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Remo Within miles of the city of Terrace lies the community of Remo, which is bisected by the Skeena River. At one time, the two sides were connected with each other and with the surrounding area by sternwheelers. During this era the north and south sides were known by the names of the families that lived there: Bateman’s Landing, Neidhart’s Landing, Swanson’s Landing and Breckenridge’s Landing. This changed in 1918 when the postmaster, John Neidhart, renamed the community Remo after his German hometown. As the surrounding area grew, and rail passage was introduced, steamship travel was discontinued. However to connect the two sides (and to allow those from the south side to access the railway from the north side) a small ferry was in operation between 1912 and 1936. Subsequent road and bridge construction eliminated the need for the ferry. As a result, the community ceased to be seen as one. What locals now refer to as Old Remo is on the south side of the Skeena, while New Remo is on its north side. The densely populated nature of the Skeena valley prior to contact does not preclude the possibility of Tsimshian villages in the Remo area, but by the turn of the last century when white settlement did occur, there were none. Pioneer interest in the area was first due to the opportunities of pre-emption. One of the first families to pre-empt and build on the north side was the Bateman family. Following their father’s dream of wilderness and entrepreneurship, the family moved from Oregon in 1905. After scouting out several locations in the northwest, they finally built at Remo amongst the cedar and hemlock in 1906. Their first house was a log cabin where, besides two bedrooms, Emma Lindstrom (see Bateman) recalled “we cooked and lived in the one big room.” (Bennett, 23) By 1908, the Bateman’s had been joined by several other families intent on homesteading, including Charles Lindstrom and the Breckenridges, from Sweden and Oregon, respectively. Like all pioneers in the northwest, Remo’s residents had to be organized and proactive in their day-to-day living, however the families soon fell into daily, seasonal and yearly patterns. Initially the only way for Mr. Bateman and Mr. Lindstrom to earn a living was by cutting and selling cordwood for $3.50 to $4.00 per cord. This was a summer activity and proved to be very adventurous. The store in Port Essington and the canneries at the Skeena’s mouth were the main buyers of Remo cordwood. To get the wood to the buyers, it was shipped down the river by scow, while the men (and sometimes the whole Bateman family) trailed the load on another scow. While the men were cutting or transporting the cordwood, the women and children ran the homestead and cooked. These settlers were fed well by maintaining extensive gardens, picking wild berries and fishing in the salmon-rich Skeena River. Others interrupted the routines of daily life, however. Since there was very little settlement along that section of the Skeena the families often took in stranded travelers, fed, and housed them. In the beginning, the Batemans had very little room to offer in their cabin, but “at bedtime our visitors unrolled their bedding, slept on the floor, rolled their blankets up again in the morning and that’s all there was to it.” (Bennett, 24) And there was opportunity for escape from the homestead in the summer, since the river provided travel, albeit unusual travel. Emma Lindstrom recalled, “If you were going up river you could take a bath and get dressed from the time when you heard the boat whistle until the boat reached your landing. If you were going downriver you had to have your hat on and run to the landing when the whistle blew or you would miss the boat.” (Asante, 11) Besides travel, the daily routines were broken by social occasions. For instance, the Breckenridges brought a piano with them from Oregon, and the other families often gathered around it in the evening where Mrs. Breckenridge played and Mr. Breckenridge led the singing of hymns. The arrival of mail could also be a special occasion, particularly in the winter when its arrival was sporadic, as it had to be delivered either by foot or dogsled. These first families did not live in isolation long, however. Canada’s economic prosperity and immigration boom resulted in the construction of a northerly railway that traversed the country from East to West. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway’s most western route followed the Skeena River. During the construction years of 1908 to 1914, Remo saw much activity, as the steamships that brought supplies to the rail building crews furiously plied the river. In this period, many workers settled on pre-emption lots along the Skeena and in Remo, but these were vacated once the railroad was complete. By the 1920s this activity had ceased, and the population of Remo, according to the 1928 British Columbia Directory, was back to 20 souls. It indicates that most of the residents still made a living through lumbering, farming, and fruit growing. Many men worked in the sawmill that was constructed in 1914. One of the only lucrative cash crops was strawberries. The residents, including the Lindstrom family, grew and sold up to 50 crates of strawberries annually to either Prince Rupert or Prince George. Despite being a very quiet and small community, Remo experienced many changes in the mid-twentieth century that rendered it unrecognizable to its earliest residents. Besides road and bridge construction which helped end its isolation, the landscape changed as well as a result of natural phenomena, and new settlers. In a 1958 retrospective Emma Lindstrom pondered these changes “the Skeena had flooded over its banks several times since then and the old pre-emption has been logged and tractors have taken the logs off” (Terrace Herald, 1958). One of the new families to move to Remo was the Froese family. They arrived on the south side in 1932. Unfortunately, there was no school at that time since there were too few children in Remo to justify it. The arrival of the Froese children rectified this, and a small school was soon built on the north side. In the summer months the children from the south side would take the small ferry across the river to school, in the winter months they would perilously walk across the ice-covered river. The Skeena was perilous in other ways. In 1936, the river flooded and jeopardized houses and buildings all along the Skeena valley. The Froese’s farm was fully flooded and the water reached halfway up the house. With the help of Emil Jopp’s truck and winch, Mr. Froese moved the house 100 yards away from the bank. Some houses were more damaged, and likely destroyed (picture). The flood also spelled the end of the Remo ferry, as it was swept down the swollen river and sank. In other ways, life remained remarkably the same in Remo. The
community still gathered together for social occasions. One of the highlights
of the year was the annual Strawberry Solstice dance to celebrate the
strawberry harvest. Residents still relied on the produce from their farms for
subsistence. Occasionally, as was the case in the Froese family, they traded
produce, like eggs and butter, for staples like sugar, in Terrace. Old Remo did
not receive power until the 1970s. Like many of the smaller communities in the Skeena Valley, Remo’s growth stagnated as people were pulled to larger centers such as Terrace. Old Remo is now considered a sort of ‘bedroom’ community to Terrace. Most of its residents commute daily to jobs in Terrace. The approximate population is 30. Unfortunately, the ties with New Remo are no longer there and Old Remo itself lacks the sense of community it had in the past. While community barbecues are still common, most other forms of entertainment are sought in Terrace. However, there is still continuity with the past; most of Remo’s current residents are descendants from the original settlers. Furthermore, the residents of Terrace still rely on Old Remo for local produce. The Bahr’s maintain an extensive farm in Old Remo and sell their produce at Terrace’s farmers market each weekend in the summer.
Works Citied Asante, Nadine. The History of Terrace. Terrace: Totem Press, 1972. Bahr, Deiter. Interview. August 4, 2005. Bennett, Norma V. Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower
Skeena River, Volume I. Bennett, Norma V. Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower
Skeena River, Volume II. Froese, Emil. Interview. August 26, 2005. Lindstrom, Emma A. From Riverboats to Railroads. Terrace
Regional Museum Society: Lindstrom, Emma A. Newspaper Article, Terrace Omineca Herald. Dec. 24, 1958. Lindstrom, Otto. Interview. June 13, 2005. Terrace Regional Historical Society. 20th Century Anecdotes
from the Terrace Area. Terrace Standard, September 21, 2005, B3. Weber, Eva L. The Way We Were: Skeena Valley Pioneer
Memories. Terrace: Totem Press,1978.
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