The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
At the end of August 1913, Captain Bucey was taking the BC Express up from Fort George to Tête Jaune Cache when he was stopped a cable strung across the river at Mile 141 where the railway was building a bridge. Although the railway had promised that they would not impede steamer travel on the river, it was apparent that they were doing just that. Bucey turned the BC Express back towards Fort George and immediately wired the company's head office at Ashcroft and informed them of the obstruction. The BC Express Company had the Board of Railway Commissioners investigate the situation and the Board came back in the company's favor and told the railway they must build the bridge at Mile 141 and the other at Bear River with lift spans as they had promised. The GTP refused the order, stating that if they changed the level of the bridges they'd have to change the level of the grade. The company took the railway to court for damages and loss of revenue, as they had been earning in excess of $5000 dollars a week on that route, but by the time the case was heard, World War I had begun and the company's attorney was engaged in war work and was unable to appear. His replacement, a junior partner with little experience, was unable to prepare and present the evidence properly and the company lost the case. Some historians have suggested that the railway built the bridges to impede navigation out of spite and dislike for the BC Express Company because its owner at that time, Charles Vance Millar, had successfully negotiated with the First Nations people at Fort George to buy the land that the GTP wanted for their town-site, forcing the GTP to sell some of that prime property to Millar, which he developed and was later called the Millar Addition.
Read more about this topic: Barnard's Express
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