Showing 41 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.

CALL NUMBER: T0883:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alexander Ritchie describes how he came from Calgary in 1896; drove a stage between Fort Steele and Windermere for a few months; went back to Calgary, but returned to Windermere in 1898; worked on ranches and mined until 1910; was part owner of CVI [Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruit Lands, Limited] with [R.R.] Bruce for five years; broke up with Bruce and eventually owned the whole company and site; CPR board of directors were the driving force behind CVI; KCRR [Kootenay Central Railway] reached Athalmer in 1912; the Paradise Mine and some anecdotes. TRACK 2: Mr. Ritchie continue;s by discussing Fort Steele as a "wide open town" in the 1890s and the stage run from Fort Steele to Windermere. He then discusses democrats (i.e., type of wagon).

CALL NUMBER: T0883:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Ritchie continues his description of the Fort Steele to Windermere stage run; more anecdotes; Windermere as the earliest settlement in the area; Mr. Ritchie's several trips across the Rockies and taking horses east to sell in Alberta. TRACK 2: Mr. Ritchie describes an incident at Banff with Indians and selling horses as far north as Grande Prairie. Then Mrs. Lizzie Ritchie describes how she came from London to Winnipeg in 1904; her first husband was Charles Burgess, who was bookkeeper for a lumber company; Waldo as the first ghost town; and some anecdotes about the lumber industry.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: This recording includes the sounds of the Blaeberry River, and a description by Imbert Orchard of the river scenery. Another voice on this tape speaks about David Thompson, and reads a description of the area from his journal. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The content may be incomplete.

CALL NUMBER: T0880:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Chief Martin Morigeau describes the first settlers of the Columbia Valley. His grandfather, Francois, was the second man in the Columbia Valley after David Thompson. Francois quit HBC and farmed while in Washington; Martin's father did the first farming in the Columbia Valley; Martin's father and others moved to Alberta in 1904; they did threshing for the whole area; describes experiences threshing; Martin is chief of the Kootenays. TRACK 2: Chief Morigeau describes the abundance of salmon in the Columbia River before the construction of Grand Coulee Dam; Martin discovered Indian skeletons at Rocky Mountain House; captured and trained a bald eagle; he describes cougar hunting.

CALL NUMBER: T0880:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Chief Morigeau tells hunting and mining anecdotes. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUMMARY: [No content information available.]

Amateur film. Shows scenery and wildlife in the vicinity of the Columbia and Yoho Valleys and the towns of Golden, Skookumchuck and Banff. Includes footage of the Kicking Horse and Columbia Rivers, Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, waterfall in Yoho Park, train passing through Spiral Tunnels, Radium Hot Springs, etc.

RECORDED: Wilmer (B.C.), 1983-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Accounts of hunting grizzly. Snowbound escape from Ice River area via Wolverine Pass. Walter Nixon (father) started packing ore in Parson area, 1907. Was game warden during WWI, political appointment. Gordon Nixon took out survey parties. David started in 1932. Outfit called 2N, was family operation and was sold after WWII. Hunting on Simpson River for moose and grizzly, got three record heads. TRACK 2: Seven point elk. Upper Simpson River had "tame" elk. Built original trail in Simpson Valley. Sir George Simpson's copper tea kettle found. Nixon built a number of other trails. Bill Harrison, Roy McDonald were guides. Some dude trips for CPR resort at Windermere. Packing for Alpine Club camps. Lake of Hanging Glacier. Photo in ice cave. Survey work was good money, climbing parties less so. Packing for surveys on Big Bend Highway. Brother was among those drowned on Kinbasket Lake then. Bugaboos. Nixons helped Conrad Kain. Wintered horses on Police Meadows at Edgewater. Walter Nixon died in 1952.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-07 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss Effie L. Turnor describes early settlement at Wilmer: how she came from England with her family in 1911; her father was lured out by R.R. Bruce's pamphlet; her father bought ten acres just above Wilmer; grew strawberries and apples; in 1916 she moved to Invermere; there were few farms near Wilmer in the early days; it was mainly a mining town; Bruce's charming personality is described; she mentions several characters around Wilmer. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is a reel of educational file. It contains an analysis of the Columbia River system in both Canada and the USA, with emphasis on hydro-electric power development and the reclamation of arid land in the Columbia Basin. Includes a mini-educational segment on forest fires and water erosion damage caused by fires. The course of the river and those of many of its tributaries are traced.

SUMMARY: Recording about, or discussion of, David Thompson's Kootenae House, the trading post he built in 1807 on the Columbia River near Lake Windermere. The audio reel is also labelled "Thompson #12".

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Hazel Cuffling : golden days - pioneering in Golden, B.C. RECORDED: Golden (B.C.), 1972-10-23 SUMMARY: Hazel Cuffling discusses the Depression era; homesteading; livestock; millwork; family life; schooling; and community social life in Golden.;

RECORDED: Brisco (B.C.), 1983-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Arthur Tegart homesteaded at Windermere in 1886. Guided hunters in early 1900s. Guiding supplemented farm income. Bob and Buster continued family outfit after 1925. Jim Tegart stated about 1929; own outfit in 1943. Used wild horses in pack string for a total of forty. Areas hunted. Built trail in Squaw, Lodgepole, Marion Creeks, White River. Indian hunting trail from Kananaskis. Game, roads, and decline. Tegart Pass and Mountain. Jim Thompson guided. Tents reverted to cabins on Albert River, Tipperary Falls, Queen Mary Creek. Frequent fly-camping. Names of old time game wardens. Albertans hunted the Palliser. TRACK 2: Austrian hunters. Woman hunter, 69 years old. Lost supplies fording a river. Doreen cooked for most parties; an all day job. Daughters have cooked, sons did guiding. Old area outfitters; Jim and Gordon McKay, Upper Kootenay, Beaverfoot, Bill Harrison, Alpine Club. Big Bend Highway work. Banff/Jasper highway packing. Rode a horse to death. Hunted in the Purcell Mountains. One-armed hunter.

CALL NUMBER: T0866:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. and Mrs. Bergenham discuss farmers; railroaders and con men in the Kootenays. John's father came to Canada in 1892; worked for the CPR; living conditions in Golden at the turn of the century; Walter Moberly was the CPR surveyor; Golden's fluctuating fortunes were dependant on lumber and the CPR; complaints about the highway and how it brings about the demise of the small family farm;er; he began to work for the CPR at age seventeen; then worked on construction of Connaught Tunnel. TRACK 2 Mr. Bergenham continues with more on the construction of the tunnel; description of the Roger's Pass line; varied discussion of railroading around Golden from 1900 to 1920; several anecdotes on smelter construction by fraudulent stock companies; preachers pushing shares from the pulpit; famous outlaws at Golden such as Bill Miner; and several more anecdotes.;

CALL NUMBER: T0866:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: More old timers in the area; "sporting houses" in Golden and Donald at the turn of the century; the naming of Golden. Then Mrs. Bergenham speaks. Then John's mother speaks. (She is 103 [101?]; years old and speaks in Swedish, and John Bergenham translates.) She came to Canada in 1893; hard times in Canada still better than hard times in Sweden where one could not hunt or fish. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The sub-series consists of oral history interviews recorded in the East Kootenay and Upper Columbia regions, mainly dealing with the history of those regions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The history of many communities in the region are discussed, with particular emphasis on Fernie, Fort Steele, Golden, Invermere, Wilmer and Windermere.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss Madeline A. Turnor came from Staffordshire in 1911; her father was Phillip Watson Turnor, who had practiced as a doctor in England; the official title of R.R. Bruce's settlement scheme w;as the Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruit Lands; he had made no preparation for the arrival of the settlers; WWI resulted in the sale or abandonment of many of the farms; raising beef cattle became the main concern of the farmers after the war; she describes the difficulty of clearing land; most English settlers had a pension or other means of income; the prices were always higher than what had been ;given in Bruce's pamphlets. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: Invermere (B.C.), 1983-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Family homesteaded in Columbia Valley in 1911. First pack trip 1916 with A. McCarthy. Alpine Club camps. Hunting in Assiniboine, 1919. Gibbon party photo in Diamond Hitch while working for Walter Nixon, 1923. Background on Nixon's outfit. CPR bungalows in Windermere, day trips and duties. Worked for Staples' dude ranch at Premier Lake (1927) for 30 years; S-Half Diamond. Train load of wealthy American girls. Trips: Whiteswan Lake, Sheep (Lussier) Creek, Top of the World. Shorter rides for junior girls. Various camps noted. Hunting trips started after the Depression; some guides and hunting areas mentioned. Purcell trips; Lake of the Hanging Glacier. Byron Harmon. Conrad Kain taught her how to pack. TRACK 2: Trail riders of the Canadian Rockies in Yoho, 1923. Walter Nixon. Trails above Invermere, Lake of Hanging Glacier, Toby Creek. Local outfitters; Tegart's, McKay's, Pete Lum, Bert Lowe, Dave Nixon. Other duties at Premier Lake. Dr. and Mrs. Stone's climbing accident of Mount Eon. Mr. and Mrs. Best. Other people. Some comparisons to modern day activities.

RECORDED: Abbotsford (B.C.), 1982-05-07 SUMMARY: Mrs. Lightbown was born to French-Indian parents, and lived in the Windermere district as a child. Her father was a horse-rancher, and and moved from Windermere to Alberta, moving 50 Percheron mares over the Rocky Mountains. It took them three months to reach their destination. Marcelline's husband worked on the railway for 23, and then took up fruit and chicken farming in the Fraser Valley.;

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Margaret I. McKirdy discusses her experience cultivating the land she and her husband owned and the surrounding land around Valemount, Canoe River Mountain, the Canoe Valley, her first impressions, trappers, how business began to grow, Lewis Knutson, other ranches in the area, i.e. Donald Gordon's ranch, and Swift Creek. TRACK 2: Mrs. McKirdy continues by discussing a trip to a hot springs; crossing the creeks; she tells the story of how her husband came to BC from Ontario to be a trapper; the Mountain Fever; McLeod; Pincher Creek; Good Luck Mine near Golden; trapping along the Canoe River; the Upper Fraser River. She discusses her first trip to the area, what she expected and what the reality was.

CALL NUMBER: T0920:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Minnie Caldwell Irvin came to Arrowhead BC from Nova Scotia in 1911. She mentions her father Edward C. Smith. She discusses her marriage to Sam Irvin and her reasons for coming west. She offers her impressions upon arrival in Arrowhead, and some early memories of Arrowhead; boats on the Arrow Lakes; Halcyon Hot Springs; St. Leon; Revelstoke; Arrowhead and Arrowhead Hotels; a lands;lide at Whisky Point; recreation, such as skating. She discusses her husband's background, and then discusses the lumber industry; lake boats and Captain Cambourne; Rossland's red light district; Rossland in 1896; the decline of Arrowhead, and her move to Athalmer in the Columbia Valley in 1912. TRACK 2: Mrs. Irvin describes the Columbia Valley stage: Jim McKay; Sir Randolph Bruce; 'Whistling' Rufe Kempton; Mr. and 'Ma' Henderson. She discusses riverboats; Sir Randolph Bruce and the Columbia Valley orchards land scheme; the Athalmer area economy; railroad construction. She then compares Windermere; Invermere; Athalmer and Wilmer. She discusses Kootenay and Shuswap Indians and comments on Indian-White relations; recreation; more about 'Whistling' Rufe. She describes the Athalmer Hotel in 1912; the coronation of the hotel at Arrowhead; social life and recreation at Athalmer; cock fighting; Fairmont and Radium Hot Springs.

CALL NUMBER: T0920:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Irvin continues with the story of how she came to Rossland from Athalmer in 1915, and stayed until 1958, operating the Irvin Hotel. She describes the red light district of Rossland; the; trip to Rossland in 1915; facilities at the hotel and making lunches for the miners. She describes Rossland in the 1930s and stories about finding and mining minerals. She discusses transportation ;and compares Athalmer to Rossland. She then compares Rossland to other mining towns. TRACK 2: Mrs. Irvin describes the scenery near Rossland; recreation such as horseback riding, a first in the tow;n in the 1920s; Rossland's beginnings; the history of the Irvin Hotel; the explosion of 1905; hotels; and an incident with 'Calgary Red'.; CALL NUMBER: T0920:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-06-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Irvin discusses 'Old Lady Jess'; Rossland buildings as they were before the fire in the 1920s. She describes the home of Ross Thompson, who Rossland was named after; Trail; Mary's Flats; at Trail; the Italian population at Trail; Mrs. Essling; an M.P.'s travel to Trail; the Sullivan Mine at Kimberly; and miscellaneous comments about the Rossland area. [TRACK 2: blank.];

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. H. Williams describes her trials as a woman homesteader at Wilmer: she came from Scotland in 1914 and really wanted to go back as she was very homesick for a year; settled outside of Wilmer; their house was built in ten days; her husband was a carpenter; and had worked in Wilmer for three years before he brought his wife out; Sir Robert Randolph Bruce is described as not being an hon;est man; misleading advertisements about Invermere; a description of Bruce's wife and her death; loggers and miners described as real gentlemen; originally Wilmer was more prominent than Athalmer and Windermere, but then Bruce pulled out; a big flood in 1916. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. L.B. Lake came from Wisconsin to Wilmer in 1911. She discusses R.R. Bruce at Invermere and James L. McKay at Athalmer. Mrs. Lake's father-in-law, J.J. Lake, ran the first store in Athalmer. Mrs. Lake describes Bruce's fruit farming plans; the 'demo-cart' and the route from Cranbrook to Windermere; Athalmer as a pioneer logging town. TRACK 2: Mrs. Lake continues by describing the boats running along the Columbia River and on Lake Windermere.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1984-01 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: First ever snowshoe trip from Jasper to Banff with Phil Higgeson in 1931. Won Banff winter carnival event. First trip in Jasper, 1925. Worked on park roads and telephone lines on Whirlpool and Snake Indian Rivers. Cooked for Stan Clark, 1926. Dude trips; good tips, triangle tour, fishing. Hargreaves' outfits. Deaths of George and Frank Hargreaves. Death aborted Daryl Zanuck's bear hunt in 1933. Trapping in 1927/28. Death Rapids on Columbia River. A long snowshoe trip. TRACK 2: Recollections of a guides' hunting trip with the Hargreaves near Mumm Creek. McDonald Meadows. A $100 Hollywood tip. Guides wages and hunting fees. North Boundary survey; packing gear and film for $3.60 a day. Bill Blackman guided out of Valemount. Hargreaves employees; Harvey Crate, Art and Ken Allen, Bob L'Estrange, Charley Blackman, Don Giles. Berg Lake; grave, dude trips, cabins and lodge. Tom Wilde. Some Northern Rockies outfitters. Jim Lamb, Ed and Frank Moberly. Quit guiding about 1934. Bedaux expedition.

SUMMARY: This program features recollections of early days in the Windermere Valley. Voices heard are: Vera Bennett, Alex Ritchie, Vaughn Kimpton, and Jim White.

RECORDED: Revelstoke (B.C.), 1977-02-23 SUMMARY: Family background; butcher business in Revelstoke; veal from the Columbia Valley; ethnic settlements in the surrounding area; mink farm; transportation problems; Senior Citizens' Association.;