Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia

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Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia

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Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia

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Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia

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Acton Kilby interview : [Hesse, 1973]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Acton Kilby of Harrison Mills : Early settlers on the Fraser RECORDED: [location unknown], 1973 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Train noises. Acton Kilby is heard pointing out old tools, clothes and furniture at Harrison Mills Store. He discusses how he came to Harrison Mills. TRACK 2: Acton Kilby talks about life along the Fraser at the turn of the century, and since, including railroads, sternwheelers, and the floods of 1894 and 1948. Mrs. Acton Kilby also speaks. Footsteps and dogs barking. More train sounds.

Ada Bartholomew interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Ada Bartholomew recalls early days in the Kelowna area. She describes how her family came to the Okanagan via Port Arthur and New Westminster; early families of Kelowna; her first impressions of the area; school days; how things were better then; dances; other people who lived nearby; Christmas; how Kelowna grew; fairs and Penticton. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Ada Dawe interview : [Orchard, 1965]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-06-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Ada Dawe recalls her father Thomas John Cook; his arrival in Sechelt in 1893; Bert Whittaker and his store and hotel and steamships; more on steamships, the "Comox"; waiting for ships circa 1910 to 1914; and fishing. TRACK 2: Mrs. Dawe continues describing the arrival of nuns from France, Order of the Infant Jesus [Sisters of the Child Jesus], with Mother Superior Theresine in 190;3; the building of the Indian residential school in 1905; more on native Indians, including their appearance and their brass band; prominent Indians including Jack Isadore and Chief Julius and Chief A;lf August; the school for white children in 1912; Christmas festivities; roads to Porpoise Bay; Gibsons and Pender Harbour; and her impressions of loggers.

Adeline Genier interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-29 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Adeline Genier came to BC from Ontario in 1892; she describes her trip out west; her husband was Gilbert Genier, an electrician who got work from Sturgeon Falls to Vancouver working for the CPR. She was married in Kamloops in 1892 after her bout with mountain fever. The power house was built in Kamloops at this time. She mentions several people who worked on the power house and what was involved in learning how it worked. Her husband ran the power house for seven years until the family moved to Heffley Creek to buy a ranch. When the Klondike rush began they opened a stopping house for the two pack trains which came through; eventually sold it and the ranch and built a school at Heffley Creek. She is the mother of nine and she talks about how successful her life was. She describes the people and ranches at Heffley Creek and her family's values. She discusses recreation such as baseball. They moved to Barriere and she tells the story of how the town was named. TRACK 2: She describes Louis Creek and how it was named; the reserve and the roads going to and from the town. The Indians and how good neighbours they are. Anecdotes about Indians; how the children grew up with music; more anecdotes.

Agnes Mackie interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Agnes Mackie describes how the town of Boswell got its name. She describes coming to Canada and discusses Earl Grey. She offers anecdotes about early settlers; the local priest; prospectors and the development of orchards. TRACK 2: Mrs. Mackie continues by describing the ambience of Boswell and entertainment in the area. She discusses the effect of World War I on the community ;and offers anecdotes about Indians.

A.H. Soles interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. A.H. Soles discusses early settlement in the Columbia Valley and the Kootenay Central Railroad; he describes how he came from Ontario to Golden in 1898; the various steamboats and their captains; surveying and construction of the Kootenay Central Railroad from 1905 to 1915; KCRR opened up settlement of the valley south of Golden; the Koles family settled several years before the KCRR; and was one of the first in the area. TRACK 2: Mr. Soles continues by describing the KCRR building several stopping places along the line; other settlements named when the post office was established at each; a large fire on the west bank in 1926; no settlement south of Golden before the CPR; there were more game animals after the big fire.

Al and Fred Bears interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Fred Bears describes how his father, John Henry Bears, came from California to BC for the gold rush in 1875 and settled in Hope. He also tells about platinum in Granite Creek, people who struck it rich, anecdotes about packers, prospectors, teaching people to mine, gold at Hills Bar, staking claims, the Hudson's Bay post run by 'Old Man Yates' who ran a small store, freighting cattle along the Fraser River, details about their route before the turn of the century, and Bill Bristol. TRACK 2: Fred Bears continues with his stories about Bill Bristol. Al Bears describes what Bill Bristol looked like, and that he came from England. Al goes on to discuss his life, where he went to school, the people who lived in Hope when he was young (there were only six families and they made their living off horses and packing); Luke Gibson; and the trails through Hope. Fred Bears then tells anecdotes about prospecting in the area and the clothes people wore.

Albert Drinkwater interview

CALL NUMBER: T0772:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-03-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Drinkwater recounts his parents' arrival in Langley Prairie, and later Surrey, in the 1890s. He describes schooling; early life; childhood experiences; incident with a bear; New Westminster fire of [1898]; potlatches at Semiahmoo; Indian encampments; family life; farm chores; fishing. TRACK 2: Mr. Drinkwater continues with a discussion about fishing; winter; logging in Surrey; sawmills; Ross McLaren Mill; Yale Road; traveling store, Kidds and Isaac; sounds common at the turn of the century; a cougar incident; railways.

CALL NUMBER: T0772:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-03-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Drinkwater continues with his discussion about logging; logging methods; equipment; working horses; teamsters; oxen teams; selection of timber; loggers; the scaler; skid roads; transportation of logs. TRACK 2: Mr. Drinkwater continues with his discussion about logging; life in the logging camps; skid roads and donkey engines. He talks about Surrey Centre; early residents; Reverend; Bell.

CALL NUMBER: T0772:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-03-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Drinkwater continues with his recollections of early residents of Tynehead; the Bell family; Halls Prairie settlers; the MacKenzie family; the Robertson family; incidents; the Brown family; Johnny Wise and the Clarendon Hotel; riverboats. TRACK 2: Mr. Drinkwater talks about the Yale Road; dredging and dyking, methods, procedures and equipment; Sumas Prairie dyking; constructing the; route for BC Electric; logging.

Albert Franklin interview

CALL NUMBER: T0613:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Albert Veranous Franklin remembers life at Tatla Lake before 1900. Mr. Franklin recalls his family background, his father, Benny Franklin, the move to Tatla Lake, the reasons, the journey, the purchase of the homestead and establishing a store, getting supplies from Ashcroft, trading with the Indians, the smallpox epidemic among the Indians, excursions to Bute Inlet, the Waddington Massacre, Chilcotin Indians and more, and the massacre and the aftermath.

TRACK 2: Franklin continues with more on the Waddington massacre, the story of the introduction of smallpox among the Indians as told to Franklin by John Hickory McLean, who was a member of the Waddington party, the effects of smallpox, names of early settlers, stories of life at Tatla, an anecdote about seeing the ghost of a dead Indian woman, the new road from Alexis Creek to the Nazko Valley, an account of the Indian game of Lahal, and moving to Nazko from Tatla.

CALL NUMBER: T0613:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Franklin discusses the move to below Anahim Rancherie, Norman Lee, partnerships in the Chilcotin, Indian-White intermarriage, the Franklin homestead, an account of his father's death and burial, his father as Justice of the Peace, his mother, Marie Forest, the move into the Chilcotin in 1889, early days at Tatla Lake, the reasons for moving to the lake from Nazko, and Indian agitation.

TRACK 2: Franklin tells the story behind Indian agitation, a trip to Skeena River, early days at Bute Inlet, his father's excursions between Bute Inlet and Tatla Lake, life after leaving the Chilcotin in 1903, the trip from Tatla Lake to Bute Inlet and back, 1892 or 1893, and place names.

Albert Power interview

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Stage drivng in the Cariboo RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967 SUMMARY: An oral history interview with Albert Power, who was "born and raised" a cowboy, and drove a stage in the Cariboo. He talks about a trip from Ashcroft to Quesnel ca. 1913, and cattle drives from the Gang Ranch to Fort Fraser.

Alec Steven interview

CALL NUMBER: T1078:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alec H. Steven discusses life in Summerland from 1902 to 1930. He describes his early life in Scotland; why he came to Canada; a period in Manitoba; the attraction of the Okanagan; his ;first impressions; J.M. Robinson and the Summerland Development Company; Steven's work for Robinson; selling orchard lots; James Ritchie and West Summerland; Mr. Steven's own property; selling and shipping fruit; a trip back to Scotland in 1911; his involvement with immigration; resisting subdivision of property; why he chose Summerland; interest in the CPR; getting started in Summerland and social life. TRACK 2: Mr. Steven continues discussing J.M. Robinson; stories about liquor coming in by boat; the story of J.M. Robinson and his contributions; other people in the area such as Preston; Paddy Acland; Major Hutton and Sam McGee; more about work with Robinson; a story about Alexander MacKay, who came to buy land.

CALL NUMBER: T1078:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Steven continues his story about Alexander MacKay, who bought land with gold coins he carried in a dirty handkerchief; a description of MacKay; the joy in life; hard times; no money in circulation but only promissory notes; an anecdote. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alex Wylie interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alex Wylie discusses hiking near Hinton in 1905 with some traders as he moved to BC; moved to Alberta from Scotland; describes the fort at Edmonton; he describes how he became a packer in 1907; Swift Ranch; pack trails near Quesnel; a man named Swift; the Northern Territories as he remembers them; the CPR; and Fort George. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alexander and Elizabeth Ritchie interview

CALL NUMBER: T0883:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alexander Ritchie describes how he came from Calgary in 1896; drove a stage between Fort Steele and Windermere for a few months; went back to Calgary, but returned to Windermere in 1898; worked on ranches and mined until 1910; was part owner of CVI [Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruit Lands, Limited] with [R.R.] Bruce for five years; broke up with Bruce and eventually owned the whole company and site; CPR board of directors were the driving force behind CVI; KCRR [Kootenay Central Railway] reached Athalmer in 1912; the Paradise Mine and some anecdotes. TRACK 2: Mr. Ritchie continue;s by discussing Fort Steele as a "wide open town" in the 1890s and the stage run from Fort Steele to Windermere. He then discusses democrats (i.e., type of wagon).

CALL NUMBER: T0883:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Ritchie continues his description of the Fort Steele to Windermere stage run; more anecdotes; Windermere as the earliest settlement in the area; Mr. Ritchie's several trips across the Rockies and taking horses east to sell in Alberta. TRACK 2: Mr. Ritchie describes an incident at Banff with Indians and selling horses as far north as Grande Prairie. Then Mrs. Lizzie Ritchie describes how she came from London to Winnipeg in 1904; her first husband was Charles Burgess, who was bookkeeper for a lumber company; Waldo as the first ghost town; and some anecdotes about the lumber industry.

Alexander Hope interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alex Hope begins this tape with family history; he talks about his grandfather's [Mavis] first trip to BC in 1858 and his later settlement in the Langley area; his father, a land surveyor, surveyed for the Mavis family and moved to Langley in 1907. He relates background information about the Fort Langley restoration project; the Mavis family lived on the site of the fort, and Mr. Hope describes the remaining buildings which were on the property when his grandparents purchased the land in 1886; the Langley Historical Society and the restoration of Fort Langley; government funding; for the project; historical research and planning; the official opening in 1958; archeological studies of the site and information about the Hudson's Bay Company; exploration of southwestern BC. TRACK 2: Mr. Hope talks about the settlement of Derby; a history of Fort Langley; Old Fort Langley and New Fort Langley; chief factors at the fort; town of Fort Langley; river transportation; mail delivery; the Hudson's Bay Company farm site; the CNR; origins of the Fort Langley/Albion Ferry; early settlers; Joe Morrison; McClughan family; the telegraph trail; the Yale Road; early communities.

Alfie Kershaw interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1966-02-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alfie H. Kershaw describes various old timers at Fort Steele. He was born in Fort Steele while the town was in decline; only sawmills and prospecting were keeping it alive; his father, Henry Kershaw, was the Fort Steele postmaster; the Lum family; anecdotes about old timers Dave Griffiths; Red McLeod and Moses McCoy. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alfred Cawston interview

RECORDED: Keremeos (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mr. Cawston's father came to Ontario from northern England in 1831, and came to Osoyoos in 1874. Alfred was born in 1892. After his father tried a few business ventures that did not pan out, Alfred was sent back to Ontario for schooling. Alfred married in 1919 and ran a small fruit farm; in later years, he became a ranger for the BC Forest Service.

Alfred Hawkins interview

CALL NUMBER: T0712:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-04-01 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Hawkins recounts the arrival of his father [Albert Hawkins] in BC with the Royal Engineers in 1859; settlement in Matsqui with a crown and military grant; stories about Judge Begbie; the family farm; other incidents; wild animals; early settlers C.B. Sword, Maclure, Lehman, McCullum, Cruickshank, Nicholson and Merryfield; his father's adventures; the 1894 flood; the Maclure family.; TRACK 2: Mr. Hawkins continues with his recollections of the Maclure family; other settlers; Matsqui dykes and dams; floods; settlement of Matsqui; the BC Electric Railway; descriptions and stories; about the sternwheelers on the river; anecdotes about the post office.

CALL NUMBER: T0712:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-04-01 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Hawkins continues with stories about local characters, socials, life on the farm, picnics, amateur theatricals; and an anecdote about Vancouver Island. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alfred Ildstead interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1979?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Ildstead [or Ildstad?] discusses the Norwegian settlement at Quatsino; transportation; life in the settlement; Winter Harbour; the salmon run; fishing; canneries; whaling; early settlers; Ned Frigo, an early fur trader in the area (born 1819, died 1917); Indians; Port Alice pulp mill; Quatsino today; Mr. Ildstead's employment; and the Danes at Cape Scott. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alice Griffiths interview

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Revelstoke, 1906-1975 RECORDED: Revelstoke (B.C.), 1975-01-21 SUMMARY: Childhood; meeting her husband; coming to Canada; remembers trip from England; time in Manitoba and Calgary; arrival in Revelstoke; first day in Revelstoke and the first few years; move to the Big Eddy; crossing bridges; life in the Eddy; the Barretts; social life; working on the farm; medical services; experiences of first few years; cabin in the Eddy; more on husband; Farwell; choir days; reflects on life today; meets Mr. Diefenbaker; British Gaumont Film Company [shooting film in Revelstoke area - "The Great Barrier"?]; loss of son.

Alice M. Earley interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1955?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Alice M. Earley talks about coming into the Cariboo from Victoria in 1884; the journey by steamboat, train, and horse-drawn wagon to Quesnel, where she had been hired to teach. The Conco;rd stages. She describes Quesnel in the 1880s: the town; the fur traders; pack trains; the Klondike gold rush of 1898; the telegraph line; a plot by the Chilcotin [Tsilhqot'in] people; Barkerville; Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie; the school teacher; coins; prices and automobiles of a later era. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Alice Thompson interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-11-18 SUMMARY: TRACKS 1 & 2: Mrs. Alice Thompson talks about her grandfather and her father, Okanagan pioneers J.C. and Val Haynes, and other impressions of the south Okanagan, 1857 to 1932. She describes family details and background; her father's work on a ranch at the head of Osoyoos Lake; a discussion of J.C. Haynes; a visit by U.S. General Sherman; the Hudson's Bay store; fur trade in the area; first settlers; J.C. Haynes as a gold commissioner; the selection of Indian reserve land; a smallpox epidemic; the death of J.C. Haynes; about her father Val Haynes including his early life and work; her grandfather's wives and children; and more stories about her father.

Allan Davidson interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Allan Davidson talks about life in the Westbank area from 1892 to 1908. He discusses how his family came to the Okanagan from the Fraser Valley and settled north of Shannon Lake in 1893. He describes his first cabin; his father's background; a story about an Indian coming to the cabin; his new house; how his father was a 'square peg in a round hole'; the family farm; his relationship with his father; logging from the farm; a vivid description of the Nez Perce Indians en route to the hop fields at Coldstream; the trail along the east side of the lake; Indians and Alec McClennan. TRACK 2: Mr. Davidson continues with more on McClennan; development in the area; the mail service; the founding of the village of Westbank; land development; more on the mail service; the ferry and; Leonard Hayman who was the operator; a story about "Wild Goose Bill" at the ferry landing; more on Hayman and the ferry; Kelowna at that time; D.E. Gellatly and the family; an anecdote about fighting; a forest fire in 1905.

Allan Robertson interview

CALL NUMBER: T0963:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-08-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Allan Robertson describes his family history leading up to their arrival on Cortes Island between 1889 and 1905. He describes his education with John Manson's family; how eggs were the ;main industry; the first settlers of Cortes from 1870 to 1890; Whaletown; Mansons Landing; the growth of Cortes, including the fluctuations and flow of settlers from 1908 to 1920; the climate on the island; more on the development of Cortes; a description of John and Mike Manson; and Allan describes his early life, supporting his family and beginning to log. TRACK 2: Mr. Robertson describes his ;mother as a midwife; and the hospitals of Powell River and Vancouver and Campbell River. He then describes the conditions; clothes; steamship travel; and drinking in logging camps. He then discusses; the Columbia Coast Mission and ministers Alan Greene and John Antle.

CALL NUMBER: T0963:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1968 [summer] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Robertson talks about logging: horse logging; skid roads; steam donkey logging between 1905 and 1910; judging and preparing logs for riding skid roads; getting logs into the water; Gilchrist Jack; hand logging; the employment of oxen and horses; more on steam donkeys; log booms; the use of tow boats; the type of person a logger back then was; cork boots and typical logging clothes. ;TRACK 2: Mr. Robertson continues with more on logging: food in the logging camps; the Union Steamships; logging jargon; origin of "haywire"; different axes; more logging terms; his first job at a log;ging camp in 1911; his early years on Cortes Island and his introduction to logging; the authority of a camp foreman; wages; risks taken and compared to present; and an anecdote about drinking.

CALL NUMBER: T0963:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1968 [summer] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Robertson discusses growing up on Cortes Island; beginning his career as a logger at the age of thirteen; his experience enlisting in WWI; and his various occupations between the World Wars, including his work for the Crown Zellerbach Company. Mr. Robertson then recalls the history of the pulp and paper industry through the history of the Crown Zellerbach, including the reason for t;he odor produced by pulp mills; and he describes the process of paper making. TRACK 2: Mr. Robertson continues with more on the paper making process: the effects of waste on the environment; and reforestation. Then Mr. Robertson discusses commercial and sport salmon fishing; the origins of the name Cortes Island; more on growing up there including a description of the area; canneries on Blind Channel; his own education; and a comparison between kids yesterday and today.

Alma Cyr interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-01 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Cyr, nee Lagace, recounts her father's arrival in Hatzic Prairie from Quebec; the family homestead; Mrs. Thompson; Italian settlers; her family traveling through the Rockies in a covered wagon; Captain Stanley Thompson; Mrs. Cyr's father; her mother; dances; picnics; schooling; local residents; Father Fouquier; Durier; Boucher; the Lagace family. TRACK 2: Mrs. Cyr continues with her recollections about her family; her mother; her husband, Zoel Cyr; his logging work at Stave Lake; the Matsqui Hotel; ranching in the Dewdney area; family incidents.

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