page_title: Aleza Lake, British Columbia
section_title: Forestry Companies
hierarchical_section_title: Aleza Lake, British Columbia / History / Forestry Companies
caption_attribution_description: English: Tree falling along East Line, 1917
context_page_description: Aleza Lake is immediately south of the eastern end of its namesake lake, and west of Upper Fraser, in central British Columbia. The community, which clusters the railway line and highway, comprises 15–20 full-time residents.
context_section_description: The narrow strip of accessible spruce forest bordering the railway that stretched some 100 miles (160 km) east of Prince George was known as the East Line. J. Ruttan (probably c.1863–1935), who moved his small mill from Vanderhoof to the western end of Hansard Lake, operated 1917–c.1919, before relocating. 
  In the fall of 1917, Arnold K. Shives (1883–1962) opened the 30,000-foot shift capacity Aleza Lake Sawmills, on the lake, northwest of the west switch. Although company president, he and wife Claire (1889–1957) remained Prince George residents until the mid-1920s, where he was a violinist with the orchestra, and vice-president of the Upper Fraser Spruce Manufacturers Association. He also pursued lumber interests in Shelley. 
  In 1919, the liquidator of the Hansard Lake Lumber Co., 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the community, sought to sell or lease the mill. Before the corrugated iron exterior and interior of the company buildings at Willow River could be sold, thieves stole the sheets. Sawmill machinery and equipment remained in storage in Prince George as late as 1921. By then, the Anthony Lumber Co. had acquired the Hansard Lake facilities. Its capacity of 15,000–20,000 feet, compared to the Aleza Lake mill's 35,000–40,000 feet. With a mill crew of 25, the latter joined Giscome and Hutton as the dominant mills on the East Line. 
  In the 1920s, with logging limited to the winter and fall seasons to facilitate the hauling of logs over snow and ice, loggers were transient. However, year-round work existed in sawmill towns such as Giscome, Aleza Lake, Hutton, Penny and Longworth. Injuries and death were common in sawmills and logging camps. In 1922 at the Anthony mill, a piece of wood ejected by the edger, which embedded in the muscles of a worker's thigh, required surgical removal. A 1922 fire totally destroyed the Aleza Lake mill, but the lumber in the yards was saved.
  The following year, Mr. Klingaman from Edmonton acquired the Anthony mill, and settled property tax arrears after the government seized company assets. Hugh Blackburn and Percy Hasselfield, of Bannock, Saskatchewan, purchased the Aleza Lake mill site and timber. Their private residences were south of the track near Miles 108.4 and 108.5 respectively. Operating as the Northland Spruce Lumber Co., the company logged in the vicinity that winter and relocated their 40,000-foot capacity Bannock mill to the site in spring 1924. The upgraded 50,000-foot capacity mill commenced cutting that summer. A 1926 fire on the mill property destroyed the blacksmith shop. Months later, Harvey Small Jr. slipped and drowned while manoeuvering logs on the lake. Three years later, his parents faced further tragedy when their married daughter died from an illness. Eight horse teams hauled logs along pole roads to the mill.
  In late 1927, the insolvent company ceased operating, and the sheriff seized its assets and those of its logging contractor, Liersch Logging Co., because of outstanding wages, creditors' accounts, stumpages and royalties. Unsecured creditors expected to receive little to nothing. The advertised assets attracted some sales, Northland Spruce declared bankruptcy, and Liersch Logging faced further seizures. The Lyle Lumber Co. constructed and began operating a 25,000-foot capacity mill. The millpond was an intact dam that Northland Spruce had installed previously on the creek. Clydesdale horses hauled the logs across the frozen lake from a logging point to the west.
  In 1929, Gale & Trick opened a 60,000-foot capacity sawmill at the former Anthony site on Hansard Lake. Built with new machinery, the output helped satisfy the Oshawa company's exclusive contract to supply General Motors Canada with wooden packing crates for shipping vehicles. The facility included a cookhouse, two bunkhouses, a warehouse and office building. Initially logging at the east end of Hansard Lake, the company employed a mill crew of 60–80 and about 100 loggers. The enterprise joined Giscome and Sinclair Mills as the dominant mills on the East Line. With lumber demand declining prior to the Gr
caption: Tree falling crew, Aleza Lake, 1917.
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