 Although prospectors , <unk> , and trappers had travelled the region in the 1800s , the first large scale activity in the river valley by Europeans was logging . J.P. <unk> , an experienced <unk> from Spokane , established the Adams River Lumber Company in 1909 . He licensed large tracts of timber along both the Upper and Lower rivers , as well as the surrounding plateau . <unk> 's company is described as the first major industrial operation in the British Columbia Interior . 
