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MEMBER SOCIETIES

Member Societies and their secretaries are responsible for seeing that the correct address for their society isup-to-date. Please send any change to both the Treasurer and Editor at the addresses inside the back cover.The Annual Return as at October 31st should include telephone numbers for contact.

Members’ dues for the year 1990 - 91 were paid by the following Societies:

Alberni District Historical Society - Box 284, Port Albemi, B.C. V9Y 7M7Arrow Lakes Historical Society - Box 584, Nakusp, B.C. VOB 1 ROAtlin Historical Society - Box iii, Atlin, B.C. VOW lAOBurnaby Historical Society - 6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby, B.C. V5G 3T6Chemainus Valley Historical Society - Box 172, Chemainus, B.C. VOR 1 KOCowichan Historical Society - P.O. Box 1014, Duncan, B.C. V9L 3Y2District 69 Historical Society - Box 3014, Parksville, B.C. VOR 2S0East Kootenay Historical Association - P.O. Box 74, Cranbrook, B.C. V1C 4H6Gulf Islands Branch -BCHF- dO Wilma J. Cross, RR#1, Pender Island, B.C. VON 2M0Koksilah School Historical Society - 5203 Trans Canada Highway, Koksilah, B.C. VOR 2C0Kootenay Lake Historical Society - Box 537, Kaslo, B.C. VOG I MOKootenay Museum & Historical Society - 402 Anderson Street, Nelson, B.C. Vi L 3Y3Lantzville Historical Society - do Box 274, Lantzville, B.C. VOR 2HOLasqueti Island Historical Society - Lasqueti Island, B.C. VOR 2J0Nanaimo Historical Society - P.O. Box 933, Station A, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5N2North Shore Historical Society - do 333 Chesterfield Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 3G9North Shuswap Historical Society - Box 22, Celista, B.C. VOE 1 LOPrinceton & District Pioneer Museum & Archives - Box 687, Princeton, B.C. vox iWO

Qualicum Beach Historical & Museum Society - 444 Qualicum Road, Qualicum Beach, B.C. V9K 1 B2

Salt Spring Island Historical Society - Box 1264, Ganges, B.C. VOS lEOSidney & North Saanich Historical Society - P.O. Box 2404, Sidney, B.C. V8L 3Y3Silvery Slocan Historical Society - Box 301, New Denver, B.C. VOG iSOSurrey Historical Society - 8811 - 152nd Street, Surrey, B.C. V3R 4E5Trail Historical Society - P.O. Box 405, Trail, B.C. Vi R 4L7Vancouver Historical Society - P.O. Box 3071, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3X6Victoria Historical Society - Box 5123 SIn. B., Victoria, B.C. V8R 6N4

AFFILIATED GROUPS

Fort Steele Heritage Park - Fort Steele, B.C. VOB 1 NOThe Hallmark Society - 207 Government Street, Victoria, B.C. V8V 2K8Nanaimo Centennial Museum Society - 100 Cameron Road, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2X1

Publications Mail Registration Number 4447

Published winter, spring, summer and fall by the British Columbia Historical Federation, P.O. Box 5254,Station B, Victoria, B.C. V8R 6N4. A Charitable Society recognized under the income Tax Act.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Institutional, $16.00 per year; Individual (non-members), $12.00; Members of memberSocieties — $9.00; For addresses outside Canada add $5.00.

Financially assisted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Culture, through the BritishColumbia Heritage Trust and British Columbia Lotteries.

Back issues of the British Columbia Historical News are available in microform from Micromedia Limited, 20Victoria St., Toronto, Ont. M5C 2N8 (416) 362-5211 • Fax (416) 362-6161 • Toll Free 1-800-387-2689— Micromedia also publishes the Canadian Magazine Index and the Canadian Business Index.

Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index.

B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL NEWS

Volume 26, No. 4 Journal of B.C. Historical Federation Fall - 1993

EDITORIAL CONTENTS

The B.C. Historical News is sponsored FEATURES Pageby a provincial federation aiming to inform Atlin Adventure 2readers about events and people from all by Hon. James Harvey, QCover the province. In this issue we presenttwo writers who make their homes in Pemberton Pioneer 4Prince Rupert and a lady from Hudson’s by Anita Ronayne McWilliamsHope who tells of her father’s enterpriseswhich concluded with farming in Early Travelling in the Columbia-Kootenay Valley 7Pemberton. You will have a look at by R.C. Harristransportation in the Columbia-Kootenay Canon Stanley Smith: Missions to Seamen 11Valley in eastern British Columbia and arich American who purchased an island by RoyJ.V. Pallantnear Albemi. We have a few more good Winged Victory 1918: CPR’s War Memorial 16stories to share with you in future issues by Helen Borrellbut urge would-be writers to get theirfavorite bits of local history typed, double- A Vanderbilt at Alberni 18spaced, and mailed to the editor before the by Jan Petersonwinter is over.

We hope that local societies are making Bridges To Our Past 22some move to observe Women’s History by Tom ParkinMonth in October. A caller from Delta The Very Beginnings of Prince Rupert 25urged that we devote the Fall 1994 issue toWomen’s History. I have agreed ... and it by Phylis Bowman

will be then that a composite story of McVittie Brothers: Land Surveyors 28Women’s Institutes in B.C. appears, by Robert W. Allen(Several WI members have cooperatedbut more is needed.) There are many NEWS & NOTES 31possible stories about unsung heroines(and heros). We need your help to write, BOOK SHELF 32or to persuade others to write, for YOURhistorical journal. The Struggle for Social Justice in B.C.: Helena Gutteridge . . . . 32

Naomi Miller Review by Mark Leier

_______________________________

Aboriginal Peoples and Politics 33

COVER CREDIT“Bridges To Our Past” includes reference

to this steel cantilever bridge over NiagaraCanyon at the Malahat Summit, Mile 14north of Victoria on the Esquimalt andNanaimo Railway. This is the third span atthis location since 1886. The first two weretimber trestles. This steel bridge wasoriginally erected over the Fraser River atCisco, B.C. It was reassembled here in1911 and reinforced in 1940. The heightfrom creek to rail is 79 metres. Photocourtesy of Tom Parkin.

Manuscripts and correspondence for the editor are to be sent to P.O. Box 105, Wasa, BC, VOB 2K0Correspondence regarding subscriptions is to be directed to the subscription secretary (see inside back cover)

Punted in canada by Kootenay Kwik Print Ltd.

Review by Werner Kaschel

The Fraser Valley: A History 34Review by Jim Bowman

Fraser Valley Challenge 33Review by Werner Kaschel

Fish Hooks and Caulk Boots 34Review by Peggy Imredy

Other Publications Noted 34

WRITING COMPET1TION ENTRIES 1992 36

B.C. Historical News . Fall 1993

Atlin Adventure

by The HonourableJames Harvey, Q. C.

Atlin was the one town in the Countyof Prince Rupert that survived the 1929—1939 Depression. In his first term President F.D. Roosevelt caused the price ofgold to rise from $23 and some odd centsto $35 an ounce. Old placer diggings from1898 and a few years later were being reworked profitably. There was no unemployment and no relief payments. Economically it was unique in the province. Imade one of my law firm’s frequent tripsthere in the fall of 1936. I acted for alitigious old man named Isaac Matthewswho had staked a fractional claim onSpruce Creek, on ground which he wassure was open, between claims of a substantial companywhich was then operatinga steam shovel on Spruce Creek. Theirclaims were appropriately named thePoker, Joker and Croaker and the steamshovel was rapidly approaching Matthews’fraction, which the company claimed waspart of the Croaker. Matthews wanted meto engage a surveyor and bring him withme to Spruce Creek. Time was of theessence. As there were no aircraft based inPrince Rupert, I engaged a pilot from

Ketchikan, Alaska, topick me up in PrinceRupert, then fly toLakelse Lake wherewe would land andpick up Fred Nash, asurveyor whom I hadarranged to be in arowboat at the expected time ofour arrival. All went welland we flew directlyto Juneau, Alaska,where we met IsaacMatthews. He hadarranged for us to beflown from there toAtlin by a Canadianpilot named Barr whohad an ancient cargo

plane on wheels. Barr used the mud flatsat Juneau as a runway, the only methodfor a wheeled aircraft. But take-off depended on the conjunction of tide andwind. The tide had to be low and the windblowing from the only direction possiblefor a safe take-off. Matthews wanted touse Barr as this was the only way he couldhope to recover a lot of money that Barrowed him. During the next two days andafter one abortive effort by Barr, Matthewsgave up and we were flown to Atlin by theAmerican pilot who had flown Nash andme to Juneau.

During the next few days Nash wasbusy surveying at Spruce Creek and Idrove Matthews’ car to the GovernmentAgent’s office where I searched old mining records. We seemed to be establishingwhat we had come for but Nash neededanother day or two, so it was agreed that Ishould return to Prince Rupert as quicklyas possible and Nash would telegraph methe remaining information I required toget an injunction against the steam-shovelpeople from digging through Matthews’fraction.

Meanwhile, Barr had managed toreach Atlin and land on a primitive gravelairstrip which, appropriately, had a cemetery at both ends. Matthews was determined that Barr should fly me to Juneauwhere landing was a less hazardous operation than take-off. However he insistedthat I was to pay Barr nothing. Matthewsdrove me from Spruce Creek to Atlin andI found Barr at the home of the parents ofan attractive young lady whom he hopedto marry. Her surname was Sand or Sands.I gave him Matthews’ instructions but hesaid he had no money to buy gasoline forthe trip to Juneau. After a discussion lasting far into the night I agreed to pay him$20 from my own pocket. Early nextmorning, in spite of heavy rain and limited visibility, we took off After about anhour! noticed that Barr was losing altitudeand peering out of the side window asthough searching for something. Then hereduced speed and began to circle over ariver in which there were many sand barslittered with logs. He selected the leasthopeless of these and dove at it. I thoughtthat would be the end ofme, aswell as Barrand his ancient aircraft. Somehow he madeit, the wheels sinking into the sand and theplane almost vertical, missing by a hair’sbreadth various logs, finally coming torest, horizontal by now, a few inches fromthe end of the sand bar.

The first thing Barr said was that hehad often wondered if he could make asafe landing on this sand bar. Then heclimbed out carrying a rifle, which didn’treassure me.! thought the safest thing wasto follow him and was relieved to learnthat the rifle was to be used for nothinghomicidal but to be fired three times inthe air at short intervals as a distress signal.We were at the junction of the Tulsequahand Taku Rivers; and I could imagine noplace more remote from any vestige ofcivilization. It was pouring with rain. Iwas most unsuitably clothed for the oc

Juneau

b)Prince Rupert

2 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

casion and had with me only a black valisecontaining such items as I had thoughtsuitable for the trip.

As Barr’s distress signal had had novisible or other response, he decided hewould strip and swim to the other side ofthe Tulsequah where he said a trail led toa trading post. He dove into the river but,not to my surprise, leapt out within asecond or two.

We were in the process of making afire when an Indian suddenly appearedthrough the woods on the other side oftheriver. Just as abruptly he disappeared butsoon reappeared in a rowboat and gestured us to get in. Across the river hefound a trail and led us to the trading postBarr had mentioned, which was on thebank of the Taku River.

There we had a meal and met a mannamed Nelson, a Canadian Customs officer whom I had previously met in PrinceRupert. He said my only chance ofgettingto Juneau was to go down river a few mileswhere there was a weather station on theU.S. side of the border which was incontactwithJuneau by radio. He then leftus to look for another Indian who had anopen boat with an outboard engine. I wasrunning out of money, and of course Barrcouldn’t help me. When Nelson cameback with the Indian I made arrangementswith him, which I could just afford, anddeparted down river in his boat. All wentwell until we reached the weather stationand I was told that this was the one day ofthe week when radio contact with Juneauwas not possible. My only option, I wastold, was to go several more miles downstream where there was a lodge operatedby a young woman named Mary Joyce,who had a fast motor boat which she usedto go to and from Juneau.

With the greatest reluctance and mypromise to pay him lavishly if he wouldtake me to Maryjoyce’s lodge, the Indianstarted off with me and my valise in hisboat. It took my remaining $5 even to gethim started. How I would fulfill mypromise to him was in the lap of the gods.

Before leaving Barr at the trading postI was surprised to find him so unconcernedat his own predicament. He said it wassure to snow in a few days and that hewould replace his wheels with skis. More

about this later.The Indian became increasingly un

friendly but continued down the river.Soon a pontoon plane appeared out of thefog, flying low over the river. I stood up,waved frantically and gave the hitchhiker’s traditional sign. The plane kept onuntil out of sight but to my relief it reemerged from the fog flying in our direction, landed near us on the river and Iwas able to clamber aboard. I waved goodbye to the Indian and decided the $5 I hadgiven him was adequate compensation forthe short ride from the weather station.The pilot told me that it was my blackvalise in the centre of the boat that finallyconvinced him I was in distress. We arrivedin Juneau without further mishap. Iwentto an hotel, got my clothes dried, had ameal and a good sleep and was flown toPrince Rupert where I was able to pay allmy debts. Incidentally, the Mary Joyceexpedition would have been fruitless asshewas inJuneau,delayed bybadweather.

As for Barr, I later learned that he hadused only half of my $20 for gasoline. Bythe time he started to look for a sand barhe had insufficient fuel to fly back toAtlinand couldn’t risk going on to Juneaubecause of low clouds and fog. He wasright that he could soon leave the sand baras snow came to his rescue. Later I heardthat his finances must have improved ashe had married the attractive Miss Sand.The Sand-Barr nuptials seemed a fittingend to this episode.

When I got to Prince Rupert I lost notime and with the help of Nash’s finalreport I was able to obtain a temporaryinjunction against the steam-shovel peopie who had not quite reached Matthews’fraction. They stopped work for the season as they might have done anyway asSpruce Creek was beginning to freeze.The case never came to trial. Instead thedefendants bypassed the disputed fraction,leaving it to Matthews’ possession.Whether or not he ever recovered any goldfrom it I do not know. The last I heard ofthe matter was that Matthews had died.

Judge Harvey of Prince Rupert is one of afamily ofIawyers. Hisfather was one ofthepioneerlawyers at Fort Steele and Cran brook. His son is aQ.C. in Vancouver.

.

Canadian HistoricalAssociation

Certificates of Meritfor

Regional History

British Columbia - Yukon

The Regional History Committee of theCanadian Historical Association invites nominations for its “Certificate ofMerit” awards. Two awards are givenannually for each of five Canadianregions, including British Columbiaand the Yukon: (1) an award for publications and videos that make a significant contribution to regional history and that will serve as a model forothers; and (2) an award to individualsfor work over a lifetime or to organ izations for contributions over an extended period of time.

Nominations accompanied by as muchsupporting documentation as possibleshould be sent no laterthan 15 December 1993 to Dr. John Douglas Beishaw,Departmentof Philosophy, History andPolitics, University College of theCariboo, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5N3(Fax: 604-371-5510).

The 1993 awards were presented to:

1) James R. Gibson, Otter Skins,Boston Ships, and China goods:The Maritime Fur Trade of theNorthwest Coast, 1748-1841(Montreal: McGill-Queen’s,1992)

2) Scott Mcintyre, Publisher(Douglas & Mcintyre,Vancouver).

.

3 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Pemberton Pioneer

by Anita Ronayne McWilliams

Joseph Michael Ronayne was born onApril 1, 1875, the second youngest of theseven children of John and BridgetFitzgerald Ronayne, of the farmDonickmore, near Midleton, CountyCork, Ireland. His father died when hewas quite young. All Ireland was a province ofGreat Britain in those days, and theRonayne farm was owned by an Englishabsentee landlord. It was a struggle to paythe annual rent. In order to get firewood,they had to go out under cover ofdarknessto gather it on their own place. There waslittle future for young Irish men, as theycould not own land.

At the age of 18, Joe emigrated withhis brotherJack to the New World, landingin New York. He worked for a time ondairy farms in New Jersey, rising at 3 a.m.to milk the cows. He contracted malariahere, but I do not think he suffered fromit in Pemberton. The brothers moved onto Montreal, whence they took the longtrain journey across Canada to Vancouver.They were on the train for fifteen days,eight ofthose snowed in somewhere in theRocky Mountains. They spent some timein Seattle, splitting shakes, but by 1897wereworkingon farms in the Fraserdeita,first at Ladner and later on Lulu Island. Itwas hard work with long hours, seedingand harvesting, rounding up cows frompastures, milking, churning, feeding calvesand pigs. They got about five-and-a-halfhours ofsleep a night, apparently with nodays off They were in demand as hayinghands and worked so hard that they lostweight. Joe, who weighed 210 poundswhen they started the summer’s work,went down to 180 pounds.

Gold fever was burning in the heartsand minds of everyone by this time, andthe brothers, having decided that theywould never make their fortunes workingas farmhands, set out for the Klondike inJanuary 1898, taking a year’s provisions,

six dogs and a horse. In one of his rareletters home, Joe says:

VancouverJanuary31

Dear Mama,We are going to start for

Kiondyke the day after tomorrow.We bought a lot of warm clothingand one year’s provision, axes, picksand shovels & a whole lot of stuff.It costs more money than wethought to go up there with a goodoutfit. We are taking one horse andsix dogs to pull the stuff in sleighs.Some people say dogs are no goodand others say horses are not muchgood, so we have decided to buyboth.

We got that 20 Cornelia sentand were very glad that you did notsend more because we know youcan’t afford it. There are thousandsof people going to Klondyke everyweek now & they say the big rush

didn’t begin yet. I suppose 99 outof every hundred will come backwithout a cent.

It was a pity we hadn’t the moneyto go last spring before the boombegan. We might have been richnow. However, there is a chanceyet.

Every store in town is sellingKlondyke outfits now & it is thesame in all the cities along the coast.Some people think there will bemore money spent in going therethan will ever come out of it. It isvery cold up there in winter. We aretaking a leather coat, each linedwith sheepskin with the wool on, asuit of thick woollen clothes calledmackinaws, a shirt ofthe same stuff,& two suits of woollen underclothes. Jack is taking a sheepskincap & I a cap made of down withcloth on the outside, Indianmoccassins, sleeping bags, heavyblankets, and a lot of other things.I don’t think we’ll freeze for wantof clothes anyway.

For food we got flour, bacon,dried beef, beans, butter, lard, driedfruit, cocoa, tea, sugar & soon. Weare also taking a little box of medicines sold especially for Kiondikers.We bought a rifle & a shotgun too.There is lots ofgame in some placesup there.

We may not be able to send aletter for some time after this, butwe will write whenever we can. Wewere glad to hear that Teresa isgoing to be married next summer.I suppose the whole family will bemarried before we get back homeagain.

Goodbye to allJoe Ronayne

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They sailed from Vancouver toWrangell, on theAlaskan panhandle, madetheir way by the so—called all-Canadianroute up the Stikine River and into thewatershed of the Yukon River, and thenceto Dawson City. Details of the journeyare, unfortunately, lacking, but we knowthat they arrived in Dawson City and gotwork as labourers, shovelling muck in thecreeks for those who had claims.

Jack apparently left Dawson for thegold strike in Atlin which also happenedin 1898, butwas never as widely publicizedor romanticized as the Klondike rush. Ina way, this is surprising, because Atlin,situated in the extreme northwest cornerofBritish Columbia, was every bit as hardto reach, and at the height of the rush,supported a population of about 10,000.It is also one of the most beautiful placeson earth.

Jack sent for Joe to join him, and inthe following fragment of an undatedletter written to his mother, Joe describes

• conditions in DawsOn, and with considerable understatement, mentions his epicjourney on foot from Dawson to Atlin inlate winter:

almost walking on top ofeach other in the streets of Dawsonlast summer when we got downthere. Some would come in andstop a few days to have a lookaround the creeks, then get disgusted, sell their outfits cheap andfloat down the river to St. Michaels.Some other fellows and I did somework down there last winter, butwe found nothing aftersinkingseveral holes twentyseven feet throughthe frozen ground. We were to get50 percent of what gold we tookout. I started up the river fromDawson on the 15 March with atent, blankets, a little grub etc. behind me on a sled to go to Atlin.[Note: He would have been travelling on the frozen Yukon River.l Ittook me 22 days to get here, 600miles. I found Jack about an hourafter reaching Atlin and we havebeen together since. Jack did a lotofprospecting around this countrybut he found nothing that was any

good. There is a great deal of luckin this business, a fellow just dropson to a good claim by chance.

We have been working for wagesthis last month or so, we were to getfive dollars a day providing it cameout of the ground but the claim didnot pay so we had to quit. We got50 dollars each out of it, and therest is coming to us. This Atlincountry does not amount to much,the best claims in it do not paymuch more than good wages.

I think we will go to work againin a day or two. Jack got a nice letterfrom Mrs. Terry lately. She seemsto think we go through some terrible hardships and run awful risksout here. We have a strong notionof going home when we leave thisplace in three or four months fromnow, but whether we can raise themoney or not is doubtful. Jack willbe able to tell some great yarnswhen he goes home, bear storiesand so forth. Of course, you canbelieve as much as you like ofthem.If we don’t go home, I will try towrite a little oftener. I have beendepending on Jack to do the writing, he writes such a good letter anddescribes things so fine.

• I must now say good bye dearMamma with love to all at home

Joe Ronayne

The brothers remained around Atlinfor six years and were later joined by theirolder brother Edmond. Joe was not apartner in theAtlin claims, but sometimesworked for wages at $7 a day. He spent agood deal of his time hunting to providethe camp with meat, especially ptarmiganand duck in great numbers, as bag limitswere unknown then. Joe and another manwere camped somewhere between Telegraph Creek and Wrangell near a glacier,cutting wood for sale at $8 a cord, whenJack came upon them during a trip to theOutside. Jack tells of this meeting in aletter dated merely April 9th. He says Joepulled a load of wood to Telegraph foranother man for four dollars a day andboard, pulling 530 pounds. Unfortunatelythe letter does not say how long it took,

nor how far it was. There is no doubt thatJoe was a strong man in his youth. Perhapsit was feats such as this which strained hisheart and led to trouble later on.

During this time, they managed atleast one trip home, to Ireland, and spentsome winters in North Vancouver, wheretheir sister Teresa Miller now lived withher husband and family (Vivien, Sandyand Gerald Ross). They were looking forfarm land, and heard that there was nothing closer than in the Pemberton Valley,where land speculators had not yet grabbedup everything. In 1905 they were still inAtlin, Jack filing four claims on McKeeCreek, but by 1907 they were farming inPemberton. In 1906 they had boughtthree adjoining parcels, paying $12.50 anacre, and for a time operated as a three-way partnership (Edmond,Jack and Joe),but later the Joe Ronaynes withdrew their140 acres from the partnership.

Clearing was done a little at a timewith saw, axe and blasting powder. Theland was broken with a plough andgrubhoe, a job difficult enough in itself,but complicated by clouds of mosquitoeswhich swarmed up from the damp grassand every pond and seepage pool.

In 1907, as the brothers coped withvarious animal diseases new to them’,Joe

5 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

got distemper from the horses and “hadtwo or three very bad spells.” The swellingbroke into his mouth under the tonguetwice and Edmond lanced it from underthe jaw and let the pus out on the outside.The infection did not heal quickly and thecut had to be opened more than once. Hisrecovery in the end must have been complete, as I do not remember any mentionof this incident by my parents.

It was at the Miller home in LynnValley thatJoe met Annie van Snellenberg.They were married on June 1, 1911, andlived in a little house on what is now ashort street in Lynn Valley called RonayneRoad. He was 36, she, 26. Their firstdaughter, Margaret Bridget, was bornthere. Joe seems to have spent his time inNorth Vancouver hunting for deer tosupply the logging camps which at thattime operated on the north shore. WhenMargaret was nine months old, they setout for the farm at Pemberton, travellingvia Lytton, Lillooet, Seton Portage andD’Arcy2.Four more children were bornto the couple as they developed whatbecame a very fine farm— Kathleen Mary,1915; Ronald Joseph, 1917; CliffordWalter, 1919; and AnitaJosepha, 1923.

During thirty years of farming inPemberton Meadows, the events of his-

tory precluded Joe’s ever returning to hisbirthplace. The Great War, the struggle todevelop the farm during the 20s, the Depression of the 30s, and World War II,

stood between all the pioneers and theirhomelands. IfJoe had not been marriedwith a family, he would probably havegone back to Ireland to help in the struggle for independence during the TroubledTimes of the early 20s.

Alifelong socialist,Joe’s political viewswere shaped by the English landlord system in Ireland, and by his observations ofthe treatment ofworking and poor peopleby those in power. Crossing the ocean insteerage class, he saw that the shipboardcrew treated steerage passengers with contempt, while at the same time fawningover those who could afford to tip them.He believed in the dignity and worth ofworking people.

Although he was a well-read man, hismemories ofschooling with the ChristianBrothers in Ireland were unpleasant andhis time at school was short. The Brotherswere cruel and the food was poor. Lessonswere literally “pounded in” to the haplessstudents. The pounding was effective,though, because he could recite not onlyverse after verse from Walter Scott’s Lay ofthe Last Minstrel, but also whole pages ofthe text ofthe geography book. Reused torecite weather signs in verse, which he hadlearned as a child: “When toads comehopping on the green, rainy weather soon

will be seen,”though he didn’tplace a great dealof store in them.I remember hissaying to me,with a twinkle inhis blue eyes,“When dogsbark at night, it

will either rain orit won’t.”

He was tall— over six feet— and handsome, with blueeyes and a fineRoman nose,beneath which

drooped a splendid red moustache. Hewas a quiet man, abstemious in his habitsand kindly, who loved his family. He hada wonderful sense ofhumour, and at times

a flaring temper, as when dealing with abalky animal. He had great natural dignity, and earned the respect of all whoknew him. He saw through sham andpretension and had no patience with either. Gum chewing, cigarette smoking,drinking, women’s high heels, were allobjects ofhis scorn. He could see no sensein any of them, though no one could havecalled him a bigot. He didn’t like riding inmotor cars and preferred to walk wheneverpossible. In spite of this, he agreed withAnnie that with sons approaching manhood, a car should be purchased, and in1932 a second-hand 1928 Ford Model Aarrived at the farm. He had no interest inlearning to drive it.

He loved the mountains and yearlyclimbed to Tenquille Lake or Owl Lakefor a few days’ fishing, often with hisbrothers. Until his sons were old enoughto hunt, he provided venison for the family table in season.

In his later years, he began to havetrouble with his heart. I remember in the1930s that he was in bed after a heartattack, and the relatives came visiting.Sometimes he would feel palpitations,which would stop when he did a littlework around the yard. In June of 1943 heentered Vancouver General Hospital forprostate surgery. Penicillin at that timewas unavailable except for military use,indeed, was unknown, and septicaemiadeveloped. With his weakened heart, hewas unable to fight off the infection, andhe died in an oxygen tent, at the age of68.It seemed an unsuitable death for onewhose life had been spent on the land andin the mountains. He lies buried on thefarm.

The writer is the editor ofa small magazine,Wordsmith, produced in Hudson ‘c Hope. She wasadvised to send this biography to the B.C. Historical News by a subscriber who lives on Bowenisland, herformer teacher Mrs. M. Fougberg.

FOOThOTES

1. See Per, berto,, book.2. S,e biography of Annie Ronayne and pp. 90—91

194—5 of Pc,, b,,t,, book.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

John Ronayne, Sr. Letter, Home 189t5 — 1947Joteph Miohoel Ronayn, Let,,,, Home. 1898 & 1899 ()Decker, Frances, Margarer Fougberg, and Mary Ronayne. Porn beret,.The HototyofaSettle meet. (Pembeeson: Pember,onWornen’sInsusu,e,1977.)

Joseph andAnnie Ronayne with Margaret, G/ifjbrd (in arms), Kathleen andRonald (Anita notyet born), Pemberton, circa 1921.

6 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Early Travelling in theColumbia — Kootenay Valley

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTINGThe Columbia-Kootenayvalley is part

of the 350-mile Rocky Mountain Trenchrunning NNW-SSE, parallel to BritishColumbia’s eastern boundary.

The natural travel route in the valleyis along its east side; the section passingColumbiaLakewas sometimes called “TheSpirit Trail.” 13 Several pictographsabove the trail testify to its long use. Onthis side, the trail remains fairly wellprotected from development by the topography, which diverted the waggonroad, the Kootenay Central Railway, andHighway 93/95 to the west side of thelake. As late as 1954, the B.C. Minister ofMines was reporting “ ... an excellentIndian trail follows the east side of Columbia Lake.”

Armstrong Bay, an unexpected armof Columbia Lake jutting into its eastbank, forces the trail onto the RockyMountain side, and there are more cliffsto be surmounted above the south end ofthe lake. These encumbrances were notedby travellers George Simpson in 1841 andJames Hector in 1859.’- 02,06

Geologists believe that the two Co—lumbia lakes flowed south until dammedby the massive delta ofthe upper KootenayRiver arriving from the northeast. Nowthe Kootenay River bed is raised ten orfifteen feet above the head of ColumbiaLake as it passes on its way south. Thus,there is still seepage north to ColumbiaLake through the loose gravels. This couldbe deemed the true source of the Columbia River.

At its north end, Columbia Lake isdammed by the delta of Dutch Creek.The lower Columbia Lake (Windermere)is similarly retained by the delta of TobyCreek.

The fall from Columbia Lake toGolden is very slight, as befits a river

by R. C. Harriswhich may have formerly flowed south.Thus, the broad Columbia valley is filledwith swamps, sand bars and shiftingchannels. These kept the main trail to theeast bank, despite such occasional hazardsas cliffs.

TRAVELS BY EARLY INHABITANTSThe upper Columbia and Kootenay

valleys were used by the natives forthousands of years in their endless searchfor food. Salmon came, in season, to the“Salmon Beds” below the outlet of thelower Columbia Lake (Windermere).1°9Here the immense numbers of spawningsalmon pushed up ridges of gravel highenough to interfere with steamboatnavigation.

There were mountain sheep and antelope on the surrounding hills, but forbuffalo meat and sinew, the KootenayIndians made an annual hunting trip tothe Buffalo Plains east of the Rockies viathe upper Kootenay River and KananaskisPass. This continued until the buffalowere exterminated by others. Then theKootenay Indians began herding cattle bythe Columbia lakes.

Within historic times the valley attracted a small band of Shuswap Indiansunder their chiefKinbasket. They migratedfrom the west and settled, against someopposition from the resident Kootenays,on the east side of the Salmon Beds (opposite Wilmer), where their descendantsremain today, but without the salmon.The annual flow of salmon stopped withconstruction of the Grand Coulee Damon the Columbia River, 1935 to 1940.EUROPEAN EXPLORATIONS ANDTRAVELS

The fur trade brought the first recorded European contact when DavidThompson of the North West Companysettled briefly near the mouth of TobyCreek in 1806; at Kootenae House, as he

called it.Ref01

Governor George Simpson camesouth through the valley in 1841, on hiswestward trip around the world.1°2

Four years later, two British armyofficers, Warre and Vavasour, travellingalmost incognito, recorded the next expedition past the Columbia lakes. (Captain) H.J. Warre left us a recognisablelithographed hand-coloured landscape,“Source of the Columbia River, July 30,1845.” Ref 04

In the same year, Reverend FatherPierre Jean DeSmet, SJ, also passed theColumbia lakes on the east side, leaving adecription and an interesting oblique map,in French, of the sources of ColumbiaRiver, namely the two Columbia lakesand the headwaters of Kootenay River, asseen from the west.

Coming from the south, he shows thecrossing of Kootenay River, and from it aportage of two-and-a-half miles to thefirst Columbia Lake. The trail continuesnorth on the right (east) side of this lake,passing “Fontaine chaud,” which is nowFairmont Hot Springs.

Halfway along second Columbia Lake(Windermere), he passed BaptisteMorigeau’s camp, where he shows “MyTent.” On “8 Sept 1845,” about eightmiles below the second lake, he erected a“Cross of the Nativity” on a knoll, torecord his visit, then turned eastward up amajor valley, presumably Sinclair Creek.

Dutch Creek is shown as “Riv. duCôté,” a massive flow from the west. TobyCreek is “Riv. àThompson,” since DeSmetwas aware that David Thompson hadbuilt Kootenae House at its inouth.-°3

The next explorations were by theBritish Palliser Expedition. 06 JohnPalliser first saw the Columbia lakes onAugust 27, 1858, when he came downPalliser River from the continental divide,

7 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Columb0 “ THE ORIGI N AL IR1NL• RmoinlinJiver 85 -ii P5T THE TWO

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September 17, 1859, Hector was approaching the Columbia lakes:

Along the banks we found a goodmany dead salmon, which had, nodoubt, been worn out by their longascent from the sea. We afterwardssaw them all the way to the sourceof the Columbia at the two lakes,

October 02, 1859, he passed alongthe east side of the two lakes:

Early this morning we reached the

upper Columbia Lake, and to passalong its eastern side required us toascend about 400 feet above itswaters, and wind along the face ofa precipice ... The opposite side ofthe lake is low and flat for a considerable distance.

PLACER GOLD MININGThe tranquility of the valley was dis

turbed by the Wild Horse Creek placergold rush, starting in 1864, which led topack train routes being established overthe old trails from the south.

Pack trains from the north beganwhen the Canadian Pacific Railwaystartedoperating past “The Cache” at the mouthofthe Kicking Horse River on the Columbia, now called Golden. Some maps ofthis era named the route “The KickingHorse to Wild Horse Trail.”

The pack trail was gradually converted to a waggon road from Fort Steeleto Golden, and Frank Armstrong, one ofthe CPR surveyors who quit the railwayservice at Golden, established a steamboatservice up the Columbia to the headwaterlakes. This connected, via two shortportages eventually laid with rails, toKootenay River and Wild Horse Creek. Ariverboat service to the Great Northernline at Jennings, Montana, soon becameeffective.

INDIAN DISSATISFACTIONThe rights of the sparse Indian popu

lation were ignored by the newcomers.Reports of the Indians’ dissatisfactionreached Victoria, and surveyorA. S. Farwellwas asked to investigate. 07 From hisreport of December 31, 1883, we learnthat the Indians began keeping cattle whenthey found that the buffalo had failed onthe eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and they saw that white men weresuccessfully wintering cattle on the eastside of the Columbia lakes:

These Indians at present own about400 head of cattle and some 500horses. The major part of their cattle have been wintered heretoforeon the east side of the ColumbiaLakes. This is a favourite grazingplace of the Indians, and they feltvery sore at its being pre-empted,

and continued down the upper KootenayRiver to “Columbia Portage” (Canal Flats).He climbed several peaks for views of thecountry; from Mount Sabine he “wasastonished to find” himself 2600 feetabove upper Columbia Lake. He couldsee far up and down the Rocky MountainTrench.

The following year, Palliser’s geologist, Doctor James Hector of KickingHorse fame, travelled south up the Trenchfrom the Kicking Horse River, whereGolden now stands.

8 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

occupied and fenced in by whitesettlers ... On the 9th July last[18831, PP Armstrong and DBelihouse recorded [pre-empted]320 acres and 80 acres respectivelyalong the eastern shore of the Upper Lake. These last two records theIndians look on with particular disfavour, as they are located on theirlong-used and favourite cattle run

While leading us along this trail,Naomi Miller showed us several groups ofdecayed logs with their cut ends stillognisable. They were likely remnants ofF rank Armstrong’s unwelcome fences,blocking the trail at the boundaries of hisDistrict Lot 48 (see map). It is said thatsome Indians called him “ChiefStrongarm,” rather than Armstrong.PROMOTERS, DEVELOPERS ANDLANDRECLAMATION,c.1888ifsOs,la, 14

With the new transcontinental railways operating to the north and southgiving better access to the country, promoters hoped to reshape the land to theirneeds. Reclamation of the liars at the riverdeltas looked attractive. A small navigablecanal, with the potential of diverting theupper Kootenay River to the Columbia,was dug by hand. Eventually, however,

the reclamation schemes, which requiredlarge government concessions and subsidies, were dropped.

COMMUNICATIONS IN THE DISTRICT(1889)Ref09 10,11

Gold Commissioner Cummins reported to the Minister of Mines on theEast Kootenay Mining District as follows:

The Columbia and Kootenayvalleys are exceptionally favouredby their topography for transportation purposes. The present communication ... is ... by theKootenay mail line ofsteamers plying from Golden Station, on theCanadian Pacific Railway, southwards for 120 miles to the Columbia lakes: thence the governmentwaggon road carries the traffic toFort Steele and Cranbrook in thesouthern part of the district. Thisroad has been likewise extendednorthward from the lakes down theColumbia valley to within 25 milesof Golden

As the mines develop, a trunkline of railway will be constructed[from the CPR at Golden] up theColumbia and down the KootenayRiver to join the projected Crow’s

Nest [rail] road

PRESENT TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES

Steamboat service was superseded bythe more reliable railway forecast in 1889.The British Columbia Southern sectionof the railway (Crowsnest to KootenayLanding on Kootenay Lake) was openedin October 1898. The Kootenay CentralRailway was completed (Golden toColvalli, four miles west of Jaffray) in1914. This line was upgraded in the I 960sto carry coal north in 100-car trains to themain line at Golden, whence it is carriedto Vancouver for export.

Highway traffic passed ColumbiaLake on the west side. The road leaves theeast side of the valley near Fairmont HotSprings and crosses the Columbia Riverand Dutch Creek, which the old trailavoided.

There is an airstrip at each end ofColumbia Lake.

R. C. Harris is a retired engineer who hasresearchedandhikedagreat many historic ti’ails inour province. He is a/so very active in the B.CNaturalists Federation and the Vancouver MapSociety.

ANNOTATED SOURCESBeforewalkingover sheground. a may be helpful to read someof the recordsgiving the setting of the trail:

Ref 01 1808. David Thompson’s maps and journal give sIte earliest

/ -

Source ofthe Columbia River, July30, 1845. This painting was done by Captain Fif Warre on his travels. This reprintfound inArtists Overland catalogue at the Burnaby Art Galleiy.

9 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

\-N.-N..N S ss N N N .s , Xni.veltr Carteis. ,

ØtPOi.1iFnt5/”‘5”” . -‘

‘., SOURCES 0(1 TCIIJTE COLOR? Bit,jbswarM.

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Map drawn by Father De Smet to record his mission travels west ofthe Rockies. Courtesy UBC Special Collectiona lB P880 S6314 p. 80.

accounts of sravel by the Columbss lakes. Thompson’s bess map was notpssblishml unrsl 1843. Besween sbeuppeelakeand Koosenay Rsver, heshows“Cony 2 miles.”

Ref 02 1847. Narrative ofa Journey Round the World(1841), p. 128.Simpson and retinue (sossthbounc5 camped at the foot of the secondKoosonass (Columbia) Lake. Early neat moming, he was taken so see shethree (Faitmont) hot sprsngs. Then, resuming his joumey, “our rouse lay asfirst along she face of a steep hill whsch rose abruptly from the shores of shelake...”

Ref 03 1846. In Mioionc ck l’Oregon, 1845— 46. Pssher R.P. DeSmet,SJ.

Ref 04 1848. Sketches inNerthAsssericoaesdthe Oregon Territory. (Caps)Hj. Wane. “Source of she Columbin Rivet, July 30, 1845.”

Ref 05 1859. Mop of”The Provinces of Brisish Colssmbis, &Vancouerr Island... “John Acrowsmssh, June 1,1859. Thss is assspersor mop,”conssmcted ns Great Labour ... ,“ and from a notice under the title,Aesowsmishinsendedso esert his copyrighs. However, hewas likely indebtedsoothes map makers, suchas DovidThompson, fos his details. He shows thesrail along she russ tide of she Columbia-Koosenay valley passing she twoheadwater lakes. The upper lake is Otter Lake, the lower is Salmon Lake. Inseason, salmon reached she Salmon Beds here from the sea, spawned, anddied in immense numbers. There is s three-mile portage (now Canal Plots)from the upper lake so “Koosanie, Flasbow or McGillivray River.” To shesouth, she seas1 forks as whos became she placer mining setslemens of WildHorse, she nght fork going along the Grand Qurite (Moyie) River and Lakeso she lower Columbia River. The left fork follows the left bank of KoosenayRiver, passing sheough she Tobacco Plains near the US border.

Reuses (aplored] undersheCommandofCopsnJohn Palliser, 1859—1860.James Hector, 1860,” shows, bus does nos name, she two Columbia lakes, in -fact thedesail is muchinferior so his 1859 map.Arsheheadoftheupperlake,a Kootenay Indian camp is shown. Thecamp oftheShuswop Indians, whereMorsgmu was livsng, is shown norsheass of she lower lake. The trail passesalong she eats side of bosh lakes.

Ref 07 1883. AS. Fanvell’s “Report on the Koosenay Indians” so theprovincial govemment on she land grserances of she Koosenay Indians. Inaddition so rho less of their traditional lands, redamasion of large arms ofseasonally flooded land was being proposed, together wish she (diversion!navigosionol) canal besween Kootenay Rsver and she uppper Columbia Lake(B.C Sec ional Papers, 1884, pp. 325—327). The senoe of his report is stillsimely.

Ref 08 1888. The Kootenay Valleys and the Kootersay Dissricts, BritishColumbiseWithMaps,p. 23.TheKootennySyndicase,London,Englond.Anexample of land development and land sales pmmosion, 1882 to 1890.

Ref 09 1889. Minister ofMines Reporis, B. C; especially p. 372.

Ref 10 1902. For a phosograph of n miners’ path srnin leaving sheSalmon Beds for the Delphine Mine, seethe B. C Minister ofMines AnnssalReportfisr 1898, p. 1035.

Ref II 1952. “Steamboat Days on the Upper Columbia and UpperKoosenay.” BCHQ, Vol. XVI, Nos. I &2.

Ref 12 1956. “The Koosenay Reclamation and Colonicasson Schemeand WilliamAdoiph Baillie-Grohman.” Mabel B. Jordan. BCHQ,Vol. XX,Not. 3 &4.

Ref 14 1987. “S’he Upper Koosenay River Canal.” Mabel B. Jordan,Canadian West Magazine, No. 8, Summer 1987.

Ref 15 1989. The Legacy ofFairmont Hot Springs. Janet Wilder. “Theresort hsstory; plans for she future,” p. 125, maps, ill.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TIse writer thanks Naomi and Peter Miller,Art Taplin and Ken Faveholds forsheir genial assistance in compiling data on she Columbia lakes, and inaesanging hikes along she ancient sssil and as Wild Horse.

Ref 06 1857 to 1860. British Parliamentary Papers, reprinted by IrishUniversity Press (IUP). Pnlliser’s essplomtsons 0f British Noesh Asnerseaestended from 1857 to 1860. His official papers, sllustrased wish maptredrawn byJohnAtrowsmith, will be foundin IUP Reprins,Vols. 22 and24.

Arrowtmith’s 1860 map, “Saskatchewan River and Reeky Mountains.

Ref 13 1985, 1987. The Kooeenay Advertiser far Sepsnwber 30 andOctober 07, 1985, and May 25, 1987, gives background on she KootmayIndians and sheircultme. The 1987 arsicleis a reprint of a 1912 nniclewishan early account of a trip over “The SpiritTrail,” the “bridle path” along sheeats side of Columbia Lake.

Os

5, .—s———,---‘““““.

10 B.C. Historical News “ Fall 1993

Canon Stanley Smith Missions to Seamen

by Royj V Pallant

It is near enough toChristmas to tell aChristmas story, especially since it is about aman who promotes anatmosphere befittingChristmas all year round.Anyone who has had theprivilege and pleasure ofmeeting Canon StanleySmith or listened to hisclever, humorous, articulate and memorablesermons will agree.

At this time, CanonSmith is a busy retiredAnglican clergyman; butbefore his retirement, hisability to serve God andHis people with intelligent kindness, good willand a great sense of humour was applied in his capacity as achaplain to Missions to Seamen. He wasan Anglican priest who sometimes partiedas often as seven nights a week, all in theline of duty. His job was to provide ahome-like atmosphere at the Vancouverheadquarters and entertain hundreds oflonely and homesick seamen who passedthrough the doors of FlyingAngel House,50 North Dunlevy, Vancouver.

The brilliant sea-blue house built in1906 remains today, a landmark on thewaterfront and a beacon to sailors whoknow the work Missions perform aroundthe world.

When the National Harbours Boardvacated the premises early in 1973 therewas a resistance to the historic buildingbeing torn down or renovated inappropriately for commercial use. So the Mission was offered the house, paying a nominal rent on a 10-year lease.

In September 1981 the NationalHarbours Board made a gift of the build-

ing to the Missions to Seamen on the125th anniversary of the foundation ofthe society in London, England. Number50, North Dunlevy, was originally theoffice building of Hastings Mill. In 1864the building was near the water’s edge. Tothe northeast of it, on the other side ofBurrard Inlet, was Moodyville with itssawmill. To the west, towards the prom

ontory partially guarding Burrard Inlet,was the hut of The Three Greenhorns,with their small coal and brick clay claim,while to the east was asmall summer resortcalled New Brighton, used mainly by people from New Westminster.

On November30, 1865, the English-promoted British Columbia and Vancouver Island Spar, Lumber and SawmillCompany received a land grant of 243acres for about $250, on which they wereto build a sawmill. The mill started production in 1867, however in 1870 it was

bought by aSan Francisco firm for $20,000and renamed the Hastings Sawmill Corn-

pany after RearAdmiral Hon. G.E. Hastings, commander of the Royal Navy baseat Esquimalt.

In 1955 the Vancouver HarbourCommission purchased the remaining 40acres ofland with 250 feet ofwater frontagefor $2,450,000 and the entire area wasknown as Hastings Mill. The land west ofthe mill was surveyed as the townsitc ofGranville in 1870, popularly known asGas Town and the nucleus of the futurecity of Vancouver.

In 1873 the first public schooi wasopened on Hastings Mill property and theGranville Post Office was opened in Hastings Mill Store. In June 1886, fire sweptthrough Vancouver, incorporated inAprilof that year, and although the mill wassaved, many of the houses and outbuildings were lost.

Tn 1889 the mill was sold and the newowners merged with the Royal City Planing Mills Company. The new firm wascalled B.C. Mills and Trading Co. Ltd.

FlyingAngel seamen’s club at5O Dunlevy Avenue North on Vancouver’s commercial waterfront. Photo courtesy of the SeamensMission.

11 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

In 1900 the firm decided to buildsemi-fabricated homes, schools, andchurches which were shipped as far asWinnipeg. As sampies, the company builttwo offices, the first on Carrall Street forthe office oftheir False Creek plant, and in1906 the building at 50 North Dunlevywas completed. These showpieces contained panelling with different types ofBritish Columbia wood: hemlock, redcedar, balsam, etc., regrettably all paintedover in the 1 920s. The basement of thebuilding contains an appropriate foundation with beams 47 feet long.

In December each year, CanonSmith’s tiny office in this building waspiled high with shoe boxes filled withsmall gifts, writing materials, toiletriesand candy. Donated and packed by various churches and charitable organizations,the boxes were taken aboard ships byCanon Smith to be distributed to menwho would be at sea on Christmas Day.

The idea started in 1953 when therewere often sick seamen in hospital faraway from home with no one to careabout them. A note went into each boxasking the recipient to write a thank-younote to the church or organization whichpacked the box. Stanley said the menusually wrote and sometimes the packersreceived wonderful letters. But, just to besure, Canon Smith wrote to all the packershimself

In 1973 Flying Angel House was justone of 95 such clubs sponsored by theAnglican Church around the world. Atthat time Canon Smith had been in theMissions to Seamen field for 36 years, andhis father had been similarly involvedbefore him. Canon Smith had worked inthe Middle East, South Africa and England before coming to Canada.

The usual term for a chaplain at thatkind of job was five years, but that wouldvary. Canon Smith remained in Durban,South Africa, from 1938 to 1945 becauseof the war. He then served in Johannesburg as Regional Secretary for SouthernAfricafrom 1945 to 1948. By 1973 hehadserved in Vancouver for 19 years andwhen he retired in 1975, he had completed40 years in the Anglican Church ministry,38 of them with Missions to Seamen in

various parts of the world.Canon Smith said the aim and object

of the Missions is to minister to seafarersin anyway they can. “The Missions realizeseamen are away from home for periodsvarying from four months to two years,depending on their nationality and contract. It can be a lonely monotonous life,”he said. “Their wives, families and girlfriends are all at home.”

So every night there was a “starboardwatch” by young women volunteers whocame to Flying Angel to provide a welcome, entertain, or just sit and talk to thelonely.

Canon Smith said he could not stresstoo strongly how wonderful it was to havewomen doing this kind ofthing. The menneed to talk to women. They are tired ofmen by the time they get off the ship.Besides the hostesses, there were othervolunteers who staffed a small canteenwhich sold coffee and snacks.

Private donations, grants and theAnglican Church kept the house operating. Besides the party room furnishedwith tables made from cut-down beerbarrels and covered with nautical-designtablecloths, there were a television room,lounge, three or four games rooms and aquiet office where seamen could make along-distance telephone call in privacy! Inthe first four weeks after the Missionopened at 50 North Dunlevy, 783 seamenfrom 17 countries signed the guest register. Canon Smith remarks that at university he had to learn Greek, Latin and

Hebrew, but these were ofno use in tryingto communicate with the sailors of manynations he met at that time. (He tried outhis Greek a couple of times but it wasBiblical Greek, which caused muchamusement.)

One of the most profitable and interesting fund raisers for the VancouverMission came from Canon Smith’s tremendous talent for embroidery, which helearned years ago in a naval hospital whilerecovering from an ear operation. A nursedropped materials into his hands and said,“Try that!” So he did, and his NorthVancouver apartment wails and furnitureand those of his daughter bear witness tohis prolific artistry, including his portrayal of The Last Supper.

But the story goes that when he firsttook over the Vancouver Mission he realized they did not even have a tableclothto put on the club dining room table. Sohe lent his own cloth to the club volunteersand went out to buy a replacement. But inso doing he became inspired with thethought that here was the way to initiate achurch organ fund: have people inscribetheir names on the tablecloth, instead ofthe customary quilt, and charge them a“quarter” — he liked the North Americanterm — for having their name einbroidered. He commenced with 25 tuckedaway in a corner, but it was a start. Next hewas asked to give a talk to the Gyro Clubat the old Georgia Hotel in Vancouver.Afterwards he invited their signatures at25 cents apiece. Instead they offered $50if he would embroider their crest on thecloth.

Soon after, Canon Smith was askedby the Lions Club to give them a talk onthe work of the Mission and, again whenasked, he recounted his tablecloth story toraise money for an organ. This timenothing was said and nothing happenedfor two or three days. Then Mr. Fairly,president of the Lions Club, arrived withfour members and said, in return forembroidering the Lions’ crest on the cloth,would he accept the donation of a newHammond organ?

Canon Smith took his treasured tablecloth to England on a lecture tour forthe Church of England and later in visits

This portrait of Canon Stanley Smithwas taken by Campbell Studios, c. 1960.

12 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

across Canada, when he donated his owntime to tell churches and groups about theMissions to Seamen. When the tableclothwas covered in signatures and crests, hehad collected no less than $17,000 for theMission. The 8-foot by 4-foot cloth wasframed and hung on the wall of the NorthDunlevy Mission.

The Missions to Seamen got its starton the west coast of England. In theBristol Channel, midway between thecoasts ofEngland and Wales, lie two lonelyislets. One, Steepholm, is a bare, desolaterock standing in bold relief against itsbackground of sea and sky; the other,Flatholm, is conspicuous by reason of itslighthouse. On a summer day in 1835 ayoung clergyman on vacation was walkingwith his son along the cliffs near Clevedonwhen their attention was drawn by a glintof light from a window in the lighthouseon Flatholm. The boy asked his father:“Daddy, how can those men go to church?”The young clergyman, whose name wasJohn Ashley, unable to answer his son’squestion, visited the two islets and founda ready welcome there. He learned thatthese people would greatly appreciate theopportunity to attend a religious serviceand throughout the rest of his stay atClevedon he visited the islets regularly.Eventually his vacation drew to a close.On his farewell visit he inquired about alarge fleet of lightships off the coast ofWales, whose presence he had noticed.He learned that the fleet had been unableto leave the Road and had been cut offfrom the shore. So, before he left Clevedon,John Ashley went out to the light vesselsand there received the same ready welcomewhich had awaited him on Steepholm andFlathoim. He found that no one evervisited the crews or seemed concernedabout their long isolation.

John Ashley was astonished. Herewere the seamen of what was the greatestmaritime nation in the world utterly neglected! He determined to decline theliving he had been offered and to devotehis life instead to the men of the sea. In1837 asocietywas formed called the BristolMission. In 1845 this name was changedto the Bristol Channel Seaman’s Mission,with Dr. Ashley as its first chaplain. The

cutter Eirene was built to visit seagoingvessels. Services were held on board whenappropriate.

In 1856 a preliminary meeting washeld in London to form a national society,the Missions to Seamen Afloat, At Homeand Abroad. Two years later the originalBristol organization united with the London society under the name ofMissions toSeamen.

“But there is not much use talking toa man about religion when other thingsare weighing heavily on his mind,” saysCanon Smith. “In a way the Mission isperforming a semi-welfare type of work.We try to fill a gap, to alleviate the loneliness and separation the seamen feel because they are virtually cut off from theopposite sex, family and friends.”

Canon Smith said his work was exactlythe same as that of a parish priest. Butthere was a difference in that CanonSmith’s parish extended virtually aroundthe world. Visiting ships in Vancouver, hereceived a warm welcome from all but theRussians at that time. “I could alwaysmeet an old friend and make a new one,”he says.

The story of the Missions to Seamenin Vancouver is almost as old as Vancouver itself Within 15 years of the building

of the first shanties on the shores ofone oftheworid’s finest natural harbours, enoughships were entering the First Narrows towarrant the establishment of a shore haven for seamen.

The first Seamen’s Institute wastherefore established in 1900 by theReverend J. Fiennes Clinton, next to St.James Church on Gore Avenue. In 1904the establishment became part ofthe Missions to Seamen Society and in 1906 theReverend H. Collison arrived from England at the request of St. James Church.

As the port and. the young city grew insize and importance, the original buildings became too small and a move wasmade to the West End. In 1922 a firenecessitated another move, this time to1121 West Hastings Street, then SeatonStreet. It was in this building, originallythe home of Dr. Henry Bell Irvine, thatthe work of the Missions was carried onfor the next 34 years. In the main hail (anaddition to the house constructed by localseamen), sailors from all over the worldfound companionship, recreation andspiritual comfort away from their homelands.

Arabs, Greeks, Indians, Armenians,Germans, men of the mercantile marineofall colours and many faiths, enjoyed thepicnics, dances and parties arranged bythe hard-working members of what werethen called the Harbour Light Guild andthe Senior Light Keepers. The ranks ofthese two women’s auxiliaries, the firstprimarily a money-raising group, and thelatter, composed of unmarried girls, agroup for social activities, were later augmented by a third group ofyoung marriedwomen, the Watch Ashore.

An active board ofdirectors has alwaysplayed a prominent part in the affairs ofthe Missions to Seamen in Vancouver.Among those to be found in the recordsareW.W. Maskell,T.W.B. London, E.W.Dean, A.H. Reed and B.W. Farmer.

It was in 1930, during the chaplaincyof the Reverend T.H. Elkington, that themovement began for a new building.Dropped due to the Depression, the planwas again revived when the will ofEdwardDisney Farmer bequeathed the Missions$10,000. This formed the nucleus of the

Canon Smith with sailors on mess dutyaboard shz. “Only another ton to go.”

B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

building fund.In 1944 the land and property adja

cent were offered to the society for theprice paid for it at a tax sale, $4,000. Thepurchase money was forwarded fromheadquarters in London and was ultimatelydevoted to the erection ofthe chapel in thenew building, the Stuart Knox Memorial.

In 1952 the land for the new buildingwas purchased from Alaska Pine for$13,500 and in the following year the twoadjoining properties were sold by theMissions for $75,000. In May 1954 construction began.

The cornerstone was laid by the Honourable W.C. Woodward and dedicatedto the memory of Edward Disney Farmerwhose bequest had originally made thebuilding fund possible. On October 3,1954, the new building was officiallyopened at an impressive ceremony at whichthe service was conducted by the bishop,The Right Reverend Godfrey PhillipGower. Headquarters of the Missions toSeamen was represented by Mr. PeterTrumper.

So at last there was in Vancouver abuilding worthy of the men served by theMissions to Seamen. But time passed andthe building was purchased and demolished in a massive city development.

So the North Dunlevy Flying AngelHouse was the sixth home, beginningwith St. James Church, and the fifthresidence of the Mission. Books andmagazines, much sought after by the seamen, were carried by the armload aboardships. “We helped with little things,”Canon Smith says. “We took the men tosoccer games and races at Exhibition Park,on sightseeing tours and to ethnic restaurants. We showed what religion is bydoing something and by caring.”

One sailor told Canon Smith that in1972 when the shoe boxes of small giftswere distributed, that box was only thesecond Christmas gift he had received inall his years at sea. All the Mission is tryingto do is to be human and show a sense ofcaring.

Although the visiting seamen wereencouraged, they were not coerced to visitthe small chapel in Flying Angel House.The chapel’s motto was “All may enter,

none must.”“The service was simple and short and

modern hymns were sung,” said CanonSmith. “I called it the down-to-earth approach to church ritual.”

Everything in that chapel was donated, including three wooden tablets onthewall carved byalocal sculptor, SamuelBunch. He was the man who caught thewhale “Moby Doll” (following the male“Moby Dick”) which was housed in theVancouver Aquarium.

The wooden tablets depict the discipies fishing after Christ was crucified,hauling in the nets full of fish after takingthe Lord’s advice to try a different spotand being united with Jesus.

“The Lord looked after his followers,” explains Canon Smith. “Remember,he gave them a fire of coals, and fish andbread, not another sermon. We give theseamen football games, books and dances.”

These wooden tablets remain todayat 50 North Dunlevy and if looked atclosely, the carvings will show that threeof the disciples are wearing a navy collar,a merchant seaman’s jacket and a fisherman’s jersey. The boat they are fishingfrom is a representation ofSamuel Bunch’sown.

Operating and maintaining a Missions to Seamen clubhouse was not by anymeans easy, in spite of the good intent.With the administrative difficulties at thetime, Canon Smith can only concludethat the “out ofthe blue” offer of5O NorthDunlevy for the clubhouse was an obviousanswer to prayer. He spent $4,000 and alot ofhours converting this office buildingto a clubhouse. Canon Smith was also incharge ofthree satellite clubhouses, one inNew Westminstersponsored by HolyTrinity, and one onthe North Shore atthe corner of St.Andrews and FirstStreet, North Vancouver, sponsoredby St. John the Divine. These wereoperated by volunteers. One of thesewas Marguerite

(Peggy) Green, who donated the splendidstained glass window in St. MartinsChurch, North Vancouver, dedicated toher parents, Captain and Mrs. ErnestPhillip Green. It is also interesting to notethat John Roger Burnes, local historianand author, was on the committee for thisNorth Vancouver clubhouse. Other LightKeepers in North Vancouver were EmilySimmons, Dorothy Mackenzie, RuthDickson (now Grant), Nancy Hewitt,Marjorie Rice, Audrey Love, EstherDouglas and Una Warden, to mention afew.

As shipping moved from the JapanWharf area and returned further east toLynn Terminal and Neptune Terminal,the First Street clubhouse was closed andreplaced by a mobile clubhouse whichcould be driven to the terminals. CanonSmith, with his usual enterprise, bought aretired bus and in four months fitted it outwith a shop, a reading room and a chapel.Later a portable dance floor was added,allowing the floor to be laid out on theground at the side of the bus in goodweather. Women volunteer dance partners were brought over on the bus fromVancouver. This bus served well for sometwo years in the early 1970s.

Canon Smith correctly predicted in1973 that with the ships spending lesstime in port, giving less time or facility forseamen to visit the Missions to Seamenclubhouse, the Mission would be based ina local office with chaplains visiting theships to take an interest in social life onboard. One earlier example ofthis was theReverend John Leighton, Canon Smith’spredecessor. He used his own vessel forvisits to ships in the harbour.

With the engineer on watch.

14 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

Nevertheless, we can well believe thatwith the early efforts and enterprise ofCanon Smith, his volunteers and his assistants, Australian deacons John Kellyand Eric Newman, Flying Angel Househas become today “one of the finest Missions to Seamen clubhouses in NorthAmerica.”

One other person must be mentionedin this story of Christian fellowship. Thatperson is Evelyn, Canon Smith’s wife,friend and faithful companion for 54 happily married years. Mrs. Smith was Welshand had been a nurse and matron of anursing home in Swansea. Of Evelyn,Canon Smith says: “She was a born nurseand a marvellous companion. She perfected everything I did; all chaplains’ wivesare like that.” They were married on September2, 1937, at St. Cyfelins Maested inWales.

Canon Smith relates that one daywhen he was at the Seamen’s Mission inJohannesburg, a relatively young manentered with obviously painful feet. Onenquiring, he found that the man was thechief engineer of a steam-powered vesseland his painful feet were brought about bythe heat ofthe steel deck plates around theboilers. Mrs. Smith invited him to stay attheir house and treated his feet in such aneffective manner that he went away andreturned that evening with four of hisengineers with the same problem. All theengineers were given the Nurse Smithtreatment. The next day the ship’s doctorarrived at the Mission to complain thatMrs. Smith had stolen his patients and hiscredibility, not to mention his pride.

In 1985 Evelyn fell and broke her hipand had to be moved to Evergreen Housein North Vancouver, adjacent to LionsGate Hospital. For six years Canon Smithdaily visited his wife — until she died onOctober 29, 1991 — “Trying,” he said,“to return some of the companionship shegave me,” including the 38 years he gaveto service with the Missions to Seamen.

The name of Canon Smith will belong remembered with sincere regard inthe history of shipping in Vancouver,New Westminster and North Vancouver,and that of St. Martins Church.

The author is currentlypresident ofthe NorthShore Histo rica! Society in North Vancouver, andis theauthoroJThe HistoryofSt. Martins Church,North Vancouver, B.C. He has written a numberof magazine articles on historical subjects and ispresently writingan extensive Heritage Biographi.cal Index and Socio—Historical Service infrastruc.turefor the Municsal District ofNorth Vancou—ocr.

The authoracknowledges theforegoing infor.mation is based on an article written by AudreyFox, published in The Vancouver Sun, Saturday,December 8, 1973, greatly augmented by materialfrom interviews with Canon Stanley Smith, No—vember 14, 1992, andJanuary 27, 1993, at hishome in North Vancouver.

by Murguref Fougberg

Cameron LinklaterSmith was born inMarch 1888 in TurtleMountain, Manitoba.His family moved toBritish Columbia in1897, first in Gibsons :•

Landing, then Enderby,and in 1901 settled onBowen Island As ayoung man he becamea champion Middle Jameron Linklater Smith racing after enlistment in

Distance runner. He Canadian Army.

became a valuedmember of the Vancouver Y.M.C.A. track team winning first place in localmeets, the Herald race in Calgary on two occasions, and the Gold Seal race(classic of the Pacific Coast before World War One.) Smith entered againstall the well-known runners of that time including Harry Johnston, the Welshchampion. He not only won first place but set a new record for the course.

Cameron Smith of Bowen Island went overseas with the 11th CanadianMounted Rifles and was killed in action at Vimy Ridge in 1917.

**********

Margaret Fougberg, now living in retirement on Bowen Island, remembers her handsome uncle who let her examine his spurs while she sat on hislap prior to leaving on the overseas draft.

Ken Drushka, winner of a Certificate ofMerit from the B.C Historical Federation

[ting Competition 1992.

4 Champion Runner

15 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

“Winged Victory” 1918. CPRcWar Memorial Statue

by Helen Borrell

World War I’s “endless columns ofwar-weary marching men”1 included1,115 war dead who had been employeesof the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. “Winged Victory,” one of thecompany’s three memorial statues honouring these men, stands at Seymour andCordova Streets, beside Vancouver’sformer CPR station.

It is a bronze figure of the Angel ofPeace, lifting a dead soldier with her rightarm and holding high in her raised lefthand a laurel wreath. Viewers who know

history recognize the soldier’s leg putteesas part of a World War I uniform, andpause to read on the bronze plaque affixedto the statue’s granite base: “To commemorate those in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company who, atthe call of King and Country ... enduredhardship, faced danger ... “ which aredisguised by the approved clichés that endwith: “giving up their own lives that othersmight live in freedom. Let those whocome after see to it that their names be notforgotten. 1914— 1918.”

The grim irony of these concludingsentences is that the dates “1939— 1945”later had to be added. Almost exactlytwenty-five years after World War Ierupted,World War liwas declared. Sons,and daughters, of the first Great War’ssacrifice victims queued at the recruitingdepots. Their leaders had never organizedthe country’s economy and its manpowerforawaron the Great Depression. But the1 930s unwanted unemployed consciouslyignored the CPR’s war memorial statues,mistakenly named “Winged Victory.”

On November 7, 1885, Canada’stransportation managers completed theirnation-crossing railway and built theirVancouver station, “little more than awooden shed.”2 Hastings Mill andGranville, small clearings in the bush beside Burrard Inlet, were then opened byrail to Canada, and next year they wereincorporated as the City of Vancouver.Enterprising pioneers came, year by year,to the promising youngseaport. “Rows ofstreets, handsome shops, huge brick andstone blocks seem to have risen up in anight and displaced the forest ofyesterday,”Bishop Sillitoe of the Anglican Diocesetold Father Clinton, rector ofVancouver’sfirst Anglican Church.3 But the settlerswho were building Vancouver could not

have ventured through the Rocky Mountains and the Fraser Canyon except via theCanadian Pacific Railway. Nor couldisolated lumbering and fishing operationshave been started on B.C.’s forested, storm-barraged coast until the CPR’s fleet oflittle passenger and freight steamshipslinked them to the supply centre, Vancouver.

The CPR’s modern station atGranville and Cordova Streets (inheritedby the city’s Sky Train) was finished in1914. Those who came to hard work butinviting prospects in Canada could notknow of the power rivalries and armsbuild-ups smouldering in their OldCountries. When war was declared inAugust 1914, most of the young mencalled by recruitment ads “to serve yourKing and Country” expected a brief, soon-

to-be-decided conflict.So CPR trains then speeded excited

young volunteers to army bases, andbravely smiling relatives and sweetheartswished them “Good luck!” The CanadianPacific Railway directors encouraged theiremployees who joined the Armed Forceswith the promise of full pay for six monthsand “a position of equivalent value” forthose who applied for re-employment after the war.

But the war stagnated as opposingarmies “dug in” along miles of trenches inFrance. The “khaki, mud, barbed wire,and mustard gas”4 of their surrealistic existence, with its explosions ofmass slaughters, are aged veterans’ submergedmemories ofWorld War I.

During its four years, 11,340 CPRemployees enlisted and 1,115, nearly one-tenth, were killed. Another 2,105 werewounded. (The records don’t specif,r ifthat meant “permanently disabled”; forsuch casualties, physiotherapy was then

4

I

Winged Victory —1918. This statue standcbeside the former CP Railway station indowntown Vancouver. Photo by John Spthle

16 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

undeveloped.) The CPR Company keptits pledge to the survivors: it re-employed7,573 of its own men and provided jobsfor 13,112 other returned soldiers. “TheKing and Country” awarded militarydecorations and medals, including twoVictoria Crosses, seventeen DistinguishedService Orders and three DistinguishedService Crosses, to 370 veterans formerlyemployed by the CPR. Useless tokens,these men must have felt, as they struggledfor a niche in post-war life.

Convention required from the CPRsome memorials of its glorious dead. So,in 1921, the company directors comniissioned an established Montreal sculptor,Coeur de Lion McCarthy, to create threeidentical statues of a fallen soldier borneon the arm oftheAngel ofPeace. On April22, 1922, one ofthese statues was unveiledbeside the Vancouver station, CPR’s Pacific terminus; one at the CPR’s Winnipeg station in central Canada; and one atWindsor Station in Montreal, location ofCPR’s headquarters. “Each War Memorial was actually unveiled by the father orthe mother ofone of those who in lifetimeserved the Canadian Pacific long andfaithfully in the district where that Memorial was erected.”5

The dedication speeches at these ceremonies were composed of the correct,impressive generalities. Lord Julian Byng,then Canada’s Governor General, addressed the veterans at the Montreal unveiling because he had commanded thegreat battle ofVimy Ridge. The veterans,we may be sure, were thinking of thethousands killed at Vimy Ridge: “What awaste of lives that can’t be replaced!”

At other central stations of the Canadian Pacific Railway — in Saint John,Moose Jaw, Edmonton, and our province’s Nelson and Victoria the company’s directors affixed bronze memorialplaques on the station’s wall. Each had thesame inscriptio.n as that on the base of the“Winged Victory” statue: to their employees who “finally passed out of thesight of men by the path ofduty and self-sacrifice,...” and so on.

In her account of Vancouver’s“Winged Victory,” Peggy Imredy wrote6:“Raw bronze color is seldom used as a

finish for a statue, ... as the methodsinvolving acids or burying bronze in theground are too long and involved. However, when bronze is placed outside, likethis statue is, over the years it graduallyacquires a patina. Exposure to air gradually changes the bronze to green, sea airand pollution hasten the process. Rainsaturated with chemicals shows up asstreaks on the bronze. Such a patina isvalued, or if not appreciated, can be prevented from the beginning, by regularwashing and waxing ofthe statue. In 1967some concerned citizens were horrified bywhat they called a ‘dirty’ statue and gotbusy with wire brushes and detergent toscrub the ‘dirt’ off. Scratch marks can stillbe seen. The statue quickly assumed thenormal outdoor patina of a bronze.”

Vancouver’s CPR station is a Heritage Building: artists painted its ceilingmurals and designed its classical-styleplaster work. But the architects of ourmodern era’s rapid transit built within itslofty walls the Sky Train terminus and itspassage to the Sea Bus to North Vancouver.The stately Greek pillars and the handsomered-brick exterior have been washed ofcity grime and preserved. But, twelveyearsago, Canadian Pacific chose a less congested district for its Vancouver terminus.

For more than seventy years, the twosculptured bronzefigures have been poisedby the former railway station, glimpsedmomentarily by street car and bus passengers riding to their daily stations —

their work places. In avery few more yearsthe last veterans of the first Great War,now ninety and more years of age, willjoin those who “passed out of the sight ofmen.”

“And out of mind, too?” one imagines some who perished in World War Iasking its survivors.

The author, now retires has worked andwalkedin downtown Vancouver over theyea rs. Shehas chosen to present the history of the statue withthe emotions which surfisceat services on November11 and other occasions.

REFERENCES

I. ‘Vancouver Monomer,,,” by Leonard Meyers. Vancouver Sun,March16. 1953.

2. A Grid., ta Sculpture in Vaneenver by Peggy Imredy, p. 38 D MIrnredy, 1980.

3. Ecery Goed Gft A Hisrery ofS Jan,e Church by Phyllis Reeve,p. 30. rhapsr, 2 Mi,chelI Press Led., Vancouve,. B.C., 1980.

4. “Vancouver Monumen,C’ Vancouver Sun, March 16, 1953.5. “Canadian Padfic War Memorial,,” Canadian Pacific Railway

Archive,, ,n office P.O. Boo 6042, Ssarion A, Montreal. QuebecH3C 3E4.

6. A Guide ea Saulpture in Vancouver. p. 38.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Those bared abuve. S,aus,cs — number of CPR employees whoenlis,ed; number of dead andwoundrd; she mli,a,y awards — arerecorded In a brtdhisrory In she Canadian Pacific archives.

1

Photograph ofthe “Winged Victosy”at Vancouvers GP.R, Station. To Mark Our Place: AHistory of Canadian War Me,norial.c, by RobertShit.dey -p. 6 N.C. Press Limited, Toronto, 1987.Photo by David Street,

17 B.C. Historical News -Fall 1993

A Vanderbilt atAlberni

Sproat Lake has had its share of famous visitors over the years, however fewhave equalled the eccentric millionaireCornelius (Neil) Vanderbilt Jr., grandsonof U.S. eastern railroad builder Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794 -. 1877)and only son of Brigadier GeneralCornelius Vanderbilt II.’ While on amotoring trip on Vancouver Island in1920 he purchased Arbutus Island onSproat Lake.2 For several years he and hisyoung wife vacationed there, attracted bythe scenic and fishing possibilities of thearea.

Cornelius VanderbiltJr. was born onApril 30, 1 898. He first attracted publicattention when he virtually ran away fromhome to enlist with the American Expeditionary Forces. In April 1919 he began hiscareer as a cub reporter with the New YorkHerald He first fell in love with the westcoast when he was an overseas instructorat Camp Lewis, Washington, duringWorld War I. Following his marriage toRachel Littleton on April 29, 1920, heand his bride started on a tour of the westcoast.4 It was on this trip he fell in lovewith Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni.

His impressions ofVancouver Island

and Alberni were written in an article inMotorLifi’, September 1920 issue. “Thereis an island off the British Columbiancoast known the world over as VancouverIsland. It is for the automobilist one ofthemost beautiful places in the world.”Vanderbilt raved about the timber wealth,the streams, the deer, bear and cougar, butwhat struck him most about the islandwas the English setting. To someone fromNew York, Vancouver Island must haveseemed like paradise. The Island Hall inParksville particularly impressed him. Hedescribed the inn as

well secluded from the dusty roadand commanding a view seldomsurpassed in this great Northwest,we found one of the quaintest innsof our trip. It is run by an Englishwoman who, because of ill health,has been obliged to retire to a moresuitable climate. The charmingEnglish ideas of tourist inns hasbeen carried out in minute details.There are thirty small rooms,wooden walls, big stone fireplacesand ahost ofother attractions. Cowsand chickens are kept right behindthe house and a vegetable garden

furnishes the freshest kinds of edibles.

When he arrived in Alberni, he askedthe location of the best fishing spot andwas directed to Klitsa Lodge on SproatLake.

We betook ourselves to the formerlake (Sproat Lake) and were quicklyinstalled in a tent owned by thatwell-known character, Mrs. Wark.The Chalet is a most uniqueboarding house if such a commonplace name may be adopted.Mrs. Wark lives in a house-boat onthe shores ofSproat Lake. She ownsa few acres of property behind thiswhich she has had the farsightedness to turn into a kitchen garden.Besides this she keeps two cows andabout a dozen chickens. Two milesacross the lake on a protrudingpoint of land she has a little housewhich consists of dining rooms,kitchen and a few bed rooms forthose guests who prefer to be indoors.

One morning, whilst we werehaving breakfast, several of theguests saw a little white ermineclimbing out of one of the largemeat refrigerators on the backporch. Can you believe this? Thefishing, either fly or trolling, is saidto be better there than anywhereelse on the coast. The climate corresponds very closely with that ofEngland.5On this visit Vanderbilt purchased

property at Sproat Lake. The PortAlberniNews reported: “Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.purchased an island for his wife while theywere on their way down the coast byautomobile en route to California. Whilepassing the lake Mrs. Vanderbilt saw theisland and admired it so much that herhusband looked up the owner and madethe purchase on the spot. Later the young

byJan Peterson

Cathedral Grove Roaa one ofthe attractions which brought Neil Vanderbilt to Vancouver Isl,anLThis is a Leonard Frank photo showing the car of Captain George Alberi one ofAlberni’sfirstentrepreneurs. Photo courtesy ofAlberni Valley Museum, PN 7147.

18 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

couple intend building a hunting lodgeon the island and passing their vacationthere.”6 Arbutus Island was renamedVanderbilt Island.

During their visit to California,Vanderbilt decided to enter the publishing field there. In the meantime, he continued honing his skill as a journalist, firstwith the New York Herald, then later theNew York Times, before joining theUnited Press7 and Universal Services,Washington, D.C.

In 1923 he made his move to the westcoast, founding Vanderbilt Newspapers,Inc. As a promotion for his entry into theworld ofpublishing he flooded Los Angeles with circulars in June, announcing hisnewspaper would be called the IllustratedDaily News. In editorial policy, the Newsshunned news of crime, sex and scandaland featured bright photographs and concise news stories. Each person who boughta one-year subscription also received oneshare ofstock worth $5 and became eligibleto vote for two of the five members of theboard of directors. His News was capitalized at $100,000.

Vanderbilt insisted on giving organized labour a chance in his printing plantin the days before unions. Skilled printersreceived $1.01 a hour in 1923 for a 48-hour week. Cub reporters received $35 fora 60-hour week. For the first time in LosAngeles, Vanderbilt offered them, alongwith printing tradesmen, two-week paidvacations.8

The Illustrated Daily News of LosAngeles came off the presses the morningof September 3, 1923, with a world’srecord circulation of more than 130,000.Three months later, on December 10,Vanderbilt launched the Illustrated DailyHerald of San Francisco, with a circulation of more than 125,000.

But Vanderbilt was a bit ofan upstartin the newspaper world. WilliamRandolph Hearst, who published theExaminer, first ignored Vanderbilt’s plansand then tried to hire him as the figurehead ofa sensational tabloid he planned topublish in New York City. WhenVanderbilt refused, Hearst struck back.

When no Los Angeles company wouldrent him billboard space, Vanderbilt wasresourceful. With money coming in fromstock sales, he hired fifteen airplanesequipped with megaphones which urgedresidents to subscribe to his new “PennyPaper,” as he fondly called the News.Another morning a regiment of bathingbeauties paraded through the streets,forming slogans such as “See Yourself inPictures.” He hired 150 boys to paintmessages on the sidewalks and walls ofhotels, banks and apartment buildings.Angry landlords spent weeks removingthe paint.’0

On one of his frequent trips back tothe Albernis, Vanderbilt, a proud American, raised the ire of many residents by hisdisplay of the American flag. This “English type” community, as Vanderbilt so

described it, was firmly behind the UnionJack. Richard Burde, publisher of the PortAlberni News, editorialized:

We have been informed thatCornelius Vanderbilt Jr. flies theAmerican flag over his residence onArbutus Island, Sproat Lake andhave been requested to publish aprotest. There are some people inthis community who regard Mr.Vanderbilt’s national display as amark of insolence. Mr. Vanderbiltis a young man who believes thatthe people of other countries arealways impressed by a show of theAmerican flag in their midst. Thereis no intention of hostility inVanderbilt’s exhibition of good orbad taste. He is reported to be proBritish. He voluntarily acted ascaddie for Lord Northcliffe on thegolf links at Victoria recentlywhich is something the average independent Canadian would allowthe distinguished lord to do forhimself. 11

Residents ofthe Albernis viewed theirflamboyant American visitor with somedisdain, ignoring his frequent visits intotown to purchasesupplies. Vanderbilt rodein his large convertible, his scarf flying inthe wind, his nose seemingly in the air, athigh speeds over the narrow roads leadingto town. He gained a reputation of“squeezing every orange before they boughtit, then complaining about the prices.”12On one occasion he purchased some bakedgoods from the Higginbotham Bake Shopin PortAlberni. Thestartled and somewhatamused storekeeper watched as Vanderbiltbrought out his cheque book and proceeded to write a cheque out for 25 cents.Needless to say, the cheque was receivedwith particular flair. The storekeeper,recognizing a good publicity move, hadthe cheque framed and mounted on hiswall, much to the consternation of hisdiligent bookkeeper.’3

In Los Angeles, San Francisco andlater Miami, his newspaper chain was notthesuccess he anticipated. The newspaper’sfailure had a lot to do with his editorialpolicy. Advertising revenue was a disap

4,

Klitsa Lodge, Sproat Like. It was built in 1910 as a summer homefor a Vancouver lawyer, E.P.Davis. In 1919 it waspurchasedby Mrs. Wark who establisheditas a retreatfrr the rich andfamousfrom around the world Photo courtesy Alherni Valley Museum PN 4706

19 B.C. Hstorica1 News - Fall 1993

pointment. At first it had filled the News,but as Vanderbilt tore into the businessestablishment, the 32-page tabloid dwindled to 20 within a few months. For thenext three years, the newspaper lived offadvertisements for motion pictures,chicken and rabbit ranches, and oil stocks.After appraising the situation, he tried tokill the San Francisco paper but hisstockholders outvoted him, leaving himno choice but to continue on.

In June 1924 Vanderbilt caused aflurry ofexcitement in Port Alberni whenit was reported he planned to build a pulpmill in British Columbia. He had given aspeech at the Ambassador Cafe in Vancouver, announcing he and his associateswere making arrangements for the construction ofa pulp mill in B.C. At the PortAlberni City Council meeting the following week, Mayor A.D. Maclntyreraised the question of interviewingVanderbilt on his next visit to his summerhome at Sproat Lake. The mayor andAlderman Macfie were appointed to interview him to try to persuade him tolocate the pulp mill in the Alberni district.14 Whether the talks ever took placeis unknown. What is known is that thepulp mill project never materialized.

While Vanderbilt’s news policies mayhave bored his readers, his editorialsoutrightly enraged many readers and advertisers both in the U.S. and Canada.

Unable to meet his expenses, he askedhis parents for money in 1924. Theyagreed — but only on the condition heplace most ofhis authority in the hands ofa family-picked manager. Vanderbiltgrumbled, but agreed to the conditions topreserve the chain.

By 1925 the problems in the newspapers could no longer be ignored.Vanderbilt, too, was in poor health. Hehad been seriously gassed during WorldWar I, never quite recovering. He was inand out ofhospitals dozens of times. Againhe asked his parents for help. Again theyhelped but imposed more control over hiseditorial and business operations. For abrief time the newspapers were revitalizedunder new managers.

On March 26, 1926, Vanderbilt reluctantly proposed to close all three dai

lies. (The Illustrated Daily Herald Miaminewspaper had been started in 1924 under the same policies as Los Angeles andSan Francisco.) The Miami Heral.dwas leftwith $600,000 in unpaid bills when several hotel and real estate developmentsfailed. Advertisers, too, owed the Heraldabout $300,000. His advice was timely.He commissioned a study into the chain’sfinances. The report believed the newspapers could be made profitable againwith more money.

Vanderbilt went to his parents again.They refused. They said his papers wouldhave to be sold, if not sold, then closed.His father had Vanderbilt sign a promissory notefor $901,000 for the money theyhad loaned him previously. The moneywould be taken from Vanderbilt’s inheritance when his father died. He bitterlysigned the note. By April 28 he admitteddefeat. All three newspapers were soon inreceivership.

The Port Alberni News reportedVanderbilt had landed on the financialbad times with two of his newspaper enterprises.15 Not only was his business introuble, so too was his marriage to Rachel.They were divorced November 16,1927.16 Resold his island at Sproat Lakein October 1927 to Dr. C.B. Cooper, aretired surgeon from Honolulu.’7A year

later he married Mary Weir Logan butthis marriage did not last long, withinthree years they were divorced. He married two more times. Both ended in divorce.

He continued to write for a variety ofnewspapers and magazines. In 1933 hereturned to Alberni, spending ten days atKlitsa Lodge, now a thriving tourist lodgeon Sproat Lake and home of his friendMrs. Wark. At this time Vanderbilt wasactive in the candidacyfor F. D. Roosevelt.During the past five weeks he had covered25 states, speaking on behalf of theRoosevelt recovery programme. Re wasalso an assistant editor of Liberty, a weeklymagazine, which compiled a survey of thereaction to that program.

Alberni district residents noted hewas driving the very latest model car, a1934 model, carrying a Florida licenseplate in the rear and a blue plate with theword “Roosevelt” on it in front. Thislicense plate marked him as a personalenvoy ofthe president ofthe United States.

In an interview with Dick Burde ofthe Port Alberni News, Vanderbilt reported that in the past year he had covereda lot ofterritory, visiting India, Arabia andAfrica for the Saturday Evening Post. Hewas in Germany at the time of the Hitlercrisis and later travelled in western Europe

::

Vanderbilt Island today. Photo byJan Peterson.

20 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

and Russia. “In the past nine years Mr.Vanderbilt has written nine books, thebest known of which is Reno. His dailywriting contract calls for six thousandwords a day which is syndicated to sixhundred newspapers.” (In 1935 he wroteFarewe1ltoFfihAvenue in 1938 The Storyofthe TabloidNewspaper.g in 1959 MyLifton Five Continents.) He said the AlberniValley was the best place he knew of tofind rest and quiet.18

During the Second World War,Vanderbilt served as a major in Intelligence. During 1942 to 1943 he was inWalter Reed Hospital for a physical disability. He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross ofFederal Bureauof Investigation in 1942. After the war hebecame active in the candidacy ofGeneralDwight Eisenhower.’9Eventually he madehis home at the Vanderbilt Ranch inSutcliffe, Nevada. He died in MiamiBeach, Florida, in July 1974. He is stillremembered byold-timers in theAlbernis.

Mrs. Peterson is a retired reporter now re-searching early history of Port Alberni. She is adirector of the Alberni District Historical Societyand a member of the Alberni Valley MuseumAdvisory Board. She hasjust releasedher book TheAlbernis 1860—1 922,publishedby Oolithan Books.

1. Biltmore Ertate, North Carolina, U.S.

2. PortAlbtiNono,Arrgurr2S, 1920.

3. ‘iTho’c Whom tOe Pa* Coot, puNirhed by TheA.N. MorqoitCompany, Chicago, Illinoct: California LibracyCF 595. W64,1949.

4. Rockwell D. Hunt, editor CoIfirnia and Califrrnrano, I 92& Cabforum State Library, California Book Collection, GC979.4 H9, co

19—20.

5. Motor Lrfrmagazine. Vaocouver Itland anVandenlalit See, it A Pa,,of Old England in North Am,eic.a Soptwnber 1920 true

6. Port Alborcü Netco, Augtrut 29, 1920.

7. California Scare library. Ca/fonda Hzstor,1 Qoarterly, Summer1976, No. 2,,oorce: Periodical collec,,on,Vol. 5552, pp.lhZ—I69.

8 Alan Hetuther. Artide ‘Penny Paper,, The Vanderbilt newrpapercrocado,” pubirched m the Cahfrrc,ia Htitorkd qnarkr, Suimme,edition 1976. Vol. 55 #2, p. 162.

9. See Cahfrrnia and Grlcfreoiaw, p. 19.

10. Soe”PennyPapeet,’ p. 162.

II. PortAlborniNann,Au,gmt 17, 1921.

12. Varo,ria Timer, May 31,1952.

13. Doer, MacLeod, January 1991.

14. Port AlheeniNetcr,Ju,oe25, 1924.

IS. Ibid., May 5, 1926.

16. See Who’i Whom the Poojk Coaic

17. Port ,llberni Neto, October 5, 1927.

IS Ibid., November 16, 1933.

19. See Who Whoa,, the Pacufic Coca.

The residence on Vanderbilt Island as it looks today.years. Photo courtesy of Joe Van Bergen.

FOOTNOTES

There have been frw changes over the

Opesuflo.’, Empfy-The-lJutqeby Ne/en Moore

a dusty box of liquor bottles. These were chosen for colour (clear)and shape (interesting) and washed later to hold beautiful herbs forherb vinegar to be sold in our shop. Another director fell excitedlyupon a pair of ladies lace-up, soft black leather boots. Indeed theycarried on the instep the name of a daughter of a pioneer family.“Just what I need,” said Sharon, “for my lady at the sewingmachine.” A third director showed us an ordinary length of blackiron ... hmmm ... we will need lots of pieces of metal for theblacksmith’s shop.

Two lifetimes ofstuffwas moved. Oldwood went to neighbours.Bed springs went to a secondhand store. Some had to go to thedump.

AureliaVescovi was so pleased that she added many objects fromthe house ... like 1930s cookbooks. We are pleased with theacquisition ofmuseum artifacts, and look for some cash profit fromsales at flea markets and grateful to all who responded on shortnotice to participate. Aurelia, who has flown back to Switzerland,and these helpers did much for the preservation of Hedley’s socialand mining history.

Hedley Heritage Society learned on July 3, 1993, that AureliaVescovi offered the museum the contents ofher garage zfihe garagecould be cleared out before the real estate agent sold the property.This was an old Hedley house which could well have historicalitems. After consulting with museum directors Sharon Minshulland Ruth Dunham, project “Fmpty-The..Garage” began on theafternoon of Sunday, July 4, and ended Tuesday, July 6. Ourjudgment call: which would be museum-class objects and whatitems suitable for flea market sale? Many volunteers were pressedinto service.

We shared many a laugh as we all got dirty as we moved items,debatingwhichwere “saleable” and which “historic.” Sure sharpensyour eyes! Ruth, who is an inspired cook, recognized the beauty in

Helen Moore wrote thisfor the newsletter ofthe Hedley Heritage, Artsand Crafts Society. She is obviously an active board member.

21 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Bridges Th Our Past

by Tom W Parkin44e d64t4 dj frAe94e44

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/1’cd4ew e. 4eirceBridges: Symbols ofProgress

Most of us cross bridges with littlethought oftheir placement. Indeed, manypeople consider transportation systemsmore significant than these spans en route.To engineers, however, bridges are a keyto success — without them, the largerlinear system becomes non-functional. Forexample, the spectacular loss of NiagaraCanyon trestle to a flood on November12, 1896, closed the Esquimalt &Nanaimo Railway for eleven weeks andresulted in significant revenue loss andtemporary layoffs.

The significant bridges on VancouverIsland still carry railways and highwaysover water (Europe also has aqueductscarrying water across valleys). Consequently they belong to companies or togovernment, though there are instances oftransportation bridges built privately inB.C.’s Interior.

One early bridge on Vancouver Island was Parsons’ Bridge at the mouth ofMillstream in Coiwood. A structure hasstood continuously on this site since thefirst span was erected by B ill Parsons in theearly 1850s. Parsons didn’t charge tolls,but being entrepreneurial, found a moreprofitable method ofcollection; he erectedParsons’ Bridge Hotel — today known asthe Six-Mile Roadhouse. Other formerstagecoach stops beside this route are alsonamed for their mileage from Victoria.

As might be expected in a region withstrong trees and imported steel, most earlybridges were built ofwood. But the magnificent trestles carrying E & N trainsrequired ongoing maintenance, and werefooted near volatile water. About 1907,after replacing the 400,000 board-footNiagara bridge twice in ten years, the E &N began filling their wooden structureswith gravel or replacing them with steel.The steel cantilever that line now usesacross 79-metre Niagara Canyon wasmanufactured in 1885, but first used onthe mainline in Fraser Canyon beforebeing relocated in 1911.

Of wooden trestles remaining on theIsland, the best is Kinsol trestle overKoksilah River. This 44-metre high,gracefully curved beauty, built in 1934,

has deterioratedsignificantly sinceits last use in 1979.Following withdrawal ofCanadianNational Railwayfrom VancouverIsland, its right-of-way and associatedstructure were acquired by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways.

The provincialgovernment isholding the corn-

dor for potential transportation use in thenext century. In the meantime, it’s cooperating with Regional Districts wanting tolease the land for recreation. In the case ofthe Kinsol trestle, the Cowichan andChemainus Valleys Ecomuseum Societywishes to sub-lease the trestle and adjacentroadbed for development as a tourist attraction.

The bridge is an inspiring relic withfew equals in Canada, and the site offersopportunity for viewers to learn of theimportance of trains in the forest industry. Regrettably, the cost of stabilizationand modest development are estimated atover $550,000, not including ongoingannual maintenance expenditures ofnearlyten per cent of that sum.

In the United States, legislation hasexisted since 1966 for the national/statefunding and inter-agency cooperationnecessary for preservation of such structures, but Canada has no equivalent. TheMarch-April 1992 issue of TransportationResearch News detailed many successfulAmerican examples ofhistoric bridge restoration, but funding for the Kinsol projectremains uncertain.

Another unusual Island bridge, nolonger in use but awaiting a decision on itsfate, crosses the Sanjuan River west of thetrestle. Owned by Fletcher Canada Ltd.,this is a cable-stayed design. The substructure is two parallel laminated woodgirders hung between wooden towers onthe opposing banks. The deck is builtabove. The bridge was designed by company engineerGeorge Milligan and openedin 1957.

A deteriorating load limit, increasingmaintenance costs and potential damageby loaded logging trucks caused the company to build a sturdier steel structureimmediately adjacent to it in 1988. This isone of only two cable-supported bridgesfor vehicles on Vancouver Island. Both areprivately owned, and neither is still in use.

The change in composition ofbridges

ori5

22 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

from wood to today’s dominant materials, steel and concrete, results from risingload-bearing demand and recognition ofthe savings in bridges with long lifespans.Wooden Howe truss bridges, which werewidely used on highways from the 1 920sthrough the 40s, are now being replaced.While a wooden bridge can last fifty years

(with high maintenance), cost-effectiveness is the ultimate goal of modern engineers. Today’s bridges have service lives ofone hundred years.

Risk to the structure by vehicles andvandals is also a consideration in bridgedesign. The Kinsol trestle was ignited bygraduation pranksters in 1988, but wasfortunately extinguished quickly by volunteer firefighters from Shawnigan Lake.However, the vulnerability of those linkswas demonstrated by loss of the Sproat

River bridge near Port Aiberni on May 19,1990. Youthful arsonists set a fire therewhich cost taxpayers $2.6 million for areplacement concrete bridge.

With the lifespan of bridges increasing, forethought is required in their design. Traffic volumes have to be projectedand the unirnagined anticipated. Likeearthquakes. Since the late 1950s, highway bridges in British Columbia havebeen designed with consideration ofearthquake forces. During this time, engineering knowledge and earthquake codeshave been substantially increased, particularly after seismic disasters in Alaskaand California. Today’s bridges are designed to withstand shakes measuring 7.0on the Richter scale, and older bridges canbe strengthened to improve resistance.They will be vitally important to relief

efforts in event of the anticipated “bigone” on the West Coast.

A study of bridges reveals not just

principles of engineering and trends indesign, but something ofsociety’s success.While intended to be functional, somehave coincidentally come to be viewed asbeautiful or worthy of preservation forhistoric reasons. As you ride the roads orrails on your next trip, take time to appreciate the value of bridges. Their construction, design and function provide insightsinto history, engineering and welfare ofour society.

Tom Parkin is a Public Information Officerwith theMinistry ofTransportation andHighwaysin Nanaimo. Previous writing by this author ineludes a dictionary, Wet Coast Words, OrcaPublishers, 1989.

23 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

I •

Parsons’ Bridge, Victoria, prior to 1900 (now on Hwy IA). This crosses Milctreamwhere it enters Esquimalt harbour. The building was an inn and is now the locationofSix-Mile Pub. This timber trestle was originally built in 1873 and subsequentlyupgraded to two two-Line curved concrete bridges. Photo courtesy of SCARS C#8030 Ni F-9390.

14

Viewing north across the Kinsol trestle. Work on the original trestle beganin February 1911 but completion was postponed by economic hard timesand WWL Work resumed in 1919 and was completed in 1920. Localyouths burneda hole in the deck in 1988 (spacejust visible in this view).

Photo courtesy of Tom Parkin.

Looking south across abandoned CA trestle on the Koksilah River near ShawniganLake This 614-fbot trestle, height 145fret, is called “Kinsol” for a nearby copperprospect(1902— 1907), the King So/srmon Mine. Last usedin 1988 when the List trainto .cross it weighed 350 tons (315 tonnes). This was taken over by the Ministry ofTransportation andHighways on December31, 1990. Photo taken 1991 by Tom Parkin.

Demolishing an 180-foottreated-timber Howe trussbridge over the Sooke River onDecember8, 1969. This bridgeon Hwy 14 was built in 1941and repleced by a steel-archstructurein 1968. Charges wereplacedat each panelpointandsimultaneously ignited. Thirtypounds of7/8 “x 8 “75per centforcite was use€L Neither thenew bridge, just 20feet away,nora 200-pairtelephonecable,15fret away on the other side,were damaged. (Note the boomstrung to catch thedebris.) Suchmethods are no longer used inthis environmentally sensitiveera.

24 B.C. Historical News Fall 1993

The Very Beginnings ofPrince Rupert

by Phylis BowmanMany and varied were the characters

who passed through the new little portcity of Prince Rupert in its fledgling days— some whose names are perpetuated ingeographical points — and others wholaboured for awhile and then drifted off toseek new fields of endeavour or left toserve in the First World War and neverreturned.

The story of the actual constructionof the “Dream City” of Prince Rupertbegan in April of 1906 when the GrandTrunk Pacific Railroad’s assistant engineer,Joel Pillsbury, travelled from the company’s head office in Montreal to Vancouverwhere he expected to find a crew andsupplies assembled by an advance man.But, according to notes recorded byPillsbury’s son, Richard, he found “somesupplies alright — 30 tons of iron forblacksmith work — with the advanceman in askidroad hotel suffering from theeffects of entertainment by the fast-working sales force of a large wholesalehardware outfit.”

After some fast and heated work onPillsbury’s part, a crew of thirty men,along with supplies and that thirty tons ofiron (but minus the advance man) wereloaded aboard the sturdy coastal vesselTees to be taken up the coast to the Indianvillage of Metlakatla, the only habitationanywhere near Kaien Island on which theport city was to be constructed. Foundedby a dedicated Anglican missionary, Rev.William Duncan, in 1862, Metlakatlahad a wharf and could provide adequateaccommodation for the work crew untilbuildings were constructed on the newtownsite.

But here again, Pillsbury met withanother disappointment, for the wharfhad blown down in a storm the previouswinter, so everything, including the thirtytons of iron, had to be unloaded onto thebeach from the anchored ship offshore.After finally getting everything ashore andstored above tideline (the shore was allmud and the tide rose twenty-four feet),

the tired engineer found shelter for himselfand his men on the ground floor ofthevillage hospital. Father Duncan and hisfollowers had left the village some yearsbefore to start a new settlement, NewMetlakatla, in Alaska, but Pillsbury waswelcomed by George Morrow, the IndianAgent (and later president ofthe NationalBiscuit Co. ofVancouver), Mr. Scott, theschoolteacher, and Dr. J.E. Tremayne, ayoung physician from Toronto who hadbeen persuaded to come to the villagebecause ofthe future ofthe nearby railroadcity.

“The first camp on Kaien Island waslocated in accord with company instructions,” Pillsbury’s notes continue, “animportant point as it set the focus for thecentre of the city and has caused sincemany bitter controversies. At that time, alarge part of Kaien Island was still IndianReserve, and company orders were to builda small dock and headquarters within1,000 feet of the Reserve line. Here thework crew began clearing the trees andbrush, beside a small stream, and built adock reaching out 50 feet in the water.The space between the dock and foreshorewas later filled in with rock and earth forthe railway yards which stretched alongthe waterfront.

“Up the little stream,” continuePillsbury’s notes, “was built a 12-ft. plankroad and the first buildings were a fewtents with wood walls and floors, and alean-to shack for a cook-and-mess house,with eight steps leading up to it, so steepwas the slope. The wharfwas built using apiledriver rented from GeorgeCunningham of Port Essington and twoColumbia River boats which Pillsburyhad bought for the survey crews. PeterMagar brought the driver over after pileshad been bought from the Indians foreight cents a foot — they were all hemlockwith the bark left on as protection fromborers.

“J.H. Bacon, the harbor engineer,had set up his headquarters near the dock

in December of 1906, and Dr. Tremaynemoved from Metlakatla with his wife andtwo tiny daughters. They lived in a tentbeside the boardwalk, which Pillsburynamed ‘Center Street,’ and Mrs. Tremayneoften told of the bitter cold of that firstwinter when water beside their beds frozeovernight and the baby’s bottle, put underthe pillows to keep warm, became frosted.

“Social activities were very limitedthis first winter, with the menu for theChristmas dinner hand-printed andcolored with drafting inks by a railroadforeman, Count Carlos Zenardi-Landi,and when the first dance was held on thesite on Feb. 23, 1907, a number of ladiescame from the nearby communities ofPort Essington and Port Simpson toprovide partners for the workers, and someof the passengers aboard the CP steamerPrincess May joined the party for theevening.

“A government hydrographic surveyin charge ofG.B. Dodge and H.D. Parizeauarrived, along with John Moore, a locating engineer for the railway, who chosethe actual route of the line along theSkeena River. In September of 1906,railway executives had comewest to inspecttheworkdone and decided to rush througha topographic survey of the site so thatstreets could be laid out and lots sold. Thesurvey was done by 14 parties, led bycrews from the construction camps on theprairies where work had closed down forthe winter along the rail line. The PacificStevedoring Company contracted to clearand grub the townsite at $200 an acre, buthad to throw up the job as they found ittoo tough going. However, this companydid build alargewharffor landing suppliesand rails for the railroad construction.The townsite was eventually cleared byindividual contractors for $120 an acre.”

Bacon, the harbour engineer, featu redgreatly in Prince Rupert’s history at thistime, for, according to Pillsbury, “it washe who advised the railroad company tobuild their port city on Kaien Island rather

25 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

than on the mainland across the harbor,because of the prevalence of southeastgales, and the south shores would be moresheltered. Furthermore, due to the greatdepth of water close to shore, floatingpiers could be constructed much like thosein Liverpool in England, and he envisionedthat 24 or 25 T-shaped docks could beconstructed along the harbor so the portwould have docking facilities for up to 75freighters at once, with five overheadtrestles over the tracks to the docks.”

And so the little port grew, with pioneers and settlers coming from all over tofind work and set up businesses. In 1914,some of them, who had been there forseven or eight years and therefore considered themselves “oldtimers,” publisheda souvenir album which they called “theauthentic story of the City’s Development from Primeval Forest of Yesterdayto Commercial Centre ofToday. ColossalRailway Terminal, Spacious Harbour,Bountiful Hinterland and CommandingLocation make Prince Rupert the acknowledged Capital of the North

And this is what was written underthat glowing head: “In the western half ofthis New World there is scarcelyacity thatdoes not hold one or more citizens whocan boast of having seen the place growfrom a village to what it is today, but here,at the western end of the Grand TrunkPacific Railway, we have the rare opportunity of looking forward and fashioningin our mind’s eye a city sure to be. PrinceRupert is situated midway between the54th and 55th parallel, 550 miles north ofVancouver and 40 miles south of theAlaskan boundary. It is the same latitudeas London, and has a climate whose meantemperature is about the same as that ofthe metropolis of the British Isles.

“The land-locked, spacious harbourmade this the undisputable point for a bigterminal in keeping with the high standard which is the great feature of Canada’snew Transcontinental Railroad. Why wasthis magnificent harbour unknown beforethis time? It was generally believed that aledge of rocks extended across the narrowsat the entrance to the harbour whichprohibited vessels of large draught to enter it. The CPR Steamship Company’sveteran skipper on the North Coast on theoccasion of the visit of the GTP official

party in 1904 exclaimed, in steaming upthe narrows: ‘Just think of it — I havepassed this entrance hundreds of timesand never knew there was such a beautifulharbour there!’

“The lands, comprising the townsiteexcepting a small Indian Reserve, wereacquired by the Railway Company fromthe Provincial Government. John Knox, alone prospector, secured a footing in thetownsite by locating a mineral claim. Thelocation afterwards became the settlementof ‘Knoxville’ on which ‘squatted’ thepioneers who disregarded the warnings ofrailroad officials not to come to PrinceRupert until the lots were sold. The tent‘towns’ of Baconsville, Knoxville andVickersville represented the divisions andcamps of the earlier residents of this nowgreat and growing city.

“Baconsville, which took its namefrom the harbour engineer, included therailroad staffers and followers. Knoxvillesheltered the independent pioneers andVickersville took its name from the firstpoliceman stationed here, the popularand kindhearted Billy Vickers, who hadbeen transferred from Atlin where he hadbeen Provincial Chief Constable and arrived in Prince Rupert in March of 1907to take over the policing duties. Baconsvilleand Knoxville have been totally obliterated from their former appearances andhave been levelled down, making a wideexpanse of yards and quarters for theterminal and station. Vickersville has alsobeen graded down and is included in theextensive area comprising the GTPDrydock and Ship Repair Plant which isnow the pride of the Coast and almostcompleted.

“The pioneers commenced the forbidding task ofcity building on this rock-girt island with optimism and determination and the accomplishments of todayconstitute a world’s record. With ElectricLight, Telephone, Water, Sewerage andPermanent Roads in operation over thetownsite, the city is in a position today toaccommodate Factories, Industries andany manner of Commercial Enterpriseand care for a population of 25,000.

“From the earliest days, the citizens ofPrince Rupert have been the zealousguardians of their franchises and by theirown efforts reserved for the future popu

26

lation the right and voice to hold anddispose of their heritage. These struggleshave been the cause of bringing into thelimelight many of the rugged and invincible characters which tread so often theunbeaten paths offrontier life on the greatAmerican continent.

“Some of the oldtimers were virtuallyshipwrecks cast up on this rock-hewncoast. Without money and without meansto move on to the next port they had ofnecessity to stay. It is often among suchthat noble deeds and great triumphs arefound. Amongst the prominent citizens oftoday are men of this class. Forgettingwhat had been in the face of the direcircumstances, they valiantly assumed therole of toiler in whatsoever manner theycould be used. ‘Hewers oflogs and drawersof water’ as man was so ordained to do.Character and manhood was thus ripenedto the glory and power of the cominggeneration who should build their homeshere

“Prince Rupert’s growth has nothingof the mysterious about it, the city had anusually active body of citizens and theenergetic spirit has accomplished the workin hand thoroughly and well, with theresult that today Prince Rupert has a largenumber of beautiful homes, up-to-datewholesale and retail stores, three first-classschools, five banks, Government buildings, five churches and a number of societies and is still steadily today, in 1914, onthe path of greater and more substantialprogress.”

And that’s how Prince Rupert began.Certainly not all of those high hopes havecome true today, but you must admit thatthe city certainly had a very auspiciousstart, with the Sky as the Limit as far asprogress, expansion and development wereconcerned!

Longtime North Coast resident Phylis Bowman has written thirteen books and hundreds ofhistorical and humorous articles about the regionfor the Prince Rupert Daily News and otherpublications. Daughter ofpioneer residents Syd andErna Hambl.in, she has heard many of these talesfirsthandfrom them andother relatives. She servedin the Canadian Women’s Anny Corps in theSecond World War andthen, with busbandLloydraisedtheirtbreesons in PrinceRupertandare nowenjoying watching their six grandchildren growingup. A former editor of the Prince Rupert News,Mrs. Bowman is now afeatured columnistfbr thepaper.

B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Prince Ruperi on Kaien Island is connectedto the mainlandandRidl.ey lskindbybridge, and to Digby Island byfrrry.

l1ieerg beøinnino o1 Prince l.&iwr1

These scenes ofthefirst days ofPrince Rupert show the wooden shacks and buildings u’hich lined theplank sidewalks which had been constructed over the boggymuskeg andstumps on the neuly cleared townsite. At upper left is the tent-town of “Vickersvile”— a conglomeration ofsettlers who squatted on land taken overby Provincial ChiefConstable Billy Vickers before lots were soldby the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad The tents, which had woodenfloors andsides, with canvascoverings, were Liter removed to make wayfor the construction ofthe railyardc. Thepicture in the middle ofthe bottom row, taken in 1912, shows busy activityon thefirst main roadin town — CenterStreet—.spelledtheAmerican way as it had been named bythe harbourengineer,J.H. Pillsbury, who was anAmerican,and shows some ofthe wholesale and retail stores, government buildings, five banks and three schools which were alreadyflourishing in the new little town.

PRICE RUERT

,-cç,

ISLAAV . ..

S

27 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

McVittie Brothers. Land Surveyors

by Robert W Allen, BCLS, CLS

Archibald Westmacott McVittieA.W. McVittie, PLS (Ontario), DLS,

ES (British Columbia) was born in Toronto, Ontario, on May 5, 1858. He wasthe second son and fourth ofeight childrenborn to Thomas Sr. and Bessie McVittie.Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers were half-pay military officers fromthe Napoleonic Wars. They, along with anumber of others, came to Canada about1830, settling on the shores ofLake Simcoeon land granted by the Crown to armyand navy officers. At the age of fourteen,McVittie moved to Barrie, Ontario, withhis family, where his father owned ahardware store on Dunlop Street. Heattended public and grammar schools inBarrie and later went to Upper CanadaCollege in Toronto to study architecture.

In the meantime, he also took up landsurveying and became articled to MauriceGaviller, PLS, ofBarrie, in 1872. McVittiewas Mr. Gaviller’s first pupil and he states:“Archie was a good and reliable boy whoserved his three years’ apprenticeshipbut as he had not then attained his (age of)majority, he was not sworn in until July10, 1879.” In the fall of 1879, McVittiewas working in Michigan state for a Mr.Henderson of Barrie.

Early in 1880 he opened his ownoffice in Barrie but by December hadjoined with Thomas Kennedy, Architect,and was in the partnership of Kennedyand McVittie until August 1881. WhenWilliam J. Holland, a carpenter andbuilder, joined the partnership it becameknown as Kennedy, McVittie and Holland. The firm eventually had offices inBarrie, Collingwood and Toronto. It isinteresting to note that the 1881 censusfor Barrie lists McVittie as an architect.

McVittie qualified as a DominionLand Surveyor (number 103) on March30, 1882, and shortly afterward, employed

by the Dominion government, he movedwest and surveyed some of the outlines ofthe townships west of the second andfourth meridians on the Prairies. He returned to Barrie that winter and advertised in a Barrie newspaper (January 1883)

as a surveyor and real estate agent inCalgary, soliciting investment in theNorthwest Territories. Later in 1883 helaid out the townsite for Fort Macleod andon January 1., 1884, McVittie signed thefirst subdivision plan in the new City ofCalgary. This plan is known as Plan A,Calgary. The “certification” on that planstates: “This plan is correct and is preparedunder the provisions of the North WestTerritories Registration of Title Ordinance. Winnipeg, January 1st 884(signed) A.W. McVittie, D. L. Surveyor.”2This plan has since been redrawn underthe authority of the Land Titles Officewith the original no longer being in circulation. Reprints of this second plan canbe ordered through the Calgary LandTitles Office. These moves led Archie toretire from Kennedy, McVittie and Holland in Ontario “to take charge of thebranch office at Calgary, N.W.T.”McVittie’s house, built in 1882 of logs,driftwood and scraps of lumber, wasprobably the first one built in Calgary.4Itwas once moved to the Calgary Zoo for

Archibald We.ct,nacott McVittie. Photocourtesy ofAssociation ofOntario LandSurveyors.

McVittie home now at Calgary Heritage Park. Photo by Syd Loeppky, ALS (December 1991).

28 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

use as a souvenir shop but in 1965 it wasmoved to Heritage Park, where it standstoday. The signboard in front states:

An early Dominion Land Surveyor,Archibald W. McVittie, lived inthis cabin. Dominion Land Surveyors, as these men were known,divided the prairies and parkiandsofwestern Canada into legal parcelsthat incoming settlers could claimas homesteads. Between 1879 and1889 surveyors measured andmapped some 61 million acres, anarea more than one-third the size ofAlberta. In addition to surveyingfarm lands McVittie laid out thetown plots at Fort Macleod in 883and at Calgary in 1884.A.W. McVittie hosted the first Ma

sonic meeting in Calgary in his home andis recognized in the records of the GrandLodge of Alberta. Until 1887 McVittielived in the Calgary area and worked inthe partnership of McVittie, Child andWiLson, Architects and Surveyors.

Archie then moved to Fort Steelewhere he joined his brother, ThomasThane McVittie, LS, where they practisedland surveying in the booming EastKootenay. McVittie Bros. shared a building with the Fort Steele Assay Office.(This assay office is now reconstructed inFort Steele Heritage Town.) ThomasKennedy invited him to return to Barrie,which he did from 1895 — 97, then retraced his steps to Calgary and FortMacleod. Silver-lead mining developmentin British Columbia brought him back toFort Steele in time to become a chartermember ofthe Fort Steele Board ofTrade,which held its inaugural meeting on September 2, 1897. By spring 1898, foursurveyors were advertising in The Prospector A.W. and T.T. McVittie, CharlesEstemere and T.H. Taylor.

He married Emily Louise Leslie ofPrescott, Ontario, at St. John’s AnglicanChurch, Fort Steele, on November 18,1899. They had two children, CharlesArchibald, born in June 1900, andMargaret Emily, May 1902. After thechildren were born, the McVittie familymoved to Cranbrook where he was in-

and lumber industries, as well as workingwith John Hutchison in real estate. Hewas a founding member ofthe CranbrookBoard of Trade.

McVittie’s next move was to Victoria,where they had a home on South TurnerStreet. Mrs. McVittie’s sister and seven-year-old son followed for a “visit.” Thatvisitingyoungsterwas to become Canada’srenowned newspaperman and author,Bruce Hutchison. The late Hutchisonsays in his book The Far Side ofthe Street“Thanks to the McVitties’ generosity it(the visit) lasted for about two years.”6Inthe same book he described Uncle Archieas “ ... a successful Land Surveyor ofmiddle age, an inveterate speculator inworthless mines, and a good man thoughhis bristling black beard somewhatfrightened me.”7McVittie dabbled in realestate in Victoria and Lake Cowichanand, according to Hutchison, the collapseof the land boom at the beginning ofWorld War One “ruined” him.8

Archibald Westmacott McVittiepassed away after ashort illness on August24, 1926, at his home at 1411 MitchellStreet in Oak Bay, Victoria, B.C.,and twodays later he was laid to rest at the Ross BayCemetery.Thomas Thane McVittie

T.T. McVittie, LS,was born inBarrie,Ontario, on February 9, 1855. He was thefirst son and third of eight children bornto Thomas McVittie Sr. He acquired hiseducation at Upper Canada College inToronto, then was engaged in railroadwork and township surveys. He came toBritish Columbia in 1879. At the age oftwenty-six he went into private practice asasurveyor at Galbraith’s Ferry (later calledFort Steele). The communitywas renamedfollowing the withdrawal of the NorthWest Mounted Police in 1888, at whichtime T.T. McVittie was made a Justice ofthe Peace. He had the longest continuousservice of any Justice of the Peace in theEast Kootenay.

The East Kootenays were being explored, mines developed and townsitesbuilt in the 1890s. A partial list ofsurveyprojects conducted byT.T. McVittie givesus some idea of his contribution to the

1896 St. Mary’s Trail to Summit and aMap of Fort Steele MiningDivision.

1897 Kimberley Townsite, SullivanGroup of Mineral Claims,Marysville Townsite and WardnerTownsite.

1898 Moyie River Placer MiningCompany.

1899 Fernie Townsite.1900 North Star Claims.1901 Marysville Smelter and additional

townsite.1903 Kootenay Central Railway,

Wardner Townsite, Estella Mine,Sullivan Minesite.9

T.T. McVittie was elected as one ofthe first churchwardens when an Anglicancongregation formed St. John’s parish inJanuary 1896. He was secretary of theFort Steele Mining Association, presidentof the Liberal-Conservative Club, schooltrustee, on various committees ofthe Boardof Trade, and found time to join in theentertainment presented following theannual school Christmas concerts. Hebecame Townsite Agent for R.L.T.Galbraith in April 1898. An announcement in the FortSteeleProspector, April 16,1898, states: “All persons having businessin connection with the townsite are directed to transact the same with T.T.McVittie and to make all payments due oraccruing due on lots already sold to him.”

He resigned as school trustee in June1899, made extensive renovations to hishouse, and in December he married AnnaGalbraith, daughter of Alexander S.Galbraith ofOneida, New York, and nieceof Robert Galbraith, Fort Steele’s mostprominent citizen. In October 1900 Annalost the only child they ever had, an infantson, a great disappointment for them.

Quotes from the extant correspondence of Harold Nation, a young Englishman working near Moyie, describes visitsto the McVittie home where they had “agreat number of papers and magazinesand a splendid little library with manyfirst editions and out-of-print copies.”Mrs. McVittiewas very fond ofThackeray,among other authors, and Nation wasglad to borrow and read a number of

strumental in developing the district coal district:

29 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

books at her suggestion.In December 1901, when he was

working in the bush near Moyie, Nationwas invited to spend Christmas withThomas and Mrs. McVittie. To get toFort Steele he “struggled through thesnow” in his best shoes to the Swansearailway junction and used a borrowed twodollars to buy a train ride to Fort Steelejunction, where he caught the stage toFort Steele. He continues: “My feet gotpretty wet during my walk and prettynearly froze when I was sitting still in thestage. However three hours chill in theevening air came to an end as we drew upin front of the house where a welcomelight was streaming like in those postcards. McVittie came out on the sidewalkto greet me. As soon as I got into the tinyhall Mrs. McVittie advanced up thedrawing room and greeted me. She is verysmall and jolly and is fond ofyoung men,having had many brothers and no sisters.

“They at once showed me to myroom, a bright small place plastered andbeautifully clean. After my old tent andmore or less dirty surroundings, it seemedtoo nice to go into. However, I changedand got my poor feet warm and dry and

then we had dinner. My, how awkward Ifelt in manipulating the dainty silverwareand china, and my poor hands lookedterrible against the tablecloth, being ingrained with pitch in every cracked place.

“To describe the house; the originallog cabin, in which McVittie lived for along time, with its open fireplace andstone chimney is now changed into amodern drawing room, and the fireplacesurrounded with a mantle piece. Averandah is on each side, and a bathroom withwater is a splendid luxury.”

Young Nation was invited back quiteoften, even though he turned downThomas McVit tie’s offer to article him asa surveyor-in-training. During a visit inJuly he gives a charming account of thebeginnings of a new day in the McVittiehousehold: “In the morning McVittie getsup and lights the fires and makes coffee,singing cheerfully the while (the dogchiming in with a sympathetic whine!).He then comes to me with coffee and saysthat the bath is ready. (Oh my Gawd,what luxury!) Out ipop and while I am inthe bathroom Mrs. McVittie comes outand gets breakfast ready.”1°

By March 1903, Nation was reporting to his Aunt May that he wasto be “sort of general assistantto Mr. McVittie at $75 a month

on the Kootenay CentralRailway preliminary survey.”This was a generous wage. Hehad been making up to $34 theprevious December. Perhapssurveying wasn’t so bad afterall?

Thomas, cheerful, activeand successful in both businessand civil affairs, gradually assumed leadership in the community. If the Premier of theprovince visited the area, it wasThomas who made the arrangements. He became a personal friend of RichardMcBride during his premiership, but hosted many otherpolitical visitors. Ifa major tradefair was to be held, even inCranbrook, he would be involved in planning. All these

jobs he did with ease and grace. Hisspeaking ability was often praised; evenhis acting (in a Fort Steele farce) receivedmention.

In 1916 his beloved Anna died, afterwhich time his own health began to fail. In1918, thinking a change might help hiscondition, he went to Edmonton to staywith his brother-in-law and sister, Mr.Justice and Mrs. Scott. He passed away onMarch 25, 1918, and his funeral tookplace in Edmonton two days later.

Judge Frederick Howay describedThomas Thane McVittie as “widely andfavourably known, not only as an ablesurveyor but also as a representative anduseful citizen.”11

RobertAllen beads a company ofsurveyors inSechelt, B. C He is a member ofthe Historical andBiographical Committee who have written EarlyLand Surveyors ofBritish Columbia Vol. landarepreparing volume two.

FOOTNOTES

1. Association of Ontario Land Surveyors annual meeting roport for1927, p. 122,

Copy of Plan A in the Calgary Land Title, Office.

Biographical sketch on file with the Simcoe County Archives, p. 7.

Description of rbeMcVirtiecabin byCalgary HerisageParkSociery,p. 12.

5. Sr. John’s Parish Records, Fort Sede Archives.

6. The Far Side ofthe Street, Bruce Hutcisison, p. 25.

7. Ibid, p. 25.

8. lbid,p.44.

9. List compiled by David Morley, Operations Manager, FortSteele Heritage Town.

10. Research from the MT. Notion files by David Morley.

II. British Coln,nbia Frees Earliest Times to the Prese,ti Vol. 3,Judge Frederic Howay.

SOURCES

StmcoeCountyArcbives (James R. Campbell); JimSharpe, BCLS;Bob Lemaster, BCLS; John Armstrong, BCLS; SydLoeppky,ALS;Beny Thompson; Bruce Hutchison; Tales ofthe Ktttenays, Fred J.Smyth (pp.79 and 81) Association of Ontario Land Surveyors(Jane Heffernonb Eon Steele HeritageTown (Martin Ross, GeneralManager, and Dereyll White,Archivist); Fort Steele— Here HssttryLives, Derryll White.

.v....

‘k .°

Thomas Thane McVittie at Fort Steele with his Chineseservant (could be Chin Tie or Louis). Photo F.S. 1.281 courtesy of FortSleele Historic Park Archives.

30 B.C. Historical News . Fall 1993

NEWS & NOTESDOUGLAS COLLEGE ALUMNI??

Anyone with certificate, diploma or more than45 credits from Douglas College is urged tosend his/her current name and address to theDouglas College Alumni Association, Box 2503,New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2 or phone 527-5322. It is fun to receive the newsletter orreceive invitations to special events.

TWO RAILWAY MUSEUMSOn June 19, 1993, the Cranbrook Railway

Museum became officially “The CanadianMuseum of Rail Travel.” The collections ofperiod cars, lovingly restored to their originalbeauty, are a showcase of railway passengercars ranging from the 1 880s to 1954. CuratorGarry Anderson has worked tirelessly since1976 to accumulate and restore whole trainsets. The Trans-Canada Limited, 1929, isdescribed as “a collection of world-widesignificance; in its niche it is without rival.”

Revelstoke Railway Museum opened June16th, just 11 months after the first sod wasturned. This new project was directed by WilmaWood of Island Eco-Museum fame. The interiorof the new museum takes on the appearance ofa pioneer railway station. Its aim is to honourthe builders and workers on the CanadianPacific Railway from Kamloops eastward. Apapier-mache model shows the different routesthe rails have followed through Rogers Passfrom 1885 to the present.

Both museums are significant attractions fortrain buffs and their families.

J. ARTHUR LOWER -

HONORARY PRESIDENTThe 1993-94 Honorary President of BCHF has

held many challenging positions over the years.He obtained his B.A. & M.A. from UBC; becameVice Principal of University Hill School; executive assistant Vancouver School Board and ofContinuing Education at Langara College;Provincial Coordinator for UNESCO 1973-74;National Coordinator Interchange of CanadianStudies 1975-76; and President, VancouverHistorical Society 1954. He prepared severalCurriculum Guides for the province, and haswritten six textbooks on our history, the mostsignificant of which is Canada: An Outline ofHistory, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1966 withsecond (revised edition) 1991. He continues towrite for magazines, periodicals and newspapers. He was awarded the 1984 medal fordistinguished Canadian writing by the CanadianAuthors Association. Mr. Lower and his wifeThelma have served as consultants to the B.C.Historical News for six years. We welcome Mr.Lower to his new role with our Federation.

ALEXANDER DOUGLASTURNBULL - 1903-1993

Doug Turnbull graduated in 1925 from theUniversity of Toronto with a BASc in Metallurgical Engineering. He came to work in Trail, B.C.at the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co.where he held various posts over the next 40years. He was active in municipal and provincialgovernment affairs between 1944 (when he wasReeve of Tadanac) to the 1949-52 sitting of theB.C. Legislature where he served with threeportfolios under Byron Johnson. He wasappointed to the Science Council of Canada1966-70. He and his wife Elsie moved toVictoria following his retirement. He was veryactive in the Natural History Society, then thefounding president of the ‘Friends of theProvincial Museum” (1970). Elsie and Dougmoved into Somerset House in the spring. A.D.Turnbull passed away on 23 June, 1993 inVictoria.

REMEMBERING MABEL JORDONby Anne Yandle

It is with regret that we have learned of thedeath of Mrs. Mabel Jordon in Calgary earlierthis year. Mabel and her husband Ben, bothmembers of the East Kootenay HistoricalAssociation, were staunch participants, alongwith their faithful terrier, of the annual meetingsof the B.C. Historical Association. In 1968,during one of the many crises in the life of ourassociation, Mabel took over as President, eventhough she and her husband had retired toCalgary. Over the years, at considerable effort toherself, Mabel never missed a Council Meetingor Annual Meeting.

Mabel’s sound leadership and calm diplomacyset the Association in a new direction, and itwas during her presidency the B.C. HistoricalNews was established as the voice and record ofthe Association to replace the then defunct B.C.Historical Quarterly.

Mabel was an enthusiastic and accomplishedlocal historian. She published extensively in theCanad,n Geographical Journal, the AlbertaHistorical Review, and the Steele HouseMagazine. During her term as President, shedelivered three Presidential addresses: onFlorence Baillie-Grohman, Dr. George MercerDawson, and Sir Sandford Fleming, all of whichwere published in the B.C. Historical News at thetime. The Jordons gave generously not only tothe East Kootenay Historical Association, butalso to the Glenbow Museum and Archives. Weshould not only celebrate the life but also mournthe passing of such a gifted and gracious lady.

DON SALE: HONORARY LIFEMEMBER

Thomas Donald Sale has been CorrespondingSecretary of the BCHF since 1983, pIus being athoughtful judge for our Writing Competitionsince its inception. This work has been dove-tailed with many community activities in hishometown of Nanaimo, everything from theBathtub Races to Legion to St. Paul’s ParishCouncil (where he served since 1946 and isaccorded title of Warden Emeritus). He is aKnight of Grace in the St. John AmbulanceBrigade where he has been an instructor for 50years. He is currently Vice President of O.A.P.Branch #4. Masonic duties have been attendedto for years, and he serves as a director of theNanaimo District Museum Society and Treasurer of Nanaimo Historical Society. Don wasnamed Nanaimo Citizen of the Year by theChamber of Commerce in 1974, received the1967 Centennial Medal in 1967, and the 125thAnniversary Medal in 1992. This busy fellowtakes time to be with his family of four childrenand eight grandchildren up in the Cariboo, onGabriola Island, or in Victoria. We honor Donfor the many hours he has worked to preserveand promote B.C. history (and hope we haveenergy to follow the energetic path followed bythis almost octogenarian).

B. C. Historical Federation Officers: back row - Doris May, Treasurer; Wayne Desrochers - lvi, L;Arthur Lower - Hon. Pres. Front row - Don Sale - Corr. Sec.; Mary Rawson - M.L.; Alice Glanville -

1st VP.; Myrtle Has/am - Pres. Missing: Ron Weiwood - 2nd VP. andJohn Spittle - Past Pre.Photo by John Spittle

31 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1993

BOOKSHELFBooks for review and book reviews should be sent directly to the book review editor:Anne Yandle, 3450 West 20th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V6S 1E4

The Struggle for Social Justice inBritish Columbia: HelenaGutteridge, the UnknownReformer.

Irene Howard. Vancouver.UBC Press, 1992.318 p., illus. $29.95

Helena Gutteridge has long deserved a biography. A crusader for women’s suffrage beforethe Forst World War, labour organizer, CCFer,and the first woman to sit on Vancouver’s citycouncil, Gutteridge was a key figure in theprovince’s political life from 1911 until herdeath in 1960. Born in England, she wasintroduced to politics there through the women’s suffrage movement and Theosophy.Theosophy was a bizarre blend of easternmetaphysics, mysticism and spiritualism thatattracted thousands of followers, many of whomwere prominent political reformers, in the latenineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Whatever the worth of the movement’s beliefs,Gutteridge met with a variety of activists andrebels, and received some practical experiencein organizing and debating.

Once in B.C., Gutteridge turned away fromself-enlightenment and towards social reform.The book details her efforts to organize laundryworkers, win the minimum wage and otherreforms, and her participation in strikes andelections. Of particular interest is the description of Gutteridge ‘s work as a tailor and memberof the union. The craft changed considerably inthis period, as ready-made clothing undercutand displaced tailors. We learn a great dealabout the trade, conditions of employment,and attempts to ward off the changes in theindustry. Gutteridge’s commitment to reformcontinued through the interwar years and beyond. In the 1930s, she joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and workedwith the unemployed during the Depression.There she continued to represent the practical,rather than the ideological, wing of the socialistmovement. Elected to the Vancouver citycouncil in 1937, Gutteridge pressed for lowincome housing and women’s rights, and remained active and involved in civic politics untilher death at the age of eighty-one.

Irene Howard has crafted a fitting biographyof the woman. This was a difficult task thatrequired a great deal of ingenuity andpatience. Gutteridge left no papers; her familyhad little contact with her after she left Englandin 1911; no one who knew her in her activistdays remains alive. With no repository of personal papers to draw upon, Howard has workedhard to piece together Guttendge’s life andcareer. One small omission should be noted:

Howard suggests that Gutteridge left the Theosophy movement before coming to Canada,but her name shows up on a register of theVancouver local. This oversight is surprising,given the author’s obvious skill and determination as a researcher, but it makes no realdifference to the book Where material hasbeen scarce, especially on Gutteridge’s earlyyears in England, Howard has pulled togethera wide variety of secondary sources on familylife and social conditions to piece togetherreasonable inferences to fill in the blanks. Sheis careful to alert the reader when she treads onshaky ground, and the cautious speculationsare always plausible and stick close to theavailable evidence. If we cannot know somethings with certainty, Howard has skilfullypresented the most likely interpretation ofevents. Well-versed in the secondary literature,Howard places Gutteridge in the rich context ofthe province’s social history. As a result, thisbiography also tells us much about the historyof the labour movement, the socialist parties,and the struggles of women in this period.

Though the author is highly sympathetic ofGutteridge, she is not uncritical: Gutteridge’sambiquous stance on Asian workers is noted,as is her opposition to industrial unionism, theOne Big Union, radical socialism, andcommunism. One area that the author mighthave explored more fruitfully was the implication of Guttetidge’s relationship to the world ofthe labour intellectual and reform politician.For Guttendge was by no means an “average”member of the province’s working class. Shewas, by the standards of the day, well-educated,and often earned money as an intellectual,serving as secretary-treasurer of the VancouverTrades and Labour Council, politician, and citycouncillor. Thus it may be that she should beregarded not as a typical woman worker, but asa member of a working class elite that carvedout a semi-professional niche in the labour andreform movements of the day. This differentclass position must have had some impact onher world view and politics, but is little explored.

Despite this minor criticism, The Struggle forSocial Justice is an exciting and fascinatingbook. Howard has woven an intricate story andtakes care to make the book accessible andreadable. Though on occasion it is almostchatty intone, it remains both authoritative andentertaining. The ample footnotes are arrangedto be useful but not intrusive, and the result isa necessary book for anyone interested inlabour, women, and politics in British Columbia.

Mark LeierMark Leier is a member of the History

Department at Simon Fraser University.

Helena Gutteridge and Co-Masonryin Vancouverby Irene I-Toward

Did Helena Gutteridge ever meet AnnieBesant, founder of Universal Co-Freemasonryin Great Britain; Annie Besant, president of theTheosophical Society? This was a question Icould not answer in my book Since its publication, however, I have found additional information thanks to Mark Leier and the answeris almost certainly “yes.” Moreover, Helenawasindeedamemberof”HumanDutyNo. 6,”Britain’s first Co-Freemason, or Co-Masonlodge, which Annie Besant founded in 1902. Isaid that Annie Besant was a “profound influence” on Helena, and that statement receivesconfirmation from the new evidence.

We do not know if a Co-Mason lodge existedin Vancouver at the time of Helena’s arrivalhere in September 1911. However, in April1912, Lodge 399, “lnnerLight,”wasestablishedunder the American Federation of UniversalCo-Freemasonry. Helena began attending inSeptember, a visitor in the second degree fromHuman Duty No. 6 in London, and was sooninitiated into the mysteries of the third degree.She was an enthusiastic participant in the Masonic ritual, gave a talk to the members on“Some Aspects of Masonry,” and even proposed that one meeting per month be devotedto titual.*

Helena’s Co-Masonic career in Vancouverwas brief, however. She attended Inner Lightmeetings for only six months. During part ofthis time, in the spring of 1913, she investigatedthe wages and working conditions of womenfactory workers in Vancouver and gave herevidence at the beatings of the Royal Commission on Labour where she met leading Vancouver trade unionists. That spring she alsojoined the Journeyman Tailors’ Union andbecame a correspondent for the Labour Gazette, gathering information on women workers. Aware now of the power of the workingclass movement, she abandoned the handfulof Co-Masons practising their secret symbolismand joined the workers marching in the streetsfor hours and wages. She had found a morepowerful way of fulfilling her human duty.* City of Vancouver Archives, Add. Mss. 831,Freemasons. Inner Light Lodge, No. 399, Box1, Universal Co-Masonry Society, Lodge 399,Minutes, 22 September1913 —13 April 1913.Box 2, Members’ and Visitors’ Register, 1912— 1931. The Universal Co-Masonry recordswere found by a researcher who happenedupon them in a building slated for demolitionand turned them over to the Vancouver Archives.

32 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

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Aboriginal Peoples and Politics:The Indian Land Question inBritish Columbia, 1849 — 1989

Paul Tennant. Vancouver, UBC Press,1990.305 P.’ cloth $39.95, paper $19.95.

In pre-contact times they were autonomousdenizens who traversed land, forests and waters in what is now known as British Columbia.•These Native tribes hunted, fished, gathered,traded and some even pillaged other groups, allfor a common goal: to maintain their sustenance,cultures and beliefs. The Indian Act (1876)shattered many Native traditions. The Nativesbecame second class citizens, who lost traditionalrights and lands and were placed in smallisolated enclaves in once, their own homelands.Paul Tennant’s book, Aboriginal Peoples andPolitics: The Indian Land Question in BritishColumbia, 1849—1989, provides what seemsto be the most comprehensive study of theIndian land question and native politics in B.C.from the early colonial times up to 1989. Thepurpose of the book “is to describe the historyof the land question in British Columbia and toreveal something of remarkable achievementsof the Indian peoples in their steadfast pursuitof their land rights through peaceful politicalmeans” (p. ix).

The author describes the first treaties established in colonial times on Vancouver Islandand he provides more insight than have otherscholars as to why James Douglas did notestablish treaties with the Natives on theMainland or more on the Island. “The centralelements in Douglas’s land policy after 1854were his de facto denial of aboriginal title, hisgranting of only small reserves, and his defenceand encouragement of Indian land preemption” (p.37).Douglas believedthat Nativeswould be granted the same land rights as non-Natives within a short period of time. However,this belief did not materialize. Douglas’s replacement, Joseph Trutch, postulated that theNatives did not own the land which they hadlived on for hundreds or even thousands ofyears. Trutch ensured that Article 13 of theterms of agreement between Canada and B.C.stated that when B.C. entered Confederationin 1871, the Dominion government would beresponsible for Indians and their reserve lands.Loggerheads have generated since this timeand still exist between B.C. and Canadiangovernments regarding the extinguishment ofIndian land claims. After the introduction of theIndian Act in 1876, Natives in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada lost more rights and valuableland. As well as being concerned for traditionalrights and land entitlement, different Nativegroups from B.C. have sought self-governmentand have been concerned for social issuessince the late 1880s.

The McKenna-McBride Commission (1913— 1916) was organized to regulate the landquestion with the province. The result of the1916 Commission led to the 1927 federalgovernment special committee report of whichPaul Tennant provides an excellent synopsisshowing that the tactics used by the federalgovernment during the committee meetingswere unjust and that the report showed signs ofcontradiction. The result of the 1927 reportwas an amendment to the Indian Act whichsuppressed the Indians from becoming politically active and from seeking legal services forland claims. This amendment lasted until theIndian Act was revised in 1951.

The Indian Act intended to assimilate theaboriginal peoples but instead it segregatedand destroyed many tribes and their cultures.Not until recently, during the late 1960s andmore importantly in the 1970s and 1980s,have the Native groups gained an active voicewithin B.C. and Canada with the support ofpolitical Native groups. Tennant looks at howpan-Indianism in British Columbia compareswith its counterpart that started in the U.S. andhow it has helped Natives politically in B.C.

The book discusses the various Native organizations that were active during the 1930sto 1950s, specifically focusing on those associations found along the coast. He examinessome of the significant contributions of Nativeleaders who supported and led Native organizations such as Bill Wilson, George Watts,George Manuel and Frank Calder. Tribalismwitnessed a revitalization, gaining popularityduring the mid to late 1970s since the Nisgh’aand Nuu’chah’nulth organized in the 1950s.The purpose of the tribal groups was to replacebands as a means of political representation.

Paul Tennant describes the dissension andsometimes animosity that evolved between thedifferent Native organizations and their leaders.Individual philosophies, ideologies and theclassification of status versus non-status Indianswere some of the reasons for discord amongthe different Native leaders and organizations.

He addresses aboriginal title in several significant court cases in which the Natives gainsome status in the Canadian legal system. The1963 White and Bob case of Vancouver Islandacquitted two Indians who were hunting out ofbounds. Thomas Berger argued on behalf ofthe Indians using the 1763 Royal Proclamationand the Douglas 1854 treaty documents, bothof which stated that Natives still had huntingand fishing rights in these territories. Bergerwon this court case which facilitated him inbeing the legal advisor of the Nisgh’a people inthe 1973 Supreme Court hearings. The outcome of this court case granted the Nisgh’a theright to the title of lands prior to the colonialgovernment coming to power in 1858. Thesewere essential court victories for the First Nations people and “by 1989 the courts had

answered one of the two basic legal questionspertaining to aboriginal title in British Columbia. The Indians did have title to their landsbefore colonial government was established,and aboriginal title is a pre-existing legal right.The other question, whether explicit extinguishment is necessary or whether implicit extinguishment is sufficient, was still to be answered” (p. 226). He also deals with thecompromises that have been made betweenthe Natives and big forest corporations and theSocial Credit Party during the 1980s. Thesecompromises were the result of protests thatoccurred in the Stein Valley, Meares and LyellIslands which prevented the forest companiesfrom logging old growth forests on Native lands.

Aboriginal Peoples and Politics: The IndianLand Question in British Columbia, 1849 —

1989 is an excellent source that is a concisehistory dealing with a period of 140 years ofintriguing and valuable information on Nativeland claims, Native rights and Native politics.This book will be a welcomed addition to thealready vast and growing list of literature on theFirst Nations people available for both scholarsand those who are familiar with British Columbia’s past.

Werner KascheiWerner Kaschel is a teacher in the Surrey

School District.

The Fraser Valley: A History

John A. Cherrington. Madeira Park,B.C., Harbour Publishing, 1992.391 p., illus. $44.95.

The Lower Fraser Valley is a distinct region ofB.C., with a population in excess of 750,000.It has distinct ph ysical, ethnic, social and religiouscharacteristics. Yet there has never been acomprehensive regional history of the Valleyuntil the publication of the present work.

John Cherrington is well qualified for the task.He is a Mount Lehman lawyer whose interestin Fraser Valley history was piqued by boyhood visits to his grandparents’ Maple Ridgefarm. He is the author of the 1974 history ofMission, Mission on the Fraser, and is active inthe Fort Langley Legacy Foundation, a heritage conservation group.

Harbour Publishing has done excellent designworkwith this large-format, hard-cover volume.There are historical photos illustrating mostpages and the typography and layout is attractiveand interesting.

Geographically, the book covers the territoryfrom Richmond and Delta east as far as Hope,as well as the traditional market town of theValley, New Westminster. The time periodcovered is circa 1800 to the present.

In his treatment, Cherrington succeeds instriking a balance between the scholarly andpopular approachesto history. The major events

33 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

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in the region’s political, social and economichistory are covered with as much detail as thescope of the work allows. There are a few errorsof historical fact, but they are not serious. As anamateur historian, the author can be excusedfor failing to examine all possible informationsources. It is unfortunate that he was unable tovisit all of the excellent community archives inthe Valley, however.

The narrative is lively, peppered with quotesfrom contemporary reports, correspondenceand news articles. It is enlightening to noteLady Franklin’s impressions of New Westminster in 1861; the Surrey School Board’s opinion of young female teachers in 1907; and theexcitement experienced by the soldiers of theWestminster Regiment coming home by trainin 1946.

Anecdotes and personality profiles give agood feel for the social customs and life experiences of Valley residents and history-makers.The reader is introduced to such characters asthe stoical Fort Langley fur traderJames MurrayYale; the earthy farmer-politician Honest JohnOliver; and the irascible Ladner potato-growerChung Chuck.

For Cherrington, the study of the past is notcompartmentalized or separated from an understanding of the present or the future. In hisfinal chapter, he views the rapidly changinglandscape and social make-up of the FraserValley with concern. As the population ofsouthwestern B.C. grows, friction betweenurban and rural lifestyles will continue. In hisview, the traditional individualism of Valleyfarmers and small business people is increasinglyat odds with the need for regulation, and isthreatened by large-scale development.

This book is likely to be popular for years tocome, as an attractive gift item, as a well-usedlibrary book, and as a useful information sourcefor students.

Jim BowmanJim Bowman is a Chilliwack archivist and local

historian.

The Fraser Valley Challenge: AnIllustrated Account of Logging andSawmilling in the Fraser Valley

Arnold M. McCombs and Wilfrid W.Chittenden. Treeline Publishing, 1990.176 p.

The two authors should be commended fortheir efforts in this book on logging andsawmilling in the Fraser Valley. The book, TheFraser Challenge, describes and illustrates thetechnological advancement of logging andsawmilling equipment in the forest industry, aswell as the various entrepreneurs and forestcompanies that have both harvested and established sawmills in different areas of theFraser Valley. Some of these lumber barons stillharvest the forests in the Fraser Valley today.

This latest book is an accompaniment to theauthors’ first book, entitled The HarrisonChehalis Challenge, which was published in1988. McCombs and Chittenden provide anoverview of the logging and sawmilling in thevalley, starting with the earliest operation in the1850s and working up to the present day. Eachchapter describes the history of a differentsection of the Fraser Valley, covering areasfrom Surrey to the lower reaches of the FraserCanyon.

The book is filled with both amazing andintriguing pictures of the past, depicting destruction, toil, progress and stature. Accompanying these photographs, the authors haveincluded hand-drawn pictures of logging apparatus and maps of each logging region whichshow the railways and their spurs and nearbycities or communities. Unlike their first book,Harrison-C hehalis Challenge, this book provides a chronological summary for a quickreference to a certain time or location in thelogging history of the Fraser Valley. As well, theaddition of a glossary is convenient for peopleunfamiliar with forestry jargon.

One error in the book was a typing error.“Aluoette” found on page 64 should have read“Alouette.” An important part of writing anyhistory is describing both the area and thepeople who made it possible and in this bookthe authors have done an admirable job doingthis. However, they describe the owners ofthese operations and the size of these millswithout mention of the labourers. They couldhave briefly alluded to the latter part of thenineteenth and early twentieth centuries whenChinese, East Indian, Japanese, Scandinavianand other ethnic people were employed aslabourers in these enterprises in Surrey, Langleyand other locations of the Fraser Valley.

Prior to this extensive research the authors“did not fully realize the severity of the problem[overcutting] in the Fraser Valley until writingthis book” (p. 153). They suggest that moreeffort and care must be taken in the futureharvesting of our forests if there is to be a forestindustry in the future.

The Fraser Valley Challenge was an enjoyable read and will provide new knowledge forthose who were unaware of the Fraser Valley’slogging and sawmilling past and it will bringback memories for those who worked in theforest industry.

Werner Kaschel

Raincoast Chronicles 14; FishHeads & Caulk Boots.

Florence Tickner. Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 1992. 80 p. No pricegiven.

Fish Heads Caulk Boots’ cover painting byJim Spilsbury sets the scene for this book. Theisolation of the float logging camps and the

mountain forest could be in no other place inthe world but British Columbia.The thirty-nine short stories tell us of life in thecamps, ending with World War II. About thesame time easily accessible logging was finished.The stories relate to day-to-day living, thehappy and sad times, especially how childrenadapted to their environment While therewere many restrictions, there was also a freedom that is lacking in modern day childhood.The most poignant story is about finding alonely cabin built by a World War I draftdodger.Photos from the author’s album have beenchosen to illustrate and capture the work andplay of the isolated camps.The book is of a vanished social life, and wouldbe an excellent text -bookfor school children tosee life without roads, cars and television.

Peggy ImredyPeggy lmredy is a member of the Vancouver

Historical Society.

Other Publications Noted

The Bella Coola Indians.T.F. Mcllwraith, Toronto, University ofToronto Press, 1940, re-issued 1992.2 vols., $60 paper, $125 cloth.

The Discoverer’s Guide: Fraser RiverDelta; Exploring the River.Don Watmough, Edmonton, Lone PinePublishing, 1992.127 p., illus., $12.95.

The Forbidden City Within Victoria: Myth,Symbol and Streetscape of Canada’sEarliest Chinatown.David Chuenyan Lai, Victoria, Orca, 1991,212 p., $12.95

Nelson British Columbia Canada. Architectural Heritage Walking Tour.Revised edition, Nelson Streetscapes, 1993,Available from Ron Welwood, RR 1, 1806Ridgewood Road, Nelson, B.C. V1L 5P4.Free.

Page’s on Silva Bay: Memories of FiftyYears, 1943 — 1993.Gabriola Island, Page’s Resort, RR 2, Site30, Gabnola Island, B.C. VOR IXO, 1993.28 p., $1.50.

Railroading in British Columbia:A Bibliography.Ron H. Meyer, B.C. Rail Guide No. 12,1973, second edition revised 1993.No price given.

When The Rains Came and Other Legends of the Salish People.As told to Dolby Bevan Turner, illustrated byD. Johnnie Seletze, Victoria, Orca, 1992.112 p., $19.95

34 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Whatever Your Heritage,Re Thunkfu! For It.

Mountain men and a trappers cabin won theprize for Best Float (see picture to right) in theCreston Blossom Festival parade in May 1993.The cabin is a replica of one on display at theCreston Museum. Those on the float are(clockwise): Wally Johnson, in black tam,original owner of the cabin. Now 93, this manmade his living in the mountains, and until twoyears ago, enjoyed dancing especially the two-step and quadriules.

Fred Cappell (white beard) last owner of thecabin. He made his living for many years bytrapping.

Rae Masse, backpacker, lumberman, miner,and charter member of the Creston HistoricalSociety.

Carle Jones, mischievously guarding the still,as he has always guarded the Dewdney trailnear Creston. Cane has just received an Awardof Merit from the B.C. Museums Association.

Thetis Island has lost its Historian with thepassing of Grace Dickie on August 19, 1993.Mrs. Dickie served many years as president ofthe Chemainus Valley Historical Society. Shewas also active in the Chemainus HospitalAuxiliary, Rebakah Lodge, and served on theChemainus Hospital Board. This cheery ladyattended many BCHF conventions, sometimessharing her enthusiasm for Railway Historywith like-minded attendees.

3n JMemoriam:It is with sadness that the Burnaby Historical

Society notes the death of Dr. Violet Eagles inJune, at the age of 94. Dr. Eagles and herhusband, the late Dr. Blythe Eagles, establishedthe Evelyn Salisbury Scholarship in honour ofEvelyn Salisbury, a past president of the Society,who worked tirelessly to protect Burnaby’s history.

Both Violet and Blythe Eagles were longtime active members of the Burnaby HistoricalSociety.

Boys growing up in Surrey after World WarI and into the 1930s hankered after a gunand their parents often let them hunt a little bit,even if they were under age. A licence to huntaccompanied by an adult could be securedwhen you were sixteen years of age.

There was very little possibility of juniorteenagers getting into trouble with the law.There was only one game warden for EastDelta, all of Surrey and much of Langley Municipality. And most fields in Surrey were surrounded by bush into which a young lad couldscramble if the game warden were sighted.

Jim Sullivan of 6311—152nd Street, Surrey,recallsthefirstgun hewasallowedtouse. Itwasa .22 rifle.

“In those days we plinked at everything. Oneday I had the .22 and took a shot at the hawkwhich had been soaring around the district fora few days. Down it came, and I discovered thatthe ‘hawk’ was a pigeon belonging to one of theneighboring ladies!”

Jim Sullivan remembers a Mr. Lund whowas still shooting ducks for the market, thoughthere were few practitioners left by then.

“That would be about 1918.1 can rememberMr. Lund waiting at the Sullivan station for theB.C. Electric train. He had a leather harnesswhich went over his shoulders, with loops ofheavy wire shaped like a keyhole. The duck’shead was placed through the loop, with aboutten ducks held by each loop.

“He’d be carrying as many as forty mallards,which would make it quite a load with which tomount the steep steps into the train.”

Lund took the ducks in to the New Westminster Market or to Vancouver restaurants.

“Twenty-five cents a brace was the standardprice for the ducks.”

Lund lived in a house built on stilts adjacentto the marshy area where Bear Creek flowedinto Serpentine River. A trail led to it fromJohnston Road (152nd Street).

He used a 10-gauge shotgun, sometimes

mounting it in the bow of his duck punt Lundloaded his own shells, as did many of those whohunted for sport.

Game birds were abundant in the FraserValley prior to World War I. Even in the late1920s the possession limit for ducks was fiftyper day; for pheasants, sixteen a day.

From an interview with Jim Sullivan,March 29, 1993

The Burriaby Historical Society is pleased toannounce the awarding of the 1993 EvelynSalisbury Scholarship of $1,000 to PaigeRaibmon of Vancouver. About to enter herfourth year in honours history at the Universityof British Columbia, Miss Raibmon has shownan interest in researching all aspects of theIndian residential schools in B.C. particularlythe Coqualeetza Residential School which waslocated in Sardis. She is planning to explore thispart of the history of the province’s AboriginalPeople as the topic for her graduating honoursessay.

This year, the Burnaby Historical Societyreceived five excellent scholarship applicationswhich gave the judging panel a difficult job inthe selection of the award recipient.

.SA :

Market Hunting in Surreyby Stan McKiaa,n

— Brace C.Dickie

I

Rurnuby SchoIursh4 Winner

Grace Dickie, Past President and Audrey Ginn,(white gloves) past Secretanj of Chemainus

Valley Historical Society as they appeared inthe Chemainus Daze Parade 1991.

Paige Raibmon - This U.B.C. student isthe 1993 winner of the BurnabyHistorical Society Scholarship

35 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

Books entered in the B.C. Historical Federation1992 Writing Competition

* Medal Winner** Certificate of MentListed in the order received.

Beginnings: The Rollin Family and Rollin Art Centre by Catherine Lord.

Funeral Service in British Columbia by Harald Gunderson.

Vancouver and Its Region edited by Graerne Wynn and Timothy Oke (UBC).

*Orter Skins, Boston Ships and China Goods by James R. Gibson (McGill-Queen’s).

Silver, Lead and Hell: The Story of Sandon by Veronika Pellowski (Prospectors Pick).

Our Chiefs and Elders by David Ned (IJBC).

On Stormy Seas: Captain Vancouver by Brenda Guild Gillespie (Beach Holme).

Thomas Crosby and the Tsimshian by Clarence Bolt (UBC).

Canada’s First Nations by Olive Patricia Dickason (McClelland & Stewart).

The Albernis, 1860 — 1922 by Jan Peterson (Oollchan).

Hourglass: The Deforest and Carpentier Families by Diane Dobson.

The Struggle for Social Justice in B.C.: Helena Gutteridge by Irene Howard (UBC).

Vancouver: A Visual History by Bruce Macdonald (Talonbooks).

Savona Remembered by Edward Villiers.

In the Path of the Explorers by Steve Short and Rosemary Neering (Whitecap).

Heritage Walks Around Vancouver by Michael Kiuckner and John Aitkin (Whitecap).

Port of Nakusp by Milton Parent (Arrow Lakes Historical Society).

H.M.S. Virago’in the Pacific by G.P.V. Akrigg and Helen Akrigg (Sono Nis).

The Vancouver Voyages of the Barque Pamir by Richard E. Wells (Sono Nis).

Victoria’s Street Car Era by Henry Ewert (Sono Nis).

Not Without Hope by Louise Johnson (Maple Lane PubI.)

Vancouver’s Voyage by Robin Fisher (Douglas & Mcintyre).

Cork Lines and Canning Lines by Geoff Meggs and Duncan Stacey (Douglas & McIntyre).

**Working in the Woods by Ken Drushka (Harbour).

The Fraser Valley by John Cherrington (Harbour).

**Homer Stevens: A Life in Fishing by Homer Stevens and Rolf Knight (Harbour).

Slow Boat on Rum Row by Fraser Miles (Harbour).

Fish Hooks and Caulk Boots by Florence Tickner (Harbour).

Kikyo: Coming Home to Powell Street by Tamio Wakayama (Harbour).

Kamloops: 100 Years of Community by Wayne Norton and Wolf Schmidt (Sonotek).

**The Victoria and Sidney Railway, 1892 — 1919 by Darryl E. Muralt (B.C. RailwayHistorical Association).

Light at the End of the Tunnel by M.C. Warrior and Mark Leier (Tunnel & RockworkersUnion).

Valley of Dreams: Pictorial History of Vernon and District (Greater Vernon Museum &Archives).

The Milk Lady: Memories of a Farmer’s Wife by Patricia Lines.

Corrections - Summer 1993“Carnarvon Terms or Separation”

Page 14,c. 1, par. 4.Princess Louisais Princess Louise.

“Life Blood of theOkanagan Valley”

Page 18.The purchase was instigatedby premier John Hart..should readpremier John Oliver.

Both were errors of the author, missedby your editor.

This magazine is availablein microform. Back volumesof this publication areavailable in microform(film or fiche)

Conference 1994

District 69 Historical Society andQualicum Beach Historical and Museum Society are co-hosting the annualconference of the B.C. Historical Federation April 28 to May 1, 1994.Headquarters will be at the Island Hall,a long time resort hotel on the beach atParksville.

Plan now to attend this conference with your friends and enjoy agood program. Stay awhile and takein the many attractions of the beautifulPaksville-Qualicum area. Wewill lookforward to having you.

t/u #iaa& na

z9,zat

eFvztma

Send your gift order to:Nancy Peter -

SubscHption Secretary#7 5400 Patterson Ave.Burnaby, B.C. VSH 2M5

c4 $12.00 wit/z a&..$17.00 pe4 iea t oMectJ

36 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL FEDERATION

Honorary Patron: His Honour, the Honourable David C. Lam, CM, LL.D.,Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia

Honorary President: Arthur Lower

OFFICERS:

President: Myrtle Haslam, P.O. Box 10, Cowichan Bay, B.C. VOR 1 NO 748-8397

1st Vice President: Alice Glanville, P.O. Box 746, Grand Forks, B.C. VOH 1 HO 442-3865

2nd Vice President: Ron Welwood, RR#i S 22 C 1, Nelson, B.C. Vi L 5P4 825-4743

Secretary: T. Don Sale, 262 Juniper Street, Nanaimo, B.C. V9S 1X4 753-2067

Recording Secretary: Arnold Ranneris, 1898 Quamichan Street, Victoria, B.C. V8S 2B9 598-3035

Treasurer: Doris J. May, 2943 Shelbourne St., Victoria, B.C. V8R 4M7 595-0236

Members-at-large Mary Rawson, 1406 Woodland Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3S6 251-2908

Wayne Desrochers, 8811 152 Street Surrey, B.C. V3R 4E5 581-0286

Past President: John D. Spittle, 1241 Mount Crown Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7R 1 R9 988-4565

COMMITTEE OFFICERS:

Archivist Margaret Stoneberg, Box 687, Princeton, B.C. VOX iwo 295-3362

B.C. Historical News Tony Farr, RR#3 Sharp Road Comp. 21, Ganges, B.C. VOS lEO 537-5398

Publishing Committee

Book Review Editor Anne Yandle, 3450 West 20th Avenue,Vancouver, B.C. V6S 1 E4 733-6484

Editor Naomi Miller, Box 105, Wasa, B.C. VOB 2K0 422-3594

Subscription Secretaiy Nancy Peter, #7-5400 Patterson Ave., Burnaby, B.C. V5H 2M5 437-6115

Historical Trails & Markers John Spittle, 1241 Mount Crown Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7R 1 R9 988-4565

Membership Secretaiy JoAnne Whittaker, 1291 Hutchinson Road, Cobble Hill, B.C. VOR 1 LO 743-9443

Publications Assistance Jill Rowland, #5-1450 Chesterfield Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2N4 984-0602

(not involved with Contact Jill for advice and details to apply for a loan

B.C. Historical News) toward the cost of publishing.

Scholarship Committee Anne Yandle 3450 West 20th Ave Vancouver B C V6S 1 E4 733 6484

Writing Competition(Lieutenant - Governor’s Pamela Mar, P.O. Box 933, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5N2 758-2828

Award)

B.C. Historical News - Fall 1993

The British Columbia Historical News Publications MailP. 0. Box 5254, Stn. B Registration No. 4447Victoria, B.C.V8R 6N4

______________________________

BC HISTORICALFEDERATIoN

WRITING COMPETITION

The British Columbia Historical Federation invites submissions of books for the eleventhannual Competition for Writers of B.C. History.

Any book presenting any facet of B.C. history, published in 1993, is eligible. This maybe acommunity history, biography, record of a project or an organization, or personal recollectionsgiving a glimpse ofthe past. Names, dates, and places with relevant maps or pictures turn a storyinto “history”.

The judges are looking for quality presentations, especially if fresh material is included,with appropriate illustrations, careful proofreading, an adequate index, table of contents andbibliography from first-time writers as well as established authors.

Note: Reprints or revisions of books are not eligible.The Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing will be awarded to an individual

writer whose book contributes significantly to the recorded history of British Columbia. Otherawards will be made as recommended by the judges to valuable books prepared by groups orindividuals.

All entries receive considerable publicity. Winners will receive a Certificate of Merit, amonetary award and an invitation to the B.C.H.F. annual conference to be held in Parksville inMay 1994.

Submission Requirements: All books must have been published in 1993, and should besubmitted as soon as possible after publication. Two copies of each book should be submitted.Please state name, address and telephone number of sender, the selling price of all editions ofthebook and the address from which it may be purchased if the reader has to shop by mail.

Send to: B.C. Historical Writing CompetitionP.O. Box 933, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5N2

Deadline: December 31, 1993. LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED WITH POSTMARK UP TO JANUARY 31,1994, BUT MUST CONTAIN THREE COPIES OF EACH BOOK.

* * * * * * * * * *

There is also an award for the Best Article published each year in the B. C. Historical Newsmagazine. This is directed to amateur historians or students. Articles should be no more than2,500 words, typed double spaced, accompanied by photographs if available, and substantiatedwith footnotes where applicable. (Photos will be returned.)

Please send articles directly to:The Editor, B.C. Historical News - P.O. Box 105, Wasa, B.C. VOB 2K0

ADDRESS LABEL HERE

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