16 Riverboat Days guide

LLOYD JOHNSTONE remembers living at the hotsprings in the
1930s when the road only went to the north end of the lake. If you
wanted to come to Terrace, you snowshoed the 17 miles.

Another long time resident of
Terrace is Lioyd Johnstone and his
wife Lorraine. Lloyd’s father,
Bruce Johnstone, pre-empted land
at Lakelse Lake and built the hot
springs in 1907. Lloyd was born in
Prince in 1916 because there was
no hospital in Terrace back then.
Lorraine was also born in Prince
Rupert in 1920; both her and
Lioyd’s mother had the same
doctor.

Lloyd spent part of his youth in
Victoria attending school, but says
he has spent almost his entire adult
life in Terrace. Living at the hot
springs back then meant you were
isolated — it was a 17-mile walk
to Terrace. In the winter the road
(in the 1930's only went as far as
the north end of the lake) was not
plowed, so you had to snow-shoe
to town.

Looking back on the early days
at the hot springs, Lloyd says,
"You didn’t have all the pain
killers and drugs you have today.
People would come out and soak
in the springs to get relief. One of
dad’s biggest customers were the

Mon. - Thurs.

Fri. & Sat.
11:00 a.m. -

Sunday & Holidays

fishermen from Prince Rupert. The
fishing season was open all year
round back then, and the fishermen
would come to the springs to soak
away the aches and pains after
spending several months out on the
boats.

"I saw some really miraculous
cures in my day. I remember one
young fellow who had arthritis
really bad. They packed him in on
a stretcher. Dad didn’t think we
could help him, but the fellow said
we were his last hope. He came in
August; two months later he
walked out on snowshoes. In those
days they didn’t have drugs, so
people used the spa to get relief.
Spas are still popular with Euro-
peans."

Lloyd particularly remembers the
1936 flood because it signalled the
eventual death knell for the hot
springs. "From the 29th of May
until September the railway was
washed out from Kitwanga to
Kwinitsa. If you wanted to work
you worked on rebuilding the
railway.

"At that time there was no other

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‘‘AIR CONDITIONED’’

way of getting out of Terrace;
ihere was no airport or highway.
The only way into Terrace was up
and down the Skeena in a small
riverboat. People couldn’t get to
the hot springs, so dad lost a lot of
business. Usk really got hit bad
because Kitselas Canyon acted as
a floodgate and the water backed
up.

"As far as pioneers and pioncer-
ing are concemed, my generation
was brought up during the depress-
ion. If we worked every day of the
week, for example, and by the
time we paid our room and board
on Sunday, we might make $21 a
month. People did for themselves
back then."

Lioyd has been in several busi-
ness ventures in town. In the
1930’s, he was in the logging and
sawmilling business. Then after a
stint in the air force during World
War II, he went into partnership
with Clarence Michiel, who was a
school teacher and principal. They
opened a hardware store where the
Bank of Nova Scotia now is.

Eventually the two partners
expanded, and Lloyd opened a
garage and equipment business
(International Harvester), He built
a large quonset shop where the
RCMP building is presently
located. Clarence Michiel took
over the hardware business while
Lloyd operated the garage and
equipment-end of the business. "In
*55 everyone said | would starve
to death because I was so far from
town!" In later years Lloyd sold
the property to the municipality for
their head offices.

Although they owned property at
Lakelse Lake, access to and from
Terrace was difficult, so Lloyd
built a house on the bench above
the Bavarian Inn, "In those days
you had to put in your own water
system, you own road... every-

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thing."

Then Lloyd got into politics in
the late 60’s and early 70’s. He
spent several terms as alderman,
and served as mayor for one term.
"Fortunately I had an excellent
council. We actually accomplished
quite a lot. We built the arena,

‘started the swimming pool, built

the curling rink, and we also built
the Sande Street overpass. I really
enjoyed that project."

He explains that he didn’t run for
mayor again because they had
moved out to Lakelse Lake where

they built a house in 1973, and |

that he didn’t feel it was right to
run for the position again.since he
now lived outside the municipal
boundaries.

Lloyd also points out that the
overpass was not built to service

_ Lloyd Johnstone, a storyteller from way back -

the new highway as many people

today believe. "Some people com- .

plain about the overpass, about the
traffic, but we didn’t know where
the new bridge was going back
then (Lakelse Avenue, with access
to the old wooden bridge, was
originally the main highway). The
overpass was built mainly to give
access to the hospital. Before, you
had to use the rail crossing (behind
the Co-op building), and the trains
could sometimes tie up the cross-
ing for an hour or two at a time."

Lloyd and Lorraine have raised
three children in Terrace, two of
whom live close by at Lakelse
Lake. Lioyd says they have no
plans to move from the area.
"We've travelled quite a lot (across
Canada), and we like this area as
well as any."

Special Olympics BBQ
August 1 & 2, noon - 5 p.m.

presented by Canada Employment Centre
for Students and Overwaitea Foods in the

Overwaitea parking lot, Skeena Mall.
proceeds to Terrece Special Clympies

auto

THE
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on our building)

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to your
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4630 Keith Ave.
Terrace, B.C.

Ph. 635-3929
Fax 635-3081

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