Current bridge built over Nechako River in Vanderhoof
1983
Road paved from Vanderhoof to Saik’uz
1980
Stoney Creek Elders Society forms
Running water at Stoney Creek
1978
Co-op Shopping Mall opens
1976
Lejac Residential School closes
1975
Mormon Church built
1973
New St. John Hospital opens (present day location)
First Saik’uz Band Office built
1970
Stoney Creek Dancers group forms
1965-70
Influx of teachers from the United States to Vanderhoof
1965
Endako Mines opens
1963
Electricity at Stoney Creek
1960
First Nations can vote in Federal elections
1953
Government Building built
1952
Kenney Dam completed
Stoney Creek Homemakers Society formed
1951
Burrard Street paved - first street paving in Vanderhoof
Legislation banning the balhat (potlatch) and land claims gatherings of First Nations is dropped
1949
First Nations can vote freely in BC
Day schools open in Saik’uz
1948
Original bridge destroyed and new bridge built over Nechako River
1944
Migratory Bird Sanctuary designated
First Saik’uz baby born at St. John Hospital
1942
Influx of 50 Mennonite families
1941
St. John Hospital official opening
1940
Fish weirs built on Fraser River to aid salmon passage
1939
Vanderhoof Hotel built
1934
Moose move into Nechako Valley become main part of First Nation diet
1932
Holy Trinity Anglican Church built
1928
First airplane lands in Vanderhoof
1927
Federal law bans First Nations gatherings
1926
Village of Vanderhoof established
1924
New railroad station built in Vanderhoof
1922
Lejac Residential School opens in Fraser Lake
1920
O.K. Hotel built
First Nation traplines now passed down patrilineally
1918
First motor car in Vanderhoof
Spanish influenza hits Saik’uz hundreds die
Influx of Mennonites
1916
First bridge built over Nechako River
1914
Last spike of CPR driven on Apr 7, immigration to area increases
First railroad station built • First Police building built
1913
Salmon runs collapse due to rock slide blocking the Fraser River caused from railway construction. This event will affect future success of salmon runs. Major impact on First Nations.
1912
William Evans and Florrie Hargreaves first white couple married in Vanderhoof
1909
Plans of the railway trigger immigration and industry to area
Salmon run fails
Swanell surveys Nechako River
1906
Village of Vanderhoof born but in its infancy
Barricade Treaty forces First Nations to abandon traditional fishing methods
1906
First Post Office opens at Nulki Lake telegraph cabin
Frank Swanell and crew survey Stoney Creek
1901
Telegraph Trail completed
1897
Passage along the Nechako River of gold miners headed to Yukon Gold Rush
1895
Influenza causes deaths at Saik’uz
1890
Indian Agent appointed to Nechako area
1888
Major hardship among First Nations in the Stuart-Nechako Valley - starvation due to lack of salmon, mild winter, sickness, absence of fur-bearing animals - many move throughout region
1885
Father Morice arrives and eventually creates the Carrier syllabary
1884
Indian Act bans the balhat (potlatch)
1880
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) construction starts
1873
Oblates priests open mission in Fort St. James
1869
British Columbia becomes a province of Canada
1869
Passage along the Nechako River of gold miners heading to Omineca Gold Rush
1868
Durieu system used in Dakelh villages
Priests ban polygamy, gambling, matrilineal inheritance, conjuring and drinking for First Nations
1867
Confederation of Canada
1862
Passage along the Nechako River of gold miners heading to Stikine Gold Rush
Smallpox epidemic hits First Nations from Stuart Lake to Fraser Lake
1855
Salmon run fails in Nechako River
1851
Salmon run fails in Nechako River
1849
Measles outbreak in most First Nations villages
1842
First Oblates Priest arrives in New Caledonia
1840
Chief Kwah dies
1838
First recorded smallpox outbreak among First Nation villages
1832
Salmon run fails in Nechako River - First Nations face starvation at Fraser Lake
1830
Salmon run fails in Nechako River
First Department of Indian Affairs established
1823
Huge balhats (potlatch) hosted by Chief Kwah attended by neighbouring clans
1815
Salmon run fails in Fraser and Nechako rivers
1807
Explorer Simon Fraser builds first colonial developed road in area between Fort St. James and Fort McLeod
1806
Explorer Simon Fraser of the North West Company met by Chief Kwah on Stuart Lake
Establishes Fort Fraser and Fort St. James
1793
Explorer Alexander Mackenzie makes first contact with Dakelh people
1763
British Royal Proclamation reserves undefined North American land for First Nations people
1755
Chief Kwah born
1745
“Chunlak Massacre” Dakelh people move out of Chunlak after a series of military exchanges with the Chilcotins. They settle with kin in Lheidli, Saik’uz and Nak’azdli.
1497
Explorer-merchant John Cabot makes his first voyage to Eastern Canada
1001
First Viking explorers arrive to North America and establish Vinland, at present day L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
9500
Archaeological evidence (spearheads and arrowheads) suggesting first people arrived in Canada from Asia. Dakelh people believe they have been on this land for time immemorial.
