G. J. Bayle was a timber cruiser and logger for the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company Limited (CMS), later Cominco, in Trail, British Columbia. CMS's Trail Smelter sits 10 miles north of the United States-Canada border on the Columbia River. Sulfur dioxide in the stack emissions from Trail's lead-zinc smelter moved with prevailing winds down the Columbia River valley into Stevens County, WA. In the 1920s as a result of complaints about harm caused to timber, crops, and livestock from Stevens County residents, the U.S. government objected formally to the Canadian Government about this damage. Consequently the International Joint Commission (IJC), whose task was to settle U.S.-Canadian border disputes, conducted hearings. Bayle testified before the International Joint Commission in 1930 as a CMS witness. He was identified then as from Creston, British Columbia, and as having worked for CMS near Trail in 1921 and 1922. He cruised and valued timber in 1927 and 1928, and surveyed timber conditions in the Northport (Stevens County) district in 1929. Based on his familiarity with timber condition, Bayle testified in 1930 regarding smoke damage caused by CMS's Trail Smelter. As the Trail Smelter case continued, Bayle valued the timber in Stevens County again in 1936 and remained in contact with CMS attorneys regarding the continuation of the Trail Smelter case until its conclusion in 1940.
Letters, maps and published briefs about the Trail smelter fume case; also 1938 decision of the Trail Smelter Arbitral Tribunal before the International Joint Commission. All materials are connected to G.J. Bayle's work for for the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada (CMS), later Cominco, regarding the smoke damage cases. The printed documents date to 1930 when the International Joint Commission (IJC) conducted hearings at which Bayle testified. The IJC issued its decision with damage awards in 1931. Because the damage continued, the Trail Smelter Arbitral Tribunal was created under an agreement between the governments of Canada and the United States by the Convention of Ottawa in 1935. The Trail Smelter Arbitral Tribunal's 1938 decision is included in the collection. Correspondence from CMS attorneys in the collection dates to this second arbitration of the Trail Case from 1935 to 1941. Bayle seems to have testified in Ottawa in 1937, presumably regarding his 1936 inspection of timber in the Columbia River valley. The 1940 correspondence indicates that Bayle did not perform another valuation before the final damage awards in 1941. The collection includes two maps of Stevens County by Dr. G.G. Hedgecock, forest pathologist, showing "smelter fumes injury" zones. Hedgecock documented injury to timber in Stevens County in 1928 and 1929, and defined zones based on the percentage of trees exhibiting damage.
The collection is arranged in a single series.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
G. J. Bayle Papers, 1930-1940 (Cage 110)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Mrs. Curt Bowers donated the G. J. Bayle papers to the Washington State University Libraries in 1962.
This collection was processed by Susan Vetter in 2010.
Lon Johnson Papers, 1912-1967
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.