British Columbia Land Surveyor James Alexander Walker started surveys in the upper Fraser River area in 1912, during the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. In 1913 and 1914, he surveyed within the three-mile land reserve on the Fraser near McBride, subdividing the country into 40-acre tracts. That year 80,000 acres of land were opened by the provincial government. Walker reported that “a great rush resulted, about 175 pre-emptions having been filed upon. All summer clearing land and building cabins have been the chief industries in the valley. A splendid type of settlers, by far the majority of whom are English-speaking, has come in. There are no Indians in the valley from Tête Jaune Cache to the Fort George Indian reserves.”

Walker was educated in Guelph Public Schools and Collegiate Institute and at the University of Toronto, from which he obtained a diploma in civil engineering in 1908, a bachelor in applied science in 1910, and a post-graduate degree of a civil engineer in 1926. In 1915 Walker entered private practice in civil engineering and surveying, but he gave up this work to enlist with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. In 1916 he trained in the first course given by the Royal School of Infantry in Esquimalt, B.C. He received his commission as lieutenant in the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and trained with Yukon Infantry Company’s 225th Battalion. Being refused for overseas service, he was transferred to the Canadian Field Artillery with headquarters in Ottawa.

After 1919 Walker established a private practice in Vancouver and subsequently served on planning commissions in that city.