Shelley, British Columbia#DomonkosFam

Shelley, like Foreman to its southwest, and Willow River to its northeast, was an original train station (1914) on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (the Canadian National Railway after nationalization).1914 Timetable scanned{{cite web| url=http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/G_R_3572_C4P3_1911.jpg| title=c.1919 GTP map (© 1911 prior version)| website=www.utoronto.ca}} The name, a locational surname from any one of the places called "Shelley", derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "scylf" meaning literally a shelf cut out of the hillside, plus "leah", an enclosure or wood.{{cite web| url=http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Shelley | title=Last name: Shelley | website=www.surnamedb.com}} Since Shelley, BC, lies on flat lowland, the name likely acknowledges an individual instead. The most probable candidate was a GTP contractor.{{cite book |last=Bowman |first=Phylis| page=41 |title=Whistling Through The West |year=1980 |publisher=Self-published | isbn=0969090129}}Prince George Citizen, 27 Jan 1984 Another possibility is the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822).{{sfn|Olson|2014|p=26}} If the latter, it was likely on the list prepared by Josiah Wedgwood (submitted at the request of William P. Hinton, the railway's general manager).Prince George Citizen: 27 May 1957 & 30 Mar 1967

Shelley lies at Mile 136.3, Fraser Subdivision (about Mile 226 during the line's construction).{{cite web| url=http://www.cwrailway.ca/cnrha.ca/Timetables/Mountain%20Region/BC%20North%20Division/Fraser.pdf | title=1977 Timetable |website=www.cwrailway.ca}} In 1912, Magoffin (McGoffin alternate spelling) & Berg (Bergh alternate spelling) subcontracted with camps to the west and east.Fort George Herald: 15 Jun 1912, 6 Jul 1912 & 30 Nov 1912 By 1913, the Mitchell & Ahern camp was at Mile 223, the Nugent & Co. camp at Mile 225, and the Magoffln & Bergh ones at Miles 226 and 230.Fort George Herald: 17 May 1913 & 13 Sep 1913

During 1980–81, Northwood built {{convert|8|km|mi|0}} of track and a $14m combined road/rail bridge across the Fraser southeast of Shelley.Prince George Citizen, 1 Dec 1980

Built in 1914, the standard-design Plan 100‐152 (Bohi's Type E) station building, and the Plan 100‐318 freight and the passenger shelter relocated from Foreman in 1963, were demolished in 1969.{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=9748| title=Image: Shelley train station (initial)| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.oil-electric.com/2008/09/type-e-mythology.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101162602/http://www.oil-electric.com/2008/09/type-e-mythology.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=January 1, 2009 | title=Type "E" Mythology|website=www.oil-electric.com}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw10gtp.html |title = Vanishing BC GTP Railway stations|website=www.michaelkluckner.com}} A nondescript building remained at the closed station into the 2000s.{{cite book |last1=Bohi |first1=Charles W. |last2=Kozma |first2=Leslie S. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/canadiannational0000bohi/page/121 121, 136, 140 & 144] |title=Canadian National's Western Stations |year=2002 |publisher=Fitzhenry & Whiteside |isbn=1550416324 |url=https://archive.org/details/canadiannational0000bohi/page/121 }}{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=1632| title=Image: Shelley train station (later)| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}}

{{Aligned table |cols=10|class=wikitable|col1align=left |col2align=center |col3align=center|col4align=center|col5align=center|col6align=center|col7align=center|col8align=center|col9align=center|col10align=center|row1header=y

| Siding | Mile No. | 1922 | 1933 | 1943 | 1960 | 1965 | 1968–72 | 1977 | 1990–92 |

(Capacity Length) | | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars | Feet | Feet 1990 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1992 Timetable: Northern BC Archives |

Shelley | 136.3 | 68 | 66 | 58 | 54 | 55 | 125 | 5,740 | 6,420 }}

{{Aligned table |cols=10|class=wikitable|col1align=left |col2align=center |col3align=center|col4align=center|col5align=center|col6align=center|col7align=center|col8align=right|col9align=right|col10align=right

|row1header=y

| Other Tracks | Mile No. | 1920–22 | 1933 | 1943 | 1960 | 1965–72 | 1977{{0}} | 1990{{0}} | 1992{{0}} |

(Capacity Length) | | Cars | Cars | Cars Prince George Citizen: 4 Jun 1942, 4 Nov 1943, 7 Dec 1944, 29 Nov 1945 & 10 Jan 1946 | Cars | Cars | Feet | Feet | Feet |

McLean Sawmills (former Caine Lumber logging) | 134.0 | | | 4 | | | | | |

Eagle Lake Sawmills | 135.9 | | | | | 28 | | | |

McLean Sawmills | 136.0 | | 22 | ? | | | | | |

Shelley Sawmills | 136.0 | | | | 20 | | | | |

Eagle Lake Sawmills | 136.0 | | | | | 43 | | | |

Shelley Sawmills FH 23 | 136.0 | | | | | | 1,940 | 2,020 | |

Prince George Sawmills | 136.1 | Unknown | | | | | | | |

Huble FH31 (across Fraser bridge) | 138.1 | | | | | | | 19,870 | |

Blain's (logging) | 138.3 | Unknown | | | | | | | |

Huble FH32 | 138.4 | | | | | | | | 600 }}

The narrow strip of accessible spruce forest bordering the railway that stretched some {{convert|100|mi|km}} east of Prince George was known as the East Line.{{sfn|Hak1986|p=14}} In 1920, the Prince George Sawmill Co. built a 10,000-foot per shift capacity mill.Prince George Citizen: 28 May 1920 & 13 Sep 1921 A delegate from the Lumber Workers Industrial Union, who visited that company's logging camp at Shelley the following spring, reported on the abysmal living conditions.{{sfn|Hak1986|p=260}} Injury and death for humans and horses were common in sawmills and logging camps. In a 1925 incident, logs falling from a sleigh in a pole road accident killed the hauling horse team.{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=7097| title=Image: Shelley sleigh log spill, 1925| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}};
{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=7108| title=Image: Shelley sleigh log spill, 1925| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}};
{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=7134| title=Image: Shelley greased pole logging 1925| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}};
{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=7136| title=Image: Shelley loaded log sleigh, 1925| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}}

Facing financial troubles by the summer, the mill experienced a change of ownership and name to the Shelly Lumber Co.Prince George Citizen, 9 Sep 1921Prince George Citizen, 4 Apr 1922 Legal wrangling continued regarding the debts of the former operation.Prince George Citizen, 6 Sep 1923

In the 1921/22 winter the mill's production goal was 100,000-tie.Prince George Leader, 26 Aug 1921 In 1922, raging forest fires south of Shelley, where the Foreman Lumber Co. was logging, threatened the railway station and the Shelly Lumber Co. mill, but about two million feet of fire-killed timber remained loggable.Prince George Citizen: 30 May 1922; & 2 & 6 Jun 1922 {{anchor|SMcLean}} The following winter the mill had a 60,000-tie goal.Prince George Citizen, 8 Dec 1922

In the 1923/24 winter the mill had a 100,000-tie goal, the Buchanan camp 25,000 ties, and one smaller outfit 10,000 ties. The Mclean mill employed about 50 men in the bush and at the mill (which ran all winter), and the Shelly Lumber Co. about 20 men. This totalled about 200 men working in the sawmills and tie camps.Prince George Citizen: 1 & 8 Nov 1923; & 13 Mar 1924

A 1926 fire, which started in slash, threatened the McLean mill.Prince George Citizen, 13 May 1926 Two months later fire destroyed the Shelly Lumber Co. mill and the finished lumber stacked in their yard.Prince George Citizen, 22 Jul 1926 In 1928, leasing 16 acres of Crown land, the company abandoned the old mill on the slough to build a new 30,000-foot capacity mill at Mile 134 on the Fraser, which was the only one operating in the vicinity at that time.Prince George Citizen: 26 Jan 1928 to 12 Apr 1928Prince George Citizen: 23 Aug 1928, 26 Aug 1958 & 2 May 1988 (56 & 60){{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=9817| title=Image: Mill, Shelley, 1920s| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}};
{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=9799| title=Image: Boiler house & planer mill at Mile 134, Shelley| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}}Prince George Citizen, 11 Jul 1929 McLean Lumber closed during the Great Depression.Prince George Citizen: 17 Aug 1962 & 11 Jul 1966{{clarify|reason=closed temporarily or permanently?|date=October 2022}} McLean Lumber opened a new planing mill in the fall of 1937.Prince George Citizen, 9 Dec 1937 In 1939, a small tornado lifted the McLean blacksmith shop roof and carried it about 35 feet.Prince George Citizen, 29 Jun 1939 A year later, the sheriff seized company assets to settle outstanding workers' compensation premiums.Prince George Citizen: 30 May 1940 & 6 Jun 1940

The increased wartime lumber demand required upgrading the McLean mill and caused an acute housing shortage.Prince George Citizen, 26 Mar 1942 Increasing labour shortages caused some of the smaller mills to close down and focus upon logging crews.Prince George Citizen: 1 Oct 1942 & 25 Nov 1943

In 1962, Eagle Lake Sawmills of Giscome purchased the 75,000-foot capacity Shelley Sawmills and 150,000-foot capacity planing mill. Logging operations were about {{convert|30|mi|km}} up the Fraser River, whose summer flow transported the logs to the mill.Prince George Citizen: 17 Aug 1962 & 29 Nov 1963

In 1966, Northwood Pulp and Timber purchased Eagle Lake Sawmills, which included Shelley Sawmills.Prince George Citizen, 14 Apr 1966 The next year, after voting in favour of strike action, the IWA strike at BC interior mills ended the following month in the north, but in the south lasted seven months.Prince George Citizen, 25 Sep 1967Prince George Citizen, 5 Oct 1967Prince George Citizen, 22 Nov 1967Prince George Citizen, 13 May 1968

By 1975, although weakened lumber markets resulted in massive layoffs and reductions to single shifts at other Northwood sawmills, the Shelley mill, which exported much of its product to the United Kingdom, maintained two shifts a day.Prince George Citizen, 19 Feb 1975 The pulpworker strike months later put many sawmill employees on indefinite layoff, owing to a lack of burning capacity or space to store the chips.Prince George Citizen, 24 Jul 1975 IWA members at Northwood sawmills, having accepted their latest contract, continued on the job despite the ongoing pulp mill strike.Prince George Citizen: 10 & 18 Sep 1975 In 1977, the IWA was pressing for one province-wide set of negotiations, while employers in the north, which included the Northwood sawmills, clung to separate talks.Prince George Citizen, 27 May 1977 The following year, owner-operators of logging trucks stopped deliveries for a month to protest their compensation rates. This resulted in a two-week layoff of workers from the midnight shift at Shelley.Prince George Citizen: 21, 23 & 25 Aug 1978; & 1, 7 & 8 Sep 1978

With weakening market demand during 1980, Northwood temporarily introduced a four-day workweek at all sawmills except Shelley, whose off-shore sales again saved it.Prince George Citizen, 18 Apr 1980 The following year, lack of progress in contract talks led to illegal strikes, which included Shelley.Prince George Citizen: 10, 13 & 14 Jul 1981 A month later, Northwood sawmills temporarily implemented four-day workweeks.Prince George Citizen, 30 Sep 1981 In early 1982, with the ongoing market slump, the mill implemented a series of one-week shutdowns, which became a two-week on and two-week off work schedule.Prince George Citizen: 10 & 17 Feb 1982Prince George Citizen, 12 Mar 1982 The company consolidated all vacation time into a four-week period to shut down the mill for the summer.Prince George Citizen, 17 May 1982 When a five-day week returned in August, Shelley was the only Northwood mill running with a full staff.Prince George Citizen, 30 Aug 1982Prince George Citizen, 7 Dec 1982

In 1984, two weeks of secondary picketing of the mill by the Canadian Paperworkers Union initially had minimal impact in discouraging IWA members and independent truckers from crossing the picket line, but eventually the mill closed for three days until a court order restrained the picketers.Prince George Citizen: 22, 23, & 27 Feb 1984 to 2 Mar 1984Prince George Citizen: 5 to 9, 12 & 13 Mar 1984 CNR crews honoured the picket, which continued another two weeks.Prince George Citizen: 15 & 20 Mar 1984 Rolling strikes throughout the north during 1986, which escalated into a four-month province-wide woodworkers' strike, resulted in a moratorium on contracting out work normally performed by union members until a royal commission had studied the issue.Prince George Citizen, 30 Jul 1986Prince George Citizen: 6 Aug 1986, 28 Oct 1986, 28 Nov 1986 & 8 Dec 1986 In 1988, market conditions necessitated a permanent reduction from three to two shifts per day at the mill.Prince George Citizen, 5 Oct 1988 To secure log supplies months later, Northwood increased subcontractor payment rates to improve compensation for logging truck owner-operators.Prince George Citizen, 17 Jan 1989 The mill permanently closed in 1990 with a loss of about 100 jobs.Prince George Citizen, 24 Nov 1989Prince George Citizen, 7 May 1990

With limited entertainment opportunities, residents attended dances in nearby larger communities.Prince George Citizen, 3 Nov 1922 The school, located almost {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} mile west of the station, opened in 1922, with Edith Emmett as the inaugural teacher.Prince George Citizen, 1 Jul 1937

In 1922, John Newsome of Willow River erected and opened the general store. R. Howatt (Howate alternate spelling) and his sons managed the business and was postmaster 1923–24, a role commonly performed by a storeowner in such towns. They also provided meals and lodging.{{cite web| url= https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/post-offices-postmasters/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=28689&| title=Postmasters|website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca}}Prince George Citizen: 8 Nov 1923, 8 Jan 1953 & 26 Aug 1958

The one-room schoolhouse, in which a dance floor was laid, was also the venue for social gatherings.{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=9745| title=Image: Shelley school| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}} The dances held at the schoolhouse were sometimes combined with card party fundraisers.Prince George Citizen: 2 Jun 1927, 17 Dec 1942, 22 Apr 1943, 24 Jun 1943, 2 Jan 1947 & 3 Apr 1947Prince George Citizen: 22 Apr 1926, 9 Dec 1937 & 10 Oct 1940 Lutheran church services took place in the schoolhouse during 1925/26.Prince George Citizen: 17 Dec 1925, 21 Jan 1926, 18 Feb 1926, 25 Mar 1926 & 29 Apr 1926

Richard H. Kidston applied for a liquor licence in 1925 for premises next to the store,Prince George Citizen: 19 Feb 1925 & 12 Mar 1925 which became a small hotel.{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1930/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory |title = 1930 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}

In 1926, the Commonwealth Trading Co., which carried groceries and men's furnishings, had a closing down sale.Prince George Citizen: 18 & 25 Nov 1926

In the late 1920s, the predominately black local baseball team ranked respectably in the league.Prince George Citizen, 16 Jun 1927

During the 1930s, the population hovered in the 100–150 range.Prince George Citizen, 26 May 1938{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1932/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory |title = 1932 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1935/BC_and_Yukon_Directory |title = 1935 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1938/British_Columbia_and_Yukon_Directory |title = 1938 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1940/British_Columbia_and_Yukon_Directory |title = 1940 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}

{{anchor|VCarlson}} From the mid-1930s, interschool sports were periodically held with different groupings of schools.Prince George Citizen: 13 Jun 1935, 28 May 1936, 14 Jun 1951 & 3 Jul 1952 During the late 1930s, the hockey team completed an open-air skating rink.

Victor J. Carlson of Ferndale held Sunday school and church services at Shelley school every Sunday evening,Prince George Citizen, 22 Jul 1937 which he continued under the Salvation Army umbrella during the early 1940s.Prince George Citizen: 14 May 1942 & 4 Nov 1943

For several summers from 1947, Knox United Church brought a team to hold a Sunday afternoon/night service in various communities surrounding Prince George.Prince George Citizen: 7 Aug 1947; & 1, 15 & 22 Jul 1948

In 1959, the school board rejected a petition from concerned residents who believed the ongoing admission of certain students displaying behavioral issues presented a safety hazard to fellow pupils.Prince George Citizen: 11 & 12 Jan 1959 Plans to move a portable from Bonnet Hill never took place, but the Ferndale school building moved instead to provide a second classroom.Prince George Citizen, 27 Apr 1961Prince George Citizen, 8 Dec 1961 The seven schools having difficulty attracting teaching staff finally reduced to just Shelley for the 1963/64 year. The 33 students were bussed to other schools until qualified teachers filled the two positions.Prince George Citizen: 30 Aug 1963; 4, 10 & 17 Sep 1963; & 11 Oct 1963Prince George Citizen, 19 Nov 1963 Student enrolments ranged 15–28 in the late 1940s, 15–23 in the 1950s, and 24–26 in the 1960s.{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Barbara |last2=Pallo |first2=Rose |title=School District No. 57 (Prince George) historical memories. (Volume III): people, places, programs & services |year=2010 |publisher=Prince George Retired Teachers' Association, Education Heritage Committee }} On the school's closing, busses transported students to Blackburn Road from the 1965/66 year.Prince George Citizen, 2 Sep 1965

The RDFFG implemented house numbering in 1989.Prince George Citizen: 18 Aug 1989 & 8 Dec 1989

During the 1950s, the province constructed a flood control station that comprised a concrete shaft, recording station, and two 50-foot steel towers. The automatic readings of volume and velocity provide a preview of expected water conditions on the southern course of the river.Prince George Citizen, 18 May 1950

A crew took days to fight a fire {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} to the east, which jumped wide fireguards and consumed about 50 acres of logged-over land.Prince George Citizen: 20 & 24 Sep 1951

Farmers welcomed the new impounding act in 1954, because straying livestock often destroyed grain and hay fields.Prince George Citizen: 9 & 16 Sep 1954 Juvenile vandalism and pilfering included smashing windows, and prowlers on the store roof.Prince George Citizen: 26 Apr 1965; 1 & 3 Nov 1965; & 25 Apr 2001Prince George Citizen, 24 Jun 1943

Fires destroyed houses in 1929, 1945, 1959, 1963, 1964 and 1986.Prince George Citizen: 10 Jan 1929, 13 Sep 1945, 26 May 1959, 25 Nov 1963, 23 Nov 1964 & 18 Feb 1986 The rebuilt hall for the Shell-Glen volunteer fire department opened in 1987 with a $9,000 fire truck, financed by community loans and donations.Prince George Citizen, 24 Sep 1987{{Cite web | url=http://bcfiretrucks.com/?page_id=5310 |title =Shell-Glen Fire Hall|website=www.bcfiretrucks.com}}

In 2007, the RDFFG added rip-rap (scrap concrete) to the river bank to prevent erosion, with further revetment work in 2010.{{Cite web | url=http://www.pgfreepress.com/its-nice-to-be-back-home |title =Prince George Free Press, 23 Aug 2007 |website=www.pgfreepress.com}}Prince George Citizen, 28 Feb 2012Prince George Citizen, 2 Jan 2010

The 1915 completion of a wagon road, stretching from Prince George via Six Mile (Tabor) Lake almost to Willow River, likely motivated the

Bertschi brothers of Ferndale to build a feeder road connecting Shelley with Ferndale.Prince George Herald, 27 Aug 1915 In 1922, the Public Works Department took control of this, the Shelley Road East. Settlers used the railway line as a southwest trail via Foreman to Prince George.Prince George Citizen: 10 Nov 1922, 8 Jul 1926 & 9 Sep 1954 By the mid-1920s, the only road for hauling ties and farm produce to Prince George was the indirect route via Ferndale.Prince George Citizen, 10 Apr 1924

In 1927, a ferry installed to connect Salmon Valley farmers with the railway and the market opportunities of the sawmill camps on the south side of the river, also provided an alternate route from Shelley to Prince George via the Summit Lake road.Prince George Citizen: 12 Mar 1925, 4 Mar 1926 & 12 May 1927 John Burton from MiworthPrince George Citizen, 20 May 1926 relocated to become the ferry operator.{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/title/1927/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory.html |title=1927 BC Directory |website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}} The ferry, which ran until the mid-1930s, included runs as far as Prince George.{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1936/BC_and_Yukon_Directory |title = 1936 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}Prince George Citizen, 5 Jul 1934Prince George Citizen, 5 Jul 1984

A {{convert|3|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} road was completed southeast to today's Gleneagle neighbourhood to provide a more direct access to Prince George.Prince George Citizen: 4 Mar 1926 & 12 May 1927 However, this route was only occasionally maintained.Prince George Citizen: 4 Jul 1935 & 19 Apr 1951Prince George Citizen: 1 & 22 Jul 1937 When compared to the longer distance via Ferndale, it was described as "ten miles less bumps".Prince George Citizen, 6 Apr 1943{{Cite web | url=https://www.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A17254 |title =1949 DL Map |website=www.arcabc.ca}} Shelley Road East, like other side roads, broke up with each spring thaw and could not be fixed until it dried sufficiently.Prince George Citizen, 24 Jan 1968 Even after summer gravelling, logging trucks quickly made the road impassable for many cars.Prince George Citizen: 16 Aug 1968 & 10 Nov 1975 During the early 1980s, the building of the Beaver Forest Service Road east from Shelley separated this heavy traffic. In 1975, the lower section of the southern access received paving as far as the Shelley Road North intersection and ultimately became part of Highway 16. North of the intersection, the road condition remained poor, but was eventually paved.Prince George Citizen, 26 May 1976

A 1929 proposal was the stringing of a telephone line from Prince George to connect with the existing line from Shelley to Aleza Lake.Prince George Citizen, 11 Apr 1929

During the pre-electric period, households had battery-operated radios and propane appliances, and some residents had installed their own electrical generators, which ultimately became surplus to requirements.Prince George Citizen: 15 Nov 1960, 17 Mar 1961, 8 May 1961 & 18 Sep 1963 In 1961, with customers sharing in the capital cost, BC Hydro installed distribution lines,Prince George Citizen: 7 Feb 1961 & 22 Nov 1961 and the community also implemented street lighting.Prince George Citizen: 26 Jun 1961 & 24 Nov 1961 CKPG-TV of Prince George, coming on air in 1961, offered a clear reception.Prince George Citizen, 23 Aug 1961 BC Hydro extended the power line across the river to the reserve.Prince George Citizen, 24 Nov 1961

Street lighting was upgraded in 1991.Prince George Citizen, 23 Feb 1991 The next year, cell phone coverage reached the area.Prince George Herald, 13 Oct 1992 Broadband followed in 2010.Prince George Citizen, 9 Apr 2010 In 2016, high-speed internet came to the reserve.Prince George Citizen, 26 Jan 2016

During 1956, Westcoast Transmission built a 1,290-foot natural gas pipe crossing the Fraser, immediately west of the reserve on the north bank, and the township on the south one. Two 150-foot towers on each bank support cables attached to steel rings that carry the 30-inch aerial pipeline, which links Fort St. John to Huntingdon on the international border.Prince George Citizen: 9 Feb 1956; 28 May 1956; 16 & 23 Jul 1956; 8, 13 & 29 Nov 1956; & 17 Dec 1956 By September 1957, gas flowed through the Westcoast Pipeline.Prince George Citizen, 26 Sep 1957

Following the gas line right-of-way, the {{convert|505|mi|km|adj=on}} Taylor-Kamloops 12-inch oil pipeline opened in 1961.Prince George Citizen, 22 Dec 1961

A 1996 referendum voted to establish a natural gas service for Shelley-Gleneagle residents, the capital cost recoverable over a 10-year period through property taxes.Prince George Citizen: 24 Jun 1996 & 16 Jul 1996{{Cite web | url=https://rdffg.bc.ca/services/community/utility-extensions |title =Utility Extensions |website=www.rdffg.bc.ca}}

With the railway arrival a certainty, speculators focused especially upon the Fort George Band Reserve property and the real estate to its west. After comprehensive negotiations, the band accepted the GTP's $100,000 offer for the reserve in 1911, plus $25,000 relocation costs. Part of the tribe moved to Otway and the remainder to Shelley. Initially, band members lived in hastily constructed shacks and tents until the government erected some 22 homes in 1913 on the new Shelley Reserve (No. 1).{{cite web| url=http://appserve.noratek.com/pls/cats_web/cats_web.display_item?AIID=24150| title=Image: Shelley Reserve houses| website=www.appserve.noratek.com}} Once the GTP began burning the final shacks occupying the old site in 1914, the band, headed by Chief "Louie" (c.1838–1918), completed their relocation.Prince George Citizen: 13 Aug 1919, 26 Aug 1958 & 26 Aug 1966 The 1918 influenza pandemic wiped out the Otway group, being in closer proximity to infected European arrivals.Prince George Citizen, 27 Aug 1969

The Carrier name for Prince George was Lheidli.Prince George Citizen, 25 Mar 1989

Treaty negotiations began in December 1993 with the federal government and the province.Prince George Citizen: 8 Nov 1995 & 14 Oct 1998 Chief Barry Seymour admitted that prior poor management was the reason that almost half a million dollars designated for a water system on the north side, and seven housing units, had been spent on other matters.Prince George Citizen, 9 Nov 1995 Indian Affairs commented that the band had operated for several years with a great deal of autonomy in administering their own money. The department's only requirement was that the agreed projects be eventually done.Prince George Citizen, 20 Nov 1995

Unsatisfied with headway from the $1m costs incurred, the band council dismissed their head treaty negotiator.Prince George Citizen: 9 & 11 Jan 1997 The band modified its name to Lheidli (where the two rivers flow together) T'enneh (the People).Prince George Citizen, 10 Mar 1997 Chunzoolh Forest Products, a joint venture between Northwood Pulp and Timber and the band, planned to build a new sawmill on the reserve or former mill site.Prince George Citizen: 25 Jan 1996 & 14 Mar 1997 The expected 67 sawmill and logging jobs created would have alleviated the band's 80 percent unemployment rate.Prince George Citizen: 15 & 17 Mar 1997 The plan downsized to a 16-employee shingle plant,Prince George Citizen: 22 Oct 1997, 31 Oct 1997, 24 Nov 1998 & 31 Mar 2000 and a commitment to offer band members priority for 32 jobs at the Northwood pulp mill.Prince George Citizen, 20 Nov 1999

Negotiations throughout 1999 and 2000 were on the cusp of a treaty agreement in principle.Prince George Citizen: 27 May 1999, 23 Nov 1999, 31 Dec 1999 & 9 May 2000 When presented, the band rejected an offer comprising 2,000 hectares of land and $7.5 million. That year, it gained autonomy in the use of reserve land.Prince George Citizen, 12 Dec 2000 The band opened an economic development office in downtown Prince George in 2012.Prince George Citizen, 21 Dec 2012 Treaty negotiations continue.{{cite web| url= http://www.lheidli.ca/Treaty/index.php | title=Treaty negotiations| website=www.lheidli.ca}}

{{reflist}}

• {{BCGNIS|16242|Shelley (community)}}
• {{cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository |title =Prince George archival newspapers |website=www.pgpl.ca}}
• {{cite book |last=Chamberland |first=June A. |title=From Broadaxe to Clay Chinking |year=2006 |publisher=CNC Press |isbn=0921087330 }}
• {{cite book |last=Olson |first=Raymond |title=Ghost Towns on the East Line |year=2014 |publisher=Self-published |isbn=9780986924316 }}
• {{Cite thesis | url=http://summit.sfu.ca/item/6364 |last=Hak |first=Gordon Hugh|title=On the Fringes: Capital and Labour in the Forest Economies of the Port Alberni and Prince George Districts, BC, 1910–1939 |year=1986 |website=www.summit.sfu.ca |type=Thesis }}

Category:Robson Valley

Category:Populated places in the Regional District of Fraser–Fort George

Category:Railway stations in Canada opened in 1914

Category:Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Category:Canadian National Railway stations in British Columbia