Item T0357:0001 - 0002 - Randolph F. Sandner interview

CALL NUMBER: T0357:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Randolph F. Sandner begins this interview by telling the story of his father who was from Chicago and came to Rossland in 1896 to stake a gold mine, but ended up taking the Dewdney Trail to Christina Lake. Mr. Sandner discusses history and Indian stories of Christina Lake and Kettle River. He speaks of Ranald MacDonald who was the first white man to teach in Japan and made a fortune in the BC gold rush. He goes on to speak more about his father's life and then the hotels in Cascade which prospered from the overflow from Rossland. He mentions a fire in 1902 which destroyed Cascade, how the town never recovered and the remnants headed to Christina Lake.

TRACK 2: He describes where people lived in Christina Lake prior to WWI, and a person named Jack Wardrow who owned a cigar store. He also discusses the English settlers in the area in great detail and mentions a few by name: Angus Stewart, newspaper reporter for the Grand Forks Gazette, and a remittance man named George Charles Archibald Brown, who built the Alpine Inn but was a terrible business man. He mentions a Vancouver company named Airline Chocolates. Mr. Sandner speaks of the difficulty of finding a school teacher and his poor educational background because of it. He was taught to live with nature and how to track deer. The track ends with a story of a girl on a freight train with a baby.

CALL NUMBER: T0357:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The story about the freight train is continued and "young fellows must never help a woman!" is disclosed. Mr. Sandner says that he was raised in the woods and speaks about his mother's job of working in the mill and the family's hotel business, the North End Lodge. His father was wrongfully arrested for stealing a cable and he tells the story in detail. Mr. Sandner describes his childhood by speaking of the hotel, his mother's role, what life was like, and the family car. He tells the story of the Alice L. Mine in Paulson which was mined for gold and silver. Then he tells the story of Aaron Chandler, the man who founded Greenwood along with George Stocker and Alphonse Bertoius. These men called themselves the Canadian Consolidated Company, as they owned the smelter in Grand Forks.

TRACK 2: Mr. Sandner speaks of the two railroads in Grand Forks and how they relate to the smelters. He begins to discuss the history of Cascade, which had two newspapers. Cascade Power and; Light Company was bought out by West Kootenay Power and Light Company. He describes mining and Scott McRae who was the first man in Grand Forks, "a true pioneer". Mentions Mrs. Roylance and says that she will discuss McRae further. Then he speaks of Jack Coryell, another miner.