Arrival of Mail

Mail Carriers, Skeena River BC Archives D-03262

THE MAIL MUST GO THROUGH
by Belle Watt

From Kitselas Canyon they came west
With dog teams these men were the best,
Pete Curran, George Beirnes, Paddy Burns,
Barney, Canute Olson and others took turns.

From 1906 to 1910
The country needed these husky men.
Even when temperatures went 20 degrees below
They delivered the mail always ready to go.

They would stop at log cabins
Or they could put up a tent,
No shortage of firewood
Wherever they went.

They would follow the Skeena
With its smooth river ice,
The men ran behind
And that was nice.

The dogs were well fed at the end of the day ,
No need for a whip as they went on the way
The return trip was harder in 1910
More settlers along the Skeena then.

Eaton’s catalogues went to every home
The Family Herald was well known;
And the men packed the letters on their backs
Money for miners who sent gold out in sacks.

It was too hot for dog teams in May
Then sternwheelers took their job away,
But only for five months, then they’d go again
And deliver gold and mail in hail or rain.

That sternwheeler trip was a big event
Many happy hours on the Skeena were spent.
Then the railway train whistled by
And this brought the mail do or die.

No more boats or dog teams needed now
We missed not seeing them somehow,
But the train railway was newly laid
And the Skeena made folks afraid.

When deep snow melted and flooding came
The Skeena washed out tracks and trees the same.
But still the mail must go through
And Sam Kirkaldy knew what to do.

He hired Walter Wright with his boat
And down the Skeena they did float
They delivered the mail in a sack
And brought return mail this way back.

Oh yes, we had men those days who did their job
Of these we are mighty proud-
Here’s to those wonderful Kitselas dogs
Who ran those sleighs through snow, ice and fogs.