The Basin Record Newsletter Vol.5 Issue 1

Renata, the Drowned Town. Renata’s beginnings were humble. Three French Canadian prospectors - Sandy Gaston, Jean Baptiste and Joe Burnett - built a three storey hotel with eight rooms in 1887 beside Dog Creek about 30 km north of present day Castlegar. Ten years later, Fred Nash arrived from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, by way of California. Nash immediately purchased the hotel and 160 acres of Sandy Gaston’s land. Gaston retained his cabin and a small parcel of land until his death in 1905. Fred Nash’s vision began to take shape. He cleared land and planted orchards. He earned a living selling berries and vegeta- bles while his trees matured. In 1907, the Western Land Company of Winnipeg purchased the available land. Their plan was to subdi- vide the land as orchards. After a contest held a year later, the name Renata, meaning rebirth, was chosen for the community. Many of Renata’s early residents were Mennonites from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They cleared land and planted orchards. Blessed with ample water from two creeks, fertile soil, and the sheltering nature of the mountains, fruit growing flourished. In good years, the orchards sent 7,000 boxes of cherries, 10,000 boxes of apples, 5,000 boxes of peaches, and 100 boxes of pears. Renata’s bounty was shipped as far away as Europe in boxes built in Renata. The saw mill had been built by Peter Abram in 1910. He sold it to his sons in 1912 and they added the box factory in 1916. In 1924, the lumber mill burnt down but Pete Harms took over the box factory and ran it until 1938. Men in Renata made additional income lumbering for mills such as Waldie’s in Castlegar. The Mountain Chief mine operated from 1914 to 1920 shipping ore to the smelter in Trail. Others worked for the boats and steamships that ran the river and were the only transport in and out of Renata until 1954 when a ferry to Deer Park was installed. The Columbia River flood in 1948 caused considerable damage in Trail and Castlegar. South of the border, things were much worse. Vanport, Oregon, then the second largest city in the state, was completely destroyed when a berm burst on Memorial Day. This disaster led to a call for flood control on the Columbia and eventually to the Columbia River Treaty in 1961. The High Arrow Dam, now known as the Hugh Keenlyside Dam, was planned with construction completed in 1968. The dam displaced around 2000 people who lived along the Arrow Lakes from Castlegar to Revelstoke. BC Hydro compensated residents of Renata, their homes were razed, and the cemetary was sealed in cement. A plaque at the Robson Cemetary commemorates the 58 residents of Renata who are forever under the reservoir. 0131.0070 - Renata Cemetary - Columbia Basin Image Bank 0131.0071 - Fruit Warehouse in Renata - Columbia Basin Image Bank From the Marysville Tribune, November 30, 1901 ‘ The statements made by the smelter management is being more than verified by the expenditure of thousands of dollars in money and the systematic pursuance of plans laid down for the construction of the smelter. Mr. McKenzie, who is in charge of con- struction, says that the saw mill will be ready for business by the first of the week. L.F. Austin, the smelter expert has returned and is busy supervising the excavating for the smelter site. The plans have been prepared and are now here. Next week 150 men will be put to work, and nothing is to be left undone to push the work of construction as rapidly as possible throughout the winter. Tierney & Co., have a big force of men at work on grading the spur, and that work will be completed by the first of the year. All over the town carpen- ters are busy putting up new buildings, and everywhere there is a rustle of prosperity and a hum of business. These are the conditions of Marysville to-day, a town only three weeks old, yet a sturdy infant with every prospect of being an important business point.’