The Bulkley Valley was an exciting place in 1913. The new Grand Trunk Pacific railroad was almost finished, cut through the wilderness on its way from Prince Rupert to eastern Canada. Until then, the only way to get to the valley was by a rough horse trail from Hazelton to Aldermere and Houston.

The new railroad created opportunites. Prospectors scoured the pristine mountain valleys for minerals. Farm land was available to anyone willing to cut and clear the trees. A new town called Smithers was to be built on a swampy benchland high above the Bulkley River to serve as a regional repair centre for the new railroad.

Among the adventurers attracted to the valley was an architect who owned a box camera. His name was G.C. Killam. He took 139 photos of the Bulkley Valley. its people and scenery from 1913 to 1917. Killam then left Smithers for Victoria to join the Canadian Army in World War I. He survived the war but he never returned to Smithers.

The fragile glass plates from Killam's photos were placed in a box and stored in a back room of an old Post Office building on Main Street. Fortunately for us, the glass plates survive and Killam photos give us a rare view of the early days of European settlement in the valley.