A few weeks back “Now and Then” revealed the story of silent movie making up the Bull River on the BC side of the Rockies. How and why the Bull River rose to prominence back then is a fascinating story unto itself.
In the Hughes Rocky Mountain Range east of Cranbrook lies a magnificent 4 mile long row of eight peaks known affectionately as the Steeples. At its south end there is a gap where the collective waters of over 60 miles of drainage is forced through a treacherous and now infamous canyon. To behold these waters, lashed into foam and charging through that half mile long, very narrow and deep gorge in a raging torrent is a remarkable sight. At one point the water plunges down 80 feet in a falls that produces a perpetual rainbow. Those waters and canyon go by the name Bull River and came into historic prominence about 140 years ago.
That was about the time when places like Findlay Creek, Perry Creek and Wildhorse Creek around the Fort Steele area were being scoured for placer gold and the area was overrun by all manner of man and beast. The Bull, once named the “Bad River” on Captain Palliser's expedition maps, was not like those tamer creeks around it as far as gold recovery was concerned. Its bouldery bars and deep crevices in bedrock did not offer up there pay dirt easily. There were those who made small fortunes above and below the canyon using bank tunnels, wing dams and flume and sluice boxes. But the canyon itself, where it was assumed a large amount of flattened gold was hidden, did not get that much attention. There were reports of the occasional brave soul having some success by climbing down into the gorge with a tar coated long stick to probe the deep crevices above the water line.
Gold was not the only attraction to the Bull River area back then. More ambitious prospectors began staking some interesting mineralized outcroppings known as igneous dykes. Showings of galena, copper, gold and silver bearing ore were discovered but no continuous veins were ever found. This failure led to a considerable slowdown in claims taking and once the easy gold was stripped out of the area things were fairly quiet until the turn of the century. That's when a prospector by the name of Joseph C. Hooker recognized the hydro-electric power potential of the Bull and staked 400 acres that encompassed the falls and canyon. He also acquired placer and water power rights on another 2 miles of the river. Hooker lacked the finances and expertise to make things happen so he contacted his friend George Henderson down in Beloit, Iowa. Henderson was a native born Scotsman who had come to the U.S. at the age of 16 and had done well. An honest and industrious man, he ran a successful milling business.
In the spring of 1903 Henderson and other interested parties toured the Bull River, liked what they saw and returned that fall to buy out Hooker. Henderson raised $40,000 in investment capital and moved to Bull River Falls where he was to spend the next 17 frustrating years trying to transform the Bull's brute power into electricity.
It should be remembered that the use of electricity as a power source was relatively new back then. It wasn't until 1891 that alternating current at high voltage was introduced, allowing electricity to be transmitted for up to 300 miles.
But electricity was fast becoming an important factor in development and George knew it. The booming coal mines of the Crowsnest Pass, the developing Sullivan Mine and the fast growing town of Cranbrook were all potential markets for Henderson's dream. That dream was to generate power on the Bull River and deliver it to towns from Moyie, B.C. to Frank, Alberta- which are less than 100 miles apart as the crow flies or as the power line strings. Also at that time the northern extension of the C.P.R. from Elko, BC, known as the Kootenay Central Railway was being promoted and it was expected it would pass right near the falls.
In late 1903 Henderson incorporated the Bull River Electric Light and Power Company. Being short of funds he had a plan.
That plan was to use the $40,000 at hand to build a huge flume big enough to hold all the water from the Bull River and bypass the canyon with it.