Showing 47 results

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. A.H. Soles discusses early settlement in the Columbia Valley and the Kootenay Central Railroad; he describes how he came from Ontario to Golden in 1898; the various steamboats and their captains; surveying and construction of the Kootenay Central Railroad from 1905 to 1915; KCRR opened up settlement of the valley south of Golden; the Koles family settled several years before the KCRR; and was one of the first in the area. TRACK 2: Mr. Soles continues by describing the KCRR building several stopping places along the line; other settlements named when the post office was established at each; a large fire on the west bank in 1926; no settlement south of Golden before the CPR; there were more game animals after the big fire.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alex Wylie discusses hiking near Hinton in 1905 with some traders as he moved to BC; moved to Alberta from Scotland; describes the fort at Edmonton; he describes how he became a packer in 1907; Swift Ranch; pack trails near Quesnel; a man named Swift; the Northern Territories as he remembers them; the CPR; and Fort George. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-30 SUMMARY: Andy Gray recalls in detail his career on the CPR. Born in Scotland, he came to Canada in 1890 and then to Vancouver 1892. He began work on the CPR in 1906 as a "wiper", then a fireman, and by 1911 as an engineer. He discusses his experience working with the trains in Revelstoke from 1909 to 1915; the Rogers Pass Slide of 1910 with the only survivor, Bill LaChance; train recollections throughout the province; Kootenay Central; and "Cranbrook Ed," who was one of the escaped elephants from a visiting circus at Cranbrook.

CALL NUMBER: T0678:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss Annie York describes her grandfather, Joseph York (1868?-1951), who attended Anglican schools at Jackass Mountain; his lifelong work for the CPR; several anecdotes about things that happened to him during his lifetime; his character; Spuzzum Indians; Indians in Lytton; how Spuzzum got its name; Harry James; events in Spuzzum; Indians of Spuzzum; basket weaving; Spuzzum Indian chiefs; the Chinook language; languages used in church; she recites the Lord's Prayer and some hymns in her native tongue, Thompson Indian. TRACK 2: Miss York sings a bit more and discusses the hymns; Reverend Higgs; anecdotes about family; her great grandmother; her grandmother; her mother; her partner, Mr. Palmer; Chief James; Thompson Village. She tells the story of the Lytton Indians and Simon Fraser as told to her by her grandmother, who was ten years old at the time of the meeting, and sings the song that was sung to Simon Fraser when he left the Indians. More on Simon Fraser; more on hymns and prayers; teaching.

CALL NUMBER: T0678:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss York continues by discussing how Indians prepare food. Then Arthur Urquhart, who was born in Yale and moved to Spuzzum, describes his earliest recollections about his family; his father; people in the area; Chinese people; what people wore; what Spuzzum was like. TRACK 2: Miss York comes back on and tells stories that Chief James told her, and describes his life; bridges and settlements in the area; customs of the Indians; more on cooking; more stories about social customs; her father; Indian religion and beliefs; the origins of the river and the moon.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Arthur Chadwick discusses his family history in Wisconsin all the way back to the American Civil War. He was born in 1885 and came to Canada by himself in 1907 to Alberta. Not liking Alberta, he worked for the CPR to save money to eventually move to BC in 1910. He discusses work available in Vancouver at that time, and an experience working on a sternwheeler in Hazelton. He describes moving to Babine Portage because of a booming mining community at that time and mentions several characters. He describes his experience as a camp cook in Burns Lake; getting lost out by Babine Portage for twenty-one days with nothing to eat and meeting Indians on Cunningham Lake who eventually took him to their camp and fed him; his friendship with Martin Starret, with whom he shared a property boundary and who ran a store; a description of Martin Starret's life and that of his uncle, who was fur trader C.B. Smith, and his wife and daughter and son; what life was like in Babine Portage; ;life at Babine hatchery and cannery; more on Martin Starret and how Mr. Chadwick began trapping in 1916; and an anecdote about having to register to get grub. TRACK 2: Mr. Chadwick continues with hi;s anecdotes including some places and names, more on trapping at Tatla Lake, raising cattle, and more on Mr. Chadwick's experience as a cook.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1966-08-27 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Arthur Salsbury relates the financing and early history of the CPR. Recalls journey of the first train to arrive at Port Moody. Prominent founders of the CPR. History of early Vancouver. Great Northern Railway and Seattle International Railway. TRACK 2: Recalls trip to Hong Kong on the "Empress of India", 1896.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-05-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The Honourable Basil Aylmer describes the Aylmer family history. Then he discusses coming to Queens Bay; building a house; World War I; starting a farm; and his family and neighbours. TRACK 2: The Honourable Basil Aylmer continues with more on social life at Queens Bay before discussing Proctor; more about the farm; marriage; characters; and the CPR.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-03-09 SUMMARY: Mr. E.W. (Bill) LaChance recalls his experiences working as an locomotive fireman and engineer for the CPR, based in Revelstoke. This interview mainly relates his story as the sole survivor of the Rogers Pass Snow slide of 1910, in which fifty-eight railroad workers were killed.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Boyd Campbell Affleck came to the Kootenay/Arrow Lakes region in 1907 from Ontario. He took up a surveying job near Nakusp. He discusses settlers and speculators. He describes Fruitva;le in 1907; the development; the early settlers. Then he discusses irrigation and then more on Fruitvale; the impact of WWI on the region; fruit grown; a picnic in the 1930s; settlers; clearing land; and the Fruitvale town site. Mr. Affleck settled near Fruitvale in 1918; lost his hand and was forced back into survey work. He surveyed the town of Salmo. He offers an anecdote about the red light ladies of Erie and then offers more about Fruitvale; the impact of the Trail smelter; and recalls the forest fire of 1939. TRACK 2: Mr. Affleck continues with more on the forest fire. Then he dis;cusses the Trail smelter; effects on fruit farms; Columbia Gardens and survey work at Nelson. He offers more on Fruitvale and Nelson in 1907; transportation; the rivalry between the CPR and GN boats.; He tells a story of how Kaslo tried to steal the Nelson Board of Trade in the 1890s. He discusses the Fruitvale power system in the 1920s; Nelson City Light. He describes the rivalry between West Kootenay Power and Light, and Nelson City Light.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Weeks discusses commercial navigation on Okanagan Lake, 1893 to 1914. He describes how he came out from England with his family; his first impressions of the Okanagan; the wooden sidewalks in Vernon; Vernon as a meeting place; the stage from Vernon to Kelowna; Hudson's Bay stores; the character of Vernon; odd jobs; beginning work on CPR lake boats as a deckhand; first captains; t;he S.S. "Aberdeen"; boats on the lake before that time, such as the "Mary Victoria Greenhow", run by T.D. Shorts; other boats; more about the "Aberdeen" and later CPR boats; details of boat service on; the lake; visits of various Governors General; the "Sicamous"; and general comments on CPR boats. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Carl Thomet was born in Midway in 1905, and lived his whole life there. The interview begins with a description of the railway built in 1900. The first passenger railway service was called the Columbia and Western, and was not extended to Penticton until 1915. The train was the main supply route for Camp McKinney. There is a discussion about the railways battling for business. The Great Northern was called the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway and in 1905 the CPR tried to hold back the Great Northern. The Vernon-Midway Railway came in 1905 and C.W. took it over. Thomet describes Midway at the turn of the century including the landscape, several characters, some stories of violence and the hotels. The track ends with talk about the loggers and river boats on the Kettle River.

TRACK 2: Mr. Thomet tells stories about several people who worked along the river and how loggers used the river to transport lumber. A person named Steeves is mentioned.

SUMMARY: The story of cattle ranching in the Nicola Valley: its beginnings in the days of the Cariboo gold rush, and the work of ranchers and cowboys at the Douglas Lake Cattle Company. The voices heard are: Bill Brennan; Alex Bulman; Gerald Guichon; Fred Irwin; Doug Palmer; and Martin Starret.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-04 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Colin M. Sinclair recalls his family's first days in the East Kootenays; born in Tobacco Plains, Montana and moved to BC in 1900; his grandfather, James Sinclair, was shot during an India;n uprising in 1856; there was a change from open forest to thick undergrowth between trees in the Kootenays between 1900 to 1960 because of logging operations; change in the ambitions and activities o;f the Indians; relations between whites and Indians in the area were always good; the Spokane Flyer was a CPR train; Michael Phillips; Elko was a wild town at the turn of the century; first road at Fort Steele; no farming east of Grasmere. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is a recorded interview with Mr. Cornelius "Corny" Kelleher. Tape 1: Kelleher recalls his father, Mortimer Kelleher, Mortimer's early days in British Columbia, and his settlement in Mission City in 1868. He speaks about the mills in Mission City; the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Mission [OMI] settlement of the mission in 1862; First Nations people at the mission; construction and location of the mission buildings; the Sisters of St. Ann convent; his father's work for the mission; the Kelleher family farm; Passmore family; other settlers in the Mission area; childhood at Mission school, surveying for the CPR in 1882; clearing and construction for the CPR; first passenger trains in 1886; steamboats.

Tape 2: Mr. Kelleher discusses steamboat service; construction and maintenance of the dikes at Matsqui Prairie; Matsqui Land Company; the Maclure family; early settlers in Matsqui; the Purver family, discusses farming incidents; naming Abbotsford; CPR link to the U.S.; Huntington; Mission City; roads, railways; [period of silence on tape]; remittance men; Bellevue Hotel, Matsqui Hotel; railway bridge; shipping fish; sturgeon fishing; First Nations methods of fishing.

Tape 3: Mr. Kelleher continues with his recollections of fishing on the Fraser River; salmon fishing; Indigenous place names; other place names; Joe DeRoche; childhood adventures; First Nations stories about ;Hatzic Island; First Nations hunting methods and doctors; Sam McDonald and Frank Wade, Maclure, "Supple Jack" from the Matsqui reserve; Mount Baker; Jim Trethewey and family; ;saw and grist mills; description of the O.M.I. Mission; early settlers; subdivision of lots in Mission City; Riverside; C.B. Sword.;

Tape 4: Mr. Kelleher talks about Mr. Barnes, Mr. Sword, the Matsqui dike and other incidents.

CALL NUMBER: T0405:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-30 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Colonel Desmond O. Vicars offers details about his father, John Richard Vicars, who came from Dublin to Ontario and became a surveyor; 1878, went to Peace River country; 1890, went to Vancouver; 1896, went to Kamloops area; became warden of the Kamloops jail; married his wife in 1892; discusses old timers and old miners; J.A. Marrow; anecdotes about Indians who died of smallpox; Rose Shubert; transportation along the Fraser River; pack trains; the Fortune's ranch; overlanders; John Tate; mining around Kamloops; some characters in the area who liked to mine; the CPR and its effect on the area. TRACK 2: Colonel Vicars continues with a story about Andrew Onderdonk; an old timer named Antoine Allen; Colonel Vicars discusses Kamloops as it was when he was born; a private school that started in 1893; several stories about Bill Miner and about Miner's partner, Shorty Dunn.

CALL NUMBER: T0405:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-30 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Colonel Vicars continues to discuss characters associated with Bill Miner, including Jack Budd; more on his father and the Rocky Mountain Rangers; and militia units. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-01-29 SUMMARY: TRACKS 1 & 2: Doug Abrahamson recalls Revelstoke at the turn of the century. His family came from Sweden, settled in Revelstoke and built and ran the Central Hotel. He describes the social life and customs in Upper Town and Lower Town, characters from the Revelstoke area and Big Bend region, the steamboat "Revelstoke", and trails in the area. Incidents around town. The local red light district; the various "houses" and their inhabitants. He also discusses the Rogers Pass slide of 1910, Illecillewaet, and the transfer of the CPR divisional point from Donald to Revelstoke.

SUMMARY: "Nicola Country", number 5 in the series, tells the story of the cattle country south of Kamloops, something about Kamloops itself, and the story of the train robber Bill Miner. Voices heard include: Bill Brennan, Doug Palmer, Alex Bulman, Fred Irwin, Gerald Guichon, Wentworth Wood, Colonel D.C. Vicars, F.W. Pinchbeck, Martin Starret and Louis Lagace.

SUMMARY: "Patterns of the Valley", number 7 in the series, examines the development of the Fraser Valley from pre-contact to early homesteading; the introduction of the CPR; clearing a farm out of the bush; high-water time; and growing up in the valley. Voices heard include: Nellie Patriquin, Beulah Probert, Constance Cruikshank, Joy Starr, Bert Williams, Joe Louie, Oliver Wells, Ray Wells, Alf Hawkins, Martin Starret and Albert Drinkwater.

SUMMARY: "Tales of Two Cities", number 6 in the series, is a program contrasting the early years, development, and characteristics of Victoria and Vancouver, prior to the First World War. Voices heard include: Kathleen Agnew, Isabel Sweeney, Nellie Hood, Madge Muskett, Maisie Hurley, Stanley Meadows, Roger Monteith, William Wallace, Russell Walker and B.C. Hilliam.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-10 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. G.H. Williamson recalls his 40 year career with the CPR. Born in Toronto, he moved to Donald, B.C., in 1892 and started with the railways. By 1900 he was working as an engineer. He discusses the community of Donald, the town, and the CPR facilities. He provides descriptions of railway equipment, engines, train mechanics, rails and grades. This portion of the tape concludes with descriptions of the Rogers Pass rail service and snow slides.

TRACK 2: Mr. Williamson continues with recollections of his railway career, the Rogers Pass area, the destruction of the original Roger's Pass Station and facilities in an 1898 slide, the Rogers Pass Slide of 1910, the construction of the railway tunnels in the Field area, railway accidents and the dismantling of the Donald CPR shop which was moved to Revelstoke.

CALL NUMBER: T0348:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: Mr. Gerald Harpur landed in Midway on September 22, 1912, and settled as a fruit farmer in the Kettle Valley, farming mostly apples. He talks about his life, where he came from and the early Kettle Valley. He describes people and development including the construction of the railroad. As well, he describes the effects of World War I on the community and land of the Kettle Valley, irrigation, and cattle farming. Harpur speaks about Kettle Valley Flats and Ranch, horse and cattle thieves, and border crossings.

CALL NUMBER: T0348:0002 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gerald Harpur discusses the Canadian Pacific Railroad and gambling. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T0658:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Gus Milliken tells many stories from many different sources about the area around Yale. The first story takes place during the gold rush about a man who sells another man a claim to a mine which turned out to be a gravel mine, not a gold mine. Several other prospecting stories, some of which are fictitious. Early stories about the sternwheelers, including an argument between an engineer and the captain of a steamship; legends about the packer Cataline (Jean Caux); pack mules near Lytton; March 1858; a man named Hill, who discovered the first gold along the Fraser; the first hotels in the area; Joe MacKenzie, an original '58er; Ned Stout; Dewdney Landing; Bill MacKenzie, orchards, the building of the CPR station at Yale; some historical facts about the town of Yale; the first sawmill, first town council and first white male born in BC, Chinese miners and old timers. TRACK 2: Mr. Milliken describes how Yale got its name; its origins as a fort in 1846; the Hudson's Bay Company; the first buildings in Yale, L.T. Hill as the first person to discover gold in 1858; the relationship between the Hudson's Bay Company and San Francisco; the original Fort Hope, the people who worked in the first gold mines, activity in the area as it was being established, the first post office in 1916, Hope as a gold mining town; prospectors who had to move on to other places because all of the land had been staked; a dynamite plant; other early homes.

CALL NUMBER: T0658:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Milliken continues describing Andrew Onderdonk, who was "supposed to have built the railway but who was in fact the engineer". He describes the American company that paid for the building of the railway from Emory to beyond Yale. He discusses the construction of the railway; the first roads in the area; Indian trails in the area, including Douglas Portage and how Mr. Yale named it; he describes Mr. Yale; gold in Rock Creek; the Kettle Valley and the Canadian National Railroad [sic]; mills in the area; the Hope-Nicola trail and other trails.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-05-27 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Land promoter John Moore Robinson is recalled by his daughters Dorothy Robinson and Gwen Hayman, and by a nephew, William Robinson, who also discuss life in the central Okanagan, 1897 to 191;4. The three speakers all speak together so it is not specified who says what. The discussion begins by describing Robinson's background; memories of Summerland; the SS "Okanagan" and Captain Estabrooks; trips on the family houseboat; how Robinson came west and founded Peachland; early days in Peachland and Summerland; James Ritchie; Robinson's companies; CPR interest in Summerland; early days of Naramata, including what life was like there and in Summerland. TRACK 2: The Robinsons offer childhood memories; a discussion about J.M. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson; early church service; first impressions of the Okanagan; the trip out from Brandon; the family house; more on Robinson's background and the founding of Peachland; Robinson's enthusiasm for the Okanagan; Summerland days; visits of CPR; financiers; stories about the Robinson's family Chinese cook; impressions of Penticton and Kelowna; and a westerner's view of eastern Canadians.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [ca. 1971] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Bert Watson came to Vancouver from Manitoba in 1905, and started in the shoe business. At the time of this interview, he was still selling shoes at the age of eighty-two in White Rock. He talks about some early recollections; his family homestead; growing up in Manitoba; coming out to Vancouver; impressions of the city; shoe stores in Vancouver; Woodward's; shoe salesmen; shoe fitting; shoe styles; early Vancouver in the 1900s; the business area; streets; the CPR; the harbour; and his thoughts on youth. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item consists of an audio interview with H.H. Stevens, recorded in 1966.
T0327:0001 summary
Track 1: Mr. Stevens, who came to Vernon in 1894, talks about his early experiences and memories of the Okanagan, including driving the stage from Penticton to Grand Forks in 1897; Camp McKinney; Fairview; Rossland; Phoenix; Greenwood; Grand Forks; Crows Nest Railway; Rock Creek; prospecting and mining and W.R. Meagaw. He describes Vernon; local residents; farms; ranches and the Aberdeen Ranch.
Track 2: Mr. Stevens continues with recollections about the Coldstream Ranch; Okanagan Lake; coming to Vancouver 1901; False Creek; CPR land holdings; real estate boom 1901 to 1912; sawmills and logging; Oppenheimer brothers; local personalities and wholesalers; Victoria wholesalers; North Vancouver ferry; Stewart; and the Dominion Trust Company.

T0327:0002 summary
Track 1: Mr. Stevens speaks about the Dominion Trust Company; the beginning of party politics in BC, 1903; and his election as a federal Conservative MP in 1911. He comments on federal political life; Vancouver in the boom period and depression, from 1911 to 1920; personalities; Alvo von Alvensleben; Hindus; Japanese; wholesalers and the Vancouver Hotel. [Track 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-30 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Dr. Burris describes aspects of early Kamloops including medicine; missionaries; priests; criminals; robberies, police officers; politics; Bill Miner; Constable Fernie; J.D. Robinson; Hugh McLean; Captain Vickers; Father Lejeune; and the CPR. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T1345:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Isabel Sweeny (nee Bell-Irving) talks about her family's life in Vancouver after arriving in 1885, including: her father, who was an engineer for the CPR; his sketches of CPR construction; her parents' initial stay at Black's Hotel; life in Vancouver; their first house on Alexander Street, and their house on Seaton Street, later Hastings Street. She continues with descriptions of the family holly tree and tennis court; the West End; English Bay; Jericho Beach in the 1890s; the North Vancouver Indians; False Creek; Point Grey; Marpole House; Granville Street; and the family home at Harwood and Bute Streets. TRACK 2: Mrs. Sweeny continues with her recollections about early Vancouver, including moving the last Indian village in the Kitsilano area to Squamish; real estate development; Vancouver in the 1890s and 1900s; parties; social life; the Royal Navy; more family history; Victoria; early schools in Vancouver; childhood; family pets; development of the city; a fund-raising carnival for the hospital; Indians in Stanley Park; and local characters "Crazy George" and "Pacific Slope".

CALL NUMBER: T1345:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Sweeny talks about trips along the BC coast on the family boat, the "Beatrice"; Indian fishing on the northern rivers; the Johnson family; Princess Louisa Inlet and Thetis Island. She discusses the Gulf Islands; personalities; families; Campbell River; fishing stories; Cape Mudge and Alert Bay. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Jack Mulholland remembers coming west to the Kootenays in the late nineteenth century. He describes the CPR/Great Northern competition; the Silver King Mine at Nelson; the driving team; the smelter; more about coming west; rawhiding; a description of ore; the first ore from Sandon; forming the Prospectors Protective Association in Nelson; forming the Chamber of Mines; conflict; a prospector's life; bears and the Slocan-Lardeau ore belt. TRACK 2: He continues with more stories about prospecting and people in the area.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-12-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. James Robertson remembers life as a rancher and as a freighter. Mr. Robertson describes how he came from Scotland to Banff in 1904; his work on the Canadian Pacific Railway; the Gang Ranch from 1905 to 1907; Vancouver in 1907; more on the Gang Ranch; the Dog Creek Ranch (the Joseph place); more about the Gang Ranch to 1910; other ranches; a strike at the Gang Ranch; J.D. Prentice, Managing Director, Western Canadian Ranching Co.; owners of the Gang Ranch; fishing; 100 Mile House, Benjamin "Benjy" McNeil of the 105 Mile Ranch; and the BX Stage. TRACK 2: Mr. Robertson continues about the BX Stage; "Drummers", traveling salesmen; his own freighting business; Ashcroft in 1910; Horsefly in 1915; Cataline, Miocene; and the Cariboo Road from 1911 to 1914.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Jack E. Thompson was born in 1894 and came to the Grand Forks Valley in 1895. His father, Andrew Thomas, was a blacksmith. Mr. Thompson describes what the valley was like at the turn of the century, which towns were there, which towns had not yet been established, and how the CPR and the hotels brought expansion. He describes the Indians of the area and a man named Father Pat. Mr. Thompson describes his relatives between Chilliwack and Rosedale. Mr. Thompson goes on to describe his earliest memories of Cascade and more about Father Pat. Mr. Thompson describes Grand Forks, the farming, the Doukhobors, and Peter Verigin.

TRACK 2: Mr. Thompson describes the Cascade power house, the trestle bridge, the "Hot Air Line" Railway, North Fork mining, and people in Cascade including: Billy Dalgleish, Jack Shaffer, Stocker and Chandler. Then Christina Lake is described, and a story about a moose is told. The interview ends with stories about the Grand Forks beer parlor and ;more about Billy Dalgleish.