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May 1995 WESTVANCOUVERHISTORICAL SOCIETY Pages AND THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS ‘Capilano’, The River and the Book By: Barbara Johnson We West Vancouverites have long claimed the C^ilano River as “our river”. I go even further. I say it is “my riveri’. All my life I have watched this flowing torrent - its beauty, its music, its rages. As a little girl I hiked its banks, rode its flumes, fished its waters, swam in its pools. I gazed in awe as it flooded its banks after a rainy spell or a mountain snow melt. So it is that I read James Morton’s book “Capilano” with especial fascinated interest. Mr Morton stated that the Capilano died after the building of the Cleveland Dam but I disagree. The pre-dam river was very special, but I think that the Water Boards and Municipalities are to be congratulated on maintaining such natural parks along most of its length, of erecting fish ladders and hatcheries to keep its fishing still possible. Walking the trails from the lake to the ocean is still one of my greatest pleasures. No short article such as this one can do full justice to the range of activities on this river. The Musqueam and Squamish Indians were the first residents on its banks to make their livelihood here. When Vancouver grew to need a constant dependable water supply, engineers built the first dam on the river. The story of the difficulties in this project and the spanning of the First Narrows in 1888 with undersea piping for the successful deliverance of water makes exciting reading. Personalities such as Keefer, McGillivray, Llewellyn were determined to succeed, and frequent problems notwithstanding, did succeed. Another good story in this book quotes from a diary written by R.M. Fripp who, along with G.G. McKay, A.P. Home and two Indian guides, hiked through dense B.C. jungle forest from Howe Sound through the mountains to the start of the Capilano River at its trickling source. They reached the Keefer Dam in six days of arduous trek. These men subsequently bought properties in this area above the present dam. Timber barons began to realize the potential of the forests here and many were the battles over rights to log the giant trees. One cedar was said to measure sixty-four feet in circumference. High flown plans such as that of the Capilano Park Co. wanted to “practise every possible business conceivable to man”. Fortunately this did not materialize. Timber rights were released and logging by oxen power, found not very profitable, was replaced by steam-power yarding. Logs for shingles were the most lucrative market and bringing down the The River Sprung from dark rockface Pure, cold and free, Polish the pebbles RIver-to-be. Here where the fish spawn. Gravels in shallows. Calm before rushing Free-fallen narrows. White foaming Greetings, Boulders deterring, Joy in the falling. Life in the daring. Green trees and mosses Shade-dampened ferns Meadowiand eddies And sun-dappled bournes. Dammed-up and stalling Power in a pause. The full-bodied journey Forced to a halt. logs necessary for this procedure was done by the use of flumes. Capilano Timber co. built a mill at the mouth of Sister’s Creek where it joined the Capilano. “The longest flume in America” was completed in 1906, built by Capilano Joe’s Indians and Japanese labour. It was over these ancient flumes at the edge of the steep canyon walls that I once climbed. Capilano’s watershed was fiercely protected in the face of American capitalists and logging barons. Dr Y.J. Carroll was the big voice in these disputes. He planned a second dam at the Second Canyon site. Early in 1918 the Capilano Timber Co. built a railroad to transport logs to the sea. I rode this railroad too, climbing on a car as the train rolled by, not daring to ride to its destination at the mill, or to the dock at the foot of Pemberton Avenue. This mill, engines, camp and railroad were removed in 1934, partly because of the heavy hand of the Greater Vancouver Water District Board, formed in 1926. Strength in your weeping Tears that come seeping, Down the old canyons Back to the sea. By: Jean Gowland, West Vancouver Poet Plans for the Cleveland Dam were delayed because of World War II but were finally completed in 1954. Arguments about the rights of fish were settled with much compromise over the years. Considerable numbers of fish were lost even with the use of fish ladders and the trucking of fish up to the lake from the hatchery. Three landmarks at our present dam site remain in my memory only. No vestige of them is visible today. One is the Grand Canyon View Hotel which became a private school in its latter days. Canyon View Hotel and Kells Hotel are the others. Recreational activities have always been the best part of the river valley. What super swimming and picnics we held near the Cable Pool (near the present hatchery) -so exciting to swim between the narrow canyon walls. What salmon were caught! What steelhead! Hal Johnson caught one of the largest of that specie in 1955 - a 22 pounder! The mountaineers hiking from the North Van Ferry took the Capilano street car to the end of the line, and walked to the Suspension Bridge, a world-famous attraction. To cross this narrow elastic ribbon over the deep canyon is an experience no one should miss. It is as thrilling today as it was when it was built in 1903. The Second Canyon Suspension Bridge (at the present dam site) was even higher than the first but it didn’t sway so violently, being shorter in length. Continued on Page 8 • See *Capilano*