RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Harry Coldwell talks about his experiences in the Cariboo. Mr. Coldwell came from England in 1910 to Ashcroft. He worked as a carpenter in Ashcroft, Dog Creek and in the area. He describes Ashcroft; the Cariboo road; steamboats; the stopping house at Dog Creek and Joe Place, proprietor; the murderers Paul Spintlum and Moses Paul; a commercial traveler; the Gang Ranch; Carl Wycotte's cattle; Phil Grinder; Barkerville; and Big Bar Ranch. TRACK 2: Mr. Coldwell discusses dry farming in the area; the big cattle ranches; Albert Drinkell; and his own ranch at Jesmond. He describes; how the post office was established, and how mail was transported. The interview concludes with Mr. Coldwell's general comments on the area, people and his travels.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Harry A. Ferguson describes his father's life as a gold miner who came over in 1862 from Belfast via San Francisco; he went to Barkerville; he built a hotel in Clinton and then bought a hotel on the south side of the lake in 1885; in 1874 his father took the first horses to Alberta with 300 head for the Mounted Police; a description of his father's journey is given; and he describes growing up in Salmon Arm. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Herb Gardner was interviewed while holding the office of Mayor of Williams Lake. He describes the federal building; the regional board; urban planning; and the electoral process. Before elections, people were appointed to the board. Demographics of the district. Mr. Gardner offers his own personal history; born in Quesnel and lived in Barkerville; stories about old timers; his father came into the country in 1900, and was a shoemaker before becoming a miner; eventually his father ran a stopping house on a ranch; in 1928 the family moved to Quesnel and worked in the saw mill business. He describes what Williams Lake was like back then.

TRACK 2: Mr. Gardner comments about how smaller sawmills were driven out by economics and larger ones took their place; the lumber industry and how it drives the economy of Williams Lake; prospecting and cattle ranching; stampedes; how much he likes living in Williams Lake. He compares living in Quesnel to living in Williams Lake. He discusses the future and the progress of Williams Lake.

The item is a reel of travelogue film showing scenic highlights and points of interest along Highway 97 in the Okanagan and Cariboo. Includes footage of car ferries (the M.V. "David Lloyd-Jones" and M.V. "Lequime") on Okanagan Lake; highlights of Kelowna International Regatta; abandoned mine equipment and shaft; Barkerville (before its restoration); sawmill in Quesnel; a parade and rodeo events at the Williams Lake Stampede.

The item is a composite print of a travelogue film from ca. 1970. It depicts a scenic trip on the "Queen of Prince Rupert" from Kelsey Bay to Prince Rupert introducing such destinations as Vancouver, Victoria and the Cariboo. Includes shots of Active Pass, Barkerville, Campbell River and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. The Inside Passage and the province's highways are seen as parallel north-south "highways."

This series consists of dossiers of photocopied historical material for theatrical application, including: 1. Barkerville, the Cariboo Gold Rush; 2, Fort Steele, the Kootenay Gold Rush; 3. Fort Steele, East Kootenay in the 1880's; 4. Fort Steele, East Kootenay, 1890-1905.

CALL NUMBER: T0362:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Hugh Cornwall tells the story of his grandfather, Clement F. Cornwall, who settled in Ashcroft in 1862, including his early days on the ranch, hunting coyotes with hounds, and Ashcroft Manor serving as a stopping house. His grandfather was a politician and Lieutenant Governor of BC. There is more on the operation of the ranch at Ashcroft, which Hugh's father managed after 1910. Markets for cattle changed. More on Ashcroft Manor. TRACK 2: The Ashcroft estate burned down in the late 1930s. Cornwall comments on the veracity of historical accounts.

CALL NUMBER: T0362:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The Cornwalls of Ashcroft are described, as is the naming of Cache Creek. The McLean boys are described -- Allen McLean, Charlie McLean, Archie McLean, and Alex Hare. The Cornwalls are described in terms of fox-hunting, law and order, and the gold rush. Finally, Cornwall describes Barkerville during its boom days. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jack Caruthers : World War One ; New Barkerville RECORDED: [location unknown], 1973-11-20 SUMMARY: [No content summary available for tape T0134:0001.];

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Janet Yorston talks about the Australian Ranch, the stages on the Cariboo Road and various Cariboo people, from 1860 to 1914. Mr. Yorston describes how Andrew Olsen and Steve Downes came to the Cariboo and started the Australian Ranch; farming and activities there; how they sold produce to miners; settlers in the area; Chinese miners; Fort Alexandria; more on the Australian Ranch and how it was purchased by her husband John Yorston; the stopping house; and life on the ranch. TRACK 2: Mrs. Yorston tells stories of two Barkerville old-timers, Harry Jones and the "Duke Of York". She describes details of stagecoaches, travel and places on the Cariboo Road.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1955?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Joseph Wendle describes how he came to the Cariboo in 1895; worked for the Cariboo Gold Fields Company and his own claims; hunted a Grizzly bear; a brief discussion of the old timers; the Cariboo Gold Fields Company; hydraulic mining; mechanical elevators; dredging; the yields in Williams Creek, Antler Creek, Grouse Creek, and Lightning Creek. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Series consists of articles, typescript drafts, essays, biographies, notes, clippings, etc. relating to Alaska, the history of British Columbia, historic sites in British Columbia, Indigenous people of British Columbia, the pelagic sealing industry, etc. The series also includes invitations to events and 124 black and white photographs, mostly of Smith's time in Japan and China.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Katie O'Neill : the Veasy, O'Neill and Alexander families PERIOD COVERED: 1860s-1944 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1966-09-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Katie O'Neill speaks about her mother, Marianne Veasy coming out from New York with her family who pre-empted the Bonaparte Ranch outside of Ashcroft (1860's). After her mother and father, Charles Patrick O'Neill, were married they went to Barkerville (1879), there were 3 children in the family and her father worked as a blacksmith. Following her father's death, her mother married James M;orrison Lindsey Alexander and the family moved to the Queen Charlotte Islands to take up cattle ranching, later moving to Port Simpson. She relates childhood memories of the cattle ranch in the Queen ;Charlotte Islands near Masset and growing up in Port Simpson c.1900. She talks about the Minskinisht village, Rev. Robert Tomlinson and her position as telegraph operator at Minskinisht (1906-1909), and the wreck of the "Mount Royal". She later trained as a nurse (1909) and worked in Victoria. Katie O'Neill nursed Emily Carr in 1944 during her old age and she relates some memories and impressions.

Ledgers, 1886-1900 and 1895-1898.

The McKenzie Family collection consists of the business and personal papers of Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874), his ancestors and descendants, including correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and other papers. It documents over one hundred and fifty years of family history. The collection is divided into those records relating to Vancouver Island (Boxes 1-19) and those relating to Scotland (Boxes 20-25). The Vancouver Island papers contain correspondence and documents pertaining to Lakehill Farm, the settlement of estates, official appointments, and other family matters. They also chronicle the organization and operation of Craigflower Farm and, to a lesser extent, the other farms operated by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company on Vancouver Island. The Scottish papers document family events, relationships and property from 1779 to 1852. Included is an extensive record of the protracted settlement of the estate of William Blair (Boxes 22-23). William Blair was the father of Janet McKenzie (Blair).

Born in Edinburgh October 5, 1811, the son of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie (1786-1844) and Janet Blair (1784-1820), Kenneth McKenzie was raised and educated in the same city. Later he moved to his father's estate of Rentonhall, Haddingtonshire, East Lothian where he managed the operations. The estate was sold in 1851 and McKenzie, his wife Agnes Russell (1823-1897) and their six children emigrated to Vancouver Island in 1853. McKenzie had been hired by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company to oversee the establishment and operation of Craigflower Farm near Victoria. In 1866 the family, now with eight children, moved to Lakehill Farm just north of Victoria. Kenneth McKenzie died there April 10, 1874. A comprehensive biography of Kenneth McKenzie by William R. Sampson is in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, X, pp.477-479. A rough genealogy of the McKenzie Family is provided in the hardcopy version of the finding aid.

Numbers appearing at the upper left corner of documents are references to the old catalogue system and should not be used for citation.

Boxes 1-4: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and family: correspondence inward
Box 5: McKenzie, Kenneth (1846-1906): correspondence inward
Box 6: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and Kenneth McKenzie (1846-1906): correspondence outward
Box 7: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874): notebooks and personal papers
Box 8: McKenzie Family: notebooks, diaries, correspondence and personal papers
Box 9: McKenzie Family: material relating to Lakehill property
Boxes 10-18: Craigflower Farm
Box 19: Puget's Sound Agricultural Company
Boxes 20-25: McKenzie family: material relating to Scotland. N.B. See also box 25 for further material relating to the estate of William Blair, d.1800