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This Issue: Cinema BC | Taking Flight | Fielding Spotts | A Mine Hoax | Tokens | And more...

Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation | Vol.38 No.2 2005 | $5.00

Officers

PresidentJacqueline Gresko5931 Sandpiper Court, Richmond, BC, V7E 3P8 ��Phone 604.274.4383 [email protected]

First Vice PresidentPatricia RoyDepartment of History, University of Victoria, PO Box 3045, Victoria, BC, V8W [email protected]

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Historical Trails and MarkersJohn Spittle1241 Mount Crown Road, North Vancouver, BC, V7R 1R9��Phone 604.988.4565 [email protected]

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Writing Competition - Lieutenant-Governor's AwardBob Mukai4100 Lancelot Dr., Richmond, BC�� V7C 4S3Phone� 604-274-6449�� [email protected]�

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2005

23nd Annual Competition for Writers of BC HistoryLieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical WritingDeadline: 31 December 2005

The British Columbia Historical Federation invites book submis-sions for the twenty-second annual Competition for Writers of BCHistory. Books representing any facet of BC history, published in2004 will be considered by the judges who are looking for qualitypresentations and fresh material. Community histories, biogra-phies, records of a project or organization as well as personalreflections, etc. are eligible for consideration.

Reprints or revisions of books are not eligible.

Lieutenant-Governor's MedalThe Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing will beawarded to an individual writer whose book contributes signifi-cantly to the history of British Columbia. Additional prizes may beawarded to other books at the discretion of the judges.

PublicityAll entries receive considerable publicity. Winners will receive aCertificate of Merit, a monetary award and an invitation to theAwards Banquet of the Federation's annual conference to be heldin Kelowna, BC on May 14, 2005.

SubmissionsFor information about making submissions contact:Bob Mukai, Chair of Competition Committee4100 Lancelot DriveRichmond, B. C. V7C 4S3phone 604-274-6449 email [email protected]�

Books entered become property of the BC Historical Federation.

By submitting books for this competition, authors agree that the BritishColumbia Historical Federation may use their names in press releasesand Federation publications regarding the bookcompetition.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY - Vol. 38 No. 2 1

The Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation | Volume 38 Number 2 2005

From the Editor

W. KAYE LAMB Essay ScholarshipsDeadline 15 May 2006The British Columbia HistoricalFederation awards two scholarshipsannually for essays written by studentsat BC colleges or universities on a topicrelating to British Columbia history.One scholarship ($500) is for an essaywritten by a student in a first-orsecond-year course: the other ($750)is for an essay written by a student ina third-or fourth-year course.

To apply tor the scholarship,candidates must submit (1) a letter ofapplication: (2) an essay of 1,500-3, 000words on a topic relating to the historyof British Columbia: (3) a letter ofrecommendation from the professorfor whom the essay was written.

Applications should be submittedbefore 15 May 2006 to: Robert Griffin,Chair BC Historical FederationScholarship Committee, PO Box 5254,Station B, Victoria, BC V8R 6N4.

The winning essay submitted by athird or fourth year student will bepublished in BC Historical News. Othersubmissions may be published at theeditor’s discretion.

BC History Web Site PrizeThe British Columbia HistoricalFederation and David Mattison arejointly sponsoring a yearly cash awardof $250 to recognize Web sites thatcontribute to the understanding andappreciation of British Columbia’spast. The award honours individualinitiative in writing and presentation.

Nominations for the BC History WebSite Prize must be made to the BritishColumbia Historical Federation, WebSite Prize Committee, prior to 31December 2005. Web site creatorsand authors may nominate their ownsites. Prize rules and the on-linenomination form can be found on TheBritish Columbia History Web site:http://www.victoria.tc.ca/resources/bchistory/announcements.html

Best Article AwardA Certificate of Merit and fifty dollarswill be awarded annually to theauthor of the article, published in BCHistorical News, that best enhancesknowledge ot British Columbia’shistory and provides readingenjoyment. Judging will be based onsubject development, writing skill,freshness of material, and appeal toa general readership interested in allaspects of BC history.

BCHF Prizes | Awards | Scholarships BBBBBritiritiritiritiritissssshhhhh CCCCCooooollllluuuuummmmmbbbbbiiiiiaaaaa“Any country worthy of a future shouldbe interested in its past”

W. Kaye Lamb, 1937

The Rise and Fall of Cinema, B.C. Hollywood North Ahead of Its Time ..................................... 2

Black Pioneer Fielding SpottsSchool Trustee, Church Founder, Farmer ............................... 4

Victoria’s Birdman:The Forgotten Story of William Wallace Gibson ....................... 8

The Great Le Roi HoaxBuying Back a Canadian Mine ............................................. 12

CHALA-00-CHICKThe First Fort George ...................................................... 19

Smith’s Iron ChinkOne Hundred Years of the Mechanical Fish Butcher ................... 21

Token HistoryFernridge Lumber Company, Limited of New Westminster, B.C. .... 25

The Moti PrizeLocal History Writng Competion for Elementary Students ........... 27

Book Reviews ............................................................... 28Website Forays ............................................................. 36Archives and Archivists ................................................... 37BCHF Book Prizes .......................................................... 38Miscellany ................................................................... 39

This issue of British Columbia History comeswith the first edition of the BC HistoricalFederation’s new Travel Guide. It’s a great ideawhich Ron Hyde, the Federation’s Secretary, hasworked long and hard at. I hope that if you’re takingto the road this summer (gas prices notwithstanding) you take the guide along with you.

Also in this issue we have the winners of theBCHF Book Prizes, the Best Article Award and theMoti Prize.

This year I had the privilege to be asked to

serve as an adjudicator for the Historica Fairin Vancouver. What a pleasure it was to be ableto talk to so many kids who have a passion forhistory. Also impressive was the array ofprojects they brought to the fair.

And lastly, this issue has been delayedbecause May and the first part of June was avery busy month for me work -wise but we’llbe back on track with the next issue.

Enjoy your summer.

2 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY - Vol. 38 No. 2

The small community of Cinema, located inthe north Cariboo between Quesnel andPrince George, was described in Wrigley’sDirectory of 1925 as a “Post Office, general

store, and motion picture centre.”A motion picture centre, you say?It all began when a young American bachelor

from Illinois, Lloyd Champlain, arrived in the northat a time when the Pacific Great Eastern Railway(PGE) line was first being constructed betweenVancouver and Prince George, about 1912. “I wantedto be where there was an important project going on”Champlain later told newspaper interviewers. Hiringon with the railway as a veterinary surgeon, “Dr.”

Champlain ashe calledhimself, wasin charge oflooking afterthe hundredsof horses usedin the railwayconstructionc a m p sb e t w e e nWilliams Lakeand PrinceGeorge.

North-ward from

Quesnel, track was laid to the Cottonwood River,where it would meet with a track from Prince George,in the north. Construction at that time was not donewith bulldozers and heavy equipment, but with theuse of hundreds of horses employing metal scrapersand stone boats, which were the closest thing to anymechanized equipment.

In 1915, the PGE ran out of money, andabandoned the railway project. Champlain lost his job.

Full of optimism and believing that the projectwould soon start again Champlain remained in thecountry. While he waited for the railway constructionto resume, he preempted land, nine hundred acresof good farming land adjoining the Fraser River,twenty miles north of Quesnel. To assist him in hisrecent acquisition, he invited his niece, a Miss EllaMaude Freeto to travel north from the United Statesto live with him, and help him to develop his property,which he described as the “Eden of the North.”

In need of a source of income while they waitedfor the continuance of the rail line, these two worked

hard to develop a large market garden, and alsostarted a dairy with several cows and a bull. Forseveral seasons the products from the garden and thedairy were transported to Quesnel from where theywere delivered to railroad camps in the south. Thereturns were quite lucrative.

By 1918, under the Department of Railways,and a contract with the Northern ConstructionCompany, work on the PGE rail line continued, andby 1921 the line had reached Quesnel.

Champlain had always been fascinated withHollywood and the movies, and one year, after theirmarket garden had produced a bumper crop nettingthem $800, they spent the winter in California. Whilethere they visited the movie studios in Hollywood,and learned a lot about how movies are made. Fromthis Champlain dreamed of making movies up in theCariboo, which during the 1920’s was fairly primitive,and not unlike the old wild west.

Back in the Cariboo that next spring Champlain,who was obviously well educated, and his companionMiss Freeto, set about planning a development ofenormous proportions on Champlain’s property. Tobegin with, a general store was built beside thehighway, and at this same time an application wasput in to start a post office that would operate fromwithin the store, In filling out the application it wasnecessary to provide a name for the post office. Thename chosen was “Cinema” and it is not hard toguess why.

On returning from California, and being allenthused with what he had seen and learned aboutmovie making, Champlain began writing stories andscripts depicting frontier life in the Cariboo, andsending them to Hollywood. But this was only thebeginning. From here he branched out to even moregrandiose plans: Why not encourage families to moveto the Cariboo where they could work on hisproperty? Best of all, he would use these people in amovie he intended to make!

Putting his plan into action, he first advertisedin various magazines. The Winnipeg Free Press, theWestern Home Journal, and others as far away asOntario and Manitoba. Here is a sample of hisinquiries:

Cinema, BC. June 1st 1924. The Western Home JournalWinnipeg, Manitoba. Classified Advertising. For oneinsertion under the classification “Movies” I submit thefollowing: MOVIE COLONY FORMING- Co-operative,industrial, educational. Will need men, women, children,for farm, dairy, garden, poultry, timber, buildingconstruction, cooking, laundry, sewing, typing, accounting,

The Rise and Fall of Cinema, B.C.Hollywood North Ahead of Its Time. Branwen C. Patenaude

All that remains ofCinema, B.C. in the Fallof 2003. (above &opposite)Photo: Branwen Patenaude

Branwen Patenaudehas written severalbooks about theCariboo, includingTrails to Gold andGolden Nuggets. Shehas published twohistorical novels andwill shortly publishan account of thelife of WilliamBarker.


teaching, milling, clerking, that they may participate inthe movies. Enclose money order of $1.00 with enquiry toreceive further information. Address to Secretary, CinemaPO, Cinema, BC

A shorter version of this ad. was also submittedwith a cash payment of $1.00 to The Farmer’s Advocate,and the Winnipeg Free Press.

To those who responded to this intriguing offerof employment, Champlain replied with a single pageform letter outlining in imaginative detail the processby which he would be able to single out the talentand abilities of his applicants. The advertising wenton for some time, and just how much money wasreceived in money orders is not known, but must havebeen considerable.

It is known however, that between 1924 and1930 Champlain had quite a number of men, somewith families, who lived and worked on his land.These men erected numerous buildings , residences,and barns; built miles of fencing, cleared about thirtyacres of hay meadow, and in particular constructed aroadside motel that opened to the public in 1927. ThePost Office at Cinema began operation in 1924 withMiss Ella M. Freeto in charge.

That year the business directory listed only twoinhabitants of Cinema, Lloyd Champlain and MissFreeto, but by the next year there were twenty residents,and in 1928, fifty residents. Of course all the residentsof the Movie Colony were expected to purchase theirsupplies at Champlain’s general store. A welcomeaddition to the store was a coffee bar and lunch counter,where the men were forbidden to smoke. While MissFreeto waited on the men, some flirted with her, and ifChamplain was there, would get very annoyed. Themen thought this was very strange, as Miss Freeto wassaid to be Champlain’s niece.

Those who today remember Lloyd Champlainrecall that he was a difficult man to work for; verytight fisted in money matters, and always veryparticular in the way any work was done, and veryprecise. He was also said to question the men veryclosely about their lives, and about their past, lookingfor ideas for movie scripts, which he was alwayswriting and sending back to Hollywood. This wasanother indication, some said, that Champlain musttruly have believed that some day a movie would bemade on his property. While the ‘Movie Colonyproject continued to function as late as 1931, no moviewas ever made there.

As the years passed, and no movie was made,disenchantment took place, and his workers left the

property in search of other work. Champlain, whoby this time was in his seventies, continued to liveand farm at Cinema where he and Miss Maudie Freetowere eventually married in 1945.

Today there are many descendants of thosefamilies who were so persuaded by Champlain’soffers that they moved from Ontario, Saskatchewan,and many points west to work on Champlain’s land.

For reasons unknown, by 1948 Champlain hadlost the post office contract to Harvey Bryant, a localland owner. Champlain’s property was later sold, andChamplain and his wife moved to Surrey, in the FraserValley. A decade before his death in Surrey in 1965,when he was in his eighties, Champlain wasinterviewedabout thelong awaitedextension ofthe PGE toP r i n c eGeorge byn e w s p a p e rreporter RoyW. Brown.S t r a n g l ye n o u g h ,while heenlarged onhis long wait,he made nomention of his dream of creating a movie colony atCinema.

While Lloyd Champlain may have beenaccused of being a promoter and a con artist, heobviously did have sincere aspirations of making amovie about life in the Cariboo. He was a man aheadof his time. •

References:

1924 Cinema Polling Division.

Wrigley’s BC Directory, 1925.

Donald Van Buskirke, NewCinema, BC, 1981.

Mrs. Vera Peever, Quesnel, BC.


By John Fitch

Fielding Spotts was a prominent member ofthe substantial group of Blacks whoemigrated to Vancouver Island in the late1850’s. Through use of contemporary

documents, in particular newspapers, it has provedpossible to give a more coherent account of his lifethan was previously available. Such accounts ofindividual lives are an indispensable basis forunderstanding the role of B.C.’s black pioneers.

CaliforniaBorn in Virginia c.

1827, Spotts first appears inthe public record in 1852,when he was one of ninepeople who organized aBaptist congregation in aprivate home in SanFrancisco. This is believed tohave been the first BlackBaptist church establishedwest of the Rockies. Thechurch has a continuous andvigorous history, and is nowThird Baptist, SanFrancisco.1 An experiencedlocal researcher in SanFrancisco might be able touncover further records ofSpotts' early life there: hismarriage to Julia Ann White,who was about five yearsyounger than he, perhapstook place in that city, andthe births of their oldestchildren Charles (c. 1854)and Fielding William (13 or15 March 1857) almostcertainly did so.

It seems, at any rate,that Spotts was one of thethousands of Blacks whohad moved west toCalifornia in the great trek of1849 or shortly thereafter,drawn by dreams of wealthand by hopes of finding aless oppressive racialatmosphere. The latterhopes were dashed,however, since oppression

of Blacks intensified in California during the 1850’s.Consequently by the Spring of 1858 many of themwere ready to emigrate, and an advance group arrivedin Victoria on the SS Commodore on 25 April. GovernorJames Douglas, in need of both labourers and settlers,gave the newcomers a warm welcome. As a result ofthese various factors, it is thought that between 600and 800 Blacks came to Victoria within a few months.

To VictoriaSpotts arrived in Victoria by 22 February 1859,

when he purchased property. Though his son FieldingWilliam, some seventy-five years later, dated hisfather’s arrival to 1859, that was because he thoughtthe whole black migration had occurred in 1859; hismemory by then was poor, and he had no records.2

All that is certain is that Spotts arrived between 25April 1858, and 22 February 1859.

What he purchased was a house lot on PioneerStreet (now North Park Street) between Quadra andBlanshard.3 His long-term intention was to farm, buthe needed to work in town until he could realize thatgoal. He began to work as a cooper - perhaps a tradehe had followed in San Francisco.

In 1859 a group of would-be farmers,represented by the lawyer John Copland, petitionedthe government to allow “pre-emption” ofunsurveyed land. Twenty-nine men were approvedto settle on Salt Spring Island; the list includes thename of Fielding Spott (sic). His pre-emption was Lot6, Range 2 , which lies northwest of Ganges. However,he did not hold it for long. On May 25, 1860 Henry W.Robinson requested permission to move to the landin question, since Spotts had abandoned the claim.4

Perhaps Spotts soon realized that the island was tooisolated a place to raise and educate a young family.5

In December 1859 Spotts was one of tenprominent “Electors of Salt Spring and Chemainus”who nominated Copland to represent that District inthe Colony’s legislative assembly. Later he was one ofthe signatories to a protest against the manner in whichthe election was conducted.6 Since there was no postalservice to the island, the fact that Spotts was in contactwith other would-be electors suggests that he was notliving full-time on the island at the time.

Perhaps as early as 1859, and certainly byNovember 1860, Spotts had a stake in the land inSaanich which was to become his home for more thanfour decades.7 The price of “public” land had been £1per acre until recently, but had now been drasticallylowered to $1 per acre, a reduction of about 80%;

Black Pioneer Fielding SpottsSchool Trustee, Church Founder, Farmer

Fielding Spotts c.1900The identification fits what we knowof F. in view of the neat dress of theperson portrayed; the book he holdsis surely a Bible.BCArhives F-00651

John Fitch isProfessor Emeritus atthe University ofVictoria’sDepartment of Greekand Roman Studies


probably it was this reduction that allowed Spotts topurchase the acreage. Since the land was only somenine miles from Pioneer St., it was possible, albeitarduous, for Spotts to continue working in town,while riding out to clear land and build a house astime allowed,

In 1858 the whole Peninsula had been surveyedand divided into one hundred acre parcels. On thebasis of this survey, the parcel purchased by Spottswas “section 18 of range IVE” (for short, 4E.18), whichremains its legal description today. The property liesat the highest point now crossed by the Pat BayHighway, a little south of Tanner Road.8

A House and a ChurchA high priority for Spotts must have been

construction of a house. He built a cabin “made outof hand-hewn logs, not a nail being used, the timbersbeing held together by dovetailing or wooden plugs.”No doubt the logs were from trees felled on theproperty. Mrs. Ella Gait, who has lived in the area formany decades, “recalls the cabin’s dirt floor and claycaulking between its logs, but claims the structure wasabsolutely wind proof. She has memories a of a partyshe and her husband once attended in the building.”9

According to my interview with Mrs. Gait on 3 May1989, the Spotts’ cabin was situated on what is now6030 Pat Bay Hwy, and their orchard was on what isnow the next property south, i.e. 6010 Pat Bay Hwy.10

When did Spotts move his wife and childrenfrom town to the new cabin and the farm? AlfredWaddington’s note in July 1865 (see below), that therewere three Spotts children of school age in SouthSaanich, is the first good evidence.

Spotts was soon involved in the establishmentof the original Shady Creek Church. “Probably in 1862or 1863, a community church, includingMethodists and Baptists, was established through theinitiative of [Charles] Alexander, a negro, with the co-operation of Spotts and other negro and whiteneighbours.” The church was situated on the farm ofJesse McMillan, a black settler - not on the site of thepresent church. In addition to church services therewas a Sunday School; there were also many socialactivities organized by the young people of thechurch, including no doubt the Spotts children.11

The Children: Schooling and AthleticsSpotts and Julia Ann had eight children. The

oldest, Charles and Fielding William, had been bornin California; the other six were born in B.C., the

youngest in 1873. In order of age they were: James,Albert, Theodore, Wendell, Julia, and Frederick.

Where were they to be educated? In 1865 AlfredWaddington, Inspector of Schools, noted that Spottsand other black residents were willing to build aschool house at their own expense; there were elevenchildren of school age in the district, “all colored,”including three Spotts boys. But the offer was nottaken up by the government. The nearest school wasthe Lake District School, opened in July 1865, fourmiles south of Spotts' place: so there the Spottschildren went. We find a record of Spotts as Trusteethere in 1870.12

In June 1873 the new South Saanich Schoolopened near the East Road. The site was only aboutthree miles north of the Spotts farm, so perhaps Spottstransferred his children there right away. An entry inthe Visitors’ Book, dated 5 November 1877, states“Mr. Spotts paid school a visit and expressed himselfas pleased with the progress of the pupils.” He was aTrustee of the school from the fall of 1879 to sometime between 1884 and 1887.13

Julia was perhaps the most successful of thechildren in scholastic matters. In the closing exercisesfor the winter session in March 1883, the studentnewspaper Scholars Effort “was read by Miss JuliaSpotts, the young lady acquitting herself verycreditably.” In June 1884 the Prize for Spelling wasawarded (ironically) to Miss J. Spott (sic).

The biggest annual event on the peninsula wasthe Saanich Picnic, held on Dominion Day. At least in1876 Spotts served on the “committee ofmanagement”. Three of the Spotts children, James,Fred and Wendell, appear among the prize-winnersin the athletic contests. In 1885, for example, Wendelltook first in standing high jump, hop, step and jump(38’11"), standing long jump and seventy-five yardrace, and second prize in running high jump andrunning long jump.14

FarmingA substantial portion of Spotts' income,

particularly in the early years, must have come fromfelling trees and selling the cordwood. What did heproduce as the land was cleared? He certainly had cattle,since in 1874 he won the prize at the Saanich AgriculturalShow for the best three to five year old steer. He alsohad chickens, since he took the prize for “Best dozeneggs (single yolk)” in 1874 and 1875. Almost certainlyhe owned a horse, in view of his frequent travels to localchurches and schools and to town. Since he would have

1 See www.thirdbaptist.org/history.htm; also Sue BaileyThurman, Pioneers of NegroOrigin in California (SanFrancisco 1952) 23-2 6.

2 Fielding William’s account: TheProvince 29 May 1935, followede.g. by Pilton 67. Poor memory:letter from Bertha Spotts inSaanich Pioneers’ SocietyArchives (SPA) Spotts file.

3 Register of Absolute Fees vol. 1no. 443.

4 British Columbia Archives(BCA)CAA/30.71/Sa3.1 File1 Thanks toRuth Sandwell for the reference.

5 Pre-emptions: Pilton 130-31;Kahn 27-36 and 59-62. Difficultconditions: Kahn 41-54 6 BritishColonist 20 Dec. 1859, 17 Jan.1860; Kahn 69-71.

7 The Crown Land Registry’s map“South Saanich O.M. 1859”identifies the purchaser ^ of4E.18 as “J. Spotts” (sic). TheOfficial Land Register for Northand South Saanich (CLR) datesthe payment by J. Spotts (sic) to1 November 1860.

8 1883 F. pre-empted anadditional 50 acres immediatelyto the west of his main holding,viz. the east half of Section 18,Range 3E.

9 Hand-hewn logs: Victoria DailyTimes 21 March 1936, M6. MrsGait’s recollection: Times-Colonist 30 Jan 1994, M3.

10 On the later history of thecabin see Victoria Daily Times 21March 1936, M6 (also SPA F2005S14); Saanich Star for Nov. 11951, in the Spotts file in SaanichArchives (SA).

11 Richards 31-2, Glover 4-6.

12 Waddington’s notebook (BCAGR 1467, microfilm B4715),entries for 1 July, 11 July, 2August. F. as Trustee: ColonistApril 24, 26, 29, p.3 in each.


needed to haul cordwood, hay and produce, and sincehe did some hauling for South Saanich School, he nodoubt owned a wagon also.15

We know from Mrs. Gait that Spotts had anorchard, but not whether it was on a commercial scale.The B.C. Directory for 1882-83 p. 114 indicates that thebiggest crops on the Peninsula at the time were oats,wheat, barley and peas. In 1878 Spotts won the prize for“Best 12 schallots” (sic),16 but these were presumablygrown for the family rather than on larger scale.

Spotts and Baptist HistorySpotts' obituary, quoted at the end of this

biography, notes that he was a charter member of FirstBaptist and Calvary Baptist Churches in Victoria, andof Saanich Baptist. When we link this record with hiscontribution to the establishment of the San Franciscochurch and of Shady Creek, we have a remarkablehistory of church-founding extending over nearly fiftyyears. On 3 May 1876 Spotts and Julia Spotts wereamong fifteen or sixteen charter members, half ofthem Blacks, who met to organize the First BaptistChurch, Victoria. 17 An elaborate church was built onPandora Street and opened in January 1877, at a costof $6000. Spotts, who was elected Trustee and Deacon,must often have wished that the congregation, likethat at Shady Creek, had opted for a less ambitiousbut more practical edifice. The mortgage, combinedwith the pastor’s salary, proved too much for themembership to sustain. Unfortunately these financialdifficulties led to divisions along racial lines.

During a visit from Rev. J.C. Baker of SanFrancisco in March 1881, the proposal was made that“The entire business and management of the churchbe given into the hands of either the colored membersor the white members”. In this atmosphere most ofthe black members withdrew from the church. Theywere then offered financial aid from the U.S. to founda separate church, but this was not accepted: clearlythey had no interest in assigning themselves thesecond-class status which they had rejected in leavingCalifornia.

First Baptist was finally disbanded on 3 June1883. However, on 5 June some of the former membersmet to organize a new Church, Calvary Baptist, whosecovenant specifically condemned discrimination onthe basis of race, colour or class. Spotts was a chartermember of this church, according to his obituary. Thenew church was successful, in part through theenergetic ministry of Rev. Walter Barss (1884-87). It isremarkable that Spotts was willing to make the

difficult journey into town on a regular basis to attendmeetings and services at these churches, despite hiscommitments as a father, farmer and school trusteein Saanich.

There were meetings of Baptists in SouthSaanich, in which Spotts was no doubt involved, fromthe mid-1880s, when Rev. Barss would ride out onalternate Sunday afternoons to conduct services. Achurch was officially organised in 1898, with fourteenconstituent members. Though the early churchrecords are lost, we have the testimony of Spotts'obituary that he was one of these charter members.Services were held at the Temperance Hall, which stillstands on East Saanich Road.18

Though the early presence of black Baptists inVictoria has always been known, Baptist historianshave traditionally treated John Morton, anEnglishman who reached New Westminster in 1862,as the first Baptist in what is now Western Canada.Fortunately John Richards sets the record straight byacknowledging the priority of the black Baptists.Among them Spotts is the first whose arrival can beclearly documented, and his leading position issuggested by his election as Trustee and Deacon ofFirst Baptist, His lifelong devotion to Baptism, andthe fact that he was a founding member of no lessthan five churches, deserves more recognition than ithas received.

Happiness and SadnessCharles, Spotts' oldest son, married Mary

Cecilia, daughter of T.W. Pierre, a successful tailor inVictoria. In 1884 Charles purchased fifty acres on theWest Road. Since this was only some two miles fromhis father’s farm, there will have been opportunitiesfor Spotts and Julia to see Charles and Mary and theirseven children. (These are, in fact, the onlygrandchildren of whom I have found record.) But in1893 disaster struck, as Charles died on 29 March atthe age of thirty-eight. Charles’ brother James alsodied prematurely, probably in the period 1891-93.Then in 1896 Spotts' wife Julia died suddenly onMarch 21, at the age of sixty-four, of pneumonia aftera few days’ illness,

A happier aspect of the Spotts’ family life in theearly 1890s is recorded by the reminiscences ofStephen Deloume. The Deloume family had recentlyimmigrated from France, and had moved to theproperty immediately south of Spotts'.

“The Deloumes’ nearest neighbours were a large negrofamily of the name of Spotts, who owned the farm next to

13 South Saanich School DistrictVisitor’s Book 1876-84: BCA GR2061.

14 The reports appear in theColonist annually on 3 or 4 July,on p.3.

15 Show prizes: Colonist 7 Oct.1874, 6 Oct. 1875. Hauling: theschool accounts show payment of$5.00 to Spotts for hauling (SPAF3205 S13, perhaps c. 1890).

16 Colonist 2 Oct. 1878.

17 For the history of First Baptistand Calvary Baptist Churches seethe useful websitewww.firstbaptistvictoria.org; alsotranscript of Minutes of churchmeetings 1876-82, held in theFirst Baptist Church office.

l8 See Baker 268; Richards 33-8;entry for the year 1887 inwww.firstbaptistvictoria.org;Colonist for 9 May 1936.

19 Daily Colonist 17 Dec. 1972,M4.

20 Sale to George W. Wynne(Register of Absolute Fees 7467-C); no price indicated.

21 Victoria Daily Times, 24 and29 March 1902; Colonist, 25March 1902.

22 The Spotts family plot, whereJulia is also buried, is on the leftshortly after one enters thecemetery through the whitegate, immediately before theseparate grave of Mary Spotts.

23 Vol. 6 (1902), p. 17.“Vancouver” is presumably anerror for “Victoria”. The brevityand language of the obituary ischaracteristic of obituaries in theReport.

24 The Times-Colonist 30 Jan.1994 M3 switches the two,calling the standing figure SpottsSr. and the seated man Spotts Jr.


theirs. The Deloumes could not speak a word of Englishbetween them, and it was the Spotts family who taughtthem the language... the Spotts were all musical, and everyevening they would gather around to sing their old negrosongs from the south. Pretty soon the Deloumes, who werealso musical, started to join them, only they sang theirold French part songs. What a time of music and harmonythat must have been—the work of the farms over for onemore day, and the two families getting together for anevening, to share their music.”

Last ThingsSpotts finally sold the farm on January 15 1902

and moved into town.20 He died two months later, onSunday 23 March at the age of seventy-four. Whileattending morning service at Calvary Baptist he wastaken ill and removed to his home, 136 Yates St., wherehe soon afterwards succumbed. One report mentionsheart failure. The funeral was conducted on the 28thby Rev. Vichert of Calvary Baptist,21 and Spotts wasinterred at the “South Saanich cemetery,” i.e. ShadyCreek.22

A brief obituary appeared in the Report of theAnnual Convention of Baptist Churches of B.C.

“BROTHER FIELDING SPOTTS” A pioneer Baptist in BritishColumbia. A charter member of the First church, Vancouver[sic] and Calvary church of Victoria, and of the church atSaanich. A simple trusting consistent child of God,respected by all who knew him.”23

ConclusionThough there were manifestations of racial

prejudice from white citizens in Victoria in thenineteenth century, that fact remains that Spotts as ablack man was able to own land and to participatefully in the school and church systems alongside hiswhite neighbours. This degree of racial integration isremarkable for its time. Credit is due to certain earlyleaders, in particular Governor Douglas and BishopCridge, for opposing any institutional segregation.But credit is also due to the calibre of black settlerssuch as Spotts, who were willing to committhemselves fully to the society which had initiallywelcomed them.

Despite Spotts’s contributions to the schoolsand churches of his society, it is clear that the greaterpart of his life and energy was spent on farming, anoccupation which yields satisfaction (at least whenwork is completed) but little social recognition. This,together with the fact that there are no survivingdescendants, explains why he is now largelyforgotten, Hence this attempt to reconstruct his life,so far as the nature of the evidence allows. •

Identified as Fielding William Spotts and dated 1935this photo originally accompanied two articles aboutF.W., Fielding’s second son, in The Province, for 29May 1935 and for 2 Feb. 1937. In part because of thesimilarity of names, some confusion has arisenbetween these photographs,and between Fieldingthe pioneer and Fielding William his son. Hence, forexample, the pioneer is incorrectly called FieldingWilliam in the files in the Saanich Archives and inthe BCArchives Newspaper Index.BC Archives A-02475


Victoria is a city ripe with history. A Victoriateam won the Stanley Cup in 1924,Rudyard Kipling had Victoria as hisfavourite vacation spot while writing some

of his most famous novels, and Victoria even laysclaim to the worst streetcar accident in NorthAmerican history. Still, amid this rich heritage,Victoria’s history books seem to consistently forgetthe story of one of the city’s most remarkableresidents.

William Wallace Gibson is known to obscuretrivia questions and aviation encyclopedias as the firstman to build and fly a completely Canadian designedaircraft. It may seem a relatively unimpressive feat atfirst glance, but to truly delve into the life and

ambitions of Gibson is to discover afascinating tale of discovery, innovationand perseverance. He was definitely aman ahead of his time, and a trueCanadian pioneer of aviation.

Born in Dalmellington, Scotland in1878, young Gibson was the fourth of sixchildren, and was given the nameWilliam Wallace in honour of the greatScottish hero. Gibson’s time in Scotlandwould be very brief, however, as beforehis tenth birthday, the Gibson familywould set sail for Canada.

In 1883, the Gibson family landedin Canada and moved westwards, finallysettling in the village of Moffat, in theDistrict of Assiniboia, NorthwestTerritories (now a part of Saskatchewan).In the case of the Gibson family, the so-

called “Last Best West” of Canada was truly a dreamcome true. The Gibson family patriarch, WilliamWallace Gibson Sr., often told young Billy that inScotland the Gibson family were peasants, but inCanada they were free. He truly believed that Canadawas a land where his children could reach their truepotential.

Gibson’s childhood in Moffat was to be a veryrebellious one. He only received a third gradeeducation, and he spent most of his time slippingaway to find adventure. Gibson Jr. soon developed alove for the wide open skies of the Canadian prairies.And it was to be Gibson’s early enthusiasm for flyingkites in these skies which would kindle his lifelongdream to one day soar through them himself.

Wishing to fly was a very common thoughtfor boys his age, there was even a local Moffat boy

who broke his leg by jumping off a barn with home-made wings strapped to his arms. But Gibson trulytook the notion of flight seriously, and worked hardto unlock its secrets.

As a result, kite flying for young Billy Gibsonwas full of experimentation. He was constantly toyingwith different kite designs and as he flew and testedeach new design, Gibson began to build his ownunderstanding of the principles of flight.

On windless days, Gibson would trail his kitebehind his galloping pony to keep it aloft. One day,as he peered at the speeding kite from the back of hispony, it occurred to him that if his pony could givethe kite the power to stay aloft, then it would also bepossible to keep a kite aloft with its own on-boardsource of power. Quickly, Gibson’s imaginationenvisioned an enormous self propelled kite that couldone day carry him speeding through the skies.

As he became a young man, Gibson’s childhoodfantasies would temporarily drift away when hemoved north to Balgonie to seek his fortune. It soonseemed that his mind for business was as ripe as hismind for aviation, and in only a few years, Gibson hadestablished himself as a prosperous farmer and asuccessful Balgonie hardware dealer with branch storesin the neighbouring towns of Craven and Cupar.

Never the one to simply settle down, in 1901William Gibson was the first man in the NorthwestTerritories to buy an automobile. It was even rumouredthat when a second automobile came to the NorthwestTerritories, William challenged its owner to a race.

In any case, whatever aviation dreamsremained in the back of William’s imagination, theywere suddenly rekindled in the winter of 1903. WillGibson, like others, heard with amazement the storyof the Wright Brothers historic first flight. To history,the Wright Brothers achievement would symbolize anew era of possibility, and it was this possibility thatseemed no greater an invitation to William Gibson.With proof that flight was possible, Gibson himselfsoon set out to build his own flying machine.

True, in the “aero-mania” that surfaced after thesuccess of the Wright Flyer, there were many otherswho hatched similar plans to William Gibson’s. Still,while people the world over sought to build their ownWright Flyer, Gibson’s aeroplane would be built fromscratch. In the Northwest Territories there were noaviation publications or manuals, and it would beyears before Gibson would even see a picture of theWright brother’s machine. Either by choice or bynecessity, William Gibson’s plane would be

Victoria’s Birdman:The Forgotten Story of William Wallace Gibson

William Wallace Gibson ofVictoria in an undatednewspaper photograph.

Tristin Hooper

At the time ofsubmission TristanHopper was a gradetwelve studentresiding in Victoria.

He hopes to pursue acareer in journalism.To that end he hasbeen writing acolumn for the OakBay News. Tristanhas an interest inVictoria history.


completely a product of his own design.Immediately, Gibson began testing small

aircraft models powered by the spring from a rollerblind, and launched from the roof of his Balgoniehardware store. Gibson would take great pains to keephis experiments a secret from the rest of the town. Hefeared that if the Balgonie towns folk were to learn ofhis bizarre endeavours, they would think he wascrazy, forcing the bank to recall his loan. As well, inthe Northwest Territories in the early 1900s, the NorthWest Mounted Police had the authority to send anysuspicious characters to Regina.

Consequently, all of Gibson’s flight tests weredone in the early hours of the morning. On Gibson’sfirst such test, the model leapt into the air before evenreaching the end of the ramp and sped across the streetin level flight before smashing into a boxcar. Themodel was damaged, but Gibson knew that what he’dseen was a success. He now had visual proof that hisdesigns could fly.

Gibson would continue to build and test manymore models in the next few months. Yet, soon hewould find that he wasn’t the only early riser in thetown of Balgonie. A neighbour, Jimmy Hicks, wasoverheard telling another man that he had seen astrange bird take off from the roof of Gibson’s store.Balgonie’s Doctor Kaulbfleisch confronted Gibsonwith similar news after returning home early in themorning from tending a patient, “ Say, Billy, what kindof a funny looking bird was that you were trying tocatch on your roof this morning?”

In spite of these near discoveries, Gibsoncontinued his experiments mostly unnoticed, and bythe end, he was building his models so stable that hecould start them upside down and they would rightthemselves in flight. Encouraged by these successes,Gibson decided he was ready to start work on a fullsize, self propelled, man carrying aircraft. He beganwork on a four cylinder engine to power the craft,but he soon realized that the expense of an aeroplanewas quite beyond his resources at the time.

A man named Currie frequently came intoGibson’s hardware store to rave about the money thatwas to be made by taking contracts out to build theGrand Trunk Railway. In the view of financing hisaircraft, Gibson quickly took out a contract to buildtwenty miles of track, and soon another to build anadditional twenty-two miles.

Gibson may have been a successful farmer,hardware store owner and soon to be a successfulaviator, but he soon discovered that he knew nothing

about building a railroad. He lost $40,000 in eighteenmonths, the equivalent of $900,000 today. “When I hadthe banks cleaned up, or rather they had cleaned me, Ihad no stores and no farm, so with what capital I hadleft, I decided to go to the coast, and start anew,” it waswith these words that Gibson arrived in Victoria in theautumn of 1906 with his partially completed engine.

Victoria was closer to home for the twenty-sevenyear old Gibson, as he now lived in the same city ashis parents and many of his siblings. He managed toquickly find a job driving a De Winton automobile fora friend of his from Regina. Soon, Gibson would havea reputation for reckless driving in the De Winton. Onone occasion he lost control and slammed into aDouglas St. street car, sending it clean off the tracksand wounding several people. Local newspapersreported that Gibson arose from the wreck with hishead bloody but unbowed. While fixing the damagedDe Winton, it was also around this time that Gibsoncompleted the engine he had begun building inBalgonie. Unfortunately, upon testing it, Gibson wouldfind that the unstable engine “jumped around like achicken with its head cut off.”

He realized another engine would be needed,but once again, Gibson’s capital had begun to run low.Luckily, another scheme came to Gibson in the form ofa gold prospector named Locky Grant. Locky told of aclaim that he owned at Elk River on the Northwestcoast of Vancouver Island. As he was without meansto work the claim, Grant said he was prepared to offerit to Gibson for $500.

In the spring of 1907, Gibson plotted out a

William Wallace Gibson’shouse in VictoriaPhoto: Tristin Hooper


course on a map and bought a launch to sail to Locky’sclaim. Having absolutely no nautical experience, thevoyage took him eight days, during which he losttwenty-five pounds. Later in life Gibson was toproclaim that his survival of the trip could only havebeen an act of God. Fortunately, Gibson’s near deathexperience would pay off. After a quick inspection ofthe mine, he bought it from Locky Grant for hislaunch, a camera, binoculars, a rifle and $100.

Hurriedly, Gibson returned to Victoria ( thistime aboard a passenger ship ) and procured a stampmill and water wheel to run his new claim.

Locky would stay with Gibson until they hadmined enough gold to procure a brick worth $1,200.With proof of the mine’s value, Gibson immediatelysold it off for $10,000 and returned to work on hisaeroplane.

On returning to Victoria, Gibson drafted plansfor a new engine and presented them to HutchinsonBrothers machinists. Amid complaints that Gibson’ssix cylinder two stroke design was impractical, thefirm nevertheless set to work on its construction,unaware that upon its successful completion in March1910, the aircraft engine would be the first of its kindproduced in Canada. While the Hutchinson brothers

laboureda w a yon anenginet h e ybelievedw o u l dn e v e rr u n ,Gibsonhimself

began work on the aircraft’s structure in the backyardof his Victoria home. The project would take monthsof Gibson working seven days a week, and sometimeseighteen hours a day. But the more the aircraft tookshape, the more Gibson could envision its completion.

Unlike the secrecy he had kept in Balgonie, thecitizens of Victoria were quite aware of Gibson’saeronautical obsessions, which quickly earned himthe name “Birdman”. In public, Gibson constantlyfaced ridicule and scorn. There was one man whowould flap his arms whenever he saw Gibson in thestreet, another would point at the sky and cover hisface. Even Gibson’s priest, on several occasions triedto persuade him to stop his work.

Victoria’s newspapers, on the other hand, saw

the Birdman as an immediate sensation. In an articlein the Daily Colonist, McVittie, a neighbour ofGibson’s, claimed that the Gibson flying machinewould be able to fly from Victoria to Vancouver intwenty minutes. Still another article claimed that theVictoria flying man’s ship would reach speeds of onehundred miles per hour, be resistant to gale, andwould be able to carry fifty men.

While Gibson himself would never claim suchthings, he must have envisioned great things for theaeroplane that was taking shape in his yard. All told,the completed aircraft, soon to be dubbed the GibsonTwin Plane, would be constructed with spruce, cedarand fifty yards of blue silk. The craft’s name wouldcome from the craft’s unorthodox design of havingtwin sets of overhead v-shaped wings.

When Gibson received the completed 210pound, 60 HP engine from Hutchinson Brothers,Gibson worked to bore every one of the one hundredengine bolts hollow, so as to lighten them. As well,on the engine Gibson installed a revolutionary newidea to reduce engine torque. Engine torque wouldhave caused the craft to veer to one side, or even torip the engine loose from its housing. Gibsonovercame this by installing a propeller on either sideof the engine so as to counteract the effects.

Many other innovations would appear for thefirst time in aviation history on the Twin Plane. Everywooden component of the plane was given an airfoilshape, an unheard of concept at the time. As well, thestreamlined fuel tanks on the plane would have bafflesto stop fuel from surging back and forth, a techniquestill used on modern fuel tanks.

To control the aircraft while in flight, Gibsonused shoulder harnesses to control the side to sidemotion of the plane, and a lever in front of him tocontrol the pitch.

When the plane was finally completed inSeptember of 1910, Gibson enlisted the help of his oldfriend Locky Grant and a man known only as “Dave”to dismantle the craft and secretly transport it to agrassy meadow on Dean’s Farm, near Mount Tolmie.Coincidentally, the area chosen by Gibson on whichto make his historic flight would later become theVictoria Airport - the area is now the site ofLansdowne Middle School. The proposed flight waskept in relative secrecy, and few spectators wouldshow up. However, the first flight of the twin planewould be but a short hop whose rough landing wouldseriously damage the plane’s undercarriage.

Gibson never considered the first hop of the

Lansdowne Middle School,once the site of Victoria’sairport and whereGibson’s Twin Plane flewfor the first and onlytime.Photo: Tristin Hooper


Twin Plane as an actual flight, and he laboured hardfor the next two weeks to repair the undercarriageand give it another go. On September 24th at 5am,Locky Grant and “Dave” once again rolled Gibson’splane into position on the field. The plane’s blue silkglistened in the morning sun as a thirty-four year oldWilliam Wallace Gibson took his place in the pilot’sseat. His craft had half the weight and twice the powerof the Wright Flyer, and unlike the Wright Flyer,Gibson’s Twin Plane would be taking off without theaid of a catapult.

William started the engine, and when it hadsufficiently warmed up, he signalled his helpers tolet go. The plane sped off down the field and took offafter running only fifty feet. Once in the air, a lightcrosswind started blowing the craft sideways. Historysoon proved that inventors may be born, but aviatorsmust be made as Gibson’s unfamiliarity with theplane’s shoulder harnesses caused him to lean thewrong way to correct for the wind. Suddenly, theplane had swung further sideways as a result of hiserror and was now headed for a patch of Garry OakTrees. Cooly, Gibson cut the engine and managed tomake a level landing on the grass. However, in thefinal moments of the Gibson Twin Plane, WilliamGibson would reflect on his oversight in not installingbrakes on the landing wheels of the plane. C a r r i e don by the momentum of the landing, the Twin Planesurged forward and smashed into a sturdy oak tree.Gibson was flung from the wreck and would suffertwo broken fingers and a cut above his eye. TheGibson Twin Plane would never fly again. All told,Gibson had flown 200 feet on his first flight, 80 feetfurther than the Wright Flyer’s initial hop, and a fewfeet further than the first flight of the internationallyacclaimed Santos Dumont, the first man to fly inEurope. Forgetting the significance of a mere 200 feet,many may look back and see the distance travelledby what is now deemed a primitive aircraft as a merepoint of interest, rather than the accomplishment itsymbolized.

William Wallace Gibson had worked towardsa goal, alone and unaided, and amid the scorn ofalmost everyone he knew. He had built and flown aplane without any knowledge of the principles offlight, or even any idea of how an aeroplane shouldlook. Gibson’s concepts were entirely his own andcompletely isolated from outside influence.

Gibson would, in 1910, acquire a copy ofArtificial and Natural Flight by Sir Hiram Maxim. Itwould be the first aviation manual he ever laid eyes

on, and in 1911, based on the concepts of Sir Hiram’sbook, Gibson would complete his redesigned versionof the Twin Plane; the Gibson Multiplane.

After taking the multiplane to Calgary forseveral tests, Gibson would once again find himselflow on funds. Ever since his initial experiments atBalgonie, the aeroplane business had cost him $40,000.By this time, Gibson knew that he had a family toraise and money to make. In the end, Gibson wouldturn his attention back to mining, becoming asuccessful inventor and supplier of Gibson miningproducts. With almost one hundred mining patentsto his name, William Wallace Gibson would becomea millionaire in the 1930s. William Gibson wouldalways talk about building another plane, and therewere many times he came close.

Gibson would even manufacture aeroplaneparts, but he never assembled them. He died in SanFrancisco, California in 1965 at the age of eighty-seven.

Orville Wright had once said that the WrightFlyer would not have been possible if it weren’t forthe partnership of his brother for, as he said, “theproblem [of flight ] is too great for one man alone andunaided to solve.” William Gibson had fixed an ideain his head that many people at the time still thoughtwas impossible, and carried it out with only a thirdgrade education. In essence, a boy from the Canadianprairies had succeeded where so many, includingtelephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, hadfailed. He was doing it not to make a profit, or evento gain national or international recognition. WilliamWallace Gibson accomplished the impossible andachieved the unthinkable simply because of aboyhood dream to fly. •

The Gibson Twin Planeready for flight, 1910.(above right)


The purchase of the Le Roi gold and coppermine, high on the slopes of RedMountain above Rossland, B.C., from itsAmerican owners in 1898 was hailed in B.C.

as a victory for Britain and the Empire. Nevertheless,the murky and scandalous circumstances of the salegave the Rossland mines an unsavoury reputation withBritish investors which lasted, according to one USauthority, until as late as 1936.

The Le Roi Mine was reputed in the miningpress of 1898 to be the “richest in the world.” Perhaps,for a time, it was. The boast was based on the estimatethat the Le Roi, in that year, was bringing up $84,000of gold silver and copper ore every twenty-fourhours.1 Certainly it was paying dividends of $25,000per month. The Le Roi and its associated smelter atNorthport, Washington were owned by the SpokaneColonels, a group of American mining speculatorswho had bought it in 1891 from Col. Eugene Toppingin Trail. The Spokane Colonels included Col. W. W.Turner, Judge (later Senator) George Turner, Col. IsaacN. Peyton, Col. William Ridpath, Major Armstrong,George Forster, Frank Graves and Billy Harris.

As a producing gold mine paying monthlydividends and well reported in the world miningpress, the Le Roi got the attention of Whittaker Wrightin London. Whittaker Wright, with his London andGlobe Finance Company, was a flamboyant miningpromoter. His speciality was organizing companiesto buy reputedly rich mines all around the world, tocapitalize them far beyond their actual worth and thenoffer stock in them to the British public. Dividends ineach mine would be paid out of stock sales. Anyshortfall would be made up by organizing anothermine and selling stock in it. This scam could bemaintained as long as there was a supply of new andspectacularly rich mines coming on the market.Wright’s London and Globe controlled mines inAustralia, South Africa, and the United States andWright himself lived in a conspicuously opulent style.

When the London mining papers began tospeak of the Le Roi as supposedly “the richest in theworld,” Wright had to have it. He organised theBritish America Corporation (B.A.C) to purchasemines in Alaska and British Columbia. The B.A.C. wascapitalized at an astonishing £1,500,000 ($7,500,000)and Wright offered its stock at an unprecedented£5.00 ($25) per share to a fascinated and gullible Britishpublic. To decorate its letterhead he chose theMarquess of Dufferin and Ava, a former GovernorGeneral of Canada. For its resident Canadian Director,

he picked an old school chum the Hon. CharlesMclntosh, former lieutenant-governor of theNorthwest Territories. Neither of these men knewanything about mining. The Marquess was there toinspire investor confidence in Britain; the exlieutenant-governor to ensure that the B.A.C wouldbe treated favourably by Anglophile politicians inBritish Columbia.

The company’s prospectus stated that it wasbuying the Le Roi Mine as well as the AlaskaCommercial Company plus other unnamed mines inBritish Columbia and the Yukon. This was irresistibleto the gold-mad British public, investors fell overthemselves to buy up £ 1 million ($5 million) of B.A.C.stock in a few weeks.

With a million pounds in the treasury,Whittaker Wright sent McIntosh to British Columbiato buy its best producing mines for the B.A.C. Hearrived in the Fall of 1897 in a private railway carrented from the CPR. At Rossland, Mclntosh boughtthe Great Western, the Josie, Columbia and Kootenayand Nickel Plate mines. He then pompouslytelegraphed to London:

The British America Corporation has secured and holds thekey to the majority of the golden treasure houses in BritishColumbia. We will practically control the mineral resourcesof this Province.2

This was pure moonshine. Mclntosh wasacknowledged as an able politician but he was whollywithout mining experience.

The unexpected news in 1897 that their Le Roimine was to be bought by a London company fellupon the Spokane Colonels like a golden thunderbolt,Col. Peyton observed:

To my mind it looks much as if the people who drew upthat prospectus used the name of the Le Roi Mine to attractthe attention of the English investing public.3

The Spokane Colonels were mining speculators.They knew that their mine was to be used to bait theBritish investing public. The Colonels were perfectlywilling to sell. And it seemed that they could nowask their own price since the B.A.C. had publiclycommitted itself to the purchase. But they also, asshrewd men, would want to remove and smelt whathigh grade gold ore there was in sight in their minebefore consummating the sale. It was a simple case ofmilking your cow before selling her.

As Mclntosh was leaving for Canada in the Fallof 1897, Col. Peyton and Judge Turner went to London

The Great Le Roi HoaxBuying Back a Canadian Mine By Bill Laux

Bill Laux passedaway last year at theage of seventy-nine.A resident ofFauquier for forty-two years, Bill wrotea number of articleson B.C. history andsubmitted this piecelast year forconsideration.

It is a rollickingadventure, typical ofthe best of hiswriting.

The Editor


to see what their mine might be worth. Col. Peytonwent to the B.A.C. and was offered $3,000,000. Heaccepted pending ratification by the other directorsin Spokane. Judge Turner, however, knew that theB.A.C. was capitalized at five million and taking thatthis represented the value of the Le Roi on the Londonmarket, he endeavoured to find a buyer at that price.

In January, 1898, with Col. Peyton and JudgeTurner back from London, a directors’ meeting of theLe Roi Mining Company was called in Spokane todiscuss a sale of their mine. Lt. Gov. McIntosh camedown in his private car to negotiate the purchase. Atthe directors meeting Col. Peyton presented a B.A.C.cheque for $500,000 to the directors as a downpayment on the mine. But Judge Turner rose to claimhe had been offered $5,000,000 for the mine in London,

though he declined to say by whom. He insisted hewould not, therefore, sell his shares at the offeredprice. The directors spilt, with Col. Ridpath, MajorArmstrong , Bill Harris and Frank Graves siding withJudge Turner. They were determined to block any saleat $6.00 per share. Meanwhile, as both groups knew,Bill Harris, the mine manager, was “milking the cow.”Harris had his miners abandon all development andexploration work and instead set them to strippingthe mine of its high grade ore. While the Judge Turnergroup played for time their mine was paying bothgroups their usual monthly dividends.

These men, it must be remembered, were agroup of minor western mining speculators dealingwith what the New York and London MiningExchanges believed was one of the world’s richest

1 Estimate of the Rossland Miner,March 12, 1898.

2 British Columbia Review,January 15, 1898, p 171

3 British Columbia Review,February 12, 1898, p 224

4 See Clark Spence, BritishInvestments and the AmericanMining Frontier, I860 - 1901,(Ithaca, NY: Cornell UniversityPress, 1958) for an account ofthe outrageous swindlesperpetrated on British Mininginvestors by Americanspeculators.

5 The law prohibiting noncitizens from holding propertywas enacted in the TerritorialPeriod when miners and ranchersfeared foreigners getting hold oftheir enterprises. These lawswere repealed in all of the statesaffected some years later.

6 Figured from 350 tons of $40ore shipped daily as the RosslandMiner was reporting

7 For similar hoax see Spence,British Investments, pp.139 - I90

8 McDonald’s ant-union activitiescan be found in RichardLingenfelter, The HardrockMiners: A history of the MiningLabor Movement in the AmericanWest, 1863 - 1893, (University ofCalifornia Press 1974), pp. 137-139 & 147.


mines. It was anu n p a r a l l e l e dopportunity forposturing. Ande x t r a v a g a n tposturing had been acharacteristic ofwestern mining sincethe days of 1849. TheColonels were keenlyaware that they hadthe British at theirmercy. They weregoing to make themost of theopportunity and playtheir parts in the besttheatrical manner.4

At a secondmeeting of thedeadlocked directorsin Spokane ColonelPeyton announced

that he had already tendered the 284,000 shares of hisgroup to the B.A.C. at six dollars per share. Since thisconstituted a majority of the shares, Charles Mclntoshdeclared that under British law the B.A.C. as majoritystockholder now controlled the company. However,Judge Turner got to his feet and reminded thedirectors that the Le Roi Mining Company was aWashington company and was governed by the lawsof the state of Washington. State law, he explained,held that no alien could hold property in WashingtonState.5 Since the Le Roi’s Northport smelter was inWashington State, the B.A.C. could not own or controlit although under Canadian law they could own themine in Canada. The meeting broke up in a completestalemate.

Judge Turner then got a court injunctionrestraining Col. Peyton from transferring any of hisgroup’s shares to the B.A.C. To enforce this injunction,deputy sheriffs were hired to station themselves atthe Spokane city limits to stop all trains bound forCanada and make sure they were not carrying anyof the directors or corporate papers of the Le RoiMining Company.

The Peyton group felt their only recourse wasto somehow get the entire matter to Canada and outof US jurisdiction. With great secrecy, L.F. Williams,the company secretary and a member of the Peytongroup, gathered up all of the company papers and

the Le Roi Company seal from its hook above his desk.Col. Peyton, avoiding the downtown railroad station,which was being watched, drove Williams out ofSpokane in his buggy to the to the tiny station at Meadto catch the train which had already been inspectedat the City Limits by the deputies. Six hours laterWilliams and the Le Roi Mining Company were safelyin Canada free of Judge Turner’s American injunction.

Williams, however, in setting up a new B.A. C.office in Rossland, discovered to his chagrin that thecompany seal he had brought with him was not thatof the Le Roi Company at all. Bill Harris, in Spokane,had suspected the Peyton group would attemptprecisely this and had slipped into the company officeto remove the Le Roi seal from its accustomed hookand substituted another company’s seal in its place.In Rossland without a company seal, the majorityPeyton group could transact no company businessuntil a duplicate seal could be obtained.

By this time Lt. Governor Mclntosh had enoughof these American legal obstructions. He invited therest of the directors and trustees holding Le Roi sharesto board his private railway car at the Spokane stationfor a trip to Rossland. The directors and trusteesholding a block of pooled shares, joined him and hesignalled his private train to depart. At that point,deputy sheriff A. Bunce climbed onto McIntosh’s car,entered and displayed a copy of the County Court’sinjunction, telling McIntosh he could not proceed.Armed deputies, he told McIntosh, were stationed atthe city limits with legal authority to stop all trainsfor Canada. McIntosh, firmly but politely, made asmall speech to the deputy. As an officer of the court,he told Bunce, he must realize that according to thecommon law of both Britain and the United States, aman’s home is his castle and cannot be enteredwithout a warrant. And as this railway car was in facthis present home Deputy Bunce, unless he had awarrant to enter, was committing a trespass. Theoverawed Bunce, who was by occupation, merely acrier in Judge Edward’s Court, backed out of the carand its door was locked against him.

Bunce then went to the locomotive crew andordered them not to proceed. The engineer camedown, went into the station and put the matter beforeAustin Corbin, the president of the line and astockholder in the Le Roi. Corbin came down. lookedat the injunction and told Bunce that it applied againstforeigners, the B.A.C. Company of London, Englandand not against the railroad. Bunce could forbid thedirectors in the private car from leaving the US. but

The Hon. CharlesMcIntosh, as LieutenantGovernor of theNorthwest Territories. Anaffable and socially giftedman, by all reports, butno mining expert.Courtesy, Rossland MiningMuseum


the Spokane Falls and Northern Railroad was notnamed in the injunction and he could not prevent itfrom running its trains wherever it chose.

Deputy Bunce, who must have felt that thegentlemen were making a mockery of his office, hadjust enough time to swing up onto the locomotive asas the engineer opened the throttle and got under way.At the city limits, Bunce drew his revolver, pointed itat the engineer and ordered him to stop the train. Theengineer laughed instead and opened the throttlewide. The assembled deputies on the track scatteredfor their lives and the little one car train roared outonto the open prairie. The grinning train crew inviteddeputy Bunce to consider how he could stop aspeeding train if its engine crew were shot dead Thiswas not a show of heroics. The US. had just passedthrough a bitter and violent railway strike. The RailBrotherhoods were still defiant and full of hatred ofthe hired minions of the law whom they had learnedwere cowardly in a fair fight. Deputy Bunce realizedhe was up against militant union men and holsteredhis useless revolver.

Scorned by the men in the cab, deputy Bunceclimbed back over the tender to the open platform ofMclntosh’s private car. He knocked. Mclntosh wouldnot admit him. Inside the gentlemen were sitting inwicker chairs smoking the Lt. Governor’s cigars andsipping his best Scotch whisky. They had the windowsopen. It was a hot June day and they were enjoyingthe breeze. Out on the platform, his coat tails flappingin the wind and showered with cinders from thesmokestack, Bunce clung grimly to the hand holds ofthe swaying car. He clung there for the 140 non-stopmiles to Northport, Washington where a water stophad to be made for the steep climb to Rossland andCanada.

During the stop. Lt. Gov. Mclntosh descendedfrom his car, offered the deputy a cigar and a bit ofadvice. The Canadian border was but eight milesahead, he told the deputy. If the deputy persisted hewould be arrested at the border for bringing a deadlyweapon into Canada, an offence the Canadian lawtook quite seriously. The Governor gave him a friendlypat on the shoulder re -entered his car and locked it.

As the train got under way again, deputy Bunceremained on the station platform. He had done all hecould, he believed. Judge Turner could ask no moreof him.

At Rossland, with the Le Roi directors now inCanada, Mclntosh believed he could have the sale ofthe shares completed under Canadian law. A meeting

of all directors wascalled for Rossland onJuly 3. Judge Turnerand his minoritygroup came up byspecial train. At themeeting Judge Turneragain dominated theproceeding. Hemanaged to have theB.A.C. cheque for$500,000 returned onthe grounds that itwas premature sincethe directors had nothad an opportunity toconsider other offersfor their mine. Thenthe minority directorsgot into their one cartrain and went backdown the track toSpokane.

A second directors’ meeting was called forSpokane. The majority group came down in therailroad’s single parlour car. It was wasted effort; thetwo groups were firmly deadlocked. Meanwhile BillHarris was stripping the mine of its best ore, sendingit to the smelter and having it converted into bullionon which the monthly dividends continued to be paidto both quarrelling groups. Since every day of delaywas putting more money into the owners’ pockets, itis clear that Mclntosh and the B.A.C. were beingvictimized by a deliberate charade.

Finally, Mclntosh was informed what theColonels were doing. The mine he was buying wasbeing depleted of its most valuable ore. This wasintolerable. Still lacking a company seal, and unableto perform official acts, Mclntosh and Col. Peytonapplied to Judge Spinks of the Kootenay CountyCourt to have the Le Roi Company placed inreceivership so they could get rid of Bill Harris andstop the stripping of the mine. The Judge agreed andappointed W. A, Carlyle receiver. This was irregular.Carlyle was already on The B.A.C. payroll as Managerof Mines. As an officer of the company, he should nothave been appointed as its receiver. But the imposingand pompous Mclntosh had somehow convincedJudge Spinks.

Carlyle dismissed Bill Harris, appointed a newmine manager and instructed him to resume efforts

Col. I.N. Peyton one ofthe original purchasers ofthe mine from Col.Topping of Trail, Peytonmanaged it through itsearly search for highgrade ore. When thebonanza appeared tobecoming to an end, hewas the first to accept theB.A.C. offer.BC Archives G-06328


to locate new pockets of ore. At the same time he wasto reduce shipments to the Northport smelter to anabsolute minimum to starve it of ore and end the flowof dividends to the Colonels.

Harris had been shipping three hundred fiftytons of the mine’s best ore every day. Now it wasreduced to one or two cars, sixty tons at most. Theminority directors expressed great anger at this andwhen Judge Turner found himself occupying the samehotel, The Allen, in Rossland as his rival, Col. Peyton,a scuffle ensured with Judge Turner attempting to ejectthe Colonel from the hotel. Others intervened, theadversaries ( or play actors ) were separated and peacewas restored.

Now the minority group decided they too, coulduse Canadian law. They sent their lawyers to Victoriato institute a suit against Col. Peyton, the B.A.C.,McIntosh and Whittaker Wright to recover $750,000for an alleged conspiracy to buy Le Roi shares for lessthan their actual value. While this suit was slowlywinding its way through the courts, the minority groupwas able to get the irregular Le Roi receivershipoverturned. Bill Harris was re-instituted as managerand resumed stripping the mine of its best ore.

This was wholly intolerable to the B.A.C. Theywere desperate to conceal from the investing publicthe fact that their best ore was being removed fromCanadian jurisdiction, smelted at Northport and the

recovered bullion held in the US. TheColonels were making roughly $6,500every day the sale was delayed.6 The B.A.C.now made an attempt to reinstate thereceivership under Washington law bysending a squad of lawyers to Spokane toput the matter before the courts there.

This time, however, on meeting thelawyers, the minority members completelyreversed their previously hostile manner.They met their Canadian colleagues withprofuse apologies for past incivility anddemonstrated a solicitous concern for theircomfort and well being. All this with acontinuous round of toasts to internationalamity and co-operation. So alcoholic wasthe fellowship and so long continued thatthe B.A.C. lawyers, in a boozy haze,completely lost track of the time andmissed their appointment at court. Withtheir non-appearance the case was droppedfrom the docket and put over to the nextyear ’s session. The rivals were again

plunged into teeth-gnashing rage, real or feigned.These scandalous proceedings were gleefully

reported in the US mining press and reached Londonwhere the effect was to depress the value of B.A.C.shares below par. Whittaker Wright could not affordthis. His whole stock jobbing swindle depended onhis mines being seen as premier investments. Hewould have to buy off the stubborn minority directorsand complete the sale, cost him what it would. JudgeTurner was reporting he had received an offer fromWright himself of $8.12 for his shares. The B.A.C.denied this absolutely. The Judge responded that anun-named British consortium had offered him $8.50.This was moonshine, of course, but these claims werereprinted in the papers and were seriouslyembarrassing Whittaker Wright.

Finally, on November 22, 1898, all the shares inwhat may have once been the world’s richest goldmine changed hands at $7.40 plus payment for orethen en-route to the Northport smelter and coppermatte stockpiled for shipment. The very last of theMinority hold outs, Bill Harris had to come down toSpokane to sign the agreements. He came, of course,by special train.

The Northport smelter, although included in thedeal, had to be hastily reorganized as the NorthportRefining and Smelting Co. with nominally Americanownership to comply with the Washington Alien

The Le Roi mine at thetime of saleBC Archives I-55662


Property Law.For the one hundred thirty days

while the sale was delayed, Bill Harris hadremoved $845,000 worth of ore from themine, had it smelted, the bullion sold andmonthly dividends paid. This amountedto $1.69 per share realized from the high-grading while the compromise withWhittaker Wright in the end added onlyan additional $1.40 per share. Thesefigures powerfully suggest that the whole,protracted dispute, played out in thecourts of two countries, on special trainsand in hotel lobby scuffles, was anotherone of the many hoaxes perpetrated inthose years on the gullible British byunscrupulous American mine owners.7

To celebrate the return of the mineto British ownership the Canadians inRossland mounted an extravagantbanquet at the Allen Hotel at which Lt.Governor Mclntosh was guest of honour.Menus with his portrait engraved uponthem sold for $2.50 and the partying went on untilnine in the morning. Coming out into the crispNovember dawn two of the tipsy merrymakerschallenged each other to a horse race. Two milkwagons were commandeered and raced madly downthe length of Columbia Avenue, milk cans scatteringto the gutters. Those celebrants still able to stand,passed the hat to reimburse the dairies for the lostmilk.

With that final agreement and sale, the B.A.C.got full control of the mine and the Northport smelter,but the scandalous look of the affair generated hostilecomment in London. Whittaker Wright’s companiesnow began to look dubious to investors. Wright,however, countered this with a further manipulation.Having bought the Le Roi and the smelter for$4,000,000 he set up a new company, the Le RoiMining Company and had the B.A.C. sell the mineand smelter to it for $4,750,000. Thus he made a quickprofit for the B.A.C., which restored the value of itsfalling shares and the confidence of nervous investors.He then issued 200,000 shares in the new Le RoiMining Company. London investors, still mesmerizedby the Le Roi name, bought up all 200,000 shares at$25 each in just three days. With the $4.5 million thusraised, the Le Roi Mining Company paid the B.A. C.for the mine and smelter. This left the new companywith but $250,000 in its treasury with which to deepen

the mine and search for new pockets of ore.Experienced mining men thought that was

insufficient to undertake a substantial explorationprogram and to make needed improvements at thesmelter. With a shortage of working capital and itsLondon investors demanding dividends at once, therewas but one way operations could proceed: labourcosts would have to be cut.

For that unwelcome task Wright picked a newand tough manager for the Le Roi. This was the formeranti-union thug, Bernard McDonald, who had workedwith Wright twenty years before in Wright’s NewMexico mines.8 Once in Rossland, McDonald wasobliged to report the shattering news to WhittakerWright that the Le Roi was actually operating at a loss.In 1899 the ore coming out of the Le Roi was netting$12.50 per ton, but mining costs were running $15.00per ton. With this loss the mine could pay nodividends at all.

At the same time similar discoveries werecoming to light in Wright’s West Australian mines. Abear attack on his stocks began in London. Furiousinvestors finding themselves to have been duped byWhittaker Wright’s mines, lobbied the Britishparliament for redress. An official investigation ofWrights’ mining empire began.

In Spokane, the Colonels congratulatedthemselves on having sold their mine just when it

Le Roi mine at the time ofsale. The power house andthe hoist house areshown.BC Archives I-55860


The Rossland Museum has a tour of a restoredsection of the Le Roi gold minewhich last operatedin 1929.

The men that worked the Rossland area mineslaboriously drilled, blasted and hand mucked theeighty miles (128 km) of underground workings insearch for ore that averaged 0.5 ounces per ton in gold,1% copper and 0.6 ounces per ton of silver.

The mine tour follows the spacious mainhaulage way eight hundred feet into Red Mountainto its intersection with the Le Roi shaft three hundredfeet below the surface. At this point the shaft extendsdown fifteen levels below you. The tour then moveson into an underground hoist room and follows thetwists and turns of the narrow exploration drifts.

Participants will see the overhead andunderhand stopes where the ore bodies have beenmined out. There are veins and dykes and a faultplane where in prehistoric time the rock has slipped- the movement which causes earthquakes. Ondisplay throughout the mine are displays of drills andother mining tools and a display depicting how blasthole patterns were drilled to advance the face of adrift.

Next time you’re in Rossland check out thisinfamous mine. •

was going barren. All of them built mansions forthemselves and invested the money from the sale oftheir stock in Spokane real estate. Col. Peyton builtthe Peyton Block, George Turner built the ColumbiaBuilding, Major Armstrong and L.F. Williams boughtthe Hyde block.

Some of them invested their proceeds in otherB.C. mines, notably the St Eugene at Moyie Lake.Perhaps the game could be played again. Col. Ridpathand Judge Turner bought the Sullivan Mine atKimberley and planned a smelter there.

On the other side of the world Whittaker Wrightwent on trial in London for frauds unrelated to theLe Roi affair. He was found guilty and sentenced toseven years imprisonment. He did not, however, goto jail. Immediately after the sentence was read hespoke to his lawyers, then stepped into a side room

and swallowed a capsule of cyanide. Returning, hecollapsed on the floor and died; a loaded revolverwas found in his pocket. The Rossland papermourned his passing; he may have been a charlatanbut he had been instrumental in the Canadianizationof Rossland.

Lt. Governor McIntosh remained in Rosslandfor some years in a mansion the B.A.C. built for himin its locked and fenced compound above the NickelPlate mine, though the fiercely anti-union BernardMcDonald seems to have made policy for the localoperations. On retirement, Mclntosh and his wifebought Halcyon Hot Springs on Upper Arrow Lakeand built a spa and hotel there. From Halcyon theyshipped its bottled lithia water back to Britain. It waspresumed to have a calming effect on the nerves ofinvestors who had lost heavily in B.C. mines. •

Le Roi Mine Tour

Map of the mine site courtesyof Rossland Mining Museum


Yvonne Klan passed away in 2004her partner Peter Trower haskindly contributed thisrememberance of her for BritishColumbia History.

From Peter Trower:

I am trying to catalogue Yvonne’svoluminous research paperswhich Simon Fraser University isinterested in acquiring. It is aformidable task but I undertakeit gladly. The papers will be ofgreat help to teachers andstudents of B.C. history.

The enclosed story and poemresulted from the last [BritishColumbia Historical Federation]conference we were able toattend, at Prince George in 2003.It is a companion piece to thearticle on James Murray Yale,published in BCHN a few yearsback.

Yvonne had always intended towrite a full-length biographyofYale but sadly that project willnever see the light of day now.

I should mention that I havesubmitted a manuscript to NewStar Books who publishedYvonne’s book of pioneer poemsThe Old Red Shirt last year. Itwas very well received and gaveYvonne a much-needed moraleboost in her final months.

The new book is entitled Beatingthe Bushes of History andconsists of Yvonne’s uncollectedwork plus several stories weeither co-wrote or worked ontogether. With any luck this bookshould be out in the fall.

James Murray Yale’s career as a fur trader got offto a shaky start. In 1815, Yale, thenseventeen,became an apprentice with theHudson’s Bay Company (HBC) It was a timewhen that Company was embarking on its

Athabaska Campaign - an aggressive attempt to wresta share of the lucrative Athabasca -Peace River- NewCaledonia trade from the powerful North WestCompany (NWC). Brother fought against brother;former colleagues were pitted against each other. Inthe brutal winter of 1815-16, 16 HBC men succumbedto the NWC’s starvation system. Yale narrowlyescaped the same fate and later survived a NWC plotto have him murdered. Hostilities ceased in 1821when the two companies, realizing that thecompetition was ruinous in terms of money and men’slives, amalgamated under the banner of the HBC.

In the summer of 1821, an HBC brigade of sixcanoes, sixteen men and four officers including Yale,entered New Caledonia peacefully. With theamalgamation John Stuart, formerly a NWC partner,was made Chief Factor and assigned to take chargeof this territory. No one was better qualified. Stuarthad been trading along the Peace River as early as1802, had been Simon Fraser’s staunch lieutenantduring the establishment of New Caledonia and hadmanaged the territory’s affairs for many years. Stuarthad ruthlessly opposed the HBC during theAthabasca Campaign and had been complicit in theplot to have Yale murdered. Now Yale was obliged towork under his former enemy.

Yale’s first assignment in New Caledonia wasto take charge of Chala-oo-chick. The Norwesters hadbuilt this post in 1820, when Stuart ordered ClerkGeorge McDougall to “establish at the Forks ofFraser’s River, the natives of that place having beenpromised a Fort these several years past”. Forunknown reasons, McDougall did not build at theForks as instructed but at a site some distance west ofthere known to the natives as Chala-oo-chick. (Itshould be noted that the post built by Simon Fraserat the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers“was temporarily established in 1807 for theconvenience of building rafts to explore Fraser’sRiver... . It was abandoned in 1808...” Dr. W.K. Lamb,who edited Fraser’s letters and journals, uses theexpediency of calling the location “Fort George” as itlater became known. )

Chala-oo-chick prospered until Stuart sentMcDougall downriver in 1821 to establish FortAlexandria. He assigned a man named Thomas

Hodgson to take McDougall’s place. Hodgson wasevidently unfitted for the job and the post’s fortunesrapidly declined. Stuart was compelled to recall himand, with some misgivings, sent Yale to manageChala-oo-chick.

Stuarts’s misgivings arose not from his formerclashes with Yale but from his appearance. Yale wasshort and slightly built with a boyish face that madehim appear much younger than his twenty-threeyears. Could he command the respect of the Nativeswith whom he had to dea? Stuart hit on an ingenioussolution. When reassigning Hodgson, he ordered himto introduce Yale as “my son”.

Yale arrived at Chala-oo-chick November 7,1821 and wrote Stuart: “On the interpreter telling theIndians I was your son, they appeared much pleasedand declared that I resembled you very much.”

It didn’t take long for Yale to discover that thepost’s decline was due to Hodgson’s fondness forliquor. He wrote in part:

...giving it to the men and Indians and getting intoxicateda number of times himself. In one of his frolliks he lostthe key of the Store Door, got out of patience and brokeopen the door in the presence of all the Indians. On thoserejoicing days he was very extravagant with theammunition, giving it away gratis to the Indians merely tomake them fire at nothing...

By the end of 1821 the post at Chala-oo-chickhad been renamed Fort George. No reason for thechange has come to light; possibly Stuart chose thename to honour Governor George Simpson.

Yale’s trade during the winter 1821-1822 wasdisappointing. By spring, however, it picked up a bitand Yale was able to report that the Natives had, atlong last, begun to work. Stuart replied that:

the Indians are more to be pitied than blamed, fordisease has been prevelant among that much exertion couldnot be expected from them ... you may assure those ofFort George that if they do not work so as to deserve apost, theirs will be abandoned. I am fully determined tohave no Establishment that either cannot or will notmaintain itself...

In the spring of 1822 Stuart led a brigade to theColumbia to fetch supplies for New Caledonia.Enroute he stopped at Chala-oo-chick/Fort Georgeand instructed Yale to move the present post to theforks of the Nechako/Fraser Rivers - the site ofpresent- day Prince George. Yale’s progress was slowand by late August he could report only:

I am really sorry to say it was impossible, situated as Ihave been, to build at the Forks. I have, however, got the

CHALA-00-CHICKThe First Fort George Peter Trower & Yvonne Klan


wood for a house squared and a spot for a Fort partlycleared.

Stuart received Yale’s reports as he journeyedup the Fraser from the Columbia. His responsesindicate that his confidence in Yale was eroding.

... I did not imagine much could be done in the way ofbuilding, but I am sorry that means could not have beenfound to remove to the point of the Forks, as manyadvantages would be derived from it, and I am still moresorry any difference should exist between you and theIndians... We will breakfast tomorrow at the point of theForks, where if convenient, I would be happy to see you soas to determine whether the outfit or brought to thepresent establishment...

Yale’s correspondence with Stuart reveals hewas, indeed, having trouble with the Natives. Stuart’sletters are full of advice. In September 1822 hereminded Yale that “affability to all, added to a littlekindness and attention to the most deserving, will goa great way to gaining good will... “ In October Stuartreminded Yale that “...it was an advantage to beknown among the Indians as my Son and if on someoccasions you have lost ground, it is not yet too lateto retrieve it...” If Yale passed a winter with anexperienced trader Stuart opined, he would find that“to form a Trader there is a certain Jen e sai qua (sic)that goes further towards gaining the confidence ofIndians than either goods or words.”

Yale acknowledged his shortcomings, “anumber of which I have not experience enough to beaware of “ and asked Stuart to “accept of my sincerethanks for the good examples you have been pleasedto point out to me.”

To add to Yale’s troubles, relocating his fort tothe junction of the Nechako Rivers was proceedingwoefully slowly. Not until January, 1823 was he ableto tell Stuart that his men had “erected a store at theForks 23 ft by 17 in breadth, and the work appears tobe well done.”

Stuart urged him on:

It is... to your credit to have got a store built at the at thepoint of the Forks, you can remove at any time you thinkproper and when once the property is secured, a lodging issoon provided.

However by April, Yale had still not relocated.Stuart was unable to hide his impatience and heinstructed:

The first thing that will occupy your attention will be toget the whole of the property remaining at the presentestablishment removed to the point of the Forks when astore is built and then erect the necessary buildingsrequired. •

THE QUEST FOR CHALA-00-CHICKIn loving memory of Yvonne Klan

Ont that last sun-stmng morning we drive westthrough colourless unpeopled country

time traveling happily once again in search of another historic milestone

Chala-oo-chick, forgotten fur-trading post that predated Fort George by two years Yvonne, ever the insatiable researcher

had learned of the place from obscure untapped journals

Veering north, we reach the private land we have to cross -Fernie, the owner welcomes us with coffee -knocking ninety still active and clear-headed

regaling us with tales from his wild Prince George youth

Then he leads us past his barn hung with deer skullsacross an unmowed field to the trail mouthdown the rough path to the railroad tracks -

”Don’t miss the raven’s nest!” he urges

Sure enough, halfway over the trestle we hear impatient cheeping sounds -

through the cross-beams we spot the nestand three wide-open red mouths squalling lustily

The parents circle the nearby treetops worriedly -we continue on our way - -

scramble down a steep bank from the tracksand stumble off through the underbrush towards the site

Here at the confluence of the Nechako and Chilako Rivers long-vanished Chala-oo-chick once sat -

not a trace remains of it nowonly two weed-choked native food-pits from some later time

The entire area is a tangled gnaw-millof beaver-toppled logging slash

those buck-toothed industrious once-endangered rodents have gladly reclaimed their ancestral territory.

Peter Trower October 19, 2004.


Between the floorboards, water glistens farbelow; air flows freely through the high,vented ceilings. It’s a naturally refrigeratedbuilding, cold even on the hottest summer

day. The machines stand silent as footsteps echothrough the empty site. There are fish scales on theceiling and on the walls but absent, is the stinkingodour of fish. This is the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, builtin 1894, the last vestige of Steveston’s once activecannery row.

Across town, on Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, theGold Seal Cannery, this one noisy and active wherefish and cans fly past too fast for the eye to see.

Both of these canneries still have a uniquemachine, invented over one hundred years ago byCanadian, Edmund Augustine Smith.

In the entrance to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery,there is a machine on loan from the Glenbow Museumin Calgary Alberta. The attached brass plate clearlyshows the name:

The Iron Chink - Model G.Patented Feb 7 1905 April 3 1906 Nov 6 1906

Dec 10 1907 May 18 1909 Oct 2 1917 July 14 1925May 8 1929 Mar 20 1937

Smith Cannery Machines CoVictoria BC

This is a ”Do Not Touch” museum piece. Whileon the canning line they exhibit another Iron Chink,this one pieced together from a variety of machines.At the Gold Seal Cannery, three carefully maintainedIron Chinks or Smith Butcher Machines are still hardat work, essentially the same as the Gulf and Georgia’sthey do have some modifications such as, extra safetyguards and additional computer controls.

E.A. Smith, born in 1878 in London, Ontario,was a large, intelligent, inventive man who lovedpractical jokes. His parents were farmers and movedto British Columbia when Smith was young. Hestarted working life as a teen-age cook, at one timerunning a cookhouse in Cascade, B.C. Moving aroundin search of work was common in those economictimes and he moved to the Puget Sound area in 1898,where he joined with several businessmen in startingthe Harper Brick and Tile Company at Harper inKitsap County, Washington. Besides bricklaying andterracotta pressing, Smith toyed with the idea ofmaking reinforced concrete pilings to replace thewooden ones rotting in salt water but eventuallyabandoned this idea.

Selling his shares in the brick company in 1900,he invested in the Alaska Fishermen’s Union, which

had a cannery at Chilcat, Alaska. Despite the salmonruns being very good, he was disconcerted to discoverhis investment did not pay off due to labourproblems. He was told the butcher crews could notclean the fish fast enough to earn a profit.

The problem was increased mechization of thecanning line. Automation first came to the canneriesin the form of more efficient can making systems atthe end of the 1800s. Machines took over the canningprocess incrementally with steam closing machines,can fillers, steam cookers (retorts) and conveyorswhich sped up the whole process of putting fish intotins, though no one believed a machine could everwork as efficiently or economically as the Chinesebutcher crews. But as the speed of the line increasedthese human butchers could not keep up. Gangs ofthirty men had to process 1500 to 2000 fish in timespans of ten hours and more. Quality slipped, as themen grew weary.

The mechanization of fish butchering, usinglimited numbers of men to run and supply themachines with fish, was a challenge many at that timewere trying to solve. Butcher machines were patentedin Sweden, Britain and North America and between1856 and 1905, twenty-one patents were granted inNorth America alone. However, early machines werebulky and very long requiring large areas of floorspace. Plus speed seemed to equate with waste.

Smith now lived in Seattle, where he had a 10 x12 workshop on a back lane and a company calledSmith Manufacturing. He took up the challenge to

Smith’s Iron ChinkOne Hundred Years of the Mechanical Fish Butcher Jo Scott B

Side view of the IronChink in a Richmond, BCcanneryBC Archives E-05035

Jo Scott B has beenresearching andcompiling informationon cannery machinesfor an upcoming book.

She was inspired bythe builder’s platesfound at the Gulf andGeorgia Cannery inRichmond BC.

She is an artist whosesubject matterfrequently involvesthe history andheritage of BC.

If you haveinformation you’d liketo share pleasecontact her [email protected]


invent a butcher machine. He worked unsuccessfullyfor eight months, finally, $60,000 in debt, he admitteddefeat to his wife and decided to get a job to repay allthe money. That night he awoke with a flash ofinspiration. His daughter recalls that at 3:00 a.m. therewas no transportation available and he ran all the wayto his workshop where he remained for ten days andnights emerging at last, wreathed in smiles.

Borrowing more money, he headed toWashington D.C. to register the patent for his “IronChink” machine. This name is written in the firstpatent and it stuck. In later years, the patented namechanged to “Smith Butcher Machine” but “IronChink” was used on the manufacturer’s plates on allmachines for many, many years.

At a cannery in Fairhaven, Washington, Smithpersuaded friends to test the new machine. Hisinvention was in need of constant repair so Smithmoved into the plant with the machine, sleeping in acanvas chair, keeping it operational and learninghands on about necessary modifications.

The ingenious feature of Smith’s design wasthat the process of fish butchering was compact andcircular, freeing up valuable floor space for storage.Two men were needed to work with the machine: onewith a band saw to remove the heads, the other witha rotary knife to remove the tails, then to feed thebodies into the machine. This did mean more labourthan required by other early butchering machines butit avoided the wastage the others generated.

Smith persevered, tackling wastage andmaintenance. Reliable machines were essential tocanneries, which could not afford down time duringpeak processing. His small workshop expanded intoa manufacturing plant at First Avenue and Stacy. (Thisplant was demolished in the 1960s to make way forparking expansion for Sears Roebuck.)In 1904, hedeveloped a new, smaller, more efficient model andthis version was patented on August 8, 1905.

The Smith Butchering machine was suited forthe salmon canning industry in British Columbia andWashington State since it was originally designed tofit sockeye and pink salmon, which were found inabundance in this area, but the early models couldnot clean the larger Chinook salmon.

An article in a 1906 Pacific Fisherman quotesSmith as saying: “ If you want an exemplary instanceof the success of the machine I have but to cite thework done by them at the Pacific American Fisheriescannery at Bellingham. This is the largest salmoncanning plant in the world and they operated in the

past season seven lines of machinery. The two [IronChinks] they had in use there supplied the seven linesof machinery which packed an average of 9,000 cansof sockeye salmon a day and two or three days ranover the 10,000 mark.”

Not only speed but waste was cut: an averageof one to one and a half fish per case. This went along way towards payment for a cannery‘sinvestment.

In August 1906, the Smith Cannery MachinesCompany moved to its modern, well-equippedfactory on the Seattle tide flats at 2416 Utah Street;built in anticipation of the company’s growth. As soonas they were settled, they proceeded to remodel andimprove the 1906 machine despite cannery menbelieving this machine to be ultra efficient. At greatcost, patterns, jigs and templates were discarded. Itmeant constant study, continual endeavour and anadded investment of over $65,000.

It was a fixed policy of the company to turn outthe best and most perfect machine possible,irrespective of cost. To the cannerymen’s benefit , aportion of proceeds from all sales was reinvested indevelopment and research.

Smith, a personable man listened carefully toeveryone in the fish industry, paying close attentionto suggestions and criticisms. Thanks to this designinput newer models continued to evolve and by 1907the Smith machine cleaned the whole fishautomatically, making it superior to any othercompetitor.

The 1908 Iron Chink was described in the 1907edition of the Pacific Fisherman as “The Perfect FishCleaning Machine.” It continued to have the samemethod of operation but was of different constructionwith several innovations. The automatic heading andtailing was now placed on the machine, taking thefish as it arrived from the water and putting it throughan entire cleaning operation, meaning both the‘sliming’ and butcher gangs were eliminated. Plus,the machine was reduced in size but not production,it could provide fish for two or even three canning lines.

The Model G manual foreword reads asfollows:

The Model G Iron Chink is rapidly replacing the older modelsand since there are radical differences in design andconsequently differences in adjustment it is felt that somesimple instructions would be of value.

While there are many points in the instructions that arefamiliar to the large number of experienced Iron Chinkoperators it has been found that in many cases the machine


has not been producing its best work through lack offamiliarity with the changes in design. Again where themachine has produced work as good as the older modelsthe operators have felt that the machine was doing allthat could be expected of it and consequently made noeffort to improve its operation. The Model G when carefullyadjusted and kept in perfect condition is capable ofproducing work far in advance of the older models.”

SET UPIn setting up the machine, choose a location preferablyover a cap or as near to one as possible….It is advisable toplace header between joists to aid in reducing vibrationto a minimum.

Avoid a location in the center of a bent. The machine isinvariably set up in advance of the canning season whenno fish are on the floor or in the bins. A machine lined upat this time will be found to be out of line considerablywhen the fish house is full.

Instances have been noted where the vertical shaft hasbeen found out of line two inches due to subsequentsettling of the fish house floor. This misalignment is, ofcourse, the cause of burnt out bearings, excessive wear onthe gear teeth, and a hard running machine generally.”

Another short quote illustrates the dangers ofthe job:

AUTOMATIC FEED

The automatic feed has been designed with two main pointsin view: Safety to the operatorA more positive cut and consequent reduction of waste...Many feeders accomplish excellent results …but they aremen of experience; they must keep their eyes at all timesupon the knife and they are constantly subject to thedanger of accident to hands and arms from the knife.

In January,1902 Smith entered into anagreement with three partners, which proves hisinterest in developing an automatic weighingmachine was long standing. (A document at theMuseum of History and Industry -Seattle, WA.)

The agreement reads as follows:

“Between E.A. Smith of Seattle, Washington, to behereafter known as the party of the first part, and F.EBarlow, B.R. Brierly and John Wallace, to be hereafterknown as the party of the second part.

Iron Chink beheadingsalmonBC Archives E-050536


The party of the first part hereby agrees to spend his timein the perfection of a certain automatic weighing machine;a machine for removing fins from fish; and a machine forthe gutting of fish; when so perfected is to secure a patenton same, if possible, both in the United States and Canada.The parties of the second part hereby agree to furnish allnecessary money for the expense connected therewith,together with the sum of Ten ($10.00) Dollars per weekfor the services of the said party of the first part.

In consideration of the above, and the sum of One Hundredand Fifty ($150.00) Dollars, receipt whereof is herebyacknowledged. The said party of the first part herebyagrees to assign to the said party of the second part, afterthe patents have been obtained, as above set forth, a threequarter (3/4) interest in said weighing machine, and a onehalf (1/2) interest in each of the other two machines.

When patent on each has been secured and the properassignments made by the party of the first part to theparties of the second part, this agreement shall beconsidered at an end.

WITNESS our hands this 9th day of January, A.D. 1902(The four signatures are here affixed)

Smith continued to invent machines for fishcanning. He did develop an automatic weighingmachine, which proved more complicated than heanticipated and took time to perfect, finally beingproduced after his death with the help of E.H. Waugh.It proved its worth and was used extensively forsalmon, meat, fruit and vegetable canning.

By 1909, Smith had money and his butchermachines were in canneries all along the coast. To hisdelight, the Iron Chink was to be shown at the YukonAlaska Seattle Fair. Determined not to miss any partof this exhibit, Smith took his sister with him for theopening on June 1, 1909. They spent two happy daysthere. Driving home, his car hit a rock and burst intoflames. In saving his sister, Smith was badly burnedand died two days later.

An extensive collection of Smith’s originaldrawings is stored at the Seattle Museum of Historyand Industry.

The company Smith started continues to makemarine hardware and salmon processing equipment,doing business as Smith Berger Marine Inc. at 791510th Avenue South, Seattle WA. •


Token HistoryRonald Greene

The Fernridge Lumber Company, Limitedwas formed in July 1909 to take over theoperations of Charles William Tait andClarence Hunter DeBeck who were carrying

on business as the Dominion Shingle & LumberManufacturing Company. Dominion had a shinglemill in Surrey, buildings at Brownsville, a sawmill atFern Ridge, and a shingle mill at Aldergrove.1 Therewas also a new mill planned for Langley. In additionto Tait and DeBeck, there wereseveral other subscribers inFernridge; Edward A. Grant, J.Stilwell Clute, George Martin,Thomas S. Annandale,2 and onename which was undecipherable.All were reported as “of NewWestminster.” Tait remained themajority shareholder, but later T. F.and W.T. Paterson became largeshareholders, holding about onethird of the shares between them.3

E.K. “Ned” DeBeck, who was Clerkof the Legislature for many years, was anephew of C.H. DeBeck.4 He said thatC.W. Tait was a son-in-law of C.H.DeBeck. Clarence DeBeck was one oftwelve children, eight of whom hadcome to British Columbia with theirparents, c. 1866-1867.

The Fern Ridge mill togetherwith several million feet of lumber inthe yard of the Fernridge LumberCompany, Limited was destroyed byfire in early August 1914. Hadeconomic conditions been better thecompany might have overcome the loss andcontinued on after the fire, but construction had beencut back significantly during the depression thatstruck British Columbia in 1912 and the start of WorldWar I had further complicated the situation. Thefinancial statement of November 30th, 1914 showeda deficit of $113, 155.92.5 On December 29, 1914, thecompany made an assignment for creditors. Theassignee reported to the Registrar that all his “effortshad been centred in getting the various mills free fromthe creditors, and this is being accomplished byleasing the properties, and paying the rentals to thepreferred creditors. We also have the Aldergrove millfree, and trust to have the Rosedale one free withinthe next few months.”6

An itinerant traveller who ran ads in small

towns buying old gold, jewellery and coins, NickLammle, acquired a match box full of the time checks,some twenty or so, about 1968 from an former loggerwhose name he did not disclose. The logger also hada $1.00 token. Mr. Lammle later interviewed J.L.Vaughan, son of an original homesteader in the FernRidge area.7 Mr. Vaughan told him that their originalhomestead was contracted out to the lumber companyto take the timber and the mill was built on a creek

behind their home, on what laterbecame 24th Avenue. The companyrecords include a number of loansfrom the Bank of Montreal to pay forcontracts in which the companypurchased all the marketable timberon specific properties.

Mr. Vaughan recalledthe immense heat from the fire. Thefamily lost their home and barn inthe fire. He said that there had beenother denominations of tokens, butall that was found after the fire had

destroyed the mill was a ballof molten aluminum. Thebrass time checks that we haveseen show evidence of havingbeen through a fire. No tokensof other denominations haveturned up in the interveningthirty-six years. The obverse ofthe $1.00 token illustrated hasbeen countermarked with aletter “N” for reasons unknownto the writer.

The company timechecks are labeled “Jap,” “Hindu,” and the repugnant“Chink”. The time check for the white employees wasnot identified as such. The open racial discriminationshown by the time checks does not meet currentsensitivities, but was the prevailing situation a centuryago. There were many biases against Asian workers.Another company, the Fraser River Lumber Company(Fraser Mills) brought out French Canadians to workat their mill. The French Canadians were reported as“active, steady and of good habits. … The managerof this company said recently, ‘Our experience withAsiatic labor has been far from satisfactory. Asindividuals, men of those races can not perform theirwork as efficiently as a white man. Recently we hiredtwenty-six Greeks at $2 a day. This is double the wagepaid Hindus,8 but they do twice as much work.’”9 The

Fernridge Lumber Company, Limited of New Westminster, B.C.

1 Registrar of Companies,GR1438, QE2529 (1897) microfilmB4430, Archives of BritishColumbia. The file includes theagreement between thecompany, Fernridge LumberCompany, Limited, and Tait andDeBeck to take over theDominion Shingle & LumberManufacturing Company. TheSurrey mill was located onSection 22, block 5, North Range

2 Together with shingles, bolts,logs, lumber machinery, tools,timber lease and agreements,etc., buildings at Brownsville, asawmill at Fernridge [sic] alsowith shingles, bolts, logs, lumber,machinery, tools, etc., and anagreement with Wm J. Malcolmfor a new mill to be erected onthe North West quarter of section14 in the Township of Langley.According to the 1910 BritishColumbia Directory, Fern Ridgewas a post office and station onthe Great Northern Railway in themunicipality of Langley, 2 milesfrom Hazelmere, and eight milesfrom White Rock. Brownsvillehad been renamed “SouthWestminster” and was in Surreyacross the Fraser River from NewWestminster. Aldergrove was 23miles east of New Westminsterand eight miles west ofAbbotsford.

3 Annandale was a prominentgrocer in New Westminster andmayor from 1923 to 1926. (perDr. Patricia Roy)

4 QE2529, folio 85, dated 1916 Interview with E.K. DeBeck,April 7, 1969.

5 QE2529, folio 86

6 QE2529, folio 92

7 Mr. Lammle wrote a longletter to Roger Newberry, towhom he provided a couple ofsets of the employee or timechecks. Roger passed the letterto me.

8 The people from India weregenerally called Hindus (orHindoos) at the time, althoughthey were most likely to be Sikhs


companies that provided housing to their workmenalways kept the racial groups housed separately.

According to Lammle’s source (who was notspecified, it could have been either Vaughan or theunnamed logger) the time checks were handed to theworkers in the morning. The checks were pierced sothat they could be worn on a string around the neck.Each night they were turned in and the worker wascredited with his day’s wages. The source stated 75cents was the day’s wage, which presumably was forthe Asian labourers. Also, if a time check did not getturned in the company assumed that the workmanhad met with an accident or had a problem and theywould search for the him. The Asians (Chinese,Japanese or “Hindus”, i.e. East Indians) were notallowed to work around the machinery in the mill.10

The loggers were mostly Swedes and Finns and theywould not work with the Asians. Thus the Asianswere restricted to piling lumber, building roads andrailway lines, working on the log boom or feedingthe mill with logs. They were also paid in thealuminum tokens which would be only good in tradeat the company store. This was a practice common inthe United States, but rare in British Columbia as itwas prone to abuse, workmen being charged higherprices and kept in debt to the company.

These time checks are uniface, incuse and verydark from the effects of fire. Consequently they donot scan or photograph very well. Rubbings (as above)provide the best images. The $1.00 token is aluminum,39 mm in diameter. •

9 Moyie Leader, May 15, 1909,p. 1

10 The Chinese originally werebrought into the country to buildthe railway because they wouldwork for lower wages. Discardedwhen the railway was completedthey were willing and had towork at a lower wage thanwhites in order to survive. Theyand other Asians were in a Catch22 position. The whitescomplained about their inabilityto speak English, but wouldn’tlet them or their children attendschool to learn the language.The white unions complainedabout them working for lowerwages but wouldn’t let them intothe unions.


The Moti PrizeLocal History Writng Competion for Elementary Students

The winner of this year’s Moti prize isSamantha Hansen of Philip Sheffield, inAbbotsford. Thanks to Mr D.J. Langton the Grade5/6 teacher for submitting Samantha’s story.

The Candy Bar Protest of 1947

On May 1st, 1947, a protest was held inAbbotsford, British Columbia because chocolate barprices were raised from five cents to eight cents. Twogirls in grade seven protested because of the threecent difference in the price. It may not seem like a lotof money, but if it happened today it would be likeraising a chocolate bar price to a dollar. Children werevery angry because most of them only received fivecents for an allowance, and now chocolate bars wereeight cents a bar.

The protest wasn’t large at first, there was onlytwo girls involved. They wanted more people to jointhe protest, so they walked past Philip Sheffield toAbby Elementary and tried to get more children tojoin in. Children still didn’t join in, so the grade sevengirls bribed the younger children by telling them thatthe people would give them free candy if theyprotested. All the younger children got excited aboutthat and joined the protest.

As they were protesting, a news reporter toldthem that he was going to write about their protest inthe newspaper. The protesters smiled proudly andheld up their signs high. The news reporter took theirpicture for the newspaper.

Later, police arrived and made all the childrengo home. Most of them got in trouble. They did notachieve what they were protesting for. Six days afterthe protest the reporter wrote a very negative report.

The Reporter’s ViewsThe protest seemed productive to some people,

but others thought that it was a waste of time. Thesecynics believed children should not be able to protest.That’s what a news reporter who wrote for the Sumas,Mission and Abbotsford newspaper thought. Hecovered only the negative things that the protestersdid. The reporter stated:

The protest was very disrespectful because the childrenwrote on theatre walls about not buying eight cent bars,protester put posters on a house and went into a storewith signs that said WE WANT 5 CENT CHOCOLATE or DON’TBE A SUCKER AND BUY 8 CENT CHOCOLATE.

The reporter went on to say the store ownerkept telling the children to leave over and over again.

They refused and stood their ground. The store ownercalled the police. They told the protester to leave,eventually everyone left. The two high school studentswere accused of setting a terrible example for theyounger children.

My ViewsLots of adults said the protest was good, others

thought it was bad. The news reporter said negativethings about the protest and added a couple of lies! Ibelieve that some girls were bored so that they starteda protest and lied to convince others to join the protest.(That wasn’t the right thing to do.) A couple of girls,(The girls who started the protest) wrote messageson theatre walls about not buying eight cent chocolatebars. The same girls made a poster for their protestand put it on a house. After a while, all the childrenwent into a corner store and started protesting.

Next, a news reporter came and told them thatthey were going to be in the newspaper! All thechildren got really excited. They smiled and held theirsigns high in the air when the photo for the newspaperwas taken!

The store owner didn’t want protesters in hisstore, so he told the children protesting to leave. Thechildren stood their ground, so the store owner calledthe police. The police found out about other things theydid (the poster on the house and writing on theatrewalls) and they got in trouble for that. The first timethe police told them to leave, a couple of children did,but most of the protesters stayed. Eventually thougheveryone left. They all got in trouble.

I think they should have been given the threecent decrease, they only didn’t because they werechildren. They have rights too, correct?

ConclusionThis history was to inform you of a chocolate

bar protest which happened in Abbotsford, BC.Students from Philip Sheffield and AbbotsfordElementary joined forces in 1947 to protest a three centrise in the price of chocolate bars. I examined the truestory of the protest, covered the reporter’s views, andended with what I thought really happened. It waspretty neat that in 1947 there was a chocolate barprotest that children created (not adults).

It is my opinion that the children have a rightto have any type of protest they want. They may havegone too far on what they did, but the reportercriticized them too much. •

Moti our mascot c.1920sEditor’s collection

This is the first ofour new annualcompetition forelementary studentswriting on localhistory.

The rules are simple:the competition isopen to elementaryschool students in BC;the submissions mustbe on local history;the editor of thisjournal is the judge;entries must besubmitted by May 1stof each year; and thewinner may bepublished in BritishColumbia History.

The prize will be small- $50 to the winnerand a subscription toBC History for theschool library.


Healing in the Wilderness; a history of theUnited Church Mission Hospitals.Bob Burroughs. Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 2004.240 p., illus. $26.95 paperback.

This is a well researched factualhistory of the mission hospitals of the UnitedChurch of Canada, its forerunner churchesand of the doctors and nurses who staffedthe hospitals. People from many walks of

Book Reviews Books for review and book reviews should be sent to:Anne Yandle, Book Review Editor BC Historical News,

3450 West 20th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6S 1E4

Deadly Innocent; Tragedy on the Trail to Gold.Bill Gallaher, Victoria, TouchWood Editions, 2004. 231 p.$18.95 paperback.

In a further exploration of hisincreasingly effective ‘creative non-fiction’technique, Bill Gallaher transports us onceagain back to 1862, the year that was such anexus in British Columbia’s history.

From contemporary newspaperaccounts and other historic sources Gallaherhas drawn one of the grimmest and mostbizarre occurrences of the great goldrushtrek to the Cariboo. Deadly Innocentrecounts the fate of the Rennie brothers,three optimistic young Ontario city dwellerswho set out, with little wildernessexperience, to find the B.C. goldfields andseek their fortunes there.

From the opening pages, thecharacters spring quickly and vividly to life:the Rennies themselves, three likeableinnocents, the more mature but quiteambivalent John Helstone and theirrepressible priest Father Albert Lacombe.During the beginning phase of the brothers’expedition we are given a fascinating lookat the personality and style of Lacombe, amajor player in the history of the Canadianwest. When Lacombe’s route diverges fromtheirs, however, the Rennies beginrepeatedly to encounter the consequencesof their own lack of wilderness experience.

As in the author’s previous books,we gain an almost virtual-reality view (andsound and smell) of the rough little pocketsof ‘civilization’ in which travellers foundinfrequent shelter during the long gruellinghaul across the emptiness of mid-nineteenth-century North America.Especially interesting is the crucial incidentthat takes place at Fort George, the Hudson’sBay Company post that was managed, inthe winter of 1862-63, by Thomas Charles.Arriving there, starved, exhausted andfrostbitten, two of the Rennie brothers meetwith a less than hospitable welcome in thetautly-run, meagrely stocked fort. Gallaherderives his harsh depiction of this post froman 1863 Victoria British Colonist article thatdescribed Thomas Charles’ treatment of theRennie survivors as “a gross case of

inhumanity”.The mounting toll of hardships that

befall the adventurers is grim enough. But,as early as on page 2, Gallaher quotes aforeshadowing voice - at first we are not sureof this character’s identity - that alerts us toexpect a climax far stranger and more grislythan mere privation or mishap. Faced withdisastrously severe winter conditions in theB.C. mountains, the expedition’s moraleplummets and dangerous weaknesses ofcharacter begin to reveal themselves. Atcritical moments during his narrative ofthese events, Gallaher shifts again briefly tothe foreshadowing voice, someone speakingat the very end of the tale, who seems to bebracing us for something really dreadful atthe end.

When I first acquired a copy of DeadlyInnocent late one evening I decided to readjust a page or two, before sleeping. At 2.00a.m. I was still sitting bolt upright, biting myfingernails as the book drew me inexorablytoward its shocking twist-ending. And unlikea thriller by, say, Ruth Rendell, this story isfactual. Its startling conclusion, Gallaher,informs us, is a matter of record in the Victorianewspapers of the day.

Gallaher ’s approach to therediscovery of British Columbia’s past iswonderfully helpful. I find myself asking:why did teachers in my high school andcollege years fail to make B.C. history ascompelling as this?

Philip Teece, a librarian retired from the Greater VictoriaPublic Library, is an eclectic reader when he is not idling

Gold Rush Orphan.Sandy Frances Duncan. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2004.278 p. $10.95 paperback.

Canadians have a fascinating historyfull of captivating rogues and heroes, andtheir tales need telling. Sandy FrancesDuncan does just that in her novel, GoldRush Orphan. Using her grandfather’sjournal as its basis, Duncan relates theordeal of an orphan boy’s 1898 trek to theKlondike. Her grandfather chronicled suchinformation as dates, supplies, weatherconditions, modes of travel, and

misfortunes. Duncan creatively weaves thatinformation into a fictionalized tale thatvividly conveys the hardships andsufferings endured by those making theirway to the goldfields. In the same way, sheincorporates people and situations of the erainto the novel. For example, the brutalityand lawlessness of Skagway come to lifethrough Duncan’s portrayals of real-lifecharacters such as Soapy Smith, whosethugs ran the town. (A small “Notes” sectionat the end of the book provides further factsand explanations pertinent to the story.)

Told through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Jeremy Britain, Duncan presents aunique view of this historic quest for bullion,especially the sufferings of the sled dogs andpack horses. This story also includes an oftenoverlooked aspect of early life in Canada,the plight of homeless children. Raised in aVictoria orphanage until age eleven, Jeremythen apprentices with a farmer who oftenbeats him. After three years of abuse, he runsaway to Vancouver. There he begs for moneyand often sleeps, cold and hungry, on CarrallStreet. Like other down and outers, Jeremydreams that going to the Klondike will makehim rich. While he does bring back somegold, Jeremy’s real wealth is in thefriendships he makes, in the maturity,confidence and self-esteem that he acquires,and in the realization of a career: he plansto study new mining technologies such as“hydraulicking.”

Young readers will close thisengrossing novel having learned muchabout the day-to-day rigours of the goldrush and Canadian life in the late 1800s.

Sheryl Salloum, a Vancouver writer, is a member of theVancouver Historical Society.


and staffs in the history of Canada and BritishColumbia.

DrV.C. Brink, Professor Emeritus, UBC’s Plant ScienceDeparemt, spent two summers many years ago,workingwith Dr Darby of Bella Bella.

Maria Mahoi of the Islands. Jean Barman.Vancouver, New Star Books/Transmontanus 13, 2004. 104p., illus. $16 paperback.

In her opening scene, the authorstands in an orchard and munches an apple- an ordinary sort of British Columbia scene.But the orchard was planted nearly acentury ago by Maria Mahoi, the subject ofBarman’s book and the culmination of ameandering trail of research.

Maria’s islands were Hawaii, whereher father was born; Vancouver Island,where he came to work in the fur trade, andwhere Maria was born, the daughter of thisman and an Aboriginal woman; PasleyIsland, where she went with her firsthusband, Abel Douglas, a Scots seaman andwhaler; Saltspring Island, where she settledfirst with Douglas, and then with her secondpartner George Fisher; and Russell Island,which was her inheritance and her legacyto her thirteen children.

A question from Maria’s great-grandson, Mel Couvelier, a provincial cabinetminister, sent Barman into the story of Mariaand her circle, an ordinary story with anordinary number of romances, murders,disappearances and endeavours. Barmanoften uses the words “ordinary” and“everyday” to describe Maria, but by the timeshe finishes the story, we know there is nosuch being as an “ordinary woman.” WhileBarman is a masterly story teller and painterof vignettes (such as Maria manoeuvring herlittle sailboat), she is also a social historianadept at drawing out the tangled threads ofour past. And she underscores the irony that,in order to be “respectable”, Maria hid theAboriginal roots which her great-grandsonwould set out to retrieve.

Phyllis Reeve lives on the shore of the Bay named forJohn Silva, who jumped ship with Portuguese Joe Silvey,who was in partnership with Maria and Abel Douglas inthe whaling business, and who is the subject of anotherrecent book by Jean Barman.

No Ordinary Mike; Michael Smith, NobelLaureate.Eric Damer and Caroline Astell. Vancouver, RonsdalePress, 2004. 264 p., illus. $24.95 paperback.

Michael Smith was awarded the 1993Nobel Prize in Chemistry for hisfundamental contributions to the establish-ment of oligonucleotide-based site-directedmutagenesis and its development forprotein studies - or, in the words of UBCPresident Martha C. Piper, “for his researchinto the mysteries of the gene”.

The University of British Columbiaboasts several Nobel laureates among itsalumni - Mundell in Economics, Brockhousein Physics - but these left Vancouver aftergraduation and went elsewhere to do theirresearch. Smith’s own mentor, Har GobindKhorana, moved to Wisconsin in 1961 andwon the Nobel in Medicine in 1968. Smithseems to be the first to have based his careerat UBC, not considered an “elite institution”in the rarefied atmosphere of the Nobelcommunity. This book is not “The DoubleHelix”; neither an adrenalin-chargedaccount of the race for the Prize, nor apenetrating personal biography, although itdoes include as much as we need to knowabout Smith’s private life. It is the story ofhow a poor but charming young geniuscame from northern England to westernCanada, where he made himself into aworld-class scientist, and swept or dragged,his university along with him.

Smith dedicated himself to “pure”science, driven by the curiosity of thescientist and limited only by the ultimatelypossible, not by the lesser constraints of thepractical, the affordable or even the ethical.From the Fisheries Research Boardlaboratory to the Medical Research Council,from university to government and industry,he fought for the resources he required. Hehad to compete for funding with the needsof clinical health care, and while he alwayshoped his findings might facilitate cancerstudies and other applied research, and wasmore than generous in sharing with andcontributing to such inquiry, his basicmotivation derived from his own questions.

He had necessarily to confront the

life and from other religious denominationsshould welcome this objective record ofmedical practice from frontier days to thepresent. The emphasis is on the westernmissions. The author brings under-standingand knowledge to this account. For years hewas captain and minister of a BC coastalmission boat and has served urban and ruralcongregations. He has a doctorate fromUniversity of Toronto’s Victoria College.

Generous use of photographseffectively complements the text. Genderbalance is fair, with nursing and nurses wellrecognized.

With considerable justification inrecent years, media coverage has emphasizedchild abuse and hypocrisy in the missions,but it was prevalent in society too. The mediashould also tell the record of dedication andcompassion. My own associations with thechurch missions from childhood intoadulthood are peripheral and desultory. Aftermy reading I wondered if the media and thegeneral public of today would respond to thebook and understand the nature of thefrontier or “wilderness” environment. BobBurroughs records with fine objectivity casesof compassion and gentleness of missionstaff; I could add many more. There wasunderstanding of the “sub-culture” ofcannery workers, the native women, theChinese labour, the Japanese fishers, railwaymen and pioneering farmers. There was notjust the immediacy of medical treatment, buttrained doctors and nurses who adaptedastonishingly well to new circumstances -learning to single sail Columbia River typefishing boats, visiting salmon canneries,making rounds of the sometime squalidhousing rows, learning to throw diamondand squaw hitches on pack horses.

I recall how well doctors and nursestold us children, mixed native and Caucasian,homilies and stories in mixtures of theChinook trade language, sign language,native and English words - not just biblicalstories but stories about our immediateenvironment.

I know Bob Burroughs’ book will notbe on the NewYork Times best seller list, butI can wish that many will read and appreciatethe important role played by church missions


The Old Red Shirt; Pioneer Poets of BritishColumbia.Yvonne Mearns Klan. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2004.109 p; illus. $16.00 paperback.

Reading The Old Red Shirt: PioneerPoets of British Columbia is like sitting on theback stoop listening to an old timer recounthis most memorable experiences. Humour,hardship, pathos, awe, and frustration aresome of the emotions conveyed in writingsthat portray life in the early days of thisprovince. Selected from previouslypublished and long forgotten creators, thesepoems come from those who toiled to earna living in a rugged land: fur traders,loggers, miners, sealers, fishers, and farmers,to name a few. As one writer noted, theywere “just home-folks, / Canadian pioneers!/ They didn’t know about Freud. / Whenthey had a complex, they got rid/of it. /They didn’t swing on the tail of a / theory”.

Yvonne Mearns Klan does swing onthe theory that these poems are a richhistorical resource. While doing researchover the years, Klan began to take note ofthese gems. Starting with traditionalaboriginal and voyageur songs, she hasstrung them together with detailedbackground information and references. The

dilemmas of our time. When his longtimecolleague David Suzuki warned about thespectre of human genotype manipulationand the abuse of biotechnology for privateprofit, Smith “recognised these concerns butwas committed to the research andapplication of the new science”.

Historian Eric Damer is interested inthe ways in which university research andeducation influence the community, andfrom this perspective explores Smith’smanipulation of academic politics and thedirections in which he turned his attentionafter the Nobel award. His interactions withstudents and colleagues, are represented byco-author, Caroline Astell, who worked withMichael Smith for thirty-five years, as adoctoral student and then as a researchcolleague, and after her retirement fromUBC joined the Genomic Sciences Centre atthe B.C. Cancer Agency. The centre was co-founded in 1999 by Smith and Victor Lingas a tool for cancer research.

The keyword is “tool”. Michael Smith’sachievement, for which he received thehighest recognition, is a tool, a methodology,a way for scientists to do things which theycould not do before. Astell feels that Smith,who died in 2000 at the age of 68, would havebeen proud to know that in 2003 “his”centrewas “the first to report the complete DNAsequence of the SARS coronavirus, allowingscientists around the world to begin devisingdiagnostic tests, methods to control the virus,and even a vaccine.”

Phyllis Reeve worries a lot about biotechnology.

Old Langford; An Illustrated History, 1850 to 1950.Maureen Duffus. Victoria, Town and Gown, 2003. 191 p.,illus., maps. $29.95 paperback. (Available from M aureenDuffus, 139 Atkins Road, Victoria, BC V9B 4W9)

Few would argue that local historiesare important and useful, and that this isespecially true in those instances where theauthor has a long and personal associationwith their subject. In that circumstance, alocal history can both impart informationand create interest, but can also, and this issignificant, leave the reader with a feelingthat they both know and understand the

west of the mountains from Sooke toShawnigan. Most surveyors felt that thepresent path of the Island highway wouldbe impossible and one, A.R. House, in 1877,suggested that “no suitable line” uponwhich to build a wagon road could be found.He, like others proved to be incorrect.

All too often, the effect of two WorldWars and the Great Depression on residentsmay not be included in a local history. Inthis case, in ‘Langford’, they are. Updatingthe story to the present in New Langford,150 years later is also a good feature, andreally serves to highlight the changes.

Maps, photos, material frominterviews and well-chosen excerpts fromprimary sources such as diaries and journalsgive the narrative life and immediacy.

Dave Parker is Municipal Archivist of Esquimalt

subject in a way that is almost ‘comfortableand familiar’: that is rarer than one mightthink. Maureen Duffus, an experiencedresearcher and writer/editor of threeVictoria area histories, has accomplished thisin Old Langford

Stories of individual families providea solid base for a community history andthe obvious starting point in this case is thatof the Edward Edwards Langford familywhich arrived in the colony a mere eightyears after the building of Fort Victoria.Langford travelled to the farthest point inthe ‘empire’ to assume his duties as bailiff,or manager, of the Puget Sound AgriculturalCompany farm – a Hudson’s Bay Companysubsidiary.

The first section of the book includesan account of Langford’s time at the farmhe called “Colwood”, and incorporates adescription of what would today be termed`life style’ over the succeeding decade whilethe family was in residence. Other families– including the author’s who were earlyresidents – are part of the record.

Important events are included, suchas the only local gold discovery at a spot,optimistically termed Goldstream; althoughquantities found were not significant.Nearby Skirt Mountain later promised hopeof other mining activity, but it too didn’tquite ‘pan’ out. As is the case todayGoldstream was popular and there wasenough business to justify the constructionof a hotel. Day-trippers from Victoriadramatically increased the number ofvisitors with the completion of the E & N –Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway..

The story of the region’s roadsprovides a thread that effectively connectsLangford proper to other locations withinthat area: Happy Valley, Florence Lake andLangford Lake. Langford was and is a keyfeature of the regional transportation pictureof Southern Vancouver Island. One exampleis the transportation corridor over theMalahat. Extending a road and later, thehighway, north, wasn’t an easy task due totopography. The history of the Malahatdrive is interesting, especially so because,at one point, the preferred route north was


The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley. BethHill and Cathy Converse. Victoria, TouchWood Editions/Heritage Group, 2003, 224 p., illus., map. $18.95paperback.

In 1836 Frances Barkley decided towrite her memoirs in a small notebook. Whilenot yet twenty she had circum-navigated theworld and she remembered magical names:Mauritius, Kamchatka, Sooloo Islands,Wickaninnish Sound. As the wife of CaptainCharles William Barkley, master of a largetrading ship bound for the Northwest Coastof North America, she had occupied the bestquarters on board and had been treated withgreat respect at all ports of call. Sheremembered the tragedies, too: the death ofher baby girl at sea, her husband defraudedof part of his interest in the trading ventureand his charts and maps claimed by theunscrupulous Captain John Meares. Overallthe tenor of her story was happy and thankfulfor a life well lived with a beloved husbandand children. Women especially will identifywith the feisty seventeen - year old bride whopreferred life at sea to a lengthy vigil on shore.

Beth Hill developed these memoirsinto the Remarkable World of Frances Barkleyand it was published in 1978 just as BC

women’s history began to flourish.Commencing with Frances’ notebook,discovered by accident at the BritishColumbia Archives, she pieced together thehistory of the two voyages made by theBarkleys to North America between 1786and 1794. Subsequent research took Bethand her husband to England where sheinterviewed relatives and sorted out familytrees, always hoping that the original diaryon which Frances based her memoirs wouldturn up. Unfortunately, it has remainedelusive to this day.

Twenty-five years after the firstpublication, TouchWood Editions hasreissued the book with editing and additionalmaterial on marine history by CathyConverse. Cathy made her contribution toB.C. women’s history in 1980 by co-editingIn Her Own Right: Selected Essays on Women’sHistory. And so we have two pioneers in BCwomen’s history presenting the story of thefirst white woman to set foot on BritishColumbia’s shores.

Beth Hill faced life with the samebravery and curiosity as Frances Barkleyand her cheerful encouragement for noviceBC historians will always be rememberedThis reprint, with added material by CathyConverse, is a wonderful reminder ofanother remarkable woman.

Marie Elliott has edited the journal of another woman -Winifred Grey; a gentlewoman’s remembrances of life inEngland and the Gulf Islands of B.C., 1871-1910.

result is a spirited and insightful glimpseinto the ordinary lives and concerns of theearly inhabitants of BC. A number ofpertinent photographs and illustrationsaccompany the writings.

Klan herself is also a ‘pioneer’: notonly has she salvaged these forgotten worksand their personal and revealing reflectionson BC history, but she has reminded us thatpoetry was once an important aspect ofeveryday life. Doggerel or not, anyone couldand did write poetry to amuse, comment on,or survive difficult days. This book revivesthose lost voices and allows the reader toshare their “memories / Of dreamingmoments”. This unique book has a place onevery home and school bookshelf in BC.

Sheryl SalloumSadly, Yvonne Klan died last October, a few months afterher book was published: AY. (See page 19 for furtherinformation on Yvonne)

Rivers of Change; Trailing the waterways ofLewis and Clark.Tom Mullen, Malibu, Calif., Roundwood Press, 2004. 348p., illus. $25.95 US hard cover. (Available from RoundwoodPress, PO Box 6533, Malibu, Calif. 90264)

If you’re looking for a book aboutLewis and Clark or an elegantly-writtentravel journal, keep looking. If you want awell-rounded account of river management,check out this book.

After working for several years as aninternational water resources consultant, theauthor eased back into North American lifeby travelling along the Missouri,Yellowstone, and Columbia rivers, chatting

up locals about their experiences living andworking along these water systems.Although he roughly covers the routetravelled by Lewis and Clark, the explorershave a very small role in Mullen’s narrative,raising the suspicion that the author invokedtheir names to sell books during thebicentennial celebration of their trip.

Nevertheless, once Mullen settlesdown to his task, he leads readers on athought-provoking search for the answersto three questions: 1) how changing a river’scourse affects the lives of people who livealong it, 2) how these changes affect wildlife,and 3) what stories best portray how riversand attitudes change each other.

Most of the book deals with theMissouri and how river hazards and themeandering nature of the river led engineersto force it into one swift and narrow channel.This solution freed up farmland and maderiver traffic safer, but destroyed woodland,meadows, and wetlands and the wildlife thatused these habitats. Mullen includes accountsof how various interest groups have workedto remedy the environmental and politicalconsequences of controlling the river.

One major theme is how rivermanagement priorities reflect a nation’sworldview at a particular time. The U.S.Pick-Sloan Flood Protection Project of 1946,for example, mirrored the public perceptionthat “wild rivers were inherentlydestructive, foes to be attacked with thesame steel resolve that pushed enemyleaders……to sit and sign documents ofsurrender.”

Most of the book is about the UnitedStates policy, however. There are only twelvepages of Canadian content. The photosaren’t very good, and the book would havegreatly benefited from a professional edit.

All that aside, this is a book that willprovide readers with an insider’s view ofriver history and management - and perhapseven inspire you to investigate the life andtimes of a river system near you.

Susan Stacey is a Richmond writer, co-author ofSalmonopolis, 1994.


The Tofino Kid; from India to this Wild WestCoast.Anthony Guppy. Nanaimo, The Author, 2000. 208 p., illus.,map. $17.95 paperback. (Available from A.W. Guppy, 11-2465 Oriole Dr., Nanaimo, BC V9T 3P2

Although not quite a communityhistory, this engaging anecdotal memoirprovides a revealing glance back at Tofinoin the 1920s and 30s. When the Guppyfamily arrived in 1921 aboard the old coastalsteamer ‘Maquinna’, they found a settlementextremely different from the bustling, upscaletourist destination that is the Tofino of thetwenty-first century. Expecting an inn or hotelof some sort, and finding “little sign ofsettlement to be seen...” but only “land,roughly cleared in places”, the familysheltered in the derelict house abandoned bya previous settler.

Describing the life into which hispioneer family settled in Tofino, AnthonyGuppy takes us back to an era of upcoastcharacters such as the local builder ‘HaywireBill’, and community pioneer Virgil Evanswho was said to be the first white child bornon Vancouver Island’s west coast - at Sookein 1881. We meet also the several Japanesefamilies who were a large part of the tinycoastal settlement in the 1920s. The authordescribed an isolated life, utterly dependentupon boats, including the Guppy family’sown troller, ‘The Tofino Kid’. In the author’sown fishing years, in the era before sockeyeseining had begun, ‘The Tofino Kid’ was

Sobering Dilemma; a History of Prohibition inBritish Columbia.Vancouver, Ronsdale Press, 2004. 190 p., illus. $21.95paperback.

Douglas Hamilton’s intriguingly, yetperfectly entitled, Sobering Dilemma is aboutthe fight to introduce the prohibition ofalcohol into the Province of BritishColumbia in the early twentieth century. Astrange but understandable fight it was, thatwinning of prohibition in the election 1916,but by election time in 1920 voters hadrealised that the fight had really been lost.The government solution was to start overagain with “never ending plebiscites andreferenda”.

Well-organized, the book has tenchapters, the last one explaining the settingup in 1925 of a “New Kind of Bar”, three shortappendices, ten pages of footnotes, a fewphotographs, some statistics, a bibliographyand an index plus a half-page note about theauthor who has knitted his story togetherwith such dexterity that readers might almostfeel the book to be too simple.

By placing two extremely importanttopics shoulder to shoulder in his first twochapters, he subtly indicates the basis of histitle. The first, about the social and religiousroots of the Prohibition movement crossingthe whole of North America, tells how andwhy various branches of the movementquickly though not always easily took rootin frontier British Columbia. Because of itsearly fur trade history and its later goldrushhistory, that frontier was presumed to be aplace where saloons and brothels were stillthe centres of social action, and as such wereimportant in disseminating all social andpolitical thinking - pro and con. The secondquestions why in 1854 the governing groupprohibited native Indians from drinkingalcohol. Were, in fact, the Aboriginalsgenetically unable to handle liquor? Werethere other reasons? Can 1854 really be seenas “a dress rehearsal” to which people paidlittle or no attention?

Since about the 1880s the populationof the province had been doubling every tenyears, people being lured there by the greatflow of English investment money making

boom towns of both Victoria and Vancouver.Mostly from “civilised” English and Scottishcities, these people did not appreciate beingsurrounded by brothels, saloons andgrowing factories; women in particularwanted a more moderate society, one moreregulated by law than by frontier custom.

The coming of war in 1914 furtherincreased social differences, but the nextattempt at creating a government control ofalcohol would not come until the electionof 1916. By then the major difference insociety was that an overwhelming numberof Anglicans and Scottish Presbyteriansopposed the absolute prohibition of liquor,as promoted by the Social Gospellers. Theelection of 1916 carried two referenda, oneon votes for women, one on prohibition.Both passed. Here too, Hamilton covers hissubject matter speedily and gracefully. Justas he had elsewhere pointed out that allvoters were male, British subjects, and overthe age of twenty-one.

But had the Government honestlyforgotten about some votes yet to becounted, absentee votes from soldiersoverseas who had also become used toanother way of life, a brutal one perhaps, butone accepting that drinking could also be alife-saver and was, therefore, not necessarilya “demonic rite”? Many of those samesoldiers had comrades who, in spite of beingIndians, were no more genetically incapableof handling booze than were their whitesidekicks. Hamilton sees this forgetting as anoverturning of democracy, but thisoverturning was itself overturned when in afew years secret files of the British ColumbiaPolice came to light and the daily bar gossipconcerned scandal and corruption.

In an October 20, 1920 plebiscite,only 55,448 voters supported Prohibition,92,095 did not - as a surprise to all, the newlyenfranchised women had gone “wet”. Thesame electorate in December of that sameyear gave Premier John Oliver the mandateto clean up the mess. He created the LiquorControl Board, perhaps the longest-lastingof any BC government creation. But otherproblems quickly developed, problemsabout liquor stores, imported beer,

smugglers and coastal rum runners.However, in 1925 a new kind of barappeared - The Beer Parlour - but it too wassoon seen as being over-regulated.

As problem after problem arose andseemed to be solved, or at least faced, stillmore arose over the next ten, twenty orthirty years - closer to forty. But to Hamilton,“Prohibition” is dangerous, and he warnshis readers to think carefully about possiblefuture implications whenever anyonesuggests “the prohibition” of anything. Evenof drugs.

Gordon Elliott is Professor Emeritus, Simon FraserUniversity English Department


Wires in the Wilderness. The Story of theYukon Telegraph.Bill Miller, Surrey, Heritage House, 2004. 336 p., illus.,maps. $19.95 paperback.

The Yukon Telegraph, built “toconnect the gold fields of the Yukon withsouthern Canada“ and “to provide anessential public service for the police andother government officials, and for thepeople of the Yukon” has survived in thepublic memory of Northern BritishColumbia and the Yukon. It has acquired,as the author of Wires... points out, “anidentity, a mythology, and a romanticimage.” That memory of the telegraph has,in large part been kept alive by the remnantsof the telegraph trail which residents andvisitors to B.C.’s north occasionally chanceupon, and possibly more because theportion of the line between Quesnel andAtlin traversed a region lacking in a north-south transportation link. Miller notes thathis own interest and “the genesis of thisbook dates to my finding remnants of the

sometimes theonly boat in sight, where todaycommercial fishing boats carpet the sea.

In Guppy’s telling of the stories ofTofino’s early families we encounter muchgood humour and some tragedy as well.One forgotten episode in that isolatedcommunity’s past is worth remembering asa cautionary tale nowadays when the‘problem’ of street people is beingincreasingly debated. The author remindsus that “Tofino was the site of a harshdepression-era social experiment, a B.C.Government ‘relief camp’ that was in realitya sort of dumping ground for the homelessunemployed.

Sixteen historic photographs and theauthor’s evocative pen sketches provide aninntriguing glimpse of the embryonicTofino’s appearance early in the last century,while that coastal village was still accessibleonly by sea. The book’s hauntingly nostalgicreminiscences comprise a valuable record.

Philip Teece, for several years after his retirement aslibrarian at the Greater Victoria Public Library, Philiplived in an isolated upcoast community.

old Yukon Telegraph near my home inAtlin”.

In Wires in the Wilderness, Miller (andHeritage House) have provided a welcomegeneral history of the construction and theoperation of the line and, since itsabandonment in the 1930s and ’40s, of thetrail which accompanied the telegraph wire.The trail, of course, is now taking on its ownlife as a recreational venue.

Miller laments, justifiably, the lack ofwhat he calls a “people’s history” of theconstruction of the line: “Of the hundredsof men who worked on the (construction)project, from the axemen and wire stringersto the wranglers and foremen, not a singlevoice has been located to relate theirexperiences”. For the story of the maint-enance and operation of the line, we aremore fortunate - possibly the linemen hadmore time, and inclination, to record theirexperiences. In particular, Guy Lawrence’sbook, Forty Years on the Yukon Telegraph,reviewed in the British Columbia HistoricalNews, Spring, 1991, is a vivid personalaccount of life on the telegraph, and thishistory and Lawrence’s complementeach other.

The bibliography in Wires... will be ofgreat value to anyone interested in searchingout more about the telegraph. I suggestImbert Orchard’s CBC interview of GuyLawrence, on tape, held in the ProvincialArchives, might profitably have beenincluded. There are numerous photographsand a very adequate index.

George Newell has spent several summers in NorthernBritish Columbia.

Wish You Were Here; Life on Vancouver Islandin Historical Postcards.Peter Grant, Victoria, TouchWood Editions, 2002. 179 p.,illus. $24.95 paperback.

What a book for a lazy or rainyafternoon here on the west coast. Short ontext and long on images, the photographicpostcards in Peter Grant’s Wish You WereHere are rich and thought provoking;potentially of interest to both the local buffand the academic scholar. Some examples: a1902 photo of the recently completed

Bamfield Cable Station which linked westernNorth America, via 4,000 miles of underwatertelegraph cable, to Fiji, New Zealand andAustralia; a crew hard at work flensing ahumpback whale at Page’s (now Piper’s)Lagoon at Nanaimo in 1908; the constructionof Hatley Castle for James Dunsmuir atColwood in 1909; armed militia marching information past the United Mine Workers ofAmerica office at Ladysmith in 1913; a ladies’egg-and-spoon race during the Victoria Daycelebrations at Ucluelet in 1911; a panoramicpicture of the Anglican Mission, the sawmilland the cannery at Alert Bay, taken by thelocal constable in 1914; a particularlyhaunting - perhaps fittingly undated - photoof a displaced First Nations man, alone andweary, on a bench in Victoria’s Gorge park.What else could one call these photos butwindows into the social history of VancouverIsland from 1900 to about 1914?

The critical reader will have questionsregarding provenance. Who took thesepictures and why? As postcards, whatmessage did they carry and to whom? Werethey, individually, components within largersets of pictures? How did they come into thepossession of those who now hold them?Why have they been preserved?

That said, these postcards are far morethan mere historical trivia. Their veryexistence invokes many themes thathistorians confront daily. Indeed, Grantpoints out that, “the picture postcardemerged from the convergence of severalsocial trends: mass travel; a culturalpreoccupation with written communication;popular photography; cheap printing; publicpostal systems and steam poweredtransportation. For a time the postcard wasas fresh and exciting a medium as digitalimagery was in the 1990s”.

The most effective history, academic orpopular, compels readers to look furtherbecause they want to, not because they needto. In this Grant is successful; Wish You WereHere is the sort of book that stimulates an extratrip to the library for contextual information.Whether on the coffee table or in a universitylibrary this book is a welcome addition to thewritten history of Vancouver Island.

Tim Percival is a Graduate Student at the University ofVictoria.


Paddling to Where I Stand; Agnes Alfred,Qwiqwasutinuxw Noblewoman, as told toMartine J. Reid and Daisy Sewid-Smith.Edited and annotated with an introduction by Martine J.Reid; translated by Daisy Sewid-Smith. Vancouver, UBCPress, 2004. 284 p. $85 hard cover; $29.95 paperback.

Three remarkable women created thisbook. Agnes Alfred (c.1890-1992), amatriarch of the people the rest of us havereferred to as Kwakiutl, is the primaryauthor. Her voice, personality and memoriesshape the text. Daisy Sewid-Smith, Agnes’sgranddaughter is a cultural historian andinstructor in her mother tongue at theUniversity of Victoria, She has written andlectured on a wide range of related topics.As she assists in the telling of hergrandmother’s story, she also tells her own.

Martine J. Reid is widely known as thewife of the artist Bill Reid, and, since hisdeath, as Honorary Chair of the Bill ReidFoundation and promoter par excellence ofWest Coast Aboriginal art. It is time that weknew her also as a scholar andanthropologist, a student of Claude Levi-Strauss. This book marks the resumption ofthe work she engaged in upon her arrivalfrom France as a graduate student in 1975,and set aside a few years later, as she says,“for personal and familial reasons.” Like herco-authors, she began with a first languageother than English. And like Daisy, whilesetting out the context for the conversationswith Agnes, she reveals much about herself.

Reid and Sewid-Smith allow thechemistry of friendship and trust to showthrough the narrative. Reid writes, “Thereader should know that, throughout theserecordings, like a bright path through adense woodland, there was alwayslaughter.” Sometimes the speaking stopsbecause Agnes is laughing, often at herselfor at perceived trans-cultural incongruitiesand improprieties.

Sometimes she falls silent withremembrance of past griefs. Agnes spokealmost no English and did not read or write.Her interlocutors have struggled toreproduce the conventional or ceremonialphrases and repetitions, and to preserve theflavour of her storytelling “as it moved backand forth from tribal history, to myths, and

to personal reminiscences.” Chapters “MythTime” and “War, Conflict and Slavery” arefollowed by autobiography: “Childhood”,“Becoming a Woman”, “Marrying MosesAlfred”, “Ceremonies and Rituals” and“Fragments of Recollections”, giving way toeulogy and epilogue.

Throughout her long life, Agnes hadmany reasons to be angry. She has much tosay about the potlatch and its suppression:“We were always having a bad time onaccount of our traditional doings.” But evenat the time she seems to have been too busydealing with things to give way to anger orbitterness. At least once, she literallygrabbed her husband Moses and draggedhim from the Indian Agent’s office beforehe could be interrogated. She could notalways rescue him. At one wedding feast hewas arrested “simply because he was gettingapples out of the box and giving them to theguests. On that account he was taken toprison. He was kept in prison for twomonths.” The term “heartbroken” occursmore than once in this section. She tells ofinformants who made lists of guests atfeasts, and of people who avoided arrest bysurrendering their masks to the federalauthorities. And she remembers that hersister “really suffered” at Oakalla Prisonbecause of the strip searches on arrival: “wedon’t do such things; we never, everexamine each other’s bodies.”

The White lawmakers and enforcersshe found guilty mostly of massiveignorance, and she lived long enough towitness signs of improvement, for instanceOttawa’s return of the confiscated masksand other paraphernalia, and the revisionof the Indian Act to remove the prohibitionof the potlatch. In 1978 she guidedproceedings and danced at the potlatchcelebrating Daisy’s wedding; a transcriptionof that ceremony is given in an Appendix.

Besides this Appendix, we are aidedby ample background documentation,including a section on orthography, which Imake no attempt to apply in this review. Inthe preface, Reid and Sewid-Smith see thebook as a contribution to “the fields of FirstNations studies, women’s studies, oral

history and tradition, the anthropology ofmemory and cultural change and thesociology of aging” and as a chance to cometo know Agnes Alfred and her culture “fromwithin”.

This is a very human scholarly work.

Phyllis Reeve

Surveying Northern British Columbia; aPhotojournal of Frank Swannell.Jay Sherwood. Prince George, Caitlin Press, 2004. 166 p.,illus., maps. $29.95 paperback.

The operative terms in the title of thisbook are “Surveying” and “ Photojournal”and they are succinctly exacting in theirscope. Add in the term “Exploratory” andthe list of such qualified professionalsurveyors shrinks from a cast of hundredsdown to a mere two. Frank Swannell and G.B. Milligan were the only BC Governmentemployed surveyors that had experience intriangulation surveys and were assigned tothe Cassiar and Peace River Districts,respectively, to conduct “exploratorysurveys” in large blocks of wilderness.

Frank Swannell with his attributes ofphotojournalism, physical stamina andcompanionable personality, was able to earnthe respect and admiration of his crew andof the native peoples that he encounteredduring his seasonal fieldwork. The results ofhis work must have impressed his superiorsin Victoria, as well; given their eagerness tocontinue employing his superlative talents toinventory the large blank areas in Provincialmapping coverage.

David C. Bazett, CLS, BCLS; in hisfitting tribute on the back cover of this book:“This book is a tribute to a gifted landsurveyor, Frank Swannell, who possessed acombination of the right skills andknowledge and was in the right place at theright time. He also had the foresight to recordhis exploits in journals and photographs.These photographs are not just snapshots, butwere masterfully composed and technicallyexcellent. They are all the more remarkablegiven the extreme conditions under whichthey were taken.” The “right place at the righttime” is especially insightful as the


ALSO NOTED

Common & Contested Ground; a Humanand Environmental History of theNorthwestern Plains.Theodore Binnema. University of Toronto Press,2004. $27.95

Denny’s Trek; A Mountie’s Memoir ofthe March West.Sir Cecil Denny. Surrey, Heritage House, 2004.$18.95

Mopsters & Rumrunners of Canada;Crossing the Line.Gord Steinke. Edmonton, Folk Lore Publishing,2004. $14.95

The Wild Edge; Clayoquot, Long Beach& Barkley Sound. Jacqueline Windh. MadeiraPark, Harbour Publishing, 2004. $34.95

Government in 1912, decided to return totriangulation surveys in northern BC aftertwelve years of block surveys in potentiallyagricultural flatlands of southern B.C. Theremaining mountainous terrain lent itself totriangulation surveys from peak to peak andtying in lakes and rivers in the immediatevicinity.

The author Jay Sherwood, himself aformer surveyor and outdoorsman, hasdone a masterful job of faithfullyincorporating the archival journals into aspellbinding narrative. Travel adventuresinvolved getting into the survey area in thespring with crew and supplies for sixmonths; and getting the crew out againbefore freeze-up each fall. He has also addedflesh and sinew to the bare bones of the dailywork journal of the crew and the routineproblems they encountered climbingmountains and traversing lake and rivershorelines to tie in with other surveys. Manyof the experiences were life threatening andmany are treated with humor andcamaraderie, but all serve to show thatmorale was usually high on Swannell’sfield crews.

The author is to be congratulated ona fine effort to bring archival journals andsuperlative photographs out of the mistypast and into the light of modern dayreadership. The 1914 chapter on traversingthe upper Finlay River ranks right besideR.M. Patterson’s Finlay’s River and Black’sRocky Mountain Journal as classics of doggeddetermination and perseverance on theheadwaters of this remote wildernessstream. The finest compliment I can offer toJay Sherwood is to beseech him to also do acompanion volume on G.B. Milligan as well.

W. Grant Hazelwood, former Canada Land Inventorybiologist, utilized journals in fieldwork for same areas.Lives in Terrace, B.C.

First Invaders; the literary origins of BritishColumbia.Alan Twigg. Vancouver, BC, Ronsdale Press, 2004. 229 p.,illus., maps. $21.95 paperback.

A 1978 stamp commemorating thebicentennial of Captain James Cook’’sarrival in Nootka Sound (Yuquot) was the

developing knowledge of the region. Thereare some notable exceptions in the firstsection, however, including the vignette ofthe use Cook made of Purchas, His Pilgrimage(1613). One could also take issue with theseven pages assigned to the fifth-centuryChinese monk Hui Shen, who may not haveeven visited the BC coast. Yet the spaceaccorded Hui Shen is testimony to Twigg’’spassion for his subject and evidence of FirstInvaders’‘ comprehensive scope.

Peter Mitham is a Vancouver writer.

first reference I recall hearing to theexploration of the British Columbia coast. Itwas also one of the last until I reacheduniversity and began studying Canadianliterature.A similar experience promptedB.C. Bookworld publisher Alan Twigg toprepare First Invaders: The Literary Origins ofBritish Columbia, a survey of the earliestvisitors to British Columbia whose accountsof their experiences serve as literaryantecedents to those who write about theprovince today.

Most of the material Twigg covers isfamiliar to scholars of early BritishColumbia. Rather than offer a formal studyof early literature about BC, First Invadersintroduces the general reader to the authorsand their writing. Packed with references tothe original documents and other sources,the book is a comprehensive overview of thewriting that announced British Columbia tothe world.

Twigg organizes First Invaders intoseven sections with a chapter given to eachof the sixty-five figures (all but one of themmen) profiled. The first section presents theearliest accounts, fictional and otherwise, byRussian, Asian and European figures suchas Vitus Bering, Hui Shen and JonathanSwift. Subsequent sections surveycontributions to the literature about BC bySpanish, French, English and USadventurers as well as mapmakers andtraders.

The range of sources documentedmakes First Invaders a valuable resource byany measure, and Twigg’’s style is readable.Don’’t go looking for a single narrative,however; this is a book of biographies.

This said, the text could havebenefitted from editing that would havestreamlined and focused the several entries.Twigg trumpets such a weltering array offirsts and greatests that the actualsignificance of individual authors and theirworks is lost. By detailing how the variousworks contributed to a coherentunderstanding of what lay along NorthAmerica’’s Pacific Coast, Twigg would havegiven readers a better sense of the influenceauthors had on each other and the


Website ForaysChristoper Garrish

A s we all know, to promotesettlement of the CanadianWest in the late 1800s, the CPRencouraged settlers from

Europe, Great Britain and Eastern Canadathrough the offer of free land. A less commonaspect of this story is the logistical challengeof actually moving so many people acrossour vast country.

The railways found they needed aneconomic way to transport these migrantsand devised what came to be known as the“Colonist” car: a sleeper car that essentiallycomprised a former first class wooden carthat was re-built at minimum cost for thesole purpose of people moving. These carswere characterised by their interior wallspanelled in faux grained woods, oiled woodfloor planks, wood slat seats, with gaslanterns providing the lighting and heatedby coal stoves.

These cars did yeoman service formany years across the Prairies and BritishColumbia, even doubling as troop carriersduring the World Wars before finally beingtaken out of service in the early 1950s.

Only two of the older woodenColonist cars survive, with one can beingfound at the West Coast Railway HeritagePark in Squamish – and in cyberspace atwww.wcra.org, the site of the West CoastRailway Association (WCRA). Interestingly,this Colonist car was moved to VancouverIsland for use on the Esquimalt andNanaimo Railway in the late 1950s workingon all the wrecks on the E & N until findingits way to Squamish.

According to their site, the origins ofthe WCRA go back as early as 1958 “whenthe steam engine was in its last days”, withthe Association being founded in 1961 as aregistered non profit charity dedicated to thecollection and preservation of BritishColumbia’s Railway Heritage. The purposeof the WCRA is to preserve BritishColumbia’s railway history through thecollection, preservation and restoration ofrailway cars and related artefacts with theresult being that they have now acquired thesecond largest collection of railway rollingstock and artefacts in Canada. Since 1994 the

WRCA has alsooperated theHeritage Park inSquamish, and aweb site devoted totheir activities sincea p p r o x i m a t e l y1998.

The Associa-tion’s collectionconsists of approxi-mately sixty-fivepieces of heritagerailway rollingstock including thebusiness car BritishColumbia (1890) andthe aforementionedrare Canadian Pa-cific Colonist sleep-ing car (1905), andis representative ofthe major railwayswhich have servedBritish Columbia such as the Canadian Pa-cific, Canadian National, Pacific Great East-ern, BC Electric and Great Northern.

The Association’s Archive includesover 600 books and 2500 magazines, 3000artefacts, and paper records, newspaperclipping files, and photographs that numbernear 6000 images – a number that is certainto almost double following the addition ofthe Peter Cox Archive of 6,745 photographstaken between 1920-1970. At present, thereare no plans to make this collection availableon the web site, however, there is otheruseful material available on-line.

One of the more interesting of thesesections is the “Feature Articles” page,which may best be described as both acurrent events board as well as an oralhistory repository with Plowing Snow in theCoquihalla being an example of the latter:

“At 6 am we got two whistles, which meant itwas time to start work so we started to moveoff the trestle. When just the plough, thelocomotive and the first car were off the bridge,a snow slide came down on top of us. That wasit. We couldn’t move. The left side of the engine(the Fireman’s side) was on the mountain side

and with the window open I got buried in heavysnow. With my left arm stuck out of the windowand my right hand on the Firing valve, I was stuckthere and couldn’t move. Gordon, the engineer,had to get the small sand scoop and use it to digat the snow and get me out. With the help ofthe extra gang employees, the plough andlocomotive also had to be shovelled out by hand- this took until about noon Tuesday.”

Other interesting site features includean excellent Newsletter (althoughsomewhat on the large size – I think thesmallest one posted is about 4mb with a highof 10mb); and a number of interesting pieceson the Royal Hudson. It is also probablyworth noting that the WCRA are theoperators and custodians of the RoyalHudson #2860 (the only remaining operableHudson) and are currently in the process ofrepairing the boiler and re-bricking thefirebox of this engine.

So for all you train nuts out there,switch on over to www.wcra.org to see whatis new and exciting in the field of heritagerailways. •

All Aboard!

Royal Hudson 2860Photo: www.wcra.org/royalhudson.html


How did a nice church archivesend up in the bedroom? Thisshocking turn of events cameabout as a result of the long

awaited renovation of the Vancouver Schoolof Theology’s Iona Building, our home forthe last fourteen years. The entire buildinghad to be vacated and we joined many VSTstaff and faculty in what had formerly beenone of their student residences, now to beour home until the renovationsare complete.

The Archives of the AnglicanProvincial Synod of B. C. & Yukon, whichincludes the records of the former Dioceseof Cariboo, along with the Archives of theAnglican Diocese of New Westminster havebeen located somewhere within VST, or itspredecessor colleges, since 1980 for theDiocese and 1956 for the Provincial SynodArchives. The archives have gone frombuilding to building and from the basementto the top floor over the years. Along withthe Archives of the United Church, B. C.Conference and VST itself, the big move of2003 brought us back to VST’s ChancellorBuilding, from which we had moved in1989. However, this was the first time wehad been assigned to bedrooms!

New and improved space for thesearchival repositories has been tantalizinglyclose on several previous occasions – onlyto end in dashed hopes. However, by June2003, plans were definitely a go and we hadto vacate our inadequate but familiar space.Those of you who have been involved insuch a move will anticipate our pain!

Moving is never fun, but we had afew special challenges - - the archives’ exitdoor was too narrow to allow most of ourshelving to pass through it withoutunscrewing every little screw, only to haveto screw many of them back together againin our bedrooms! There was no way to moveour records or equipment that didn’t involvegoing up or down at least one flight of stairs- and the elevator was only large enough tohold four (4) people – so an equally limitedamount of non-human cargo .

All our document cases had to beloaded into big blue totes - - and each Archivehad several destinations for differentgroupings of boxes and shelving! Ourbedrooms were on the third floor and therewas NO elevator at all, this time. But weand the moving company persevered andemerged relatively unscathed, but vowingnever to be quite so “hands on” again!

Prior to the big move I had spentmuch time with little cut-outs of desks,shelving units, computers, tables andprinters plus for anything else I felt I MUSThave access to for the “duration”. Each itemto be moved, from document case to filecabinet, had to be labelled with its specificdestination. Those items to be moved to thebedrooms had to have room numbers andfloor plans in place, as well. It was withmuch relief that everything fit into itsassigned space at the end of the lastmoving day!

All this is to explain our presentsituation and what you can expect if youwant to access our records. While we are stillopen, it is particularly important that youphone first to ensure that the records youwant are available. Our holdings include theofficial records of the Synod, its officers,committees and boards as well as recordsfrom individual parishes. Parish recordscontain registers of baptisms, confirmations,marriages and burials, as well as officialrecords and historical material. Ourreference library is not available but ourmany photographs and audio cassettes are.Parish registers are accessible via 35mmmicrofilm and our Canon reader-printer.

The Anglican Archives in Vancouverhas one, part-time archivist and fourexcellent volunteers. Because of the faithfulservice of these volunteers archivesresearchers are able to get speedy, cheerfulservice in most cases. Currently, on-siteresearchers have to be prepared for a “cozy”work space close to the Archivist and thevolunteers. We compensate by offering freecoffee, cookies and interesting discussionduring the morning coffee break!

Sometime in the late summer or Fallof this year we will be moving from thebedrooms into VST’s by then vacated “old”Library space. The longer range plan is tohave a new archives built behind therenovated Iona Building. In the meantime,I hope many of you will visit us this Fallwhen we will have our entire holdings inplace. No more bedrooms!

For more information:Anglican Archives,6000 Iona Drive, Vancouver, B. C., V6T lL4

Archivist: Doreen StephensPhone: 604-822-9583 FAX: 604-822-9212Email: [email protected]

Archives and Archivists

Two Singles and a Double - -Archives in the Bedroom!

Edited by Sylvia Stopforth,Librarian and Archivist, Norma Marian Alloway Library,

Trinity Western UniversityDoreen Stephens, Anglican Archives


AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER

First PrizeNancy J. Turner Plants of Haida Gwaii Sono Nis

Second PrizeDaniel Francis Mayor Louis Taylor & the Rise of Vancouver Arsenal Pulp Press

Third PrizeMichael Dawson Selling British Columbia UBC Press

Honourable MentionKatherine Gordon The Slocan Sono Nis

Honourable MentionMartine J. Reid Paddling to Where I Stand UBC Press

Roger Stonebanks Fighting for Dignity: The Ginger Goodwin Story Canadian Committee On Labour HistoryDanda Humphrys Building Victoria- Men, Myths & Mortar Heritage HouseF. Thirkell, B. Scullion Breaking News- Images of G.A. Barrowclough Heritage HouseFrank Oberle Finding Home- A War Child’s Journey to Peace Heritage HouseValerie Green If More Walls Could Talk- Vanc. Is. Houses Heritage HouseBill Gallaher Deadly Innocent- Tragedy on the Trail to Gold Heritage HouseSam McKinney Sailing with Vancouver Heritage HouseR.G. Harvey Head On Heritage HouseJaon Rollins Caves of the Cdn Rockies & Columbia Mountains Heritage HouseSir Cecil Denny Denny’s Trek- A Mounties Memoir Heritage HouseBetty O’Keefe/I. MacDonald Dr. Fred & the Spanish Lady Heritage HouseBill Miller Wires in the Wilderness- Story of Yukon Telegraph Heritage HouseDoug Cox Ranching Now, Then and Way Back When Skookum PublicationChris Weicht North by Northwest, An Aviation History of B.C. Creekside PublicationRobert Hunter The Greenpeace to Amchitka Arsenal Pulp PressAlan C. Elder, et al A Modern Life- Art & Design in B.C., 1945-60 Arsenal Pulp PressGrant Keddie Songhees Pictorial Royal B.C. MuseumKen M. Campbell Cannery Village: Company Town Trafford PublishingBetty G. Funke Tweed Curtain Pioneers Trafford PublishingCyril E. Leonoff The Hebrew Ladies of Victoria, Van. Island Jewish Historical Society of BCEdythe Hanen, et al Bowen Island – Reflections Friesens, Altona, ManitobaJack Schofield No Numbered Runways Sono NisJay Sherwood Surveying Northern B.C. Caitlin PressMuseum of Anthropology, UBC Bill Reid and Beyond Douglas & McIntryeRoy Miki Redress Raincoast BooksRex Weyler Greenpeace Raincoast BooksEric Enno Tamm Beyond the Outer Shores Raincoast BooksUmeek(Richard Atleo) Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview UBC PressDenis Marshall Sawdust Cedars Salmon Arm Branch, OHS

22nd Annual BCHF Book CompetitionBooks Submitted List


BCHF’s Ron Hyde HonouredOn 25 February during Heritage Week

celebrations, Mayor Malcolm Brodiepresented our secretary and newsletter co-editor, Ron Hyde and his wife, Maureenwith 2005 Richmond Heritage Awards. Thecitation read in part:

Both Ron and Maureen Hyde haveenriched Richmond’s heritage resources bytheir volunteer work. They give constantlyof their time to projects at London Farm,Tourism Richmond, the RichmondMuseum, Steveston Museum, BritanniaShipyard, and the Gulf of Georgia Cannery.

Both Ron and Maureen regularlyassist with Heritage Week displays in themall. Maureen has edited the BCGenealogical Society quarterly for seventeenyears. As secretary and membership chairfor the British Columbia HistoricalFederation, Ron has built federationmembership from forty societies in thesouthern part of the province to 103 societiesacross the province. As co-editor of the BCHistorical Federation Newsletter, Ron haspromoted Richmond Heritage and broughtinteresting ideas from other communities toRichmond.

Together, Ron and Maureen Hydehave worked to get the historical andgenealogical societies to lobby for access tothe post 1900 federal censuses and theprovincial Land Titles records.

We are proud of Ron and Maureenand grateful for their work. We extend ourcongratulations to them. •

The BC Museum of MiningReceives Funding

The BC Museum of Mining will receive$2 million in funding from the Canada-BCInfrastructure Grant, which the MuseumSociety has been able to match with donationsfrom private industry and individuals.

From the press release: Plans to turnBritannia Beach into a world-class innovativeand interpretive attraction, dedicated tohistory, regeneration and sustainability, is agiant step closer to realization with today’sannouncement of $3 million in funding.

The private sector, together with thefederal and provincial governments, havecontributed funds earmarked for the physicalrestoration of the mill building, designated aNational Historic Site by the Historic Sitesand Monuments Board of Canada in 1989.These funds will be used to preserve thecultural and historic significance of thebuilding.

According to Kirstin Clausen,Executive Director of the Britannia BeachHistorical Society, this funding meansimmediate execution to restore the exteriorof this already important historic site fromits current dilapidated state into a buildingthat will reflect the significant contributionthat mining has made to both provincial andfederal economies.

“The funds for the mill building willcreate nine full-time positions and attract40,000 more visitors to the BC Museum ofMining each year,” says Clausen. “Theeconomic spin-offs for the community willbe significant as we prepare for the influx ofvisitors to the museum this summer.”

The funding was provided through theCanada-BC Infrastructure Program - with thefederal and provincial governments jointlyproviding $2 million, and several unnamedprivate sector donors contributing a total of$1 million.

“This is an exciting day where manycommitted stakeholders have come togetherto honour Canada’s mining heritage,” saysMichael McPhie, Interim Managing Directorof the Britannia Development Corporationand President and CEO of the MiningAssociation of BC. •

23rd Annual BCHF Book WritingCompetitionDeadline: December 31, 2005

Books (non-fiction) representing anyfacet of BC history, published in 2005, areeligible for the 23rd annual BookCompetition. This may be a communityhistory, biography, record of a project or anorganization, or personal recollectionsgiving a glimpse of the past. Names, datesand places, with relevant maps or pictures,turn a story into “history”.

The judges are looking for qualitypresentations and fresh material, withappropriate illustrations, careful proofreading, an adequate index, table of contentsand bibliography. Note that reprints orrevisions of books are not eligible.

Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal/AwardsThe BC Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal

for Historical Writing will be awardedtogether with $300 to a writer/author whosebook contributes significantly to the historyof British Columbia. The 2nd and 3rd placewinners will receive $200 and $100respectively. Additional HonourableMention Certificates may be awarded asrecommendedby the judges.

PublicityAll winners will receive publicity and

an invitation to the BCHF Awards Banquetat the Federation’s annual conference whichwill be in Kimberley, BC, in May, 2006

Submission RequirementsBy submitting books for this

competition, the authors agree that theBritish Columbia Historical Federation mayuse their name(s) in press releases and BCHFpublications regarding the bookcompetition. Books entered becomeproperty of the BCHF.

Authors and/or Publishers will berequired to send/mail one copy of theirbook to the Chair as well as one copy to eachof the three Judges.

For mailing instructions please contact:

Bob Mukai, Chair of the BCHF Book Competition4100 Lancelot Drive, Richmond, BC, V7C [email protected] Tel/Fax 604-274-6449

Ajust Your Address BookWanda Mizner is the new Acting

Curator / Administrator of the BoundaryMuseum. Contact her at:

Boundary Museum Society7370 Fifth Street, PO Box 817Grand Forks, BC, V0H 1H0Tel/Fax (250) 442-3737

Miscellany


FORT ST. JAMES200 Years 1806—2006“Western Canada’s Historic Capital”

In 1805 Simon Fraser of the NorthWest Company led an expedition over theRocky Mountains to investigate the fur tradepotential of the Pacific Slope and to find anavigable route to the Pacific Ocean. In thewinter of 1805/1806 Simon Fraser and hismen wintered at McLeod Lake. Early in thespring of 1806 Simon Fraser sent asubordinate, James McDougall, to explorethe surrounding country. During hisexplorations McDougall visited a Carriervillage called Nak’azdli on a large lake thatwas later named Stuart Lake. On July 26,1806 James McDougall returned to the largelake with Simon Fraser, John Stuart, andcrew. Stuart Lake Post was established in1806 – later renamed Fort St. James. SimonFraser named the large trading areasurrounding the post, New Caledonia. Soonthe post would become the administrativecenter for the entire trading area of NewCaledonia and was very significant in thequest for furs. The role of the Carrier nationin supplying the fort with furs and foodcannot be understated.

Fort St. James was also the center ofthe Omineca Gold Rush in the 1860s.Manson Creek and Germansen Landing arejust two of several gold rush towns within arelative short distance of Fort St. James thatstill exist today.

Modern day Fort St. James continuesto celebrate its history and heritage, and in2006 Fort St. James will be celebrating the200th anniversary of Simon Fraser’s arrival.The fur fort has been established as a nationalhistoric site and has been restored to 1896.

In Fort St. James and the Carriercommunities in the area a number of otherhistorically significant sites still exist suchas Simon Fraser ’s signature rock, ChiefKwah’s grave site, pictographs, fur traderburial ground, traditional first nation trailsconnecting communities in the Nechakoregion, and the second oldest church inBritish Columbia.

While Fort St. James is not on today’sbeaten path, over 12,000 visitors annually

venture into Fort St. James to experience theheritage and history it has to offer. With thecommunity’s bi-centennial in 2006 we will becelebrating 200 years of heritage and historyand invite everyone to join us in the fun.

You’re invited to celebrate 200 yearsof history & heritage in 2006! Call the Bi-Centennial Office (250) 996-8233 •

Railway Heritagesubmitted by Naomi Miller

The Canadian Museum of Rail Travelin Cranbrook hosted a gathering on January28, 2005 in their beautiful Royal AlexandraHall. The purpose of the meeting was to createrecognition of nationally significant collectionsof railway artifacts, and possibly to open thedoor for federal funding. Bev Oda,Conservative Heritage Critic, intended to bepresent but weather cancelled her flight. JimAbbott, MP for Columbia-Revelstoke,promised to take recommendations to theHeritage Committee in Ottawa.

Lyle Burge of the Canadian Councilfor Rail Heritage based in Calgary spoke ofthe twenty-seven volunteer groups whohave saved railway heritage items incollections across the country. These verylarge artifacts are gradually deterioratingbecause they stand outdoors exposed to thechanges in weather. To attempt a centralizedrailway museum in Ottawa would beimpractical but surely federal funds couldbe channelled to assist with the high cost ofmaintaining conservation standards. Onespeaker noted that there is a Federal ArtsEndowment which assists groups by matchingfunds raised locally to a maximum of $1 or $2million. Perhaps it would be possible for theFederal Heritage Committee to set aside a potof money similarly assist preservation ofCanada’s Railway Heritage? •

Best Article AwardA Certificate of Merit and cash prize

will be awarded to the author of an articlepublished in British Columbia History “thatbest enhances knowledge of BritishColumbia’s history and provides readingenjoyment.” Judging is based on subjectdevelopment, writing skill, freshness ofmaterial, and appeal to a general readership

interested in all aspects of British Columbiahistory.

This year we’re pleased to announce thatfor the best article of 2004 the winner is R.G.Harvey, for “The Crows Nest Railway,” whichappeared in BC Historical News, Vol. 36:4.Congratulations.

Editor’s Note: A big thank you to Pixie McGeachiewho served along with Jack Roff as the judgesfor the Best Article Award. Jack passed away inDecember 2004 and Pixie was the “panel ofjudge” for this year’s choice. With Jack’s passing,Pixie has decided to hand the judging duties tonew volunteers and she noted “I’m sure therewill be no difficulty finding BCHF members whowould enjoy the job just as I have.” AndJacqueline Gresko has been recruiting a newpanel for 2005.•

Colbourne House OpensThe Marpole Museum and Historical

Society celebrated the official opening of thenewly restored Colbourne House on May28, 2005. Numerous dignitaries, includingformer Marpole MLA Val Anderson; City ofVancouver Councillor Sam Sullivan andVancouver Board of Parks and RecreationCommissioner Suzanne Anton, attended.

The Society and its members arethrilled to achieve the milestone in bringinga “living heritage” to the community ofMarpole. The restoration of the ColbourneHouse was achieved through the efforts ofvolunteers, grants and donations frommembers of the community and variouslevels of government over a period of tenyears. Situated at West 71st Avenue andMarine Drive in Vancouver, the ColbourneHouse is a splendid visual sight. TheWilliam Mackie Park directly to the northof the house lends itself well to the overallimpression of a time when Marpole was arural neighborhood of woodland and dairyfarms. The home, originally built in 1912,was fashioned in the Dutch Colonial styleby Mr. T. Thomas, but derives its name fromits longest residents, the Colbourne family.

Visit www.marpolehistorical.ca or callJim Bulteel at 604-261-0131 for moreinformation. •

Documents

BBritiritisshh CCoolluummbbiiiii aa - UBC Library Home · 2013-07-30 · (Samson V Maritime Museum) PO Box 42516 - #105 - 1005 Columbia St New Westminster BC V3M 6H5 Saanich Historical