Fort St. John North Peace Museum

08/13/2026

Trivia Thursday #687: What is the name of the business on the left whose name is digitally blanked out?

08/13/2026

Alaska Highway trailblazer recalls incident at Mile 160
By Karla Marsh

In 1942, young Alex Wagner got a job blazing trail for a new military highway to Alaska. The road was to be built through largely unmapped territory, creating a demand for men to guide the highway builders into a vast northern wilderness.

With 10 years experience in the Peace Country and having worked at an isolated trading post on the Halfway River, Alex Wagner qualified as one of those men.

There were two employers of trailblazers for the Alaska Highway in 1942, the American Army and the Public Roads Administration. It was for the PRA that Alex went to work.

The PRA, who were American civilians, had the task of upgrading and improving the “pioneer road” after initial construction by the American Army.

Sometimes they completely relocated sections of the road and it was for this reason that they needed trailblazers and pack horses at their disposal.

The PRA required men to bid on the trailblazing jobs at so much per horse. Alex remembers signing on at two dollars per day per horse, with the PRA supplying the food.

With his string of eight horses, Alex, PRA personnel and other local men with horses set out from a PRA camp between Fort St. John and Charlie Lake.

The horses carried food, tents, tools and all manner of supplies needed for a crew of men to work in the timber.
Blazing about eight or 10 miles per day, the party had made it to about Mile 160 when it appeared that something had gone wrong. The ration crew that brought food supplies up the line every Saturday didn’t arrive.

Thinking that a delay of some sort might have kept the ration crew, they waited until Monday. When Monday arrived and still there were no fresh supplies, the PRA boss became concerned.
Alex was instructed to ride back to the last camp to see what had happened.

When Alex arrived at the camp, he found it deserted.
The next day, he rode the 20 or so miles back to the second to last camp and found it deserted too.

By this time everyone was getting hungry and they had no choice but to leave their work and go 20 or so miles east to another construction site.

There they were told that they should have returned 10 days ago. Orders for the party to turn around had been given but somehow they had never reached them in the field.

Photo of Alex Wagner, who is second from left in this photo (plaid shirt).

08/12/2026

With all these downpours this afternoon, we are moving our Alaska Highway Cemetery Tour indoors. Join us for a sit down presentation of our Alaska Highway Cemetery Tour (complete with projected images of the people we are talking about) at the Fort St. John North Peace Museum (9323 100th St.) at 7 p.m.

08/12/2026

Looking to learn a new skill this month? Why not try the art of sourdough making! Locally made dehydrated sourdough starter from The Highway Hippy helps make this process easy. We also have a Sourdough Cookbook for Beginners to use in conjunction with the dehydrated sourdough starter (once you’ve got it going) or to try making your own starter from scratch. This sourdough cookbook pairs simple instructions with tutorial photos, covering the first 6 days of bringing your starter to life and helping it thrive. Explore the science of how sourdough starters make bread rise along with how to prep your kitchen for fermented dough work. Then, try your hand at dozens of crusty artisan-style breads, flavored pan loaves, pastries, pizza, specialty breads, and even unique baked goods you can make with the leftover starter!

Does this sound like too much work for you? You can still enjoy the taste of sourdough with the locally made Sourdough Pancake and Waffle Mix sweetened with organic maple sugar from The Highway Hippy. Easy to follow instructions make whipping up a batch of sourdough pancakes or sourdough waffles a breeze. Perfect for a weekend breakfast.

Proceeds from the museum gift shop help the North Peace Historical Society preserve and present local history from bread pans to historic photographs of baking bread during the construction of the Alaska Highway.

08/12/2026

Our Alaska Highway themed Cemetery Tour is still on tonight at 7. We go rain or shine. We recommend packing a rain jacket and/or umbrella tonight. With all the rain forecasted this summer that hasn't materialized, we think it's worth a chance to get outside and explore the cemetery on 100th Ave. Hope to see you there!

08/12/2026

We had a great time with the Hudson's Hope seniors yesterday!

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

Can you tell Fort St. John was an agricultural community from this negative? George Bouffioux is on the tractor which is pulling two hay rakes and a hay elevator down main street (now 100th Ave). The three men standing next to the tractor are Banker McLeod, John Campbell, and Bert Bowes. Behind the tractor is Titus Rooms and Titus General Store.

In the distance is Bowes and Herron Garage. In 1931, Bowes and Herron became the John Deere agency in town. They converted a small granary into a warehouse. Bert recalled, “you could put all the parts in one wheelbarrow load.” The business expanded especially with the construction of the Alaska Highway. Bradin Herron oversaw the garage. Bert Bowes was the implement and field man for the company.

Rudy Schubert took this negative in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Do you remember any of the people or businesses in this photo? We’d love to hear your memories.

08/10/2026