Item T1041:0001 - John Campbell interview

CALL NUMBER: T1041:0001 track 1 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-19 SUMMARY: Mr. J.A.F. Campbell describes coming from Victoria to the Nechako region in 1908 as a schoolboy. He discusses people trading whisky with Indians for furs at that time. He describes life as a surveyor to map northern BC, and transportation at that time by dog sled; caring for the dogs, the dangers of drinking whisky at thirty below zero whilst traveling; traveling with Indians to help; map making as a life-long pursuit; the headquarters at Fort George; the dependence on Indians, although their expertise on the landscape was quite limited; the necessity of never locking cabins so that those in need could always find tools to survive; backpacking to the tops of every mountain to read angles and discover the country; a fire that started in Quesnel and swept through the Vanderhoof area and wiped out the area; and how the opening of the country allowed moose to migrate into the country. Mr. Campbell discusses what a 'typical' adventure was like and the routine of a typical day as a surveyor; the necessity of taking your time and being careful; backpacking or using rivers when there was no trail; how the only animal to fear was a grizzly bear; and how no rifles were brought on trips. Mr. Campbell recalls how he observed Fort George growing from three people to 18,000 people and how this happened, including the first boats to arrive; what Fort George was like before the war; all the drunks in the bars; the red light district; the first woman there; the first church; an anecdote about how the church felt about the red light district, and the response to their views; an anecdote about and old-timer woman named Margaret Seymour who used to drink the Fraser River water; an old timer named Charlie Miller who left $100,000 in his will for the woman who had the most children within ten years; and anecdotes about him as a real character.

CALL NUMBER: T1041:0001 track 2 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-19 SUMMARY: Mr. Campbell outlines what the Hudson's Bay post was like at Fort McLeod at that time, consisting of two wooden buildings separated by fifty feet, how the post wanted to keep white people out of the country, how they would accept no cheques, stories about the employees and how they married Indian wives to legally buy fur for them, and how the HBC clerks lived. He describes Babine Lake and mining in the area, the purchasing of the Indian reserve where Prince George was eventually built, the purchasing of land at that time and the development of sawmills in October 1909, and the subsequent boom of mills in Prince George. He discusses the Concord stages, which were very comfortable if you tend not to get seasick, and how they worked road houses and their bars and customs; a description of stage coaches and sleighs. Finally, Mr. Campbell describes characters on his survey parties.