RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Agnes Neave recalls moving from the Prairies to British Columbia in 1940 after her family became ill with typhoid. She found an advertisement for a small property in Ootsa Lake which ha;d good fishing. She describes her first trip into the area by train and ferry; her first impressions; setting up a three year rental with the option to buy after that; the trek from Burns Lake with h;er whole family and their possessions; establishing themselves at Francois Lake; what life was like there; and the Anglican church at Francois Lake. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T1208:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Bea Williscroft : Hazelton and Telkwa, 1909-1914 PERIOD COVERED: 1909-1914 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Beatrice "Bea" Williscroft recalls summer visits to her father (Walter Archer Williscroft) at Hazelton (1909-1912). She talks about childhood memories of Port Essington, the trip up the Skeena River, an incident at Minskinisht, the Skeena riverboats, impressions of their arrival at Hazelton (1909), residents, R.S. Sargent, childhood reminiscences, the Indian cemetery, anecdotes, the atmos;phere of the town, Cataline, an incident with H.H. Little and Hazelton stores. TRACK 2: Bea Williscroft continues speaking about Hazelton, local buildings, hotels and residents. She recalls Bill Wrat;hall -- an area photographer, sports and recreation events, Rev. Field, Mr. Loring, Wiggs O'Neill, practical jokes, roads in the Hazelton area, the Cedar Swamp, her father's responsibilities and road ;work, entertainment and recreation, Telkwa, residents in the Bulkley Valley, Rene Degville, Guy Thorp and the impact of World War I.

CALL NUMBER: T1208:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Bea Williscroft describes the Telkwa area, 1909-1917 PERIOD COVERED: 1909-1917 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Beatrice Williscroft continues with her recollections of Rene Degville, the Telkwa area prior to 1917, pack trains and teamsters and cattle drives. She discusses Burns Lake prior to the railway, Francois and Ootsa Lake, Charlie Barrett, roadhouses (20 Mile, 38 Mile, 48 Mile), Michael Shadey, Mooseskin Johnny stories, roadhouses, travelling with her father, entertainment and social life, Telkwa c.1914, Blackjack MacDonell and Hughie McLean. TRACK 2: Bea Williscroft continues with recollections about wildlife, Ernie Moran, Charlie Barrett, Barney Mulvaney, R.S. Sargent, Jim May and social gatherings.

The item is a typescript copy of Frank Chapman's reminiscences from his time at Francois Lake, 1912 to 1915. It is called "By trail and packboard, North Central British Columbia"

The fonds consists of correspondence, a diary, a report, a meteorological observation journal and a photograph album created by E.A. Weir and E.W. White between 1911 and 1913. The records in the fonds documents the agricultural survey of the Northern Valley area contiguous to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, undertaken by Weir and White on behalf of the Dept. of Agriculture.
Weir and White were both students at the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph and they spent the summer of 1911 travelling by boat, foot and pack horse investigating the agricultural condiitons and possibilities in the valleys between Prince Rupert and Fort George.

Travelogue. Scenery and attractions of the area accessible by the highway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Footage includes: Prince George Airport with passengers boarding airliner; lakeside scenes; lumber mill; harvesting grain near Vanderhoof; Hudson's Bay post at Fort St. James; lake barges and a Beech 18 floatplane (registration CF-BQH) on Stuart Lake; trout fishing on Stuart Lake and Fraser Lake; Burns Lake; Babine Lake; Francois Lake; Ootsa Lake; Binta Lake; Telkwa, and nearby coal mine; Smithers; Moricetown Falls salmon run, with Indians gaffing salmon; Bulkley Canyon; Hazelton; Hagwilget Canyon; totem poles at Kispiox, Kitseguecla, and Kitwanga (plus village and burial grounds at the latter); Terrace, and its pole mill; Lakelse Lake; highway scenes; bald eagles; commercial fishing on the Skeena; Prince Rupert (cruise ship docking, unloading fish, fishing festival, homes and gardens, downtown, airport with amphibious airliner taxiing and taking off).

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. James (Jimmy) Jeffrey recalls farming on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan, and the move to Francois Lake in 1911 to preempt land. He describes Ootsa Lake and the surrounding area and the; arability of the land, and various characters of Francois Lake. Then his brother, Robert Jeffrey, recalls mail service with Tom Harris, living on Cowichan River, a trip up the Skeena River, settlers; of Francois Lake, and miscellaneous anecdotes about life and times at Francois Lake. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): John Glen Sr. describes the Francois Lake area, c.1910 PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1920 RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: John Glen Sr. describes arriving in Duncan from Scotland in 1910 and working on a dairy farm there before landing in Francois Lake to pre-empt land with Jim and Robert (Bob) Jeffrey, his arrival at Hazelton, incidents on the trip into Burns Lake, crossing Burns Lake in a government raft, his arrival at Francois Lake, Tom Harris of Harris and Long Ranch, his first few months at Francois Lake, an anecdote about a bear, the arrival of Robert Jeffrey at Francois Lake in 1911, the trip by wagon and raft from Burns Lake to Francois Lake with the Jeffrey family possessions, and mail service.; TRACK 2: John Glen Sr. continues by describing the use of South African script land at Francois Lake, the Francois Lake settlement, the new settlers including Mr. Purdue, the decline of regional growth, Glen leaving Francois Lake and moving to Alberta near Wainwright, the Jeffrey family at Cowichan Lake, how the Francois Lake Ferry was brought in from Burns Lake, his first trip to Francois Lake ;is recounted briefly, and telegraph linesman Harry Birdsall.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Kelleher recounts the arrival of her father, Joshua Willard Wells, at Hatzic, 1870; the family farm; schooling at Burton School at Dewdney; other schools; childhood; Wade's Landing; passion plays; trips to the Skeena area; incidents at Francois Lake; the Reverend Cunningham at Port Essington; the Bodington family. TRACK 2: Mrs. Kelleher recalls traveling from Victoria to the Skeena with her brother and sister; the Lacroix family; living at Francois Lake for the winter (break in narration); brother, Jim Wells, at Kitselas; SS "Islander"; her family's move from Port Douglas to Hatzic; Wells' Landing; family history; orchards; farming; Thompson Prairie; other settlers.

The series consists of 1146 photographic prints and negatives taken by Harry Jomini between 1951 and 1954. These photographs document the construction of the Kenney Dam, part of the Kitimat Kemano project undertaken by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan). The series includes photographs of the area including Kemano, Burns Lake, Francois Lake, Nechako, Ootsa and Vanderhoof. There are also photographs of individuals and groups living in the community. The prints are almost all numbered, titled and dated and were originally filed in 14 black binders and an envelope of loose photographs and negatives. Jomini visted the construction site on a regular basis from 1951 to 1954 and documented all aspects of the construction. Volume 14 documents the ceremony for the unveiling of the cornerstone by the Minister of Public Works E.T. Kenney on May 10, 1952.

CALL NUMBER: T1038:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Lawrence Dickinson recalls his journey from Wisconsin and arrival at Francois Lake in 1910, when he was about 15 years old. He describes his journey along the Cariboo Road; stopping in Quesnel Forks to help mine for the winter; the route he had to take to Francois Lake; filing preemptions upon arriving in Francois Lake; joining a survey crew for Swannell company; life as a surveyor ;in the Fort Fraser, Prince George and general Upper Nechako area in 1910. He describes Fort St. James and the HBC post located there in the summer of 1911; the old trails in the area, leisure activities at Fort St. James, and how much everyone enjoyed the area; A.G. Hamilton's trading post in Fort St. James; work he did over the next several winters; how the war disrupted life; his father's trading post at Fort Fraser in 1915; how he and his brother bought out the trading post and went into business for themselves; the kind of people in Fort St. James before the war, including railroad construction men and other old timers; Mr. Murray who was a factor for the HBC and other characters; what makes the area so attractive; the difficulty nowadays at making a living as a trapper; shifts in mining techniques, changes in the Necoslie Valley after WWI; and how Fort St. James continues to be a jumping off point for miners and people of various vocations. TRACK 2: Mr. Dickinson continues how t;he HBC got supplies to their forts; how the war affected business in the area and how the mercury mine boosted the economy; how preemptors could not get good land because companies took all the prime ;real estate.;

CALL NUMBER: T1038:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1971 [summer] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Dickinson comments on the attitudes of people and various characters in Vanderhoof from his past; anecdotes about gold miners and how the landscape has changed; buildings at Fort St. Jam;es that are no longer standing; how the younger generation is not as reliable as the older generations; the fur trade around Fort St. James and how the local buyers had the monopoly; and a few old timers. TRACK 2: Mr. Dickinson describes traffic going through Fort St. James; changes in the area resulting in growing industry and construction; the rivalry among stores between the HBC and Dickinson and others; placer mining areas; freight service into the Nechako Valley by the HBC, Dickenson's surveying career from 1910 to 1913, including descriptions of places he surveyed; and miscellaneous comments about today's pioneers and industries.;

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1981-09-26 SUMMARY: Lulu Beaver was born at Ootsa Lake on February 7, 1911, and attended both Wistaria and Ootsa Lake one-room schools. (Neither of the schools remain standing; the Ootsa Lake school was dynamited and burned by a former school child, and Wistaria was flooded out by Alcan.) She received her teacher training at Victoria Normal School. She taught at: Wistaria, 1933-35; Ootsa Lake, 1942-49; Perot School, ;1949-50 (Jehovah's Witness school); Francois Lake, 1950-51. Lulu tells of her family's arrival at Ootsa Lake in 1905, travelling up the Indian trail from Bella Coola. She recalls homesteading, school stories, teaching at Wistaria and Ootsa, the flooding of Ootsa Lake by Alcan. The Beavers have an interesting museum at Southbank, Francois Lake, with many old artifacts.

The sub-series consists of oral history interviews about the history of the Babine, Nechako, Omineca, Stuart-Takla and Upper Fraser regions, from the 1980s to the mid-20th century. The interviews focus mainly on the areas of Babine Lake, Burns Lake, Fort George (Prince George), Fort St. James, Francois Lake, Ootsa Lake, and Vanderhoof.

This series consists of wildfire mapping records including fire atlas maps and fire reports from the Prince Rupert Forest District. The records date from 1921-1980. Collectively these records provide a comprehensive image of the amount and extent of forest fires in the area.

The Prince Rupert Forest District was divided into smaller Ranger Districts. These Ranger Districts changed over the years, but included: Burns Lake, Hazleton, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Kitwanga, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), Ocean Falls, Francois Lake, Smithers, Telkwa, Houston, Pendleton Bay, Kitimat, Lower Post, Topley, Bella Coola, Southbank, Telegraph Creek and Atlin.

Annual fire reports are oversized handwritten tables that provide detailed information on individual fires for the years 1921-1967. The tables list: name of the fire; name of officer in charge; date; district fire number; fire origin; cost of fighting and source of funds; area burned; total area of damage done; amount of merchantable and unmerchantable timber burned; amount of range land burned; amount of property or other damage caused; and the cause of the fire. Possible causes include lightening, recreational activities, railroad clearing, smokers, brush or range burning, construction, industrial activities, incendiaries, miscellaneous known causes and unknown causes. The pages are arranged by year, with one page used per Ranger District. Each year includes a summary sheet with the totals for all Ranger Districts.

Fire atlas maps and overlays show the location and type of fires, as well as the extent of some burned areas. The majority of the maps are forest cover maps which have been annotated or had overlays added with this additional information. Many of the maps have been cut to fit in the bound volume they were originally stored in. This can make it difficult to determine the precise year the maps were created and annotated.

The series also includes one scrapbook of newspaper clippings related to forest fires, fire protection and firefighting for the years 1988-1991. This item was created by the successor of the Prince Rupert Forest District, the Prince Rupert Forest Region.

Ministries responsible for the creation of this series, and their dates of the responsibility, are:
Dept. of Lands (1908-1945)
Dept. of Lands and Forests (1945-1962)
Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
Dept. of Forests 1975-1976
Ministry of Forests 1976-1986
Ministry of Forests and Lands 1986-1988
Ministry of Forests 1988-2005

Stock shots. Extensive footage showing all aspects of a large log drive on the Stellako River. Includes aerial views.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. William Bickle describes homesteads near Francois Lake at Grassy Plains in 1906. Mr. Blaney (from Anahim Lake) and other settlers are described as the first settlers at Francois Lake in; 1904. The subsequent development of Burns Lake. He describes Burns Lake settlers, including Mike Touhy, a proficient man on trails; a description of the rum-drinking activities Touhy would indulge in; upon arriving in Hazelton, and a description of the man and his poetry. Cataline (Jean Caux) and a description of his pack trains for the Yukon Telegraph Line; George Biernes; Barney Mulvaney. Charli;e Barret, who was another very important packer for the telegraph line; and who was the first white settler in the Bulkley Valley. The Gun-an-noot story. John Dorsey, another Francois Lake settler. T;RACK 2: Mr. Bickle continues by describing his travels across frozen Francois Lake, and an account of what is involved in staking out a homestead.