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Railways Criss-cross the KootenaysIn the late 1800’s, entrepreneurs with ambitious plans and investors to back them up were sighting the relatively undeveloped Kootenays. Rich mineral deposits were discovered near what became the towns of Rossland, Kimberley, Moyie and Riondel, as well as other sites. Abundant coal seams were also found in the Elk Valley and Crowsnest Pass. The raw resources were there, yet there was no efficient way of transporting these heavy commodities. At the time the only means of transport was over wagon roads and along lakes and rivers navigable by paddle steamboats.3
It would take a great deal of money to build railroads into these regions. Surveyors working for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and American railroad companies encountered steep cliffs, narrow canyons and many other natural obstacles. The BC government offered subsidies and land grants to many of these companies in order to open the region to settlement. Still, these offers were not enough to sustain all of these companies as each vied for the same market.
Two competing American entrepreneurs, D. C. Corbin and Fritz Heinze, were awarded charters to build railways to the developing mines of Rossland. Heinze had already secured a contract to carry and process ore from Rossland’s Le Roi mines.4 He soon gained the support of the BC government with his plan to build a railway from Rossland to a smelter he agreed to erect on Canadian soil, at Trail Creek. The government was willing to subsidise the construction of his Columbia and Western Railway and grant him 11 200 acres of land for every mile of the narrow gauge track he built.5,6 Soon, Heinze’s Trail smelter was producing 730 tons of matte, or partly-processed ore, per day.7 Unfortunately, all of the matte produced was delivered via Corbin’s rail and river transport network to Butte, Montana to be refined.8
Corbin proposed to build another rail line to Rossland from his Spokane Falls and Northern Railway, south of the border. He asked the BC government for no subsidy, making his proposed railway attractive, even though it would direct more of the profits from ore processing into American hands.9 Corbin's Red Mountain Railway continued south to Northport, Washington as the Columbia and Red Mountain Railway.10 He also became involved in the building of a competing smelter at Northport, Although his could only process half the ore Heinze’s Trail smelter handled.11 Since both smelters were connected by rail to the United States, they imported coke from stockpiles at Spokane, Washington. The CPR sought to develop an all-Canadian route to the region and gain control of the Kootenay mineral trade. By 1897 the railroad company was building the British Columbia Southern Railway through the Crowsnest Pass to Kootenay Lake.12 The CPR completed a further connection to Trail using tugboats and barges and its existing line from Nelson to Robson, allowing the railroad company to deliver coke produced at the Crowsnest coalfields to the ore-producing region. The rail and lake steamer line also stimulated the development of other ore-producing towns along the route, including Kimberley, Moyie, and Riondel.
To gain control of the Kootenay mineral-producing operations, the CPR needed to purchase parts of Heinze’s interests. Heinze and Corbin had invested so much money – most of it raised by selling shares – into their Kootenay operations that their companies’ survival depended on the continued success of the Rossland mines. Unfortunately for them, the most easily mined ore at Rossland was being depleted. Also, their expensive but poorly-built rail lines were susceptible to washouts and derailments.13,14 Since they could not afford to upgrade or expand their operations to bring in new revenue from mining, smelting and transportation, Heinze and Corbin were eventually forced to sell out.
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Introduction | Elk Valley | The Kootenay Smelter | The Missing Link | Heat and Electricity | Pacific Steamships | The Strikebreakers on Vancouver Island
© MM Fernie & District Historical Society.
