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CALL NUMBER: T1147:0002 [and T2744:0001]
RECORDED: Sandon (B.C.), 1972
SUMMARY: TRACK 1: (1) ALEXANDER (SANDY) HARRIS of New Denver discusses the town of Sandon. His father came to Sandon in 1897 to mine silver/lead. Harris discusses the area's geology; Eli Carpenter, who pioneered mining in the area; and a dispute between Carpenter and his partner, Jack Seaton. He discusses the geography around Sandon; life there after the First World War; a murder; the town's organization; and why Sandon was abandoned in 1955, after a flood. There was no gold at Sandon, but there was a boom in mining silver and lead there. He discusses Gene Peterson, the only resident of Sandon as of 1972. Harris claims that organized ice hockey originated there in 1904.
TRACK 2: Mr. Harris discusses the Japanese people who lived in Sandon. During World War II, there was a heavy demand for the mine's resources. The government's role in moving the Japanese to the Slocan, and the character of the Japanese. After the war, the Japanese were moved east by the government. He discusses the effects of the 1955 flood. He discusses his life in the area; he eventually became the owner of the New Denver water works and power plant. The Sandon hydro plant was built in 1898 by Johnny Harris, a major contributor to the town's development. He describes the layout of Sandon, including its opera house and entertainments. (2) EUGENE (GENE) PETERSEN is interviewed. Peterson is one of the few people still living in Sandon. He discusses the other people who live there; the population of 5000 who lived there in the late 1800s; a fire which caused the town to be rebuilt; Sandon's founding in 1892, and the staking rush shortly thereafter. He discusses his father (who came from Norway to Sandon in 1923) and describes life in Sandon in the 1920s. He recalls the town being well organized, but with no highway connection; its dependence on the railway; the orderly conduct of its residents; and the local prostitutes, known for helping out miners who were broke. [Interview continued on next tape.]

CALL NUMBER: T1147:0001 [and T2744:0002]
RECORDED: Sandon (B.C.), 1972
SUMMARY: TRACK 1: EUGENE PETERSEN recalls the history of Sandon through various mining booms, up until its present condition as a ghost town. He discusses the 1929 murder of miner Sigvald Myklebost [Petersen says "1927"]; the killer was never convicted. An anecdote about how little law-breaking there was in Sandon. The “exodus” started during the depression in the 1930s. In the 1940s there were only 40 people. There was a slight increase in population in the 1950s, when 700 people lived in the town. The town emptied out again in the fall of 1953, when the population went down to 100. The flood of June 1955, in which half of the town was destroyed. The local power plant, built in 1896. He discusses what would be involved in the preservation of Sandon. He describes the silver-lead ore found at Sandon. Petersen still finds ore in the area, but it is not a big money maker. He plans on staying in Sandon until he works out his mining claim. (4) HAL WRIGHT, formerly of Saltspring Island, discusses his efforts to establish a museum at Sandon in the summer of 1972, working under an OFY grant. The museum displays local relics, along with photographs he acquired from the BC Archives. Wright is staying in Sandon through the winter. He plans on working for a carpenter and finishing school by correspondence. (5) EUGENE PETERSEN then discusses ghosts in the town. One of the remaining houses caught on fire, and he heard knocking on his door; no one was there, but there was a fire down the street.
[TRACK 2 is described separately; see AAAB1272.]

The item is an audio recording of an interview with Lindsay Carter.
T1802:0001 track 1: Mr. Carter discusses his childhood: born in Kimberley, B.C. in 1906; moved to Silverton in 1918 with family; effects of influenza epidemic of 1918 on town of Silverton; father worked in mines; silicosis and other lung problems with mining; Mr. Carter's father affected by silicosis, 1943; poor attitude on the part of companies and Workmen's Compensation Board; anecdote about silicosis; family moved to Summit Lake logging camp, 1920. Details about camp life: housing; school; description of logging operations -- pole cutting, railroad, chutes; description of log chute, logging camp, bunkhouse, cookhouse. Forest fire of July, 1925; reports of major early fire, ca. 1870. Most loggers were Scandinavians. Location of other sawmills in Slocan Valley.
Track 2: Moved to Sandon, 1922. Train and boat schedules, ca. 1925. Railroad accident near Sandon. CPR operated boats on Slocan Lake. Description of S.S. "Slocan", S.S. "Sandon", S.S. "Roseberry". Transportation into Sandon. Stores in Sandon. Trip down Slocan Lake in winter of 1929. Carter ended formal education after grade 8. Mining and mines near Sandon in 1920s and 1930s. Depression in Sandon: Carter on relief during Depression. Origin of miners: eastern Canada, Norway, Italy, Finland and others. Anti-Orientalism in Sandon. Japanese lived in Sandon during WW II. Bunkhouse conditions and anecdotes; cookhouse work and anecdotes.

T1802:0002 track 1: Carter's work history, 1920s: description of a concentrator and its operation especially the Noble Five concentrator, Cody, B.C; the jobs in a concentrator plant; shifts and hours of work; a major breakdown described, 1930; more on hours of work.
Track 2: More on Carter's work history: attitudes towards work in a concentrator mill; unpleasant and unhealthy environment in concentrator mill and mines; more on work attitudes; long hours and lack of holidays; social life of miners -- drinking, prostitutes, pool halls, movies, fraternal orders, clubs; Carter a member of Orange Lodge in Sandon; operation of Orange Lodge; role of churches in Sandon; differences between miners and merchants; local government in Sandon; 1929 murder [of miner Sigvald Myklebost] described.

T1802:0003 track 1: Sandon continues the story about the 1929 [Myklebost] murder. Describes Johnny Harris: businessman, character of Sandon. Anecdotes about Johnny Harris. White family described. Silversmith Mine. Sandon prospectors described. Grub stake arrangements. Prospecting. Permanence of Sandon.
Track 2: Demise of the Sandon Hospital in the 1930s. Questionable practices of the B.C. Security Commission during WW II. The Depression in Sandon and Carter's experiences on relief. "On the tramp" in southeastern B.C.

T1802:0004 track 1: The Great Depression of the 1930s and its effect on Sandon, B.C. The sluggish economic recovery of Sandon during and after WW II. Description of poor working conditions underground. Sandon's hotels. Prostitutes in Sandon. Anecdote about "Big Al" Holmquist. Problems with alcohol among miners. Economic problems of living in Sandon.

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.

CALL NUMBER: T2566:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: BC Ghost Towns: Ghosts in Sandon BC, various residents of Bralorne talk about the mining town from 1932 to 1971 and 1975; mines, miners, town life and local characters. TRACK 2: New prospects for Bralorne; Bralorne in the boom days, at present and in the future. [edited program] CALL NUMBER: T2566:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Ghost Towns; various residents comment on the history of Quesnel Forks as a mining community and ghost town; Quesnel Forks in the 1940s, the 1850s, and the 1920s; buildings; anecdote about Chinese residents; good times past and present; story about Cedar Creek and John Likely; mining methods; derivation of name Quesnel Forks; prospects for the restoration of Quesnel Forks; gold panning today. TRACK 2: Story of original staker at Sandon; appearance of Sandon; present residents recall the history of the town; the silver rush of the 1890s; Sandon in the 1920s; dances; booming town; a rare crime; ownership of Sandon today; Sandon museum OFY project; Sandon in the 1920s; Japanese internment camp at Sandon; the 1955 flood; why the town died; prospects for preserving Sandon's old buildings. [edited program] CALL NUMBER: T2566:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Original interview material for ghost town programs; Bralorne residents talk about the town in the mining era from 1932 to 1971, and in 1972; mines, miners, town life and local characters, boom days and present prospects. TRACK 2: Original interview material for ghost town programs; Quesnel Forks residents recall mining days in the region in the 1850s and 1920s; future prospects for Quesnel Forks; bits of material on Sandon's original settlers and a museum project. CALL NUMBER: T2566:0004 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Repeat of Bralorne ghost town program; social life; mining and mining conditions; present activities; anecdotes about nicknames and local characters and of Bralorne as a mining town. TRACK; 2: Sandon material; appearance of the town in 1972; origins of Sandon; social life and crime; flood of 1955; preservation of the town; OFY person on museum project; bits of Quesnel Forks Material; more Bralorne material; town activities; the end of the mine; social life; prospects for renovation of the town. CALL NUMBER: T2566:0005 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: Repeats of Sandon material with a few additional stories: the Sandon fire; a Norwegian immigrant; floods; the town and social life at the turn of the century; A.L. Harris talks about his childhood; Gene Petersen talks about the 1920s boom and a murder; Harris describes an early power plant and the local opera house. CALL NUMBER: T2566:0006 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972 SUMMARY: Repeats of Sandon material, with some new items: Sandon flood of 1955; preserving buildings and dealing with tourists; discovery of silver lead at Sandon; internment of Japanese at Sandon; ghosts in Sandon today.