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Early Days at Swift Creek: Written By Andy Orason from Yellowhead Pass and Its PeopleDad came out in 1913 from Drumheller, Alberta, to join the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway from Jasper to Kamloops, which did not get to Kamloops until 1914.
Mother, my brother, and I came out in early 1914, at which time Dad had stayed as section foreman at Swift Creek. There was no station at that time for us to live in, so our first home was a boxcar, divided into three parts. One end was Mom and Dad's quarters; the other end was where my brother and I slept; the central part was the kitchen and eating area. The plumbing was outside behind the trees. The section crew lived in another boxcar and my mother did their cooking and laundry.
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The Orasons1915
Swift Creek (Valemount), British Columbia, Canada
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Andy Orason's parents with the family dog standing on the side porch of the Swift Creek train station. The Orasons and their two sons were the first people to live in the new station, which was built in 1915.4
The Swift Creek Station was built at its original location, approximately one and a half miles west of where it now is at Valemount, in 1914, by the Bridge and Building gang. There were two bedrooms and an operator's room. A telegraph office was built out in front, with large bay windows on three sides so that trains could be seen coming in both directions. Most of the material was supplied by Lindsay Brothers' sawmill, which was located on Swift Creek. This mill was operated by waterpower.Passenger trains came once a day, one eastbound and one westbound. They picked up the mailbag on the fly with a mail arm and also threw off the incoming mail. The way-freight stopped at all the stations bringing supplies from Jasper, Kamloops and Edmonton to people in the area. In those days when the phone rang it didn't matter who the call was for; from Lucerne to Blue River, everybody on the line picked up the receiver. You knew everybody's business. It was a thing that kept everybody together. You got to know the people along the line, even those on the Grand Trunk Line.
The passenger trains used to stop at Mount Robson to view the mountain and also there was the 'Huckleberry Train.' People would come from as far as Winnipeg and from Vancouver to pick huckleberries. They would camp there, also. Mother and I could pick a fifty-pound lard pail full.
As section foreman, Dad had three to five men under him. The amount of track worked on was half the distance to the next station in both directions. Jackman was seven miles on one side and Canoe River was nine miles on the other. The Swift Creek section crew originally used a handcar, (pump car), until Dad bought a motor car (putt, putt). The company didn't supply these machines to all section crews at that time. A lot of people came with Dad on the motor car to go and buy groceries at Lucerne, through a fur terminal. The trains pretty well stayed on schedule, as they had to make connections and meet at certain places.
(Early Days at Swift Creek: Written By Andy Orason from Yellowhead Pass and Its People)
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Young Andy OrasonSwift Creek (Valemount), British Columbia, Canada
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Young Andy Orason posing for a government survey team working in the Swift Creek area.Andy kept busy during his 'Swift Creek days' delivering mail for Kennedy's Sawmill and as janitor at the old Cranberry Lake log school house
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Michael OrasonSwift Creek (Valemount), British Columbia, Canada
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Mr. and Mrs. Cox had a small store and Post Office about half a mile from the station, the nearest other store was Blue River. In a clearing by our Swift Creek Station home we had a garden.When we arrived at Swift Creek, the only residents in the area that I can remember were: The Blackman family, Mrs. Gordon, Dave Henry, Joe Lynch, Mr. McKirdy, who was the first Ranger or Game Warden?and the Cox family. There were Fryes from Albreda and later I remember the Clausen family.
(Early Days at Swift Creek: Written By Andy Orason from Yellowhead Pass and Its People)
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Betty & Hazel Cox1928-1929
Valemount, British Columbia, Canada
Credits:Andy Orason
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Hazel and Betty Cox were schoolmates of Andy Orason back during the old log schoolhouse days.(Photo taken by Andy Orason on his first visit back to the area since leaving in 1920)
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