At the end of the 19th
Century, the west coast of Canada was dangerous place for the movement of
vessels. There was little European settlement along the coast north of
Victoria. The only navigational aids for vessel traffic consisted of a
scattering of lighthouses. The Royal Navy had charted some of the coast, but
many dangerous rocks had yet to be discovered. The main shipping route to the
major population center was by the Straight of Juan de Fuca, a bit tricky to
find from seaward and often filled with contrary winds.
The 1907 Canadian Dominion Government, in an effort to provide some measure of safety
for mariners, implemented a plan to provide a life saving trail along the south
coast of Vancouver Island, lifeboat stations, and wireless radio stations.
The first five, Vancouver, Victoria, Pachena Point and Estevan Point were all
operational by January 1908 while Cape Lazo came on line a few months later.
By the time the decade was out, Triangle Island, Ikeda Head, and Digby Island
were added to the list of stations.
(Photo: Lofty Harris at
Estevan Point-1918)
In 1911 a young British Post Office telegrapher signed on with the Dominion
Wireless Service in British Columbia. He had a camera and about 400 of his
photos, rescued by his nephew from the dust bin after his death in 1981, are
featured here. By the time he had retired Jack Bowerman had risen to the
position of District Superintendant of Radio for all of British Columbia and in
1946 had received the Order of the British Empire for his lifetime's work.
(Photo: Operators Tee, Bowerman and Berry at Triangle Island-1913)
By today's standards, living conditions at the outlying wireless stations
were somewhat
grim. Food and materials were delivered every 4 to 6 months.
Household refrigeration was unheard of, so fresh vegetables would be grown and
fresh meat hunted. At Ikeda Wireless the operators carried supplies
over a four mile trail. However families made do and each station became a
community.
In the early days the living conditions were rough and the wireless equipment
primitive--rough radio! Never the less, this was the cutting edge
technology of its day. The ability to communicate at a distance of
hundreds of miles was only a dream in the dozen years previous to this coastal
building activity.
Another trove of photos from the 1930's was loaned to me by the daughter of
Charles Aitkens. Chas spent most of his time as an operator at Estevan Point
before joining the air force at the outbreak of WW2.
In March of 2009 I was
contacted by Fred Petersen who was holding a number of photos taken by Lofty
Harris, an operator in the 1912 and on era. These photos are an excellent
source for photos of Ikeda and Dead Tree.
The buttons at the top of this page will take you to
the various photo collection areas.
As to this site, it serves to give this history a wide audience and an
opportunity to help me identify the people in the photos. Not all the
photos are related to the station equipment. Many are of the people,
buildings and events. I've included them as they do give a sense of times. The
original photos
seldom had any notes penciled on them and thus some sleuthing is
being done.
Last changes
June 06/09. Added some modern
Triangle Island photos under All The Rest/Stations.
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here.
