Before 1922, Sumas Lake stretched northerly on Sumas Prairie from Vedder Mountain to Sumas Mountain, and southwesterly towards the USA border near Arnold. Expanding in area during the spring floods, Sumas Lake was more than three times larger than Cultus Lake on the other side of Vedder Mountain. In contrast to the deep, clear waters of Cultus Lake fed by mountain streams, Sumas Lake was a shallow, muddy backwater of the Fraser River fed largely by the often-turbulent Vedder River.

Sumas Lake, the Vedder-Chilliwack River, and its tributaries are part of the traditional territory of the people of the Sumas and Chilliwack Stó:lō and Tzeachten Salish First Nations. The arrival of Europeans destroyed their way of life.

Before 1875, the Chilliwack River passed through Sardis on its way to the Fraser River. Logging in the Chilliwack River Valley created logjams at Vedder Crossing eventually diverting most of the Chilliwack River's flow onto the Vedder River.

Sumas Lake was readily available to the Sumas First Nation for fishing and hunting, and for travel by canoe to the Fraser River and surrounding areas. When Sumas Lake was drained by way of the Vedder Canal, the Sumas Band was essentially landlocked and their members' way of life shattered. Vancouver Sun: Sumas First Nation seeks compensation for its lost lake.

Passengers travelling regularly between Chilliwack and Vancouver on the B.C. Electric interurban trains witnessed the extent of Sumas Lake diminish after the Vedder Canal dykes diverted the Vedder River directly to the Fraser River, and the Barrowtown pumping station began draining the lake. After a few years, the ten thousand acres of reclaimed, lake-bottom, Crown Land, and Chauncey Eckert's one thousand acres to the east were ready to be settled and farmed. Until the end of 1927, settlers occupying about fifty homesteads inhabited the Vedder River Flats and Majuba Hill areas.

Eckert had waited twenty years to realize a return on his investments in land purchased in 1908 from Joseph and Margaret Knox. Eventually, Eckert advertised his farmland for sale in such publications as the Winnipeg Free Press Farmer, whose information was reprinted as a letter in the Mennonitische Rundschau. Mennonite families, anxious to escape the harsh climate of the Canadian Prairies, were eager buyers. They saw these Fraser Valley, virgin farmlands as a golden opportunity for a fresh start. Mennonites thronged west, drawn by Eckert's generous financial terms. More co-religious settlers from revolution ravaged Russia, and Mexico joined them. Before long, they developed a village along the lines of the Mennonite villages they had left behind in the Ukrainian steppes of Russia.

Chauncy E. Eckert

Nevertheless, the first few years were very demanding on Yarrow's settlers. These pioneers needed to re-build their lives, construct dwellings and barns, set up farms with pasture and hay fields, obtain livestock, poultry, and feed, and grow cash crops and gardens on recently drained soil. With little in the way of existing infrastructure, they needed to negotiate with the local government for roads, sidewalks, drainage ditches, water supplies, and schools for their children. The very earliest settlers took lodging in cabins, or with families on Majuba Hill until the B.C.E. railway delivered the "lumber for their first houses and buildings on the (Chilliwack) interurban line" (Ewert 183).

Between the summers of 1928 and 1929, passengers travelling regularly between Chilliwack and Vancouver on the B.C. Electric interurban trains witnessed a village emerge on the plain below Vedder Mountain. To only occasional travellers, however, Yarrow materialized as an instant village. That Yarrow was an instant, Mennonite village is evident from the Mennonite names that appear on the list of residents in Wrigley's Yarrow Directory for 1929.

Yarrow's original pioneer residents could have viewed this influx of Mennonite immigrants with concern, and even some alarm and trepidation. Thankfully, in answer to prayers, the new pioneers made friends, got work, built homes, raised children, and founded churches, establishing their Mennonite society and town. William and Ella Siddall's poem, "Mennonite Arrival — 1928," describes the arrival of the Mennonites. Susie Derksen read this poem in the "Blessings of Yesterday" portion of the service at the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the Yarrow MB Church on February 1st, 2009.

With their fervent history of religious activism, the Mennonite pioneers of Yarrow immediately initiated collective worship services upon arrival, however informally. Confronted with their common need to survive in a challenging situation, inter-denominational differences of opinion arising from their differing Mennonite creeds were, at least for a while, ignored. At first, Yarrow's Mennonites gathered together for religious services in homes, at the park on Eckert Road near Vedder Mountain, or at the Vedder River close to the B.C. Electric railway bridge. The last site was especially favourable because Mennonites from Greendale on the north side of the Vedder River could easily meet and gather with Mennonites from Yarrow on the river's south side. However, it soon became evident that the expanding population needed a more permanent place of worship, and a more stable church organization.

Gathering of Yarrow Pioneers — 1928
Park Where Eckert Road Crosses Stewart Creek Near Vedder Mountain

Map To Identify The Gathering of Yarrow Pioneers — 1928

Names for Photograph of Yarrow 1928 Pioneers

Initially, two preachers attended to this flock of Mennonite parishioners — Reverend Nicolai Bahnmann of the United Mennonite Church, and Reverend Jacob Epp of the Mennonite Brethren Church. In the spring of 1928, Yarrow's Mennonite populace gathered at the home of the Johan Jantzen family at the northwest corner of Central and Wilson Road to observe Good Friday. This church service was the first official church meeting of Yarrow's Mennonites.

First Mennonite Church Meeting Good Friday 1928 - Home of Johann Jantzen Family Northwest Corner of Central and Wilson Roads
Standing L-R: Jacob Dyck, Aaron Jantzen, George Epp, David Rempel, Nick Reimer, Jacob Krause, John Braun, Isaak Sawatsky, Peter Giesbrecht Sr., George Derksen, John Jantzen Jr., George Hooge, Johann Bergen, David Giesbrecht Sitting L-R: Nicolai Reimer Sr., Gerhard Hooge, Johann Jantzen Sr., Rev. Jacob Epp Photographer: Rev. Nicolai Bahnmann

First Mennonite Church Meeting
Yarrow Mennonite Women and Children Join The Men Pioneer Mennonite Church Meeting Photographer: Rev. Nicolai Bahnmann

From this auspicious beginning, Yarrow's Mennonites began worshiping as a group in the newly constructed one-room Yarrow Elementary School on Central Road in downtown Yarrow. In 1930 when the Chilliwack School Board built a second one-room school next to the first one, however, "the two denominations separated, each using one of the school buildings" for their church services (Klassen 78-79).

From the Memoirs of Peter P. Giesbrecht and Elizabeth Wittenberg Giesbrecht
I and my family bought 10 acres of bare land on Wilson Rd. Mr. Eckert bought some lumber from Vancouver for $200.00. My daughter Elizabeth and I built a 16' X 30' chicken barn, which was our first home in Yarrow. We lived there for two years with our 10 children while working hard in the hop fields. My daughters were employed doing housework in the winter. The settlement grew and more and more people arrived. In 1930, our first church building was erected. We had 2 preachers - Mr. Jacob Epp from the M.B. Church and Mr. (Nicolai) Bahnman from the Conference Church. At first our church meetings were held in the homes but later in the new school room on Central Rd. We had a nice choir and were happy and contented. In July 1928, our last son George was born. He died shortly thereafter and the funeral was conducted on August 2nd. His was the first birth to the new settlement as well as the first funeral. We worked very hard but we did it with pleasure and the Lord blessed us and gave us good health. In March 1930 we celebrated our 25th Wedding anniversary in our new house which still stands today on Wilson Rd.
More settlers kept arriving so in a few year most of the land was settled. Our main income was still the hop gardens. Without the hops, Yarrow would not have survived. At harvest time, the town was empty since everyone, old and young, was out picking hops.
Mr. Peter Giesbrecht ran the store at the Canadian Hop Yards, with the help of his daughters
We were fortunate in that Mr. Eckert was a very patient man while waiting for payments; he was not hard on anybody who could not pay. A special thanks to our children who worked hard and gave all their wages home until they turned twenty-one years of age. This income enabled us to buy more land and to build a cow barn so that we could begin shipping milk. My children began to leave home and establish their own families. It was getting too hard for me and 1 suffered a small stroke, losing consciousness. We had 65 acres of land so I sold all the land but 5 acres, plus all my cattle. I gave all the money to the children since I felt it really belonged to them. The 5 acres I kept for myself had orchards and raspberries grown on it. Because of my inability to maintain my acreage, in 1953 we sold the 5 acres plus the house to our eldest daughter, Margaret (Henry) Derksen. We bought a new smaller home in Chilliwack where we lived for two years. Since most of my children lived in Yarrow, we were lonesome living there. Thus we sold that house and bought a lot on Central Rd. in Yarrow, across from the M.B. Church. Our youngest son Johnny owned a lumberyard and he built us a nice small house where we planned to spend our last years. We were so thankful to the good Lord that 8 of our 10 children lived close by. In 1958, your dear mother became ill and all the doctoring did not seem to help. On November 28, 1959 the dear Lord called her home and the funeral was held on December 3rd. Br. Abe Unruh spoke on Genesis 23, which is Sarah's burial. This completed our happy marriage together. For 55 years, 8 months we shared joys and sorrows. We had much joy in our children and grandchildren.
Peter P. & Elizabeth (Wittenberg) Giesbrecht Children: Margaret 1906-1992, Peter P. 1909-1981, Elizabeth 1911-1987, Mary, David 1915-2002, Susie, Gertrude, Cornelius, Helena, John

Derksen Family Pioneers

Hop Yards: Weigh-Up Time
1934 - Weigh-up time ... Rev JB Harder (Greendale) weighs the hops of Rev. Jacob Epp (right) while the checker, Rev Petrus Martens (2nd from right), punches the ticket with the weight.