World War I

From 1911 until the beginning of the First World War in 1914, settlers flowed into the Peace River country though the Edson-Grande Prairie Trail and contributed to the development of the region by homesteading or working in the various developing industries.

The situation changed once World War I began as recruitment drives, which were common to all areas of the west, came to the Peace country and young men left to join the Canadian and British armed forces.

As the Peace River country was experiencing a loss of its young men to the war effort, there was still a drive to develop the region. The Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway (EDBC) was under construction and it began to suffer as there were not enough men to work. The railroad bed was laid in some sections, but the demand for steel rail in Europe would leave the work undone.

When the war ended new efforts were begun to bring more settlers to fill the lands that were available in the Peace country. Homesteads continued to be settled as the railroad and roads began to be improved again. Communities continued to be built more rapidly as newly developed crops for the shorter growing season brought increased production.

The Great Depression of the 1930s brought another large wave of settlement to the Peace River country, as those fleeing the drought of the southern prairies found new hope in the Peace country. Those coming to the Peace country included veterans from the war and others from Europe.

The period from the beginning of the First World War until the beginning of the Second World War was one of continuous growth and development in the Peace country. There were times of struggle, but there were also many stories of success and new beginnings.

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