This Was Our Valley

The potential of Hudson's Hope, the third oldest community in British Columbia, has been a recorded fact dating from the diary notes of Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser. In the 1960s, this area was recognized and became the site of the world's largest earth-filled dam, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. The reservoir giving force to the dam was named Williston Lake and covered over 1000 square kilometres of land. This Was Our Valley deals with the conflicts that arose when a particular area became valuable to the rest of the world. Pollon and Matheson, who know the area intimately, tell the story of B.C. Hydro and the residents of Hudson's Hope. The dam's influence is carefully explored and well-documented as these award-winning authors resurrect the true stories that lie buried beneath the waters of Williston Lake.