FARMING IN THE WILDERNESS

One hundred years ago a man was living just west of McBride on a piece of land by the river. Little is known about him except that he was determined to clear some of the heavy bush, build a cabin and start farming. He probably came up the Fraser River on one of the first sternwheelers which were bringing people and supplies to build the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. It is likely that he used only hand tools, but he may have had a horse, mule or ox. What is known is that his name was William Taylor, he found the site for his homestead in 1910 and was the first man to file for a preemption in 1914 and acquire the legal claim to his land. He was the first farmer in what became the Robson Valley.

Once the railway was established there were many more 'firsts' in farming. The Journal, published in McBride, noted new farm machinery coming into the valley on the railway, sometimes with new settlers. Photographs were taken with proud owners such as 'Tom Wilson and the first plow at Croydon' and 'Carl Harder and the first seed drill near McBride'. The newspaper noted in 1916 that C. B. Cliff purchased a Kirsten stump puller.

John Oakley was also one of the early farmers and ran the Dominion Government Illustration Station just east of McBride. In the mid-thirties he bought a 1912 steam tractor which could pull a three bottom plow. By that time there were three threshing machines in the valley. The Farmers' Institute raised enough money to buy a seed cleaning plant which could be rented for a small fee. By the 1940s tractors were becoming more common and horse drawn equipment was being adapted to a drawbar instead of harness. Modern farming had arrived.

Some early farm machinery from the valley can be seen in McBride at the Valley Museum and Archives display on 2nd Avenue by the park.

~ Marilyn Wheeler 2011