Walhachin - Catastrophe or Camelot?

Jerry McDonnell was a teacher and librarian the F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham, Ontario.

North America has seen its share of settlement schemes which failed for various reasons and Walhachin, British Columbia, was certainly one of these. Vast expenditures of both money and human effort were unable to keep it going.

Before 1910 there was great enthusiasm for the development of orchards, and the table lands of the dry country high above the Thompson River were chosen as an orchard site. The development company brought mostly upper-class people from Britain to put the scheme into operation.

An enormous flume was constructed to bring water out of the hills and across the river to water the orchards, ignoring the fact that the soil was not really suitable for the enterprise. Vegetable crops were grown between the trees to provide immediate income, although this was bad for the trees. Another problem was that apples produced in the United States could be imported and sold more cheaply than Canadian fruit.

Nevertheless, for nine years the community prospered, the town developed, and there was a glittering social life. The death of the scheme came during World War I, and historians have given various reasons for the failure. In any case, the land eventually was returned to grazing, which had been its original use.

This slim history is profusely illustrated with photographs and is generally well done, although there are some annoying errors: the conversion from miles to kilometres is consistently incorrect and there are both spelling errors and some highly unusual sentence constructions. Nonetheless, this is a good history of one settlement scheme and why it failed. Lack of foresight, the unwillingness to seek advice, and class prejudice are among the culprits. The book is recommended for use in high school courses in Canadian history and geography, where it would provide an excellent case study.