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Scott and Mildred MacDonald Photograph Collection
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View of Squamish around 1901 - 1905

View of Squamish around 1901 - 1905. View of Mamquam River before it changed its course. Magee's hay field on the left.

Mamquam River was named for the Indian word meaning "smelly water".

Squamish is named for the Indian word "Squohomish" (various spellings) meaning "strong wind". The name was changed to Newport in 1911 by the H.S. and P.V.N. Railway and was changed back on September 14, 1914 as the result of a contest for school children. The name had to be changed since there was another town in BC named Newport. The twelve final names considered in the contest were: Newport, Strathacona, Prince Arthur, Kingsport, Great Haven, Columbia, Imperial, Squamish, Pacificgate, Bonaventure, and Viveleroi.

Trapping shelter at Elaho

Trapping shelter at Elaho built by Charles Schoonover. The men belong to Mather's logging outfit. Photo taken around 1908 - 1909.

Elaho River forms the west branch of the Squamish River. It is named for the Indian word meaning "good hunting area".

Steam donkey along Cheekye at Yapp's Logging Camp

Squamish Timber Company's yarding donkey.

In 1907, Allan Newton Barbour and his brother Charles came to Squamish and logged using 6 yoke of oxen and took out six 24' logs a "turn" (load). The area logged was near the PGE Shops (by Castle's Crossing), across the river rom the shops, on the Burnt Ground near the cemetery, at Paradise Valley, and about five miles north of Cheekye. 2 to 20 men were employed. It was customary to log close to the river so the logs just had to be dragged into the river and floated to the Howe Sound where they were picked up by the Powell River company tugs and taken up to their mills. Log jams were broken up by men in canoes. Mr McComb was the first to tow logs down the river in a boat. The Barbours would later sell out to Mr Yapp. Mr Yapp's Squamish Timber Company was incorporated on March 21, 1907. In 1910, the Yapp Company cleared the Cheekye area. A steam donkey would haul the logs 400 feet and then an 8 horse team hauled them 1/2 mile on a skid road. Another donkey, called a roader, took the logs to the river. Here the logs followed a log trough. Instead of chokers, logging dogs were used. When the Howe Sound Northern Railway came into Cheakamus, the Yapp company used the train to transport logs to the booming grounds at Squamish. In 1911, a company owned by Mr Lamb took over the Yapp stand of timber.

In 1912, Arthur McIntyre, Fidolle Laviolette, Amedy Levesque, and George Laviolette ("The French Boys") won a steam donkey from Al Barbour in a poker game. Barbour had refused to sell it to them earlier. Mr Barbour went back to logging with horses hauling the timber out on skid roads until he could afford another donkey. The boys formed a partnership called the Laviolette, McIntyre, and Levesque Logging Co.

Elvira Schoonover with Billy Goat

Elvira Schoonover with "Billy Goat". Picture taken where present Easter Seal Camp stands.

Elvira's husband brought home an orphaned kid goat one day and Elvira raised it on the bottle. It became quite tame but as it grew it became a loving nuisance. The Schoonovers didn't know where to put it until an ad for "wild" animals in a Vancouver paper gave them an "out". An answer brought the agent for a noble English lord to Schoonover Manor and soon Big Billy was part of the Duke of Bedford's estate.

Yapp's logging camp

Yapp's logging camp on the Cheekye River above the railroad bridge. Photo taken around 1910.

In 1907, Allan Newton Barbour and his brother Charles came to Squamish and logged using 6 yoke of oxen and took out six 24' logs a "turn" (load). The area logged was near the PGE Shops (by Castle's Crossing), across the river rom the shops, on the Burnt Ground near the cemetery, at Paradise Valley, and about five miles north of Cheekye. 2 to 20 men were employed. It was customary to log close to the river so the logs just had to be dragged into the river and floated to the Howe Sound where they were picked up by the Powell River company tugs and taken up to their mills. Log jams were broken up by men in canoes. Mr McComb was the first to tow logs down the river in a boat. The Barbours would later sell out to Mr Yapp. Mr Yapp's Squamish Timber Company was incorporated on March 21, 1907. In 1910, the Yapp Company cleared the Cheekye area. A steam donkey would haul the logs 400 feet and then an 8 horse team hauled them 1/2 mile on a skid road. Another donkey, called a roader, took the logs to the river. Here the logs followed a log trough. Instead of chokers, logging dogs were used. When the Howe Sound Northern Railway came into Cheakamus, the Yapp company used the train to transport logs to the booming grounds at Squamish. In 1911, a company owned by Mr Lamb took over the Yapp stand of timber.

Research compiled by Eric Andersen, 2011: The location of the camp is actually above the highway bridge and not the railway bridge.
The Squamish Timber Company is often referred to as "Yapp's", after company boss Chester Yapp. According to one source, the company was incorporated in March 1907. It was operating on the Cheekye Fan by 1908.

In front of logging locomotive

Left to right: Harry Brightbill, Sainsbury (cook), Amedy Levesque in front of logging locomotive, 1910-1013.

Amedy Levesque and his partners, Leviolette, McIntyre, and Levesque Co. ("The French Boys") were the first to use high rigging extensively in the valley. To rig a 70 foot high spruce tree, Arthur McIntyre would go up the tree, no spures, and chop off branches as he went. When he was tired, Amedy Levsque went up, finished chopping off the branches, topped the tree, and hung the two guy lines and blocks.

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