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Some of the homes at Finaly Forks, 1967-a ghost town awaiting the flood. Photo: Joan Curtin

the rail line to be nm up the trench of the Rockies. Both r~n had in mind to develop hydro power and build lumber and pulp mills. They envisioned a monorail being built, a relatively new rail con­cept at that time, to carry passengers and supplies up the trench. Their plans were not to be.

In 1963 the provincial government of Brit ish Columbia called for bids to build one of the largest earthen dams in the world. It would be constructed at the P(.~nce Canyon and would be 600 feet high. Negotiations were begun to COlnpcnsatc some of the trappers ami sertlcrs who would be affected by the huge reservo ir that \vould be formed. The larger traplines were bought oul for a few thm.Jsand dollars, a paltry :sum considering the many cabins that had been built on each line (they were usua lly spaced every six to ten miles apart). Miles of trail had been cut out labo­riously by hand. and boats had been built and stationed on the lal<cs of each line by the trappers. The buy-out was essentially a take it or leave it deal. The province had hired A If Janks and later Gord McMullen to burn every c.abin down, and they would receive money for every cabin burned. A photo of the burning cabin \Vas proof of the job completed. Janks attempted to burn some cabins two or three years in advance of the flood waters. Needless to say he was not well reeeived by those who were still using them. On one occasion he w.ns run off at gun point.

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The spring of 1968 was et time ol i11L ttl l)' '"' tJ ,, 11·. 111 1· , ,

The gates to the three diversion tu ~md.~ w~.:~t · ,·J., ... 1 .1 11·! tl•

mighty Peace Ri ver was stopped by the\\'/\( · l kttil<' tl l.l.tllt \.\ ,11,

the spring runoiT at its peak, the rescrvmr bq;ottl 1<1 11 :- \· ' ·'1' ':11·. catching many o1f guard.

One trapper tied his boat up to a tree on the rivcrhunk .tnd ,. ·1 tied into his cabin for the night. Imagine his surpri:-.~.: wlll'll Ill' rolled out of bed the next morning to ~tep into tW\l im:lt~..· ~ . ,11

water. He hurriedly dressed a11d went mitside to see hi!. rivt~ rbn ;ll floating out of reach with the bo~v almost under water. ll w:1 :-. lucky he had tied the bow rope with a ·fair amount of sl::~ck. I k managed to use a pole to swing the stern around within reach and once on board he bad· to cut the bow line to free the boat. He thc'n motored doy.,nstream on the Finlay to see if any ice jam had formed causing the river to back ~1p. Soon others, including some Sekani Natives from Finlay Forks, were on the river to see what was the matter. No ice jam was found. The waters of the now­dammed Peace- River were rising much faster than was original­ly forecast. Along the narrov{ r~ach of the Peace River, the water rose ten rect a night.

The human population was not the only thing affec ted~ =-:> wildlife was .caught off-guard too. As the wide valley around Finlay Forks began to flood, hundreds of moose, bears and other wildlife became stranded on islands that were formed by the ris-ing water. Trees, Jogs and other floating debris prevented the ani -mals from swimming to shore and hundred~ of moose drowned.

Pen Powel, a bush pilot from Hudson Hope, flew his small plane over Finlay Forks in the fall of J 961\. Near th~ mouth of the Omineca there was a hill that rose above the sum>unding coun­try. The slashing crews had cut the big spruce and pine trees on this promontory and the logs lay like pick-up sticks. This hill now became an island as the waters rose and it was t() this high point the moose gathered to try and find refuge. The moose now became trapped as they cou!d not leave due to t1oating dehris. Powell returned a week laler and counted more than l 00 dead moose on the flooded island. Of course, more than just moose died; Powell said, «Even animals you don 't often see in the water

173

were swimming· for their lives- weasels, mice, -even squirreJ'S. The squirrels wou ld :iwim with their tail straight ~tp out of the. ' water." By late summer of 1969 the smell of rotting rnooi;e car~· cusses was everywhere. The floating an i mal ·~ h'ad bloated and , .. were c:aught in the debri s piles. For the next tvvo years the moose would try to cross the river as they always had and would. exhaust themselves trying to swim around and through the logs ·that 'Wcr~ piling up in the shallow1' of the forming lako. By 1972 the entire north end of Williston Lake was choked with logs and even the tug boats could m1t get through.

The flood waters eventually stretched from the Peace Canyon on the east, north to Deserters Canyon on the Finlay and south to almost where the Hart l·iighway crosses the Parsnip. The historic rapids of Deserters Canyon were now tamed, t1ooQ •. cd under tif­teen feet of water: also, gone forever were th<~ Nc Perle Pas and Finlay Rapids on the Peace. The Omineca River was flooded ten miles up past the Black Cnnyon. The lower reach~s of the Ospika and lngenik.a Rivers were also lost. Old Fort (iraham became only a memory and Finlay Forks rests under 300 !Cet of water.

Some of the old rivcrrncn tried to catTy on in the early years as Williston Lake rose, but 1he old 1lat-botton1cd riverboats were no match for the big waves encountered on the wind-blown lake. On one occas,ion Art Van Somer was attempting lo leave for Fort Ware with a big load of freight on board his forty- fom-footer. As he pulled out of a cove protected from the w ind near Finlay Forks, he encountered five-foot waves on the main lake and swamped his boat. His brother Jim rescued him and his over­turned boat using a small tug boat, but more than $2,000 worth of supplies were lost. The hunting guide Ken Chris1opher left Fort Graham for Finlay Forks t(>r a trip that would normally tal<e h<)Llrs; instead it took two days of hard work pushing and pullmg his boat around the fl oating debris. He had on board two injured tree fallers who needed emergency treatment in Prince George. Eventually a tug boat had to be called and it plowed out a chan­nel for the log-jammed riverboat to follow.

The Indians near Finlay Forks kept moving their camp Lo

higher ground every few days. They did not understand the situ-

174

a tion and fi gured the llood would eventual ly stop · 11 d1d . ht d 11111 until a huge i11 t: nd ->C; I that was twenty miles .1nn:-.s h;ul l , llnH'd Their conununit ics :1t 1:ort ( lr:lluun and lng<:.nik:t wn~.: ~.·~ lll ' J 'k"·

ly dwwncd n ul. Tho.: Na tive gra veyard at fort ( i ra h:lln \~:1-> lu~ . ll

cd on a hi gh hank .. tnd as tile v•aters ro"c the bank sloug iJ,•d 11 1. The woodc11 ca:-,kl.: t ~ u ndd h~: s~.·cn sliding d1.JWn into tlh: !unttlll) '

lake. Ed Stranbcrg W: l :-. lhc l:i:; t r~sidcnl or Finlay Forks In {111 11

out, surrendering hi·; v :1il l ll IP. I il l· ilood water~ .

When I was on t h ~.: .l:lkl· i11 it ~,'early years ( 1 97~). bo;d i 1 1 1 ~ w;, .. very dangerous becau s~ 111" 1.1:tll" :-. uhn1crgcd deadheads. Wlil' ll tlu:

afternoon wind came up. th,· \ V.J\:l : ' form~d would forct: na· 1111o

shore, if a passage could lx: lolt lld throt.Jgh the flotsam o !" In~'·

Submerged tre~s would lc1 gll fn 11H the lake boUom and rodl'1 tu the s~rface like torpedoes. 1\. !111 <~ I :;hHI!;thing in has occ.:urrcJ on the surrounding hill sides as lll l'-.t :dlk 1-'.I"•H IIld was flooded .

By 1990, however, ~he .bkl'\ ,., ,.lllitioll h:1d improved con­siderably. B.C. Hydro and varit lll ': J,~ , ~ f!l ll ! ' l'Oillpanics worked for years cleaning up the logs and lh(' 111;qn1 it v <ll" til t: remainder had become water logged an.d sank 111 the IHltlol ll. I t 1s now possible to reach the beach in most plac•::-- i l11· .,, .. ,, , , . o1 1al other wildlife event ually adapted to the big Ltk, .111d . " ' 1 ·,~, · 1 , !he llshing is

excell<:nt for dolly var den espe~·t iiii .V \\ i " ' ' ~' 11 11: ·.:reeks ~nter. I went on a tour.of the powcriiPll s•: :111d ol .1 tn 111 197>{ with my

famiJ y. It is without a doubt an i mp1v:o.""'~· 111; 11 ·\ , ·1 ( l i' ellgin cc:ring. But as I stood on the viewing :-. ik ( 1 \'n l • " '~ll 'l '. tltc Jam and the flooded valley behind it. a feeli ng or , ,,d i tt'·.-. •: a t ll~.: over me . The era of the rivermen was over.

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