The settlement of Tomslake

 

Some of what follows is explained at the end of my short fiction, “Into the Mountains”. However, this might also be helpful and the picture should supply some idea of the scope of the area.

The settlement and development of all regions of North America has created some interesting stories. Each area and each story is different and creates interest for different reasons in different people. The settling and opening of the Tomslake area, south-east of Dawson Creek, BC, at least as we understand it today took place in the late 1930s and into the ‘40s. However, I know, from having spoken with a few early trappers and prospectors that there was some development as early as the late 1890s, small though it might have been

The “historic” settlement (recorded) is explained somewhat at the end of “Into the Mountains”. Those who were expelled from the Sudeten Land after the Munich Agreement of 1938, many of whom were afraid for their lives when the Nazis moved into their country, had to find a new home.  Many of those who came to Canada became homesteaders in the Tomslake / Swan Lake area of British Columbia’s Peace River Country.

When they alighted from the trains (tracks arrived in Dawson Creek in 1932) they were shown the quarter sections (160 acres) that would now be their home. In some cases this was a great surprise since they had been retailers or tradesmen in their former home and knew little (in some cases nothing) about the business of farming. For those who knew agriculture (in Europe of the day on much less than 160 acres) the land they were now looking at was covered with aspen, pine, spruce and willow.

Above is a pic (taken September 21, 2020) of how the country looks today. It was taken on a high point (200 ft.??) looking North East. On the left is a field (narrow yellow strip) with a row of trees along the north and east sides approximately 2 miles from the camera. Behind that row of trees sit the Tomslake store and school. In the distance, slightly right of center is a ridge which is about 15 km (9 miles?) east and well into Alberta.