Before Europeans came to the North Island, First Nations
travelled extensively in dugout canoes and via an extensive network of overland
trails. One of these trails crossed from
the mudflats at the end of Hardy Bay to what is now Coal Harbour in Quatsino
Sound.
In pre-contact times, before large numbers of First Nations
had moved to the area around Fort Rupert, there were a number of sites utilized
by First Nations in Hardy Bay.
With the arrival of settlers, and the advent of steamships,
people and goods needed to move from Fort Victoria to the North Island. In the late 1800s, it became clear that the quickest
way for people and mail to get to Quatsino Sound in a timely manner was to travel
by steamer up the East Coast of Vancouver Island, and then over the 13 mile
trail from Hardy Bay to Coal Harbour.
Hardy Bay - Coal Harbour Trail |
In 1888 Indian agent R.H. Pedcock reported walking the trail
in 6 hours, in order to visit the Quatsino First Nation villages. The trail generally traced the same route as
today’s road.
The old community of Port Hardy, on the East side of the
bay, was a stop for steamships. It only took steamers 3 days to get to Port
Hardy from Fort Victoria, whereas it took 10 days to come up the West Coast of
Vancouver Island to Quatsino Sound, and the trip on the exposed West Coast was
much rougher.
The trail from Hardy Bay started in the mudflats by the
mouth of the Quatse River. There was a
small boat which took people from old Port Hardy (present day Beaver Cove) to
the trailhead. The charge for the boat
was .50 cents per man, but if you volunteered to row the trip was free.
Residents of Coal Harbour were hired to pack mail on the
trail. They would leave Coal Harbour in
the morning, hike the trail, row to Port Hardy to collect the mail, row back to
the trail, and hike back to Quatsino Sound.
Then they would use a small boat to deliver mail around the Sound.
A source of tension was mail orders for liquor placed by
workers at the Port Alice Pulp Mill. Albert
Hole, who delivered the mail, at one point refused to deliver the bottles,
packed in boxes stuffed with straw, because they were too heavy. He insisted they had to be sent via second
class mail on the West Coast steamer.
Hole was accompanied on his mail route by a large sheepdog,
which was fitted with a harness allowing it to carry up to 60 lbs.
In 1895 surveyor Hugh Burnet surveyed a route between Coal
Harbour and Port Hardy known as the “Colonization Road,” because it would allow
settlers to bring their belongings and livestock into the area. Construction began on a 10 ft wide corduroy road
in 1895, but after two years and $3071.34 there was still a four mile long
section in the middle which was still a path.
In 1898 the Quatsino colonists circulated a petition to the
government which, among other things, requested that Lord Varney (who had
homesteaded at the mouth of the Marble River), be replaced as the road
construction supervisor due to the fact that he was “utterly incapable of
supervising the road-building crew.”
In 1916 the ‘trail’ was officially opened as the Port Hardy
‘road.’ Once a wagon could traverse the
length of the road, perishables could be delivered to Coal Harbour and around
Quatsino Sound. At this time a road
house was also opened in Coal Harbour to lodge travelers. Horses were used to transport passengers and
goods.
In 1927 the Hardy Bay – Coal Harbour road was graveled, and
the first motorized vehicles travelled the road. Very soon a bus service, taxi service, and
freight delivery were all utilizing the road.
A few years earlier the town of Port Hardy had moved to the West side of
Hardy Bay, and the trail eventually was connected to the new community by road,
eliminating the need to row across the Bay.
Coal Harbour Hotel, Store, and Telegraph - 1927 |
It wasn’t until the construction of the Island Copper Mine
that the road was finally paved, and the link between Coal Harbour and Port
Hardy finally became more reliable and permanent.
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ReplyDeleteNice bit of local history! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
ReplyDeleteAs an Aussie who has a son living in Pt. McNeill, i love learning the history of the North Island. Thank you for all the info. One of my favourite places is Coal Harbour.
ReplyDeleteI recall reading about this trail.They started build the Hudson Bay Company without our permission.Mostly everyone was potaltching in Quatsino/Coal Harbour.
ReplyDeleteThis Kwakiutl was concern what was happening here.So he walked and ran to Quatsino or Coal Harbour to let them know what was happening. That trail must that connection.There's a trail across the street of old Kay's Corner store that might the one.My educated guess.