Aleza Lake is immediately south of the eastern end of its namesake lake, and west of Upper Fraser, in central British Columbia. The community, which clusters the railway line and highway, comprises 15–20 full-time residents.
Transportation.
A trackside signpost marks the flag stop for Via Rail's Jasper – Prince Rupert train. The immediate Via Rail stops are Willow River to the west and Upper Fraser to the east.
History.
Lakes.
A prior channel of the Fraser River carved out the oxbow lakes, which comprise Little Lake (west), Aleza Lake (centre) and Hansard Lake (east). Little Lake was also called Hotchkiss Lake, after Thomas &amp; Louise L. Hotchkiss, the first homesteaders on its shores. Long after the family departed, their abandoned log cabin remained standing at the western end of the lake. Memorable features of the medium-sized Aleza Lake were the white water lilies on the south shore and cranberry bogs on the north side. In July 1913, G.U. Ryley, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) Land Commissioner, named the lake after a First Nations woman who lived in the area. She was either elderly, or the daughter of a chief, or a Carrier maiden, or some combination of these attributes. A fast-flowing creek connected to the larger Hansard Lake, which in turn flowed into the Fraser. Like the former train station to the southeast, it was named after Hugh H. Hansard. During the late spring flooding of 1938, the river flowed up the creek system temporarily creating a streak of brown sediment across the surface of Aleza Lake.
Railway.
Aleza Lake, like Newlands to its west and Hansard to its east, was an original train station (1914) on the GTP (the Canadian National Railway after nationalization). It had no station agent. Aleza Lake lies at Mile 108.8, Fraser Subdivision (about Mile 198 during the line's construction). The railhead reached Mile 197 in December 1913. During the following years, some speculated the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway would continue southwest through the Wapiti Pass, until joining the GTP near Aleza Lake, with the goal of securing running rights westward over that line. 
Herman G. Griese (1892–1940) of Shelley (misreported as Edward), section hand (track maintenance), died from a heart attack in the section-house while preparing to go to work.
After passing trains had destroyed 100 head of cattle on the Willow River-Aleza Lake stretch during 1958–63, the CNR erected protective fencing.
A 160-foot washout west of Aleza Lake terminated a westbound passenger train at Upper Fraser in spring 1966. Towed through heavy mud and deep holes by bulldozers near Giscome, three buses brought eastbound passengers from Prince George, and returned with the westbound ones. To provisionally bridge the track bed, which had subsided 10 feet, CN crews worked around the clock for four days before reopening the line. Restoration work occurred in 1980, 1984 and 1990.
Built in 1914, the standard-design Plan 100-152 (Bohi's Type E) station building was sold in 1968. An unspecified freight and passenger shelter remained into the 2000s.
The remaining passenger shelter went in 1996.
Pioneers.
From 1912 until his death, Jabez W. Smith (c.1863–1941) farmed on the northwestern shore of the lake. His son and daughter-in-law, Sidney (Sid) J. (1886–1975) &amp; Mary (1888–1979) Smith, joined him in 1924. Their strawberry crop was famous. Their homesteads were a walk around the east end of the lake from the village, but a shorter distance by boat in summer or across the ice in winter. Sid was primarily a trapper, and in 1932, they moved into the town site. Relocating to Vancouver in 1942, they returned in the late 1940s. Sid was a long time employee at S.B. Trick Lumber. Daughter Grace E. married Tom Dilworth in 1935. ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; Son Wilfrid married Alice McNeill, and they initially stayed. Daughter Margaret R. joined the RCAF, and married Frederick William Blake of Florida. Son L. Archie married Kathleen (Kathy) M. Neil (1930–2014) of Giscome in 1950, where the couple settled. 
Alexander (Alex) (1880–1965) &amp; Sarah (1890–1974) McDowell, who arrived in 1914, raised their 15 children in the homestead southwest of the west switch (Mile 108.9). The couple retired to Prince George in 1957. Daughter Violet married Arnold John Brandner (1908–68) (Melvin's brother) ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ;, but the couple remained only a few years at Aleza Lake. Son Ernest (Ernie) A. (1929–2017) married Coreen Gervais. ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; The couple stayed at least until the end of the 1990s, and likely beyond. Daughter Ida May married Haydn Wilson and the couple resided in Prince George.
J.A. Davidson was the inaugural postmaster 1915–20. His small store, located adjacent to the west switch, closed when the family left the area. When Rev. W.J. Patton visited in the summer of 1918, he calculated the population as 50. Around 1917, Andrew (Andy) (c.1884–1943) &amp; Mary (c.1884–1942) Young, Roy Billings, and Mac McGibbons, settled on plots south in the hills, but they abandoned these holdings by 1920. Only the Youngs ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; resettled in the village, living south of the tracks at Mile 108.6. A section hand for the railway, Andy maintained a small farm, and was the school janitor. On one occasion, a train collided with their handcar putting Andy in a coma for weeks and in hospital for months. He served as the local commissioner under the Provincial Elections Act. Mary was the Sunday school teacher, the unofficial nurse, and boarded teachers. When the railway transferred Andy to Fraser Lake, the family relocated.
Lorne A.S. (1884–1955) &amp; Nita M. (1896–1947) Lyle arrived in 1917. Their four daughters raised there were Ethelwynne, Lorita, Nelda and Lois. Buying a central lot south of the tracks at Mile 108.7, Lorne erected a two-storey store, which he ran (1918–21; 1923–50), and became postmaster (1920–21; 1923–50). Commonly, the postmaster in such towns was also a storeowner. Selling the store to Joseph Thomas Norquay (1874–1962), postmaster 1922–23, the Lyles travelled. Following customer dissatisfaction and unpaid purchase instalments, Lyle repossessed the business in 1923. The living quarters occupied the upper level and the rear of the lower level. He constructed a wooden sidewalk out to the tracks. The later enlargement of the store complex included additional buildings for a butchery, flour and feed storage, a warehouse, woodshed, and workshop. The record selection for the store's gramophone entertained customers throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Lyle acted as the unofficial mayor.
Ethelwynne (Ethel) (1917–2011) married Neil M. MacArthur (1913–2011), a logging truck driver for S.B. Trick Lumber. After relocating to Prince George in 1949, they owned and operated several successful construction companies, and Ethel later wrote a slender volume outlining a history of Aleza Lake. Lorita married Gordon Earl Larson, but they left in the early 1950s. After Nelda M. married William (Bill) Earl Hein, they settled in Prince George, as did Lois L. on marrying William Charles Thompson.
The 1920 population estimate was 150. South of the west switch, the former small cemetery occupies the hillside. Lorne Lyle provided this land in 1919, when the influenza epidemic took several residents' lives. Over the years, carpenters used the store workshop to manufacture coffins. The only identifiable grave is for Winnifred Byrne, who died in childbirth, the date unknown. Frederick "Eugene" Schmolke (c.1896–1935) was a drowning victim. Containing about 20 graves, records no longer exist for the other burials. Some restoration work took place at the site in the late 1980s. 
A number of homesteaders came after World War I. Arthur (Art) G. (1887–1953) &amp; Glory A. Williams ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; operated a small dairy farm on the north shore of the lake, which supplied the community until they left in the late 1930s. Art was the section foreman for the railway. Their children were Betty (1920–89), Dorothy, and A. Bentley (1924–87). Betty would later recount their frugal childhoods. Harry Jackson, who farmed on the south shore, was known for his oat crop and nine-foot high timothy-grass with 10-inch heads. In 1930, he drowned near the Monkman Pass.
Erected on the hillside south of the east switch (Mile 108.3), the school opened before the final term of 1921. With an enrolment of 10 students, Miss Annie Johnson, the first teacher, left at the end of that term. The one-room building, at the east end of the boardwalk through the town, was also the venue for Christmas concerts, card evenings, bridal showers, and occasional Saturday night dances during the early years. A gramophone provided music for the dances and student Phys Ed. Residents were always welcome at the dances held in neighbouring communities. 
Fred M. &amp; Agnes M. (c.1879–1941) Phillips, who arrived in 1920, homesteaded on the north shore of Little Lake. Fred was a section hand for the railway, and stayed until the mid-1940s. Their twin daughters, Maude and Mabel (1915–42), commenced school at age five in order to boost the enrolment number to the required minimum of 10 for government funding. Mabel married Ego Bjorklund (1901–83). ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; Maude married Otto E. Leboe (1908–78), but a few years later, in 1942, they relocated to Prince George. 
The fertile land favoured ranching in the area, but one settler left farming for mining, when his chickens unearthed a gold nugget. Trapper Matt Hilton (c.1876–1921), who had a cabin about to the south, succumbed to his poor health and perished outdoors in the extreme winter cold. Resident trapper F. Martin (Deafy) Dayton (1886–1940), formerly at Kidd, promoted his big game hunting guide, before returning to Kidd. Prior to Ole Hansen's (1892–1974) move to Hansard, he spent the 1920s at Aleza Lake. Local trapper William Youst (1898–1951) lived alone in north-central BC from the early 1920s. The area was known for its moonshiners, but during the 1930s, Youst's illegal still netted him a $100 fine or three months in jail. Another permanent resident was farmer and trapper John Miller, who operated a laundry during the early 1920s. Trapper Johan (John) (Old Caribou) Bergstrom (1890–1969) lived alone in a shack just west of the store, which children would frequent after school. At their urging, he would take them swimming or fishing. Parents were appreciative that he not only kept the youngsters safe, but also taught them to swim. When he returned from a winter of trapping, the children would rush to greet him.
In 1921, Louis Braaten (1896–1983), a farmer/trapper, opened a poolroom, immediately southwest of the store, which he sold to Charles (Charlie) O. Robson (1899–1967), who left a few years later. Living north of the tracks at Mile 108.6, William E. (Bill) (1884–1955) &amp; Eva Mary (1884–1956) Range, and their six children, were residents 1923–40. Bill spent 16 years employed at Lyle's store. He opened the premises at 8:00 a.m. and closed at 8:00 p.m. Their tiny premature baby girl survived with home care alone. Son Kenneth (1916–88) married Sandra Viola Thorne (1920–91), and they remained until about 1947. 
Herbert (1873–1945) &amp; Laura (?–1935) Boomhower and their younger children arrived in 1924. Their log cabin, one of the earliest buildings in the village itself, was on the hill south of the tracks at Mile 108.5. During the later 1930s, son Arnold I. and daughter Hazel provided music for the community dances. Son Carl E. (1896–1970) was a carpenter, and his wife Nellie (1896–1977) boarded the teachers after the Youngs left. ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ; Daughter Eva May (1893–1960), who married Edward (Ed) D. Bolen (1878–1962) in 1911, followed her parents to the village. After the latter's daughter Violet (1920–71) married Eric (Erik alternate spelling) Hedman (1898–1950), the couple remained. Their son Edward John (1937–40) drowned in a telephone posthole at almost three-years-old. After Eric died, Violet married Raymond Blangy (1926–83) from Kidd the following month. Six months later, the couple and their three children briefly moved to Summit Lake, before settling in Prince George.
Ed Boomhower's horse team and wagon provided transportation services. They relocated to Prince George in 1959. Arnold (1913–79) married Genevieve Churchman (1916–98), the schoolteacher, and they settled in Prince George. After marriage, two of Herbert's other daughters initially stayed in Aleza Lake. Letia I. (1908–98) married T. Howard Blackburn (1903–92) (son of Hugh &amp; Jane Ann) ;templatestyles src="Crossreference/styles.css" / ;, but they moved to Prince George in the early 1940s. Hazel (1915–76) married James (Jim) D. Smith (1908–80) and they appear to have left in the early 1950s. Son Ray (?–1945) lived near