SUMMARY: One in a series of interviews with B.C. float-house dwellers. [No content summary available.];

SUMMARY: One in a series of interviews with B.C. float-house dwellers. [No content summary available.];

Masters' journals of M.V. Uchuck III, 1962-1975, concerning daily operations of vessel plying west coast of Vancouver Island, from Gold River to Zeballos. Collection includes newspaper clippings, poems, tariffs, and time-tables pertaining to vessel.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [ca. 1967] SUMMARY: Former sealers Max Lohbrunner and James Goudie recall their experiences in British Columbia's sealing industry. [No detailed content documentation available.];

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner describes how sealing began in Victoria in 1869, how he fished out of Victoria when he was a small child, hunting seals in 1903 on a vessel called "Enterprise", sealing experiences aboard the "Diana", a description of a White Schooner and an Indian Schooner, a very detailed description of a sealing boat at that time, what life is like aboard a sealing boat, what happens when you see a seal, using smokeless powder, and what to do after a seal has been shot. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner describes more experiences about life aboard a sealing ship, signals between sealers, sealing techniques, keeping a boat steady in rough waters, using compasses, and a story about getting back to a schooner in the fog.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner offers anecdotes about boats and people who got lost at sea around 1906 including George Peddie from Newfoundland whom they actually found and Alec MacKenzie whom they buried, more on life aboard sealing ships, the history of sealing on the coast from the first ship in the 1869 built in Sooke by Charles Spring, all the places that he sealed, schooners anchored in Victoria, and an anecdote about being bitten by a seal. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner continues by offering an anecdote about an experience when his boat was attacked by a killer whale, details on killer whales, and more anecdotes about experiences on whaling ships.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner continues with experiences aboard ships including how he heard about the San Francisco earthquake, anecdotes about a man named Alex McLean, and sealing in the Bering Sea. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner continues with more anecdotes about life aboard sealing ships, when Alex McLean died and more details on him, pay for skins, his last adventures aboard sealing ships, what life was like in Victoria at that time, where he was born and how he came to move to Victoria including details about his family, and the history of the yacht "Vera" which was used as an opium smuggling ship before being used as a sealing ship up until 1911.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0004 track 1 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Lohbrunner offers anecdotes about interactions and competition with Japanese schooners in the Bering Sea around 1907, more anecdotes about sealing around the Alaskan coast, different islands and area where he trapped, what happened when the sealing industry closed in Victoria, more on competition with the Japanese, and the market for seal skins today. [End of the Imbert Orchard interview.]

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0004 track 2 RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-?] SUMMARY: TRACK 2: [NOTE: This is NOT part of the Imbert Orchard interview with Max Lohbrunner. It is a separate recording, made on another occasion, by two unidentified interviewers -- a man and a woman. It may be the soundtrack from a film interview, possibly shot for CBC television.] Max Lohbrunner describes how he came to Victoria from New York in 1887 with his father who was a carpenter; the 122 sealing schooners that used to be docked in Victoria; an experience sailing to Cape Horn in 1903 to go sealing; the specific wharfs in Victoria that were built by sealers and anecdotes about what life was like when the industry was thriving; why he is allowed to live at the wharf when no one else is what happened to his life after the sealing industry closed; the otter he has as a pet; and various anecdotes about his life and sealing.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-03 SUMMARY: Mel Parker has been logging for a number of years, and is the son of Dewey Parker. (See T1922:0001.) TRACK 1: Recollection of early life and schooling in logging camps. The Depression. Started working in the woods at age 12. Bunkhouse life; camp conditions and food. Camp characters. Safety equipment. Comparison of logging equipment then and now. More camp characters. Places worked: Bloedel's Camp; 5, Victoria Lumber Company, Kingcome. Unions. Entertainment in the camps. Union Steamships. Communications. Increasing use of airplanes for coastal travel after the war. Benefits offered to loggers working in more isolated camps. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Michael Trocha : teaching in small communities in B.C. - experiences at Oona River PERIOD COVERED: 1958-1972 RECORDED: Oona River (B.C.), 1972 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Michael Trocha speaks about coming to Oona River to teach, his first impressions, Oona River compared to the Peace River region, people of the town and the community atmosphere. He relates his teaching activities in a one-room school, his students' backgrounds, children's winter activities, the problems with student enrolment and the declining population. The establishment of the 2 local ;communities (c.1910), early schooling, the school building (1913), local weather and wildlife is also discussed. TRACK 2: Michael Trocha recalls his sighting of trumpeter swans at Oona River, other wildlife on Porcher Island, an encounter with a wolf, sea life and outdoor activities. He speaks about his background, coming to Canada, his life in Germany, qualifying as a teacher and various jobs.

CALL NUMBER: T2341:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Towboating on the BC coast PERIOD COVERED: 1915-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-07-14 SUMMARY: TRACKS 1 & 2: Captain Mickey Balatti's family was among Vancouver's early settlers. Born in Ladysmith, he worked in the coal mines there and later joined the crew of a tug boat. Describes early diesel; tug boats, working log booms, Hastings Mill, "Brunette", accidents on the coast, navigation techniques, towing on the west coast of Vancouver Island, attempts to blow up Ripple Rock, towing around the Queen Charlotte Islands, difference between American and Canadian wages for towboat men.;

CALL NUMBER: T2341:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Towboating on the BC coast PERIOD COVERED: 1915-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-07-14 SUMMARY: TRACKS ! & 2: Mickey Balatti describes towing across Hecate Strait; the salvage of a grounded freighter on the Sand Heads; making up log booms at San Juan for Malahat Logging; Nitinat Lake; towing Davis rafts; tricks of towing through tidal currents; loading railcar barges; changes on the tugboats when diesel replaced steam; B.C. Pilotage.;

The sub-series consists of oral history interviews about the history of the South Coast region, including Kingcome Inlet and communities between Cape Scott and Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island.

RECORDED: Powell River (B.C.), 1975-03-10 SUMMARY: Mrs. Mildred Palmer discusses her life on BC's south coast, in the area north of Lund. Life in Deep Bay; Desolation Sound; logging camp; brief comments on various places of residence; Yuclatas; Haywire Bay; Toba Inlet; Theodosia Arm; various experiences at Theodosia; shooting bears and cougars; Malaspina Inlet. (Tapes are somewhat disjointed.) The interviews covers her life and that of her husband, William Palmer, and moving around the coast starting in 1913.

CALL NUMBER: T3487:0001 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1979-04-19 SUMMARY: Mills Winram discusses early North Shore mountain climbing. First fatality. 1926 Garibaldi camp. Names of the North Shore mountains. Expeditions into Toba River -- bushwhacking. Details of the trip to headwaters of Toba. Excitement of trip. First ascent of Slesse and details of trip. Early cabins on the north shore. Digression into park creation. B.C.M.C. foresight in creating Garibaldi. Mountaineering equipment.

CALL NUMBER: T3487:0002 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1979-04-19 SUMMARY: Mills Winram discusses difficulty of travelling without maps. Neal Carter's map-making. Women climbers. Attitudes to mountaineering. Link between B.C.M.C. and Natural History Society. Fragility of alpine meadows.

CALL NUMBER: T0389:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Mim DeCrop discusses how he began sailing in Flanders, Belgium, in 1947; a story about starting work as a cook at Coast Ferries in BC in 1956; getting a job as a deckhand; how he started on tugboats, including the names of many boats from that time; how they serviced the logging camps; how Union Steamships eventually disbanded in 1960 and the reasons why Tidewater's ships eventually lost out; how the government eventually squeezed Coast Ferries out of the Gulf Islands runs; how the "Petrel" was lost in a gale at Cape Mudge; details on the operation of the "Patscoe"; details on the shipping business, including how they did door to door service; how tow boats have to feel their way through bad weather; how the pattern on the coast is changing as small business are giving way to big ones; building the freight business; details on navigation; how information would be gained from loggers; how experience is key; and details about Bute Inlet. TRACK 2: Captain DeCrop describes using echoes for navigation; the inception of Coast Ferries; the boat "Troubadour"; how you find your way in inlets; Owen Bay and the rapids nearby.

CALL NUMBER: T0389:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain DeCrop continues by discussing various characters along the coast; anecdotes about experiences along the coast; more on freighting; the kindness of loggers; how freighters helped each other; how freight was charged for; how the radio provided forecasts; communication with other tuggers and locals; Jervis Inlet; and various other inlets. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Docudrama. Follows the Columbia Coast Mission hospital ship "Columbia" on a routine patrol of isolated settlements on the islands, channels and inlets between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Footage of interest: Kingcome village views, Kwakiutl dance ceremony there and Indian children at an outdoor hymn sing; logging operations and floating logging camp. Mission superintendent Canon Alan D. Greene appears throughout.

Out-takes. An Imperial Oil tribute to British Columbia on its centennial. Beginning with a visit to Major J.S. Matthews at the Vancouver City Archives, the film surveys the growth of BC industry, with special attention to the role of the petroleum industry in past development and present prosperity. Includes: Vancouver streets, airport and aerial views; heavy construction work in mountains; logging; mining; Trail smelter; fishing and canning; fruit growing in the Okanagan; cattle ranching; oil drilling (Peace River region); ships in port; sports activities; UBC.

Industrial film. Highlights Island Tug & Barge Ltd.'s role in developing the ocean-going barge, including the conversion of four tankers into self-dumping log barges (which can also be used to transport other materials). Shows the 1962 launching of the "Island Exporter", which (like her sister barge "Island Importer") was built to carry crushed limestone and similar cargoes on the open Pacific. Loading/unloading systems. Notable voyages. Tugs pulling Davis rafts and berthing a replica of the "Bounty".

CALL NUMBER: T1928:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-02 SUMMARY: Ole and Marguerite Skogan were early settlers of the Sayward Valley. She was the daughter of pioneers; he logged there ca. 1908 and returned to pre-empt land in 1914. TRACK 1: Sayward -- Hastings logging camp, 1908. Glen Duncan. Camp at White River. Transportation. Otto Sacht's store. Supplies brought in by Union Steamships. No roads. Logging company moved away from Sayward, 1912; most families left. Land was opened for homesteading in 1914; 40-acre lots. Duncan family, farm. Sacht's store, 1923. Port Kusam had original post office, liquor store. [Port Kusam was renamed "Hkusam" in 1952.] Sayward School. Entertainment. Neighbours. Hunting and trapping, White River. Mr. Skogan returned to Sayward 1914; logged for gyppos and self. Logged with oxen, then horses. Worked on steam donkey in USA. Had worked in Yukon on sternwheeler and in mine, 1906-1908. Travel on Union Steamships. Logging camps at Rock Bay, Granite Bay, and Thurlow. TRACK 2: Also worked at Kingcome and Blind Channel. Cannery at Green Point Rapids. Conditions at logging camps named above. Medical care. Columbia Coast Mission. Story about dance at Rock Bay. Anecdotes about logging camp characters, shootings. Ed Stowe, his timber and cattle. Home remedies. District nurse. Hotel in Sayward. CALL NUMBER: T1928:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Son still living at Sayward. Difference in logging then and now. The Depression. Land at Sayward. Politics in Sayward very important in early days. Voting at Port Kusam. Politicians all promised a road to Sayward. Got road in 1946; 19 bridges between Sayward and Campbell River. Trip to Cumberland. First trip on new road. Trips on terrible roads. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Murray Dobrilla RECORDED: Ladner (B.C.), 1976-03-26 SUMMARY: Murray Dobrilla was born in Austria in 1908, left there at age 3 with parents. Came to Vancouver and then Ladner for school. Father was a gillnet fisherman on the Fraser River. Murray fished with his uncle and dad for smelts in Port Moody and English Bay. Fished in a "one lunger" or one cylinder boat. Everything done by hand including rowing and pulling in the nets. Always a market for smelts, sold mostly to Chinese men and fish markets. Uncle fished for salmon around the Point Grey area and the Gulf. Helped father fish during summers from 10 years old. Fished 5 days a week. Lots of fish but low prices. Because the canneries paid by the fish, they would let the big fish go and keep the small fish, so they could carry more. Canneries didn't like that. Long, narrow boats, but with little equipment. Discusses living quarters. Worked mostly for B.C. Packers. Discusses unions, and what it was like when they came in. Discusses payment and income. Discusses salmon spawning and the river being closed to allow it. Compares old and modern equipment. Discusses Japanese fishermen, and how companies preferred them. In the early 1900s you could fish anywhere you wanted, except the Japanese were restricted at one time. The impact of gas engines. Early fisheries regulations. Collector boats. Caring for linen nets; soaking in blue stone solution and then mending. Discusses superstitions he and other fishermen had. He had a lucky hat: if he had the hat on he would catch fish, if he didn't have it on, no fish. Wouldn't open a can upside down, that was really bad luck. If you whistle in the morning, bad luck. Was on a seine for 3 years, fished for salmon and pilchards on the west coast. Discusses pollution in river, and its impact on the fishing industry. Discusses engine use in fishing and how sailboats would be towed out and in by company boats.

Fonds consists of masters' journals of the the ship M.V. Uchuck III. The journals document daily operations of the vessel plying the west coast of Vancouver Island, from Gold River to Zeballos. The fonds also includes newspaper clippings, poems, tariffs, and time-tables pertaining to vessel.

The item is a workprint for a documentary film from 1982. It compares the two possible land/sea routes for the proposed natural gas pipeline from the B.C. mainland to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. The Williams Lake-Powell River (northern) route and the Delta-Vancouver Island (southern) route (via Roberts Bank and Valdes Island) are examined, and the engineering and environmental concerns affecting the two routes are discussed.

Item consists of a film depicting a zoological survey trip to Triangle Island, and shows sea lions, puffins, and other birds, plus Indigenous artifacts.

The item is a reel of nature film about seashore plant and animal life (e.g., crustaceans, anemones, worms, octopus, jellyfish, etc.).

The item is a reel of nature film footage about marine mammals of the Pacific Coast including sea lions, sea otters, fur and harbour seals, porpoises and killer whales. Also: Indigenous whaling techniques; whaling ship "Westwhale"; processing of whale carcasses at Coal Harbour whaling station.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Nick Stevens recalls his early years on Salt Spring Island; his early life as a fisherman in the Gulf of Georgia; anecdotes about his childhood; fishing on the Fraser River; types of boats; living in a scow house; anecdotes; the Greek community on Deas Island; the Austrian community; the Spanish community; other ethnic groups in the Lulu Island area; community life and provisions. TRACK; 2: Mr. Stevens continues discussing various groups along the Fraser River; the Japanese community at Steveston; Spaniards on Duck Island; Portuguese; Kanakas from Salt Spring Island; Indian cannery ;workers; Austrians in Ladner; Chinese on Deas Island; cannery work; cannery equipment; the "Iron Chink"; the "Iron Squaw"; Deas Island; his work as a pirate fish buyer; land taxes on Lulu Island; life; on Lulu Island; fishing seasons; Chinese/Indian relations; Japanese/white relations; unloading German tin plate in Steveston; growing up in Steveston.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Stevens talks about survival in the forest; canoe trips with his mother, Emma King; characters from the Ladner area; Steveston; Ladner; travel to New Westminster; steamboats on the Fraser; in 1905; fishing procedures, circa 1900, on the Fraser and the Gulf of Georgia; sealing; sturgeon fishing; Canoe Pass; Port Guichon; the railway. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUMMARY: One in a series of interviews with B.C. float-house dwellers. [No content summary available.];

RECORDED: [location unknown], [ca. 1965]
SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miscellaneous short interviews and sound effects recorded by Imbert Orchard while on a northern freightboat trip on the B.C. coast, ca. 1965. Conversation about cruising the waters around Vancouver Island, Princess Louisa Inlet, early days of yachting around the San Juan Islands, etc. Continued conversations on west coast boating with other boaters and their children, including Dr. Martin Nelson (of Redding, California). More conversations. Descriptive narration of the cruise, including trip to Stuart Island through Yuculta Rapids, and into Big Bay. Description of cargo being dropped off on dock at night, and sounds of same. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Amateur film. Trip up the BC coast from Vancouver to Ocean Falls on the "Princess Norah". Shots of Ocean Falls, boating, crab fishing. Lion's Gate Bridge. Trip on the "Princess of Nanaimo." Elk Falls.

Industrial film. Operations of Island Tug & Barge. Includes: historical background on coastal towboating; company's repair & maintenance facilities in Victoria; tugboats at work; a trip with the freight barge "Island Express" to Beaver Cove, Coal Harbour whaling station and Port Alice; barges "Island Exporter" and "Island Importer" carry limestone to Oregon from quarries at Blubber Bay on Texada Island; construction and launching of "Island Yarder", the world's largest self-loading/self-dumping log barge, which is seen loading at Kimsquit and towed to Burrard Inlet for dumping; railcar barges; chemical transportation barge "Island Pine"; other uses of barges to transport bulk cargoes.

Out-takes. Operations of Island Tug & Barge. Footage may include: historical background on coastal towboating; company's repair & maintenance facilities in Victoria; tugboats at work; a trip with the freight barge "Island Express" to Beaver Cove, Coal Harbour whaling station and Port Alice; barges "Island Exporter" and "Island Importer" carry limestone to Oregon from quarries at Blubber Bay on Texada Island; construction and launching of "Island Yarder", the world's largest self-loading/self-dumping log barge, which is seen loading at Kimsquit and towed to Burrard Inlet for dumping; railcar barges; chemical transportation barge "Island Pine"; other uses of barges to transport bulk cargoes.

Educational. Proposed methods of harnessing the incredible energy of coastal tides, wave action and ocean currents, and the thermal gradient of warm surface water and cold depths. This film has special application to the B.C. coast and features scenes of familiar areas that have been surveyed for power generation.

Television stock shots. Footage showing the work of the Institute of Ocean Sciences at Patricia Bay.