber, etc and to acquire from the Canadian Industrial Company pulp leases and concessions in the province of British Columbia.

According to the Registrar of former students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1909, a former student, Mr. John Moses Randall, who graduated in 1907, had joined the Powell River Paper Company Limited in Powell River, British Columbia.

The Daily Colonist published on October 29, 1909, that in the neighbourhood of a million-dollar pulp deal was made by the Brooks Scanlon Lumber Company to purchase the C.F. Pretty 230 square miles of Pulp Leases on the Mainland and Coast of Vancouver Island, as well as 3,000 acres on either side of the Powell River, crown-granted land and the power rights on the river. Mr. Pretty purchased an option for this land from the Canadian Industrial Company, with whom are associated Mr. J. J. Shallcross of Victoria and Mr. P. G. Shallcross of the same city.

When a newspaper puts out a headline in an article that reads, Means Much for the Island, Big Pulp Industry is Now Assured Town at Powell River will Necessitate Building Railway to Comox, you know it’s a good article for its readers. This was the headline published in the Victoria Times on November 2, 1909, and it claims to have tremendous bearings upon the development of Vancouver Island.

Mr. Shallcross, who was the acting attorney for the Canadian Industrial Company, just recently closed a deal with the Brooks-Scanlon Company, transferring all assets of the latter through Mr. C.F. Pretty, who held the options on 230 square miles of pulp leases.

The new mill lies north of Seymour Narrows, opposite Comox, and will be at Powell River, of course, being the fixed location of water power. The Brooks-Scanlan Lumber Company ranks with the famous Weyerhaeuser Firm and has an abundance of capital at its disposal. The company is planning to open in 1911, and Mr. Shallcross is enthusiastic regarding the creation of a town at Powell River, which is now assured.

It is Mr. Shallcross’s opinion that because Powell River is across from Comox, it will therefore be compelled to trade with the place most convenient, and therefore a railway expansion from Nanaimo to Comox will gravitate to Victoria.

The transition from steam power to electric power in British Columbia began in 1909. On November 25, 1909, the Brooks-Scanlon Company of Vancouver announced they would do just that. At their camp on the Gordon Pasha Lakes, they were switching to electric power to install a hydroelectric plant at Powell River.

A group of Alberni Campaigners nearly had to abandon ship on November 22, 1909, while returning from Van Anda on Texada Island after running into a severe storm just hours after leaving. Mr. R.J. Bude of the Alberni Pioneer News, who was on board along with Thos McLay, lost the engine power on the gasoline launch Owl. While the engines were out, the entire launch was swamped, and, in an unfortunate accident, lightning struck, igniting gasoline that was leaking from its tanks. The flames engulfed Mr. McLat, and the rest on board began fighting the fire with blankets and buckets of water.

The fire was extinguished by Captain McLay, Mr. Burde, Mr. J. Graham, Mr. Brown and Mr. Sharpe, saving the vessel. The engine was finally restarted just before it was about to be carried onto the rocky shoreline. The party, dead tired from the event, returned to Van Anda and boarded the steamer Cassiar for Vancouver.

By November 11, 1909, Logging operations in the Brooks‑Scanlon camps were in full swing as the Brooks‑Scanlon Lumber Company expanded its work in the Lillooet River district and along the coast near Powell River. Manager Mr. Blackford stated that the company intended to place a large quantity of logs on the New Westminster market once its new logging steamer was completed. He emphasized that this activity was only the beginning of a broader plan to increase production and strengthen the company’s presence from Powell River down to New Westminster.

Mr. Blackford explained that the company expected to build a new mill near the city, in keeping with its policy of constructing large mills wherever operations were significant enough to justify the investment, including the Powell River area. He noted that experience had shown large mills to be more economical than smaller ones, and that the Brooks‑Scanlon Lumber Company intended to follow this principle as it expanded its operations in British Columbia, with Powell River emerging as an important coastal centre in its plans.

The new steamer, the Helen M. Scanlon, named after the daughter of Mr. J. Scanlon, was nearing completion and expected to be commissioned soon. Once in service, the Helen M. Scanlon would tow logs from the Lillooet River district and coastal camps near Powell River to New Westminster, providing the company with a reliable means of transporting timber to market and supporting the growing scale of its logging operations across the region.

On December 18, 1909, Mr. B.F. Nelson of Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned from a trip to Powell River, BC, where he went into connection with the operations of the Powell River Paper Company, of which he is the manager. The Saw Mill and the Paper Mill will be erected, with a capacity of 50 tons per day, and an excellent water power source from the Powell River of 45,000 horsepower. From 50 to 100 men will be employed this winter, and over 400 men next summer.

The Michigan capitalist, on December 25, 1909, announced that it had bought the interests of the Goat Lake timber syndicate, which held 10,000 acres tributary to Powell Lake, 100 miles north of Vancouver on the mainland coast. On December 17, 1909, it was announced that the sale had gone through for $100,000, including 3,000,000 board feet, mostly cedar.

From the Sessional Papers No. 26 comes the Summary Report of the Geological Survey Branch of the Department of Mines for 1909, published in 1910. It is noted that Mr. R.G. McConnell completed his geological survey of Texada Island, and Mr. FH MacLaren completed his topographical map of Texada Island and several large-scale maps of the chief mining camps.

With additional descriptions of mines and ores along the entire length of Texada Island, Marble Bay, Davies Bay, and Anderson Bay held many interesting ore finds. From the Cornell Mine, now down 350 ft, with an average shipment of 1,00 tons per month. The Marble Bay mine and the Little Billy Mine are both running drifts and shipping a considerable tonnage of ore per month. Mr. R.G. McConnell brought back to the Survey office a nugget of native copper from the Yukon and limestone from Texada Island, and displayed examples of ore from the Cornell Mine on Texada Island.

The ores drawn from Texada Island told a quiet story of the men and companies who worked its claims: bornite from the Little Billy claim under the eye of J. T. Taylor of Van Anda. Pyrite and chalcopyrite from the Florence Case workings he also oversaw, and the steady output of chalcopyrite and bornite from the Loyal lease, managed by James Raper, who likewise handled the Rose and Bell claim.

Iron ochre was surfaced from the Iron Crown claim through P. A. Staaf’s operation. At the same time, deeper in the island’s bedrock at the 960‑foot level, the Marble Bay mine yielded bornite, chalcopyrite, and even native silver for the Tacoma Steel Company. At the Cornell mine, 360 feet below the surface, Northern Texada Mines of Vancouver extracted their own mix of bornite and chalcopyrite, each sample a small testament to the layered industrial life that once pulsed through Van Anda and the island’s mineral belt.

With entire pages devoted to Texada Island, from descriptions of the Pocohontas Mountains to the principal trees being Douglas firs to the Jurassic-era ores, nothing in the report left any area of Texada Island untouched.

News from the December issue of The Canadian Nurse of the death of a pioneer nurse, Miss Sutherland, whose unremitting labours were well known on the shores of Malaspina. This sad event gave impetus to the work and funds, which came more rapidly, until the Columbia Hospital at Van Anda opened in 1907. The Van Anda Hospital was the main Hospital for the miners on Texada Island. Arriving at Van Anda, situated on Texada Island, the population was noted as 500, and there are, of course, other settlements within reach that looked to the Hospital to supply their medical and nursing needs.

Ms. M.A. Elliston writes that the advent of Dr. Kemp, who was well known in Toronto, has given a fresh impetus to his work, and his own health has improved. The Hospital itself was an adapted Opera House, and the building has certainly lent itself well to the change, as it was well-ventilated within the wards on either side of the corridor, men on one side, women on the other. Each ward opens onto a fine piazza, with one facing the sea and the other the mountains.

Adjacent to the wards were the operating and consulting rooms, fairly equipped, and bath and toilet rooms with two private rooms complete with present accommodations. The doctors’ and nurses’ room is in the centre, open, next to the living room, which was apparently the former stage, whilst the green now serves as the kitchen, where a Chinaman holds sway.

Beside the Hospital is the neighbouring church, where Presbyterian and Episcopal ministers alike officiate indiscriminately to various nationalities. The hospital walls appear to be covered with thin sheets of metal on the ceiling that can be painted, forming an effective sawdust barrier.

In contrast, the walls above the wainscoting can be covered with Sanitas Paper. The Second bathroom is in desperate need of repair, and the path to the wharf leading up to the Hospital is uneven. Those who arrive by vessel are transported through the rough terrain, already in pain or in extreme pain, to the ambulance cases.

The year 1909 marked a decisive turning point for the northern Strait of Georgia and the Malaspina Strait region, as government appointments, land transactions, and industrial ambitions converged to reshape Texada Island, Stillwater, and Powell River. Early in the year, the Government Gazette recorded routine administrative actions, such as the appointment of Dr. H. Gross as Van Anda’s resident physician, and also documented a surge in land applications across Texada, Savary Island, and the mainland coast.

Individuals like William Henry Lee and Joseph Michael O’Brien pursued strategic parcels, reflecting a broader pattern of speculative acquisition as settlement expanded into Malaspina Strait. At the same time, the Sliammon (Tla’amin) community navigated its own relationship with the Dominion; Superintendent Vowell approved expenditures for the reserve’s day school, and by spring the Band formally petitioned for permission to harvest dead timber on their lands, arguing that “the timber… was presently dead and killed by a fire 5 years ago, and in 2 years, will be valueless,” a request ultimately granted under strict conditions.

Industrial development accelerated even more dramatically. The Brooks‑Scanlon interests advanced railway construction from Stillwater Bay to the Gordon Pasha Lakes, opening access to vast fir limits and signalling the rise of Powell River as a coastal industrial centre.

Publications such as Electric World Magazine and The Pulp and Paper Magazine reported plans for a hydroelectric‑powered pulp and paper complex, culminating in the incorporation of the Powell River Paper Company Limited with $1,000,000 in capital. By late 1909, major American capital, through figures like Mr. C.F. Pretty and Mr. M.J. Scanlon, had consolidated enormous timber and water‑power holdings, including 3,000 acres on the Powell River and 230 square miles of pulp leases.

As one newspaper put it, the new enterprise “will necessitate building [a] railway to Comox,” underscoring how Powell River’s industrial emergence was beginning to influence regional transportation and settlement patterns.