Changing Landscape

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A panorama of Sumas Lake, in four photographs by Leonard Frank, Vancouver Public Library photos no. 12524-12527.

In 1922 the dredging of the lakebottom had already commenced. According to Frank's biographer, Cyril E. Leonoff, [ An Enterprising Life: Leonard Frank, (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1990), p. 5], Frank was relentless in the pursuit of "history in the making," especially industrial development and fast-changing landscape. The draining of Sumas Lake was one of the major undertakings of John Oliver's government and an obvious target for Frank's camera.