British Columbia (1950s)

this is the interior of British Columbia it's a rugged land a wilderness of mountains snow-capped and remote it's a rich land of minerals fertile valleys of powerful pounding rivers breeding ground for the great Pacific salmon [Music] it's a land of immense forests but where once in somber isolation dwelt only the Indian and the totem Thunderbird today there is change across this country of mountain river and ragged Canyon a thousand miles north to south a new railroad is boldly being thrown a direct highway now spans Vancouver with distant Alaska new transportation by road and rail means access to the raw materials of Industry the Peace River district with its newly discovered oil and natural gas new controlled forest operations for cellulose lumber and newsprint mining and smelting led silver zinc coal iron and tungsten and with expanding industry the need is for power the rivers lakes and mountain torrents of British Columbia could produce a total of 10 million horsepower [Music] but power dams carelessly placed could also dislocate a multi-million dollar salmon fishing industry government and private enterprise together now undertake to get both fish and power the siting of a new day imposes many problems effects on nearby spawning grounds must be foreseen water levels must be controlled temperatures calculated every phase of the project must be checked week by week so that finally one resource may be developed without the sacrifice of the other [Music] here in the nechako canyon inland and 400 miles north of Vancouver the Kenny dam is being built more than 6 million tons of rock are being blasted from the ancient mountains shifted by shovel and truck to block off in a Chetco River this is stage one in a wilderness enterprise that will produce tremendous hydroelectric power for Kitimat the world's largest aluminum smelter [Music] the dam rises presently the diversion tunnel will close and 120 miles to the west a spring of lakes rarely before seen by man will reverse their flow [Music] to act like the drain pipe in an immense bathtub a great tunnel is slowly being punched 10 miles through the heart of a mountain through this gloomy portal the pent-up head of waters will burst free it will surge down still inside the rock to create a man-made cataract 16 times the height of Niagara developing a million and a half horsepower in hydroelectricity [Music] at the base of the mountain site of the powerhouse to be a giant enterprise has produced community services in the wilderness homes for families postal services hospital and movie house church facilities schools for children 400 air miles from Vancouver this modern construction camp is serviced daily by aircraft bringing in the man to do the job hard rock miners engineers riggers cap Skinner's 4,000 men to house and feed [Music] as the project advances engineers are faced with the problem of getting the power from where it is generated to where it will be used 50 miles Overland across some of Canada's toughest country [Music] building a power line through virgin forests is one thing but beyond the forests lie the mountains peaks five thousand feet high must be crossed on the other side lies Kitimat planned sight of the vast aluminum smelter seaport on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean city of the future where ultimately will live fifty thousand people [Music] the mountains must be crossed wanted a machine to climb a mountain a machine to carry men and materials to build survey camps on the highest peaks for a tough job a bold solution never before has this kind of helicopter operation been carried on in mountain country this is a pioneering job for which there is no book of instruction peeling out the problems inventing ways to carry heavy loads with safety the first flights are touch-and-go [Music] then with confidence comes a full-scale airlift [Music] thousands of board feet of pre-cut lumber nails aluminum sheeting beds blankets food fuel oil survey instruments dynamite laundry cigarettes and candy living arrangements for 50 men beyond the snow line [Music] it's good flying weather as long as it lasts the helicopters will keep their dawn-to-dusk routine a mountain wall is no longer a barrier it's now a stepping stone to final accomplishment perched like mountain goats and rocky crags the surveyors do their work tomorrow across these feats will go a line of slender towers power for new industry for a new frontier to those who attend the lifetime of living man have opened up this country Nature has been generous the temperate climate of British Columbia as well as her expanding industry has attracted a fast increasing population from the limitless products of forest mountain and sea is emerging prosperity and a good life and Canada's west coast province still holds untold riches awaiting man's development the limits lie only in man's ability to work with nature and to use her gifts with wisdom [Music]