[1] He came to Cranbrook around 1898 upon the completion of the Crowsnest Pass line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

[1] A 1903 article stated that his property interests were largely a part of his money earned as a railway employee, noting that he "[represented] the people that have made Cranbrook one of the flourishing and progressive towns of the province.

"[3] In the 1903 British Columbia general election, he obtained the Conservative nomination for the provincial electoral district of Cranbrook, but he would ultimately lose out to Liberal James Horace King.

After another defeat in 1907, Caven would eventually head to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, elected in 1909 and again, this time by acclamation in 1912.

[5] A newspaper report noted the "profound shock" that his death sent across the East Kootenay region, as it was not known that he was in ill health at the time.