From The Wenatchee (WA) Daily World Newspaper, dated March 31, 1927

What a thrill comes in going over the picture of the earlier towns in this southwest county. And imagine what a thrill comes to one who now sees the magnificent city of Vancouver, B. C., with its population of 200,000 after seeing it all in big trees before it has a railroad and when that locality was known as Coal Harbor.

This is the experience of A. [Abraham]Van Valkenburgh, old-timer in the gold-diggings of British Columbia, and who for 55 years has watched the amazing growth and development of the great Northwest, and for years a resident of the Wenatchee valley.

"It was in 1871," relates Mr. Van Valkenburgh, "when I headed from New York state across to San Francisco, and then north up the coast to Vancouver Island. I had a brother who was in the butcher business in Barkersville at that time. The gold strike had been made in 1857, and thousand of people headed into that country in 1858.

"In 1872 at Barkersville they had struck it rich at Lightning creek. This was located 14 miles out from Barkersville, and there were several thousand in the camp at that time. Lots of gold was being dug and everything was prosperous.

"They were talking railroad when we went there in 1872, and, in fact, quantities of rails were brought up the Fraser river to Yale, which was the head of navigation, and these rails lay piled up for several years before the road was actually started in 1880. Construction started from the west end. There were fourteen tunnels in 25 miles on the west side of the Cascades, which took three or four years to complete. One firm of contractors had the job.

"Port Moody, 14 miles from the present city of Vancouver, was supposed to be the terminus of the Canadian Pacific railway. The townsite was laid out and lots were sold by the hundreds. A depot was also built at this place, but it was found to be too shallow for the larger vessels, and within a year or so after this laying out of the townsite, the railroad project was built on to Vancouver.

"I went back to New York state after being in the Cariboo country for a period of three years. At the old home town of Lyons I was married. Our honeymoon trip west took us across the United States to San Francisco, thence north up the British Columbia coast and on the trail to Barkersville."