SUMMARY: This program was broadcast as a special for the Christmas season. It features pioneer recollections about winter time in the Fraser Valley and northern B.C. Not all the voices heard are identified, but they include Martin Starret, Pan and Betty Phillips, and Sarah Bourgon.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Percy Hance talks about some aspects of life around Hanceville in the Chilcotin, 1870 to 1920. Mr. Hance tells the story of how his father, Orlando Thomas Hance, came to the Chilcotin, started a store, took up land, built a mill and met his wife, Percy's mother. Hance discusses Indians in the area, a story about George Meyers, his father's fur trade and his store. Mr. Hance describes other early ranches in Chilcotin, Becher's at Riske Creek, Christmas in Hanceville, winters, childhood, names of settlers in the area, a story about a remittance man, round-ups, and changes in range land.

TRACK 2: Mr. Hance describes cattle, dances and social events. Then Hance discusses driving the mail, Indians at Anahim Lake and at Hanceville, cattle drives to Ashcroft. Finally, Mr. Hance describes how he used to keep the jail, and law and order in Chilcotin.

The series consists of records created by Tommy Walker between 1926 and 1989 and documents the life and work of Tommy and Marion Walker in the Bella Coola Valley.

The records consist of diaries, notebooks, literary papers and manuscripts, guest books, business records, news clippings, motion picture films, maps, photographs, and a diversity of correspondence and subject files.

The diaries include a detailed record, with photographs, of the 1948 pack trip to Cold Fish Lake. The subject/correspondence files contain letters both inward and outward; most outgoing letters are typed carbon copies. Much of the correspondence listed under personal file names is with clients. These early exchanges usually deal with travel arrangements and overall costs of a hunt (or fishing trip). Later letters often reflect the developing friendships between the Walkers and their clients, many of whom were prominent United States businessmen. The general correspondence covers a wide variety of business and personal concerns, with one or two letters per correspondent.

The second largest component within the subject/correspondence files deals with the efforts to establish the park at Spatsizi, and with the Spatsizi Association for Biological Research. There are many exchanges of letters with university scientists such as Vladimir Krajina and Ian McTaggart-Cowan. These and other individuals are also represented in separate files under their own names.

Walker was a member of the Public Advisory Board of the Habitat Conservation Fund, and a large group of files relates to habitat enhancement proposals placed before the Board. Among the notable individuals amply represented in the correspondence are H.R. MacMillan and E.C.W. Lamarque. MacMillan was a hunting companion of Walker's. Lamarque reminisced extensively about his early days of travel in western Canada and some of these letters are illustrated with sketches and maps.

The "Annual letters" are a fine record of the Walkers' life and activities. These were sent each Christmas and are a blend of personal anecdotes, the state of their business, and Mr. Walker's strong views about northern development. He was involved in a number of environmental organizations watching over northern and north west industrial development. This is documented by correspondence, pamphlets, and newsletters such as Northern B.C. Development Newsletter. The literary papers and manuscripts relating to Spatsizi, Mr. Walker's only published work, consist primarily of various drafts and correspondence with publishers.

Also included is an unpublished manuscript, Heartland of the Cassiar. At the time of his death Mr. Walker was working on this history of the exploration and surveying of northern B.C., particularly the headwater areas of the Stikine, Finlay, Turnagain and Skeena Rivers. One of the three completed chapters is devoted to E.C.W. Lamarque.

Business records in this collection date from the early days of Stuie Lodge (account books, 1931-1945), through 1972. They are arranged partly under ledgers and account books and the rest gathered mainly in subject files under the names of his two principal business. The big game outfit at Cold Fish Lake operated under the name of Walker Frontier Services; relevant financial records here cover 1964-1971. The Tatogga Lake files contain mostly business and legal correspondence and documents relating to the lease, purchase, operation, and eventual sale of the land and buildings (store and sawmill).

CALL NUMBER: T0611:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Phyllis Bryant Kellis recalls some of her experiences homesteading in the Cariboo-Chilcotin area, 1919 to 1928. Mrs. Kellis offers a description of her rail journey to Clinton, her first few months in the area, her experience working for Mr. Becher at a hotel in Riske Creek, the ranch at Soda Creek, the story of how her wagon burned on the way to Tatla Lake, a detailed description of her journey to Tatla Lake, her first Christmas there, her life there and hard times at Soda Creek. TRACK 2: Mrs. Kellis discloses more details of life at Tatla Lake: school, stages, a description of her cabin there. She describes how the arrival of mail was seen as a social event, an unfriendly neighbor, an encounter with a traveling pianist while playing for a dance at Soda Creek, her move to Williams Lake and her music.

CALL NUMBER: T0611:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Kellis discusses her musical background, Lord Tweedsmuir's visit to Tweedsmuir Park in 1937, Mrs. Kellis's piano, Mrs. Kellis's health problems being the impetus for a move to BC from Seattle, and more on her first days in BC. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Letter from Theodore Davie, May 24, 1894, replying to a letter from Prentice stating that Davie had threatened to withhold money set aside in the estimates to reimburse the Western Canadian Ranching Company for road building if Prentice ran as an opposition candidate. Davie denies the accusation but expresses surprise that Prentice should ally himself with a group tending towards "Socialism and communism", and points out that the money had been granted because the government thought of Prentice as a deserving friend.

Presented by Alison Prentice, Toronto, per the editors, BC Historical News, 1980.

Series consists of private papers and business correspondence, agreements, etc. relating to mining companies promoted by A.K. Shives and his associates. Includes material relating to Empress Gold Mines, Gold Valley (properties in Similkameen District), Moose Dome area (Alberta) and others. Also includes some early reconnaissance and timber cruising reports for areas in the North Cariboo and Chilcotin and a letter from Arnold K. Shives to General Victor Odlum regarding Goldbridge Placer Leaser #564, Oct. 7, 1939.

Minutes, 1960-1975; correspondence, 1960-1976; correspondence re land applications and cattle increases, 1964-1971; correspondence re land applications, 1968-1975; correspondence with B.C. Cattlemen, 1972-1977.

Two record books containing brand registers for Kamloops and Clinton districts 1873-1914, as well as water records for Clinton district 1877-1879. The Kamloops volume also includes collectorate records from the Gold Commissioner at Yale for 1861. The index for the Clinton volume is in GR-1487, box 2, file 1. Also included are 6 volumes of office diaries, 1948, 1951-1953, 1955-1956, used by Thomas Moore, Recorder of brands.

The file consists of a photocopy of the reminiscences of Hannah Dorsey. Mrs. Dorsey was born in North Sidney, N.S., grew up in North Vancouver and Bella Coola, attended Normal School, and taught at Port Simpson, B.C., before accepting a private teaching post in the Chilcotin. She married Lester Dorsey, a Chilcotin rancher and guide in 1934. The reminiscences mainly describe ranch life and work and various pack trips.

The item is a photocopy of the reminiscences of Helen Frewen Sheringham, discussing her life with her husband, Edward Sheringham, on their ranch at Chezacut, 1905 - ca. 1912.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1973 SUMMARY: Rene Hance's father, Tom [Orlando Thomas] Hance, was the first white settler in the Chilcotin area in 1879. Rene was the local coroner, lay judge and magistrate for many years. He talks about Hanceville, the ranch, store, post, office, and the local Chinese community. Routes into the area via Soda Creek, 150 Mile House, Sheep Creek Bridge. Bob Henderson, who had the first store in Williams Lake. Criminal cases involving local Indians. Polo players. Local characters. Supplies came in every six months; freight teams via Gang Ranch.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Hance Ranch, Chilcotin : 1879 - early 20th century RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967 SUMMARY: An oral history interview with Rene Hance, whose father, Tom [Orlando Thomas] Hance, was the first white settler in the Chilcotin area in 1879. Chinese buildings near Hanceville. Visiting the Chinese. The ranch at Hanceville. Origins of Riske Creek. Life of the ranch. Other ranchers: Lee, Tretheway. Crime and punishment in the region. Mail service. Indian-white relations.

Letters inward, 1934-1977, mainly concerning Cassiar district, the South Nahanni, Liard and Finlay rivers, and the Alberta foothills; copies of pages of Guy Lawrence, "40 years on the Yukon Telegraph" annotated by T.F. Harper Reed. Microfilm (neg.) 1934-1977 35 mm [A00953(1)] Photocopies ca. 1960 1 cm Raymond Murray Patterson was born in Country Durham, England, on May 13, 1898. He was educated at Rossall School, and in 1917 went directly from school into the British army. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, was captured in the spring of 1918, and spent the remainder of the war in a Prisoner of War camp in Silesia. After the war, he attended Oxford University and then joined the Bank of England. In 1924, Mr. Patterson came to Canada. After working briefly on a dairy farm in the Fraser Valley, he homesteaded in the Battle River area of the Peace River District of Alberta. In the summer of 1927, he made the first of the northern journeys which formed the subject of much of his later writings. Travelling by way of Fort Simpson, he spent the summer on the South Nahanni River, returning south by way of a difficult journey via the Fort Nelson River and Fort St. John. He returned to the South Nahanni in the spring of 1928 and remained there with his partner, Gordon Matthews, until the spring of 1929. Mr. Patterson returned to England to be married in 1929. Until 1946, he and his wife and family lived in Alberta, first sheep ranching in the Bow River Valley, and then running the Buffalo Head Ranch in the Highwood River Valley in the Alberta foothills. The Pattersons moved to Vancouver Island in 1946, living first near Sidney and later in Victoria, from 1962 on. In the late 1940s, Mr. Patterson made two more northern trips, again, largely by canoe. With his experiences on the South Nahanni, they formed the basis for three of his books. In 1948, he travelled from Wrangell up the Stikine River to Telegraph Creek and then down the Dease to Lower Post. In 1949, he went from Prince George via the Crooked River to Finlay Forks and then up the Finlay River. In the 1940s, Patterson began to publish articles in magazines such as The Beaver and Blackwoods on his experiences as a homesteader and his northern travels. In 1954, The Dangerous River, the first of his five books, was published. It was based on his experiences on the South Nahanni River, 1927-1929. The Dangerous River was followed by The Buffalo Head, 1961, which was partly about his early life in England and on his Alberta homestead, but mainly about his life in the Alberta foothills. Far Pastures, published in 1963, consisted of articles previously published in magazines with additional chapters on homesteading and later travels in the north. In Trail to the Interior, 1966 and Finlay's River, 1968, Patterson used his journeys on the Stikine and Dease in 1948 and on the Finlay in 1949 as a framework to write about the history of those rivers. In addition to his own books, Patterson wrote the introduction to the Hudson's Bay Record Society's edition of the Journals of Samuel Black, published in 1955. Raymond Murray Patterson died in Victoria in 1984. Records include: letters inward, 1934-1977, mainly concerning Cassiar district, the South Nahanni, Liard and Finlay Rivers, and the Alberta foothills; and copies of pages of Guy Lawrence, 40 years on the Yukon Telegraph annotated by T.F. Harper Reed. Related records include MS-2762, Visual Records accession 198908-001, and Maps accession M89-038 Photocopy Guy Lawrence's 40 years on the Yukon Telegraph annotated by T.F. Harper Reed. Source: MS Finding Aids Finding aid.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ranching in the Chilcotin - Chinese role RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967 SUMMARY: Ranching near Alexandria. Chinese involved in mining in region. Chinese as workers on ranches. Their character. Chinese medicine. Pigs to Barkerville.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1965?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Roy Haines describes stagecoach driving in the Chilcotin before 1930; the road between Meldrum Creek and Alexis Creek; the Becher place; more on the Chilcotin Road; the people; what Alexis Creek was like between 1912 and 1930; anecdotes; Bull Canyon; anecdotes regarding experiences as a stage driver; the region in the past as compared to the present. Mrs. Phyllis Bryant Kellis is present during this interview and adds some comments. TRACK 2: Mr. Haines continues by discussing the Bryant family; repairing the telephone line; the stage line; deaths; Phyllis Bryant; a physical description of the Chilcotin Road; the past in comparison to the present; the development of the Chilcotin stage lines; Tommy Hodson; and the road from Meldrum Creek.

CALL NUMBER: T2789:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Teaching and social life in Cariboo communities RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Ruby Barrett's parents; father was a minister and came to preach in Vancouver in 1929; her father's work as a missionary up the coast; Normal School in Vancouver when Ruby was 18; her first ;teaching post at North Lytton School; her second teaching position at Alexis Creek; trip from Williams lake to Alexis Creek; her third teaching position at Horsefly in 1938; her recollections of Horsefly in 1938; her marriage to trapper Tan Barrett. TRACK 2: Ruby's marriage to Stan Barrett, continued; their first home; social life in Horsefly; Christmas concerts at the school. CALL NUMBER: T2789:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A teacher in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-12-21 SUMMARY: Experiences as a teacher at Alexis Creek and Horsefly, BC. CALL NUMBER: T2789:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Teaching in Horsefly, B.C., 1938-1941 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978-01-05 SUMMARY: Teaching in Horsefly from 1938 to 1941; the teaching profession in general. CALL NUMBER: T2789:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A trapper's wife, 1942 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: Ruby Barrett; her life as the wife of a trapper in the Cariboo in 1942. CALL NUMBER: T2789:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A trapper's wife, 1942 & 1945 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: Ruby Barrett; her life as the wife of a trapper in the Cariboo region from 1942 to 1945.

Shows trails from west of Tatla Lake to Alexandria and along the Chilcotin River to the Fraser.

Photographic copy of lithographed map which was issued in H.S. Palmer's Report of a journey of survey, from Victoria to Fort Alexander, via North Bentinck Arm. New Westminster, 1863.
"Prepared by the Royal Engineers at the Office of Lands and Works, New Westminster, by order of Col. R.C. Moody, R.E., &c. &c., Feby. 1863" "To accompany report of 24th November 1862"
Inset: Sketch of head of North Bentinck Arm. Scale [1:31 680].

Photostat of original in Legal Surveys.
"To accompany report of 24th November 1862"
Signatures at bottom: Colonel R.C. Moody, R. Engr., Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works; H.S. Palmer, Lieutt., R. Engr, 18th Feby, 1863.
Inset: Sketch of the head of North Bentinck Arm. Scale [1:31 680].

Photostat of original in Legal Surveys which was removed from the Odd plans series and transferred to Roads and trails, 19T2, after this print was made.
Signatures at bottom: Colonel R.C. Moody, R. Engr., Chief Commissioner of Lands & Works; H.S. Palmer, Lieutt., R. Engr, 18th Feby. 1863. "To accompany report of 24th November 1862"
Inset: Sketch of head of North Bentinck Arm.

Photostat of original in Legal Surveys. Notes by Frank Swannel plot the progress of Palmer's expedition.
"To accompany report of 24th November 1862"
Inset: Sketch of the head of North Bentinck Arm. Scale [1:31 680].

Stanley Howard Frame (1878-1973) was a surveyor who worked as a District Hydrometric Engineer for the Department of the Interior in Alberta, as Assistant Engineer, Irrigation Block in Alberta, and as a hydraulic engineer at the B.C. Water Rights Branch (1928-1947).

Diaries, 1916-1972, covering Frame's work as District Hydrometric Engineer, for the Dept. of the Interior, Cardston and McLeod districts, Alberta, 1916-1918; as Assistant Engineer, Irrigation Block, Brooks, Alberta for the CPR Dept. of Natural Resources, 1918-1928; and as hydraulic engineer, British Columbia Water Rights Branch, 1928-1947. The diaries also covers his life in Victoria to 1972. Memoirs, 1903-1913 of work as Grand Trunk Pacific engineer, Prairies, Prince Rupert and Calgary. A genealogical and historical record of some pioneer families of Nova Scotia and New England. Dance and conference programmes.

RECORDED: Kamloops (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mr. Gibbs worked as farm labour on the prairies until he moved to BC during the Depression. He had a small ranch at Forest Grove before joining the Forest Service. He was a ranger at Alexis Creek for many years.

The item is a copy of "The Bayliff story" by Douglas Harker, a history of the Chilancoh ranch in the Chilcotin district near Alexis Creek, B.C. and the family who have owned it since 1886.

SUMMARY: "The Bush and Salon" was a series that recreated early Canadian life from letters, diaries, and other sources. In this program, a journey in the summer of 1970 retraces the travels and experiences of Phyllis Bryant as a young mother, homesteading in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region with her husband and four children during the 1920s. Based on oral history interviews and other recordings from the 1970 journey, it presents the trials and joys of a pioneer family. The voices heard include: Phyllis Bryant Kellis, Peggy Keefe, Jim Keefe, Harry McGhee, Dean Holt, Bill Broughton, Elmer Purdue, and Dan Lee.

The item is a composite film print of a travelogue made between 1973 and 1976. It focuses on the Cariboo-Chilcotin region, with an introductory section on the history and exploration of the region. Includes footage of ranches, highways, small communities, the restored Gold Rush town of Barkerville, Bella Coola, Mount Waddington, Williams Lake stampede (bronco riding, bull riding, wild horse race, calf-roping), Anahim Lake Stampede, the region's distinctive rail and snake fences, back roads, fishing, foliage, dude ranches, travel by light plane, autumn scenes.