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Rapid Expansion: The Crowsnest Pass1, 1898-1913
The turning point in the industry occurred after 1897. By this
time, the great economic boom, which characterized the Laurier
years, had begun. The economy of the Alberta and Rocky Mountain
region was being transformed by massive immigration and
settlement. Railways were starting to proliferate across the
countryside, opening markets to established mines, and
encouraging the establishment of new producing fields. A series
of new coalfields would eventually be exploited, both in the
mountains and plains areas. The pivotal developments, however,
took place in the
Crowsnest Pass, a narrow opening in the
mountains 40 kilometres north of the American border, extending
about 120 kilometres from west to east, from Elko in British
Columbia to Burmis in what later became Alberta, then part of
the Northwest Territories.
Development in the Pass was made possible by
the presence of immense coal stocks located in proximity to
rapidly-expanding hard-rock mines in
southeastern British
Columbia. As industrial development emerged at Trail, Nelson,
and elsewhere in the Kootenay region, the Crowsnest coal
reserves became valuable for the first time, in order to fuel
the smelters and power the steam locomotives providing
transportation in the region. The key would be the construction
of a railway linking the Pass with the metal mines to the west
and with the emerging settlement areas of the Northwest
Territories.2
The railway became feasible with the
conclusion of the Crowsnest Pass Agreement of 1897. This pact
was the culmination of several understandings which together
defined, not only the terms under which a railway would be
built, but also the arrangement of mineral rights on the British
Columbia side of the Pass, and the
terms under which the CPR could establish freight rates for
Western farmers. Four parties were involved. A group of
capitalistsbased in British Columbia, but also including
Liberal Senator George A. Cox and others from Ontariowere
interested in economic development of the Pass. The British
Columbia government had granted this group substantial mineral
rights and the charter to build a railway. The CPR was anxious
to acquire the carrier traffic of the area and to forestall
competition from American railways. Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal
government was willing to support the huge corporation's plans
to block American expansion, but only if the CPR agreed to
negotiate a better deal for Western farmers facing high CPR
freight rates. The CPR accepted these terms in return for the
railway rights and a cash subsidy to build the line. The Cox
group were left with substantial mineral rights, giving this
group a near monopoly over mining on the British Columbia side
of the Pass.3
These arrangements resulted in
much different coal-mining operations on the two sides of the
Pass. In British Columbia, Cox's Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company
held the rights to over 250,000 acres, and dominated the
industry, becoming by far the largest coal producer in the whole
region of Alberta and southeastern British Columbia prior to the
First World War. On the eastern side of the Pass, the area was
still part of the Northwest Territories and subject to federal
mineral regulations.
Federal policies facilitated development,
but not the accumulation of large tracts of land by any one
developer. The result was the involvement of a series of
companies, all small in comparison to the Crow's Nest Pass Coal
Company, but huge in relation to previous mining operations in
the Alberta region. Investment here came from eastern Canada,
the United States, and in several cases from Europe. Mines were
established at Frank,
Lille,
Blairmore,
Coleman,
Bellevue,
Hillcrest,
Passburg (Leitch Collieries), Burmis, and Lundbreck,
as well as at Beaver Mines to the south.4
Expansion was rapid during the
early years of the 20th century. By 1913, the Pass
was producing 3.2 million short tons of coal per annum,
accounting for about 70 percent of the total in Alberta and
southeastern British Columbia as a whole. On
the Alberta side, the main customer was the railways, especially
the CPR. While coal was sold to the CPR and other railways in
British Columbia, coke ovens were also erected at
Coal Creek,
Michel,
Hosmer, and
Morrissey to produce fuel for the
smelters of
British Columbia and the adjoining parts of the
United States.5
In spite of
the growth of the Crowsnest coal industry, it remained in an
unstable financial state because of high costs, market
limitations, and the overweening influence of the railways. The
expense of mining in the mountains was tremendous.
Steeply-inclined seamsoften twisted, faulted, and prone to gas
accumulationsmade mechanization at the coal face almost
impossible, resulting in dependence on large numbers of skilled
miners. In addition to
labour costs, the nature of the product
itself entailed great expenses. Pass coal was often friable,
crumbly and difficult to transport, which made complex handling
and screening procedures necessary on the surface. If the coal
was intended for the smelting market,
large investments in coke
ovens became necessary. All the surface facilities had to be
constructed in difficult mountain conditions, where they were
subject to snow slides in winter, and forest fires in the
summer.6
Saddled with high costs,
producers faced a market that was limited, and controlled in
large measure by the railways. The market for smelting coke was
never as great as anticipated. Especially on the Alberta side of
the Pass, where ovens were erected at Coleman, Lille, and at
Leitch Collieries, smelters took a very small fraction of the
total output. Coal operators were prevented from accessing
markets outside the Crowsnest Pass by long transportation routes
and high freight rates. While charging premium rates for
carrying coal, the CPR was able to insist on low prices as a
consumer, because the collieries had so few alternatives. Caught
in this web, the coal companies tended to operate near the edges
of financial stability, even during the boom years prior to
1913, and had great difficulties in the 1920s and 1930s.7
William N.T. Wylie, "Coal-Mining
Landscapes: Commemorating Coal Mining in Alberta and
Southeastern British Columbia," a report prepared for the
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Parks Canada
Agency, 2001.
See Also: The Coal
IndustryOverview, Rapid Expansion,
Domestic and Steam Coalfields,
1914-1947: The Struggling Industry,
Collapse and Rebirth,
Settlement of the West,
Issues and ChallengesOverview,
Entrepreneurship, Technology,
Underground Techniques,
Surface Technology,
Surface Mining,
Social Impacts,
Unions,
1882-1913: Unionization and Early Gains,
1914-1920: Revolutionary Movement,
1921-1950s: Labour Unrest and
Setbacks, Mining Companies, People of
the Coal Mines,
The Middle Class,
Miners and Local
Government,
Politics and Economics ,
Environmental Impacts,
Health and SafetyOverview,
The State and
Labour Relations,
The State and
Development after 1918.
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