Introduction

Explorers & Prospectors
   William Fernie
   Michael Phillipps
   Peter Fernie
   Colonel James Baker

Discovery of Coal &
the Crowsnest Pass

Formation of the Coal Company & Railroad

Coal Company Investors
   George Cox
   Robert Jaffray
   Henry Pellatt

Tom Uphill

James Baker

James Baker BCARS (A-01977)

A shrewd businessman, James Baker played an important role in the expansion of a railway into the Elk Valley and the development of Cranbrook.

James Baker was born on January 6th, 1830, in London England. He was the son of Samuel Baker, a West Indian merchant who possessed a considerable amount of property in Jamaica. He was also the brother of famous men such as Sir Samuel Baker, the African explorer who is remembered in history for having discovered the source of the Nile River, and Valentine Baker Pasha who was commander of the Ottoman militia in Turkey and later the head of police in Egypt.

A Distinguished Career
James led an interesting life before coming to Canada and arrived in the Kootenays in 1884 with a distinguished career already behind him. After completing school James joined the army, and like Peter Fernie, fought in the Crimean War, at the siege and fall of Sevastapol from 1854 to 1855. He was then married in 1865 to Sarah Louise White and they had a son, Valentine Hyde Baker. James, now with the rank of Colonel, joined the navy in 1865, surveying the coast of the Arabian Gulf and helping to stamp out the slave trade from Africa.

Not only did Colonel Baker have a long and distinguished career in His Majesty’s Royal Navy and Household Cavalry but by 1864 he had also achieved a B.A and an M.A. from the University of Cambridge.

His Early Days in the Kootenays
Baker came to Canada with his wife and son in 1884 after leaving the Royal Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He made his way across BC, living first in Victoria, then moving to Nelson and later Skookumchuk, where he spent the winter of 1885. Baker finally settled in Galbraith’s Ferry, the present day Fort Steele.

Sometime during 1885 Colonel Baker met up with William and Peter Fernie while living here. Baker and Peter Fernie were both of the same age and shared much in common since they had both fought in the Crimean War and both been at the seige of Sevastapol. They had both come to the Kootenays from England to make their fortune.

Joseph’s Prairie
Baker was a man anxious to exploit any economic opportunities that he could find in this new undeveloped land. In 1886 he bought 18 000 acres of fertile land called Joseph’s Prairie (the present site of Cranbrook) from Mr. R.L.T. Galbraith. Baker grew crops here and also ran a general store that catered to nearby European settlers and the Ktunaxa.

Seeking to profit further from his property, Baker surveyed his land for a townsite. The residents of the area thought this was odd since nearby Galbraith’s Ferry was a flourishing townsite in a much nicer location with steamship travel available. But Baker realized that his new townsite would flourish if he could run a railway through Joseph’s Prairie. He had been involved in a successful colonization project in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with his brother Samuel. He was also involved in the construction of railways with his brother Valentine in Eastern Europe. His experience in railroad building would later serve him well here in the East Kootenay.

The sale of Joseph’s Prairie led to problems, however, since it was prime grazing land used by the Ktunaxa Indians. Baker fenced the land off after purchasing it, forcing Chief Isodore and his people to vacate the land of their ancestors. The Ktunaxa were outraged.

Growing tensions between the Ktunaxa and European settlers such as Baker prompted him to request that the federal government send in an armed presence. Ottawa dispatched a division of the Northwest Mounted Police under the command of Colonel Sam Steele. Steele arrived in July of 1887, building a detachment and somewhat quelling the tension between the Ktunaxa and the Europeans. Steele and his Mounties left one year later in September of 1888, once the situation had been settled.

A Town Called Cranbrook
Baker named his land Cranbrook after his family estate in Kent and intended to put it to good use. In the late 1880’s Baker along with a few prominent businessmen from Victoria formed the Cranbrook and Fort Steel Estates and Townsite Company.

Baker, who was involved in both organizations, reached an agreement between the Cranbrook and Fort Steele Estates and Townsite Co. and the Crow’s Nest and Kootenay Lake Railway Company, that a railway station would be built in Cranbrook. Baker later arranged with the Canadian Pacific Railway, who took over the charter to construct a railroad through the Elk Valley to Kootenay Lake from the Crow’s Nest and Kootenay Lake Railway Co., to build the line through Cranbrook, using his townsite as a divisional headquarters. Thus, the value of Baker’s land which he had surveyed a decade earlier rose dramatically. He sold his lots at high prices to people and businesses who saw the value of locating near this divisional point.

Setting up the Railway and Coal Company
Along with William and Peter Fernie, James Baker was a major partner in the first Coal Company in the Elk Valley. Baker knew that to exploit the abundant coal reserves here, a railway connecting the Valley to industrial markets was needed. He became the prime lobbyist for railway expansion into the region. See also: Formation of the Coal Company

Political Involvement
Colonel Baker was also an active political figure during his time in the Kootenays. He was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for the East Kootenay in 1886, just two years after he arrived in Canada. Baker represented the twenty-two families that lived in and around Galbraith’s Ferry, holding this position until 1900 just before returning to England. He became a significant political figure in BC in 1892, becoming the Provincial Secretary for the BC government as well as the Minister of Education Immigration and Mines.

Colonel James Baker’s achievements can be summed up by his own words:

"The railway and development of the coal and mines have been and will be of immense benefit to the mining industry of the province, and the company after many years of anxiety and risk…expects to make a good thing out of the enterprise. I may certainly claim the credit of inaugurating and piloting the business to a successful termination; it cost thirteen years of labor, hard work and anxiety and if it had not been for this, the Crowsnest Pass would have been only a name and neither railway nor coal would have been heard of."
-- from the book Crow’s Nest Coal Company by James Baker, March 29th, 1900

Colonel James Baker returned to England in the year of 1900. He died there in 1906, at the age of 76, due to heart failure. In Cranbrook flags were flown at half-mast to mourn the death of their founder.

Peter Fernie		Discovery of Coal & the Crowsnest Pass