Kidd, a former settlement a.k.a. Kidd Station, existed southeast of Dome Creek in central British Columbia. The flag stop both predated and outlived its namesake west of Chilliwack on the BCER.
History Railway Kidd, like Bend to its northwest, and Urling to its southeast, was an original train station (1914) on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway1914 Timetable scanned (the Canadian National Railway after nationalization). Kidd lies at Mile 51.9, Fraser Subdivision (about Mile 141 during the line's construction).
By August 1913, the railway track had been laid from Mile 53 (Tête Jaune) to Mile 138, and then Mile 142.Fort George Tribune: 2 & 9 Aug 1913 Dome Creek has historically described both a specific place and the general area several miles on either side, such as Mile 141,Fort George Herald, 30 Aug 1913 or Mile 142.Fort George Herald: 17 & 31 May 1913 The area may have comprised 2,000 workers housed in construction camps stretching from Mile 141 to 146. The Railway Commission having handed over control to operate this section, the first GTP passenger arrived at Mile 141 that month.
O.E. Hood & Co., which ran stores at the Mile 53 (Tête Jaune), Mile 79 and Mile 142 camps, was erecting a modern building in Fort George.Fort George Herald, 31 May 1913
In 1962, a five-car derailment occurred at Mile 49.Prince George Citizen, 8 Jan 1962 Months later, a mechanical defect derailed 19 cars near the middle of a 120-car freight train between Kidd and Urling. The westbound passenger train was delayed about six hours.Prince George Citizen, 25 Sep 1962
Built in 1914, the standard-design Plan 100‐152 (Bohi’s Type E) station building was demolished in 1953, and replaced by a GTP era freight shed conversion, which was in turn removed before the 2000s.
Service 1914–c.1919 c.1920–c.1921 c.1921–1931 1932–c.1939 c.1940–c.1948 c.1949–1968 1968–1977 1977–c.1989 1920 Timetable: Bulkley Valley Museum collection 1922 Timetable: Northern BC Archives Prince George Citizen: 12 & 19 Nov 19311933 Timetable: Northern BC Archives 1943 Timetable: Northern BC Archives 1960 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1964 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1965 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1967 Timetable: Northern BC Archives 1968 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1972 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1973 Timetable: Northern BC Archives Passenger Regular stop Flag stop Flag stop Flag stop Flag stop Flag stop Way freight Flag stop probably Flag stop probably Regular stop Flag stop Regular stop Flag stop Flag stop
Assumedly, a remeasurement confirmed the siding switch was closer to Mile 51.9
Forestry
The narrow strip of accessible spruce forest bordering the railway that stretched some east of Prince George was known as the East Line. In 1918, the Upper Fraser Lumber Co. of Dome Creek had a logging camp at Kidd.Prince George Citizen, 24 Sep 1918 Frederick (Fred) Thrasher (1890–1967) (Thresher alternate spelling) logged and operated a sawmill during the 1940s.Prince George Citizen: 25 Nov 1943, 17 Feb 1944 to A falling tree fatally crushed logger Walford Swanson (1886–1947).Prince George Citizen, 17 Jul 1947 When the sawmill burned to the ground in 1949, the nearby planer mill and finished lumber were spared.Prince George Citizen, 19 May 1949
It is unclear whether Ptarmigan Lumber, which operated during the 1950s, rebuilt the former mill. Mel McKenzie, the manager, badly fractured an ankle when his speeder jumped the track.Prince George Citizen: 9 Apr 1951 & 19 Jul 1951 Wilf Leboe (1919–2010)Prince George Citizen, 2 Nov 2010 operated Leboe Lumber a mile to the east by the river, which he sold to Jim Chambers (1924–?) from Penny, but it closed by the late 1950s. During the 1970s, Glen Hooker from Bend ran a portable mill on his property at Kidd.
Community White and Stewart may have operated a restaurant in the latter 1910s, but this could be a confusion with the one run by James Stewart at Dome Creek, likely around Mile 54. The school at Mile 48 operated from the late 1920s to at least the mid-1930s. to Teachers included Marjorie Giles, P. Haslam (probably Pearl), Elsie Eccles,Prince George Citizen, 16 Apr 1931 and Nancy Sanders.Prince George Citizen, 27 Apr 1933 The population was 29 in 1929.
The following were pioneer farmers. James W. (c.1876–?) & Annie (1877–1949)Prince George Citizen, 13 Jan 1949 Cattle, and her son, William (Bill) Haws (1904–69),Prince George Citizen, 19 Mar 1969 resided on Lot 3281 1910s to late 1920s.Prince George Citizen, 11 Jun 1919 Mary Josephine (Josie) Weaver (1912–99), a local section hand's daughter, to married Bill, and the family later lived at Hutton and Hansard. Jacob Schiesser (c.1891–?), who resided on Lot 3280 1910s to the 1960s, to Prince George Citizen: 11 Aug 1927, 12 Oct 1944, 26 Dec 1946, 29 May 1947, 11 Mar 1948, 2 Sep 1948 & 22 Jun 1950 married Jean Blommaert.Prince George Citizen, 3 Jan 1946 The family advertised the farm for sale in 1963.Prince George Citizen, 25 Feb 1963 Thea (Tillie) Saunders (1888–1973) resided mid-1920s to mid-1930s. to
Early farmer/trappers included F. Martin (Deafy) Dayton (1886–1940), George Logan (1873–1950)Prince George Star, 4 May 1917 on Lot 3281 1915–50,Prince George Citizen, 16 Nov 1950 Peter Loftstrom throughout the 1920s, to and the Jensen brothers.
In an environment with limited eligible females, Martin Dayton's attempts to find a bridePrince George Herald, 27 Nov 1915 appear unsuccessful. This may have influenced a temporary move to Aleza Lake in the early 1920s, before returning in 1928.Prince George Citizen: 21 Jun 1928 & 20 Jun 1929 He was a larger than life trapper,Prince George Citizen: 15 Apr 1926 & 6 Jun 1929 and key organizer for the trappers' dance held annually in Prince George.Prince George Citizen: 21 Jun 1928; & 6, 13 & 20 Jun 1929 He pressed charges against unscrupulous trappers who looted his possessions and prey.Prince George Citizen: 27 Jun 1929; & 3 & 10 Oct 1929 When not trapping, he grew strawberries,Prince George Citizen: 25 Jul 1929, 14 May 1931 & 2 Jun 1932 but had moved to Bend by the late 1930s.Prince George Citizen, 12 Oct 1939
Although Einer W. Jensen (1888–1952),Prince George Citizen, 14 Feb 1952 arrived during the 1910s, he appears to have lived closer to Dome Creek from the late 1920s. Ernest H. Jensen (1890–1966),Prince George Citizen, 3 Jan 1966 the first brother to arrive in the area, was a hunter, who sold the meat to the railway construction camps. He initially lived on Lot 5969, closer to Urling, but he was at Kidd from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, before returning to Urling.Prince George Citizen, 1 Jun 1950 to & In 1960, when an amphibian plane clipped a suspended cable while landing on the Fraser, the occupants paddled their wrecked plane to shore. After walking 1.5 miles to Ernest's cabin, he transported them the 10 miles downstream by boat to Dome Creek.Prince George Citizen, 12 Aug 1960 Arne Jensen (1898–1972) predominantly lived at Kidd from about 1920 to 1950. to & During the 1966 CNR strike, Arne took Susan Hale and her mother upstream on a four-hour boat trip to Crescent Spur, where his passengers completed the remaining by truck, so that Susan could reach McBride for the beginning of school term.Prince George Citizen, 19 Sep 1966 It is unclear precisely where Arne spent his latter years in the Dome Creek area.Prince George Citizen: 14 Feb 1952 & 3 Jan 1966
Leslie (1888–1972) & Mary Isabel (c.1893–1960) Hale settled on their preemption at Mile 48 in the late 1920s.Prince George Citizen: 15 Oct 1931, 26 Nov 1936, 29 Apr 1937 & 9 May 1999 Leslie farmed and pursued a career as a forest ranger.Prince George Citizen: 26 Aug 1937, 23 May 1946 & 8 May 1947 Their children were Stanley (Stan) (c.1914–?), Cecil Edgar (Ed) (1915–2001), Vivien A. (1918–2014), Leslie Wilson (c.1919–1985),Prince George Citizen, 5 Feb 1985 and John Kenneth (Bud) (1923–1999).Prince George Citizen, 9 May 1999 The older ones formed part of the Dome Creek social circle.Prince George Citizen: 2 Feb 1933 & 23 Mar 1933 Vivien married Robert T. Blackwood (c.1914–c.1950), and the newlyweds settled in Dunster,Prince George Citizen, 26 Nov 1936 but Robert did erect a sawmill in the Dome Creek area.Prince George Citizen, 7 Dec 1939 When Stan married Margaret Lonsdale (c.1918–?), they settled in Snowshoe,Prince George Citizen, 19 Aug 1937 but divorced in 1945.Prince George Citizen: 31 May 1945; & 20 & 27 Sep 1945 In 1940, L. Wilson marriedPrince George Citizen, 19 Dec 1940 Dorothy G. Bown (1920–2000) and they lived in Prince George.Prince George Citizen, 15 Nov 2000
The four brothers and Robert Blackwood enlisted during World War II.Prince George Citizen: 7 Aug 1941, 23 Jul 1942, 3 Sep 1942, 22 Oct 1942, 26 Oct 1944, 9 Aug 1945 & 16 May 1946 Dorothy stayed locally,Prince George Citizen: 5 Nov 1942 & 24 Feb 1944 though she also spent time with her parents.Prince George Citizen: 7 Oct 1943, 8 Feb 1945, 24 May 1945 & 19 Jul 1945 Vivien and her children resided with her own parents,Prince George Citizen: 15 Jul 1943, 24 Feb 1944 & 17 & 24 May 1945 but the family relocated to Prince George after the war.Prince George Citizen: 6 Sep 1945, 2 May 1946 & 18 Jul 1946 The brothers, having resettled in the Dome Creek area, children followed for StanPrince George Citizen: 30 Jun 1949, 13 Jul 1950, 25 Feb 1954 & 10 Nov 1955 and L. Wilson Hale.Prince George Citizen, 9 Jan 1947 Ed married June Robson (1928–68), who would die of metastatic cancer.Prince George Citizen, 13 May 1968 Bud married Mildred Edith Brine (1930–1993),Prince George Citizen, 1 Oct1993 but the couple were not residents. By that time, the Hale seniors had relocated to Prince George and Wilson's family to Finmoore.Prince George Citizen, 27 Jul 1950 Settled in the Dome Creek area,Prince George Citizen, 23 Oct 1950 Ed and June had only one child, Susan.Prince George Citizen, 23 Oct 1952 After June's death, Ed remained in the locality.Prince George Citizen: 1 Aug 1969, 14 Aug 1981 & 26 Mar 1987
Charles Robert (1875–1960) & Alta (c.1885–1945) Blangy arrived in 1928. Initially logging, he became a farmer and remained on retirement. Their children were James (1911–70), Robert (1913–75), Henry, Raymond (1926–83), and Ernest H. (1930–97). James farmed in the area from the early 1930s until retirement. to & He marriedPrince George Citizen, 18 Sep 1941 Florence Eva Francis (1918–2009). Their children were Evert (1942– ),Prince George Citizen, 16 Jul 1942 Lloyd (1944– ),Prince George Citizen, 14 Sep 1944 and Allen (1947–2014).Prince George Citizen: 29 May 1947 & 18 Sep 2014 The three children of Lloyd & Christina (Chris) and the three children of Allen & Patricia (Patty) were the only pupils when the Dome Creek school closed.Prince George Citizen: 5 May 2001 & 10 May 2002 Robert farmed at Kidd until the mid-1930s, to before focussing upon crime locally and beyond. Ernest pursued a similar lifestyle further afield . Henry had relocated by the time he suffered crushed fingers in a mill accident.Prince George Citizen, 3 Aug 1944 Raymond married Violet Hedman (1920–71) at Aleza Lake, and the couple settled elsewhere.Prince George Citizen: 22 Jun 1950, 12 Oct 1950 & 6 Nov 1950
Crime, Calamity & Safety Measures