Item T1273:0001 - 0003 - Cliff Kopas interview

CALL NUMBER: T1273:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Clifford Kopas recalls arrival in Bella Coola in 1933 and tells some early history, 1862-1894 PERIOD COVERED: 1862-1933 RECORDED: Bella Coola (B.C.), 1966-08-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Clifford Kopas recalls his arrival in Bella Coola in 1933 and discusses some early history of the region (1862-1894): his arrival in Bella Coola by following Alexander Mackenzie's route in 19;33, the trip from Quesnel to Algatcho, his arrival in Firvale, and his first impressions of the Bella Coola Valley. TRACK 2: Clifford Kopas discusses the Waddington massacre, the death of Governor Frederick Seymour in 1869, fishing, the arrival of Lieutenant H.S. Palmer of the Royal Engineers in 1862, "The Grease Trail" from 1862 to 1869, "overlanders" who came to Bella Coola in search of gold, 1;869 Hudson's Bay Co. established their post, a series of men who served at the fort from 1869-1882, the 1883 arrival of missionaries including William Henry Pierce and Thomas Crosby, how in 1885 B.F. Jacobsen visited Bella Coola and took 9 native people to Germany, and the Norwegian settlers who arrived in 1894.

CALL NUMBER: T1273:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Clifford Kopas : Bella Coola road, 1951-1955 and more history, 1922-1937 PERIOD COVERED: 1793-1955 RECORDED: Bella Coola (B.C.), 1966-08-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Clifford Kopas discusses Bella Coola Road (1951-1955) and more history from the region (1922-1937). Kopas discusses the construction for the Bella Coola Road including problems, costs, a com;parison to previous trails, the canyon, the precipice, and Indian routes. Then he discusses other activities pertaining to the road including tourism, logging, mining, and fishing. TRACK 2: Clifford Kopas continues with more on the road including the need for a highway, the building of an airstrip, television, the differences between isolation and civilization, tourism and hotels. Kopas discusses; petroglyphs (rock carvings) which were unearthed in 1922 , the origins of Indians in the area including details about crossing the Bering Strait, a description of Alexander MacKenzie's trip in 1793, Kopas' own trip through the Interior (compared to MacKenzie's), "Grease Trail", Lord Tweedsmuir's visit, Bella Coola's move in 1937, and details about the typhoid epidemic.

CALL NUMBER: T1273:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Clifford Kopas : life in Bella Coola - the people PERIOD COVERED: 1966-1966 RECORDED: Bella Coola (B.C.), 1966-08-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Clifford Kopas describes relationships between whites and Indians, the Indian adaptation to white civilization, a breakdown of the male population in occupations, agriculture in the Bella Coo;la Valley, how milk is brought in from Vancouver, weather in the winter, his impressions of Anahim Lake, community spirit and Norwegians, and the advantages of Bella Coola as a port. [TRACK 2: blank.;]