HOPE and FRASER CANYON HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
1808 - Simon Fraser arrived in Hope after his journey through the Canyon.
1846 - Oregon Boundary Treaty signed, establishing 49th Parallel as the Canada/U.S. Border.
1847 - Indian warfare closed the Columbia Basin to trade and fear of U.S. taxation on furs caused James Douglas to order the construction of an alternate road through the Fraser Canyon. The last fur caravan passed down the old brigade trail along the hillsides above Great Okanagan Lake.
1848 - The barely passable Hope Trail was used for the first time, which opened the lower Fraser River as a commercial highway.
1858 - Gold was discovered in the Fraser River above Hope. Trails were cut from Bellingham Bay through dense forests to Fort Hope. Sternwheelers began to provide transportation on the Fraser River to Fort Hope and Fort Yale. The first sawmill on the BC Mainland was constructed at Fort Yale. The first ferry crossing was made at Spuzzum. Lower Fraser Valley population tripled.
1859 - Fort Hope and Fort Yale townsites laid out by James Douglas. Royal Engineers started construction of Cariboo Road through Fraser Canyon.
1860 - James Douglas ordered a trail to be built from Hope to the Rockies. Edgar Dewdney and Walter Moberly opened the Dewdney Trail from Hope to Similkameen (presently followed by Highway 3). St. John the Divine Anglican Church built by Royal Engineers in Yale.
1861 - Christ Church built and consecrated in Hope.
1863 - Last ferry crossing at Spuzzum. The first Alexandra Bridge built at Spuzzum by Joseph Trutch. The Cariboo Wagon Road completed Yale to Quesnel.
1866 - The two colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia united to become the Colony of British Columbia.
1867 - Confederation of 4B colonies to the east.
1868 - At Yale, a convention of British Columbia political leaders, who advocate a union with Canada.
1869 - The Dominion of Canada acquired Hudson's Bay Company lands of the Northwest. First proposal of a railway to link British Columbia with the rest of Canada.
1871 - British Columbia becomes a province of Canada.
1880-88 - Construction of CPR railway through the Fraser Canyon required supply of bridge timbers and trestle material. Emory City established at Emory Creek - site of first newspaper published on BC Mainland, First locomotive landed in BC for use in CPR construction.
1889 - The beginning of logging and milling in Hope. First sawmill established by John Coe to supply local markets. The townsite of Hope was logged with oxen to supply the mill.
1911-18 - Kettle Valley Railway built - construction of Quintette Tunnels through Coquihalla Canyon.
1913-14 - Great Northern Railway constuction on east side of Fraser Canyon. Fraser River channel at Hell's Gate obstructed by slide and debris from railway construction.
1914 - Kettle Valley Railway Bridge constructed across Fraser River at Hope, carried railway traffic on bottom deck, highway traffic along upper timber deck.
1914 - Beginning of World War 1.
1916 - Hope Station built by Great Northern Railway.
1919 - Gorge Dam construction in Skagit Valley.
1926 - Second Alexandra Suspension Bridge built at Spuzzum.
1927 - Diablo Dam construction in Skagit Valley.
1929 -Hope incorporated as Village.
1936 - Ross Dam Phase 1 construction in Skagit Valley.
1939 - World War II is declared.
1940-86 -Boston Bar/North Bend Aerial Ferry in operation at Boston Bar/North Bend.
1942 Major forest fire Mile 30 - 36 Hope/Princeton Highway.
1942-45 - Tashme (Japanese internment camp) in operation in Sunshine Valley.
1944-46 - Hell's Gate Fishways built through international efforts of the Pacific Salmon Commission.
1945-52 - Phases 2 and 3 of Ross Dam construction, massive timber removal from the Skagit Valley.
1948-49 - Fraser River Flood. Highway timber deck on top of Kettle Valley Railroad bridge removed and replaced with steel T-sections. Construction of Hope-Princeton Highway.
1953 - Flooding of the Skagit Valley.
1959 - Kettle Valley Railway Line closed.
1965 The Hope Slide, largest earth and rock slide in the history of British Columbia, closes Highway No.#3. Trans Canada Highway #1 completed. Hope incorporated as a Town.
1973 -Skagit Valley Recreation Area established.
1978 -Start of Coquihalla Highway construction (Highway #5).
1981 - Filming of "First Blood" - the start of movie industry activity.
1984 - Alexandra Bridge Class A Provincial Park established in the Fraser Canyon.
1985 - Start of phase-out Carolin Mine.
1986 - Cog Harrington bridge built across Fraser River, replacing aerial ferry between Boston Bar and North Bend. Expo 86 in Vancouver.
1992 -Town of Hope becomes District of Hope.