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CALL NUMBER: T4135:0002 PERIOD COVERED: 1890-1975 RECORDED: Robson (B.C.), 1983-10-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Biographical information; came to the Kootenays in 1906; money scare in Nova Scotia; harvest excursion from Pictou County and price; landed in Nelson; Parker Williams hiring hall; Paulsen logging camp; paid $1.00 for job; left Paulsen camp with filer; wages; Winlaw's camp; hand logging; gyppo logging explained; tie and pole camps; camp hours; hours on boats; room and board; food in Paulsen camp; mining and hazards; New Denver mine and conditions; anecdote about quitting New Denver mine; Silicosis; railroad work; Leary's pole yard; Sandon in 1915 and unemployment; labourer's work conditions; prospecting for molibdonite; working boats at Pingston Creek; forced enlistment into the army; lobster fishing off Nova Scotia; Molson Bank, Revelstoke, owned Pingston Creek; working for Leary's on boats; Waldie Lumber Co. in 1931; anecdote about writing exam for skippers ticket; anecdote about colour blindness test. TRACK 2: Colour blindness test; relief in Nakusp; anecdote about being hired by Waldie's; Waldie's mill shut down in winter; part time fork in winter; relief in Nakusp, conditions and pay; [tugboat] "Elco I" in 1916; marriage. [During last 20 minutes of this tape, Mr. Sutherland is referring to photo album.] Building the M.V. "G.O. Sutherland"; Arrow Lakes poles; Beaton; "Elco II"; fuel and drive train; 1914 trip back to Nova Scotia; in charge the "Irene" in 1914; skating on lakes; demise of the "Elco II"; One Big Union membership at Pingston Creek. CALL NUMBER: T4135:0003 RECORDED: Robson (B.C.), 1983-10-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Bunks in logging camps; furnished own blankets; One Big Union dues turned in to Trout Lake secretary; anecdote about Trout Lake OBU dues scandal; Seaman's Guild; white sheets in lumber camps; WWII effects on unions; joined union at Waldie's in 1931; Sammy Stewart returning officer; anecdote about Depression years; Waldie's "reasonably honest"; free lumber for community halls; Waldie's camp operations; gyppo logging; Imperial Bank buys Molson's Bank; houseboat on S.S. "Kootenay"; anecdote about selling home during Depression; more discussion of pictures in photo album; stable employment on the CPR; lumber and logging operations that went broke; pay in lumber and shingles one year. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Margaret (Peggy) Bildstein : Lardeau Valley, 1946-1952 PERIOD COVERED: 1946-1952 RECORDED: [location unknown], [1980] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Margaret (Peggy) Bildstein was born in England. Taught in Retallack 1940-41. Married on the coast in 1943 at Youbou. Moved to Howser in 1946. Husband worked for Duncan Lake Lumber Company. Opened one-room school in Howser. Building school building. Received big help from Kaslo School board. Mill burns down. People leave Howser and school closes. School re-opens. Earl Stevens, trapper. Joe Gallo, mining promoter. Billy Clark. Social life in Howser. Tim Ainsworth, English immigrant. TRACK 2: Tim Ainsworth was road foreman. Death of Tim Ainsworth. Describes operation of Duncan Lake Lumber Company and people who worked there. Tug runs aground on Duncan Lake. Mill was powered by two steam tractors from the prairies. Description of present-day (1980) Howser. Store in Poplar Creek run by Alec Robb. Climbing up to Lavina fire lookout. Layout of townsite.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Steamboating on BC interior lakes PERIOD COVERED: 1917-1963 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1979 SUMMARY: Captain Walter H. Spiller recalls his service with the CPR's BC Lake and River Service on the interior lakes from 1917 to 1963. Beginning as a youthful general duty hand he rose to command paddlewheelers and tugs. These tapes provide "a comprehensive and chronological coverage of the development and decline of steamboating on the interior lakes, with details of vessels and the names of personnel involved. [NOTE: Captain Spiller's reminiscences were first prepared for a talk given to members of the Thermopylae Club of Victoria in 1979. The original talk was retaped, with further details added, later in 1979. The revised tapes and the original taped talk were loaned to the Maritime Museum of B.C. for copying.]

The item is a documentary video from 1977 about the treatment of Japanese-Canadians in British Columbia during World War II. Includes film footage shot at the time by Rev. Canon G.G. Nakayama (footage now at Public Archives in Canada) and interviews with Ken Adachi, David Suzuki, Rev. Canon Nakayama, Howard Green, and many other witnesses to the period. Modern location footage includes Vancouver and Slocan City. The October Crisis of 1970 is discussed as another application of the War Measures Act.

Manuscript of history of Slocan.

Presented by Mrs. Cooper, Slocan, 1976.

Series consists of minute books.

SUMMARY: "Between Ourselves" was a weekly series of hour-long radio programs that presented Canada to Canadians. It featured aspects of Canadian life in docudramas, plays, music, and interviews, originating fr;om different regions of Canada. The series ran from 1966 to 1979. In this episode, "Ghost Towns", Jurgen Hesse explores three British Columbia ghost towns: Sandon, Quesnel Forks and Bralorne. Recolle;ctions and reminiscences are recounted by former residents of these mining towns.;

CALL NUMBER: T0345:0001 RECORDED: New Denver (B.C.), 1965-05-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Alexander Harris describes prospecting and mining in the Arrow and Kootenay Lakes area in the 1890s. His father, Joseph Harris, came to Slocan in 1896, established a ranch or farm that supplied vegetables and fruit to the mining camps. Alexander Harris' account includes stories about mining camp life, Orientals, travel on Arrow Lakes, and individual miners: Carpenter, Seighton, Monty; Davis, Martin Fry and Johnny Harris.

TRACK 2: He tells about the naming of mining towns in the area: New Denver, Three Forks, etc. The high school for the area was located on his father's ranch. He describes local culture, social activities, sports, as well as mining techniques, locating ore and equipment.

CALL NUMBER: T0345:0002 RECORDED: New Denver (B.C.), 1965-05-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Rock drilling techniques and competitions are discussed. Mr. Harris continues his description of mining methods, ore extraction, transportation to the mills, such as aerial trams, use of horses, processing of ore at the mills, shipping and tailings. A Welsh choir on tour in Canada went bankrupt in the Slocan area and the men worked in the mines at Silverton and New Denver area to earn some money.

TRACK 2: This tape continues with discussions of the New Denver town site, buildings, water transportation, early roads, the Japanese evacuation, Slocan Lake, also known as Lucerne, the Valhalla Range, and New Denver's growth. Wildlife was depleted during the early years of these communities. Mr. Harris speaks about an early trip to the Kokanee Glacier, 1919; Theo Rankin, a local teacher; and his father and mother.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-10-01 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Catherine J. O'Neail moved from Calgary to Slocan, B.C., in 1897 with her family. She recalls some first impressions of Slocan City, the lake transportation, the hotels, Main Street, and the mining activity of the area. Mention is made of early residents Anthony Madden, Billy Clements, and Tom Mulvey. She discusses the town's incorporation, the first mayor and the possibility that it may have been called the "Fletcher Town Site". Her first husband was the secretary-treasurer for the Miner's Union, and this position took him to many mining stakes. She recalls the early churches, Dr. Foran, Mr. Shooke, Eli Carpenter, social activities and Myrtlebee Landing.

TRACK 2: Mrs. O'Neail continues with a description of Slocan, which was undergoing economic decline. Her description of Slocan includes its schools, the emerging lumber industry, the Doukhobor settlers, the lake boats, Sandon, Slocan Lake, Captain Jeffrey, the position of mines on the east side of the lake, G. Aylard, Judge Harris and Bill Harris.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-09 SUMMARY: Mrs. Edgar recalls early Nakusp, Slocan and Nelson. Her father, Denis St. Denis, who died in 1962, came from Ontario to Nakusp and worked as a bookkeeper for the mills. The family later moved to Slocan, where her father was city clerk, and agent for a lumber company. In 1910 they moved to Nelson, and lived in Fairview (Bogustown). Her father was the Trustee of Bankruptcy, a member of the BC Rifle Association, had a "wonderful memory", and wrote local history articles.

The sub-series consists of oral history interviews recorded in the Arrow Lakes, Big Bend, Lardeau and Slocan regions of B.C., 1962-1965, mainly dealing with the history of those regions.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-?] SUMMARY: In an interview with a CBC interviewer [possibly Bert Nelson], Herbert Wilfred (Bert) Herridge recalls life in the Arrow Lakes region in the early 20th century. His family came out from England and settled in the Nakusp area in 1906. Mr. Herridge served in World War One and was wounded at the Battle of the Somme. From 1948 to 1971, he was the CCF (and later NDP) Member of Parliament for Kootenay West. [No detailed content summary available for this interview.]

CALL NUMBER: T1866:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Robert E. Allen : the West Kootenays in the 1890s PERIOD COVERED: 1877-1896 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-24 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Born in Nevada in 1877. To Spokane in 1880. Father a homesteader in Washington and later in the mining industry in Idaho. Family to the Slocan region in 1892. Trip from Kellogg, Idaho, to Nakusp, New Denver, Three Forks and Sandon. Hauling ore by pack trains. Jobs in the Sandon-New Denver area. Camp conditions. Helped father with mail contract, 1893. TRACK 2: Traveling in the West Kootenay region: Rossland, Nelson and the Slocan Valley. Adventures on a trip from Nelson to Three Forks via Kaslo. Allen has mail contract from Nakusp to the Slocan mines, 1893. Became packer for the mines. Allen in the transportation business in Sandon and Slocan City. CALL NUMBER: T1866:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Robert E. Allen : the B.C. Forest Branch, 1912-1917 PERIOD COVERED: 1896-1917 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-24 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Sold out in Slocan City in 1906. Married in 1897. Story of his marriage and honeymoon. Lived in Slocan City, 1896-1910. Became a bush foreman, 1906. Sawmills in the West Kootenays. Flood on Arrow Lakes in 1907. Woods and packing jobs. Became road foreman in 1908 at Slocan City and Burton. Incident when Allen fired Sid Leary who was later Minister of Public Works for not working hard enough on road construction. TRACK 2: Political patronage in Public Works road crews. Allen got a job as a fire warden through the influence of William Hunter a Conservative back-bencher, 1911. Becomes divisional fire warden at Revelstoke in 1912. Traveling around his division. R.E. Benedict and John Lafon brought in from U.S. Forest Service to organize new B.C. Forest Branch, 1912. Allen becomes District Forester in Hazelton, 1913. Becomes head of amalgamated Prince Rupert Forest District, 1917. Staff in the Hazelton Forest District. CALL NUMBER: T1866:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Robert E. Allen : District Forester and mill operator, 1913-1926 PERIOD COVERED: 1913-1926 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-24 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The Hazelton Forest District, 1913-17. Forest Rangers. Repetition of some earlier material about the Slocan mines. Becomes District Forester in Prince Rupert in 1917. Stories about M.A. Grainger, the second Chief Forester. Anecdote about Grainger's flat feet and his moccasins. Mrs. Grainger. Quit Forest Branch to go into sawmill business, 1919. TRACK 2: Anecdotes about Forest Branch personnel. In sawmill business, 1919-26. Hanall mill described. Working conditions in Hanall. Buys into a mill at Vanarsdol in 1925. Sawmills along the CNR line. The production of railway ties. CALL NUMBER: T1866:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Robert E. Allen : the B.C. Forest Branch, 1913-1945 PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1945 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-24 & 25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Tie production along the Skeena section of the CNR. Rejoined B.C. Forest Branch in 1926 as District Forester at Prince Rupert. Allen investigated after the change of government in 1928 but not fired. Allen non-political while employed by B.C.F.S. District Forester in Prince Rupert, 1926-30. Procedures for timber sales. Became District Forester at Kamloops, 1930-32. Became District Forester in Nelson, 1932. Squabbles over Forest Branch vehicles. TRACK 2: Allen was District Forester in Nelson, 1932-45. Retired in 1945. Staff of the Nelson Forest District. Staff. Fire a major problem in Nelson District. Dispute over who would be District Forester in Kamloops, 1940. Auction bidding for timber. Forest fires in the Nelson District. Expresses satisfaction with his Forest Branch career. Salaries for District Foresters. (End of interview)

The series consists of a photograph album created by G.W. Funamoto in 1942 to document his time in various Japanese internment camps along the Yellowhead Highway and the Slocan area.

The album contains 169 b&w photographs, including postcards and other commercially produced prints, and includes images of various Japanese internment camps such as Red Pass and Lemon Creek; images of a unidentified camps (possibly Princeton and Tashme) and images identified as Slocan City, Sandon, New Denver and Kamloops. There are also various commercially produced images of the Canadian Rockies, photographs of what may be family and friends and images of the BC Public Works activities involved in road building. There is very little in the way of captions and other identifying information although there are some inscriptions in English and Japanese. The album also contains two British Columbia Security Commission 5 cent coupons.

The series consists of four reels of amateur film footage taken between 1937 and 1944. They show scenes and people in Slocan City and vicinity, on the Clough Ranch, in the Slocan Valley and at Halcyon Hot Springs. They depict Clough and Cooper family activities and includes footage of a sports day at the Japanese internment camp of Bay Farm, just south of Slocan City.

Series consists of minute books.