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The series includes an agreement, in the handwriting of William Weir, January 1, 1865 regarding properties in Metchosin, British Columbia signed by Adam Weir, Hugh T. Weir, John Weir, Robert Weir and William Weir. It also includes a transcript typescript of the diary of Adam Weir's gold rush trip to the Cassiar district, November 1874. On this trip, Weir was accompanied by Alex Fulton, Hans Helgesen and B. Sutter.

Thomas Frederic Harper Reed (1878-1965) was a surveyor, Indian Agent and telegraph operator in Telegraph Creek, Atlin and Victoria.

Records include correspondence clippings and scrapbooks, regarding proposed construction of highways and railroads through Northern British Columbia to Alaska (box 1); personal papers and autobiographical material (box 2, file 1-7), ; British passport; legal papers; private correspondence (box 2, file 8-21); notes, notebooks (box 3, file 1-6) , miscellany (box 3, files 7-10), and annotated publications in boxes 3 and 4. Maps transferred to the Maps Division, listed in box 1, file 12, map call number L/602a/R324as.

This series contains records relating to Placer Mining Leases Includes applications, licences and lease forms, and correspondence. Many tracings and sketches are contained in the lease and correspondence files. Maps and plans transferred to Map Division.

Telegraph Creek Gold Commissioner's records

Source: GR Finding Aids

Transferred from Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Mineral Titles Branch, 1982.

Finding aid: file list.

Series consists of a store ledger.

This series consists of a Stipendiary Magistrate's Court record book, 28 Jun 1876 - 19 May 1897, and a notebook, 18 Dec 1897 - 6 Sep 1898 which also contains Small Debts Court cases.

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands in 1910. It contains a volume of Cassiar Land District auctioneers agreements of sale for Stewart townsite lots 1-232, subdivided from District Lots 466 and 468. Information in the certificates may include the date of sale, name and address of highest bidder, amount bid, deposit, and terms of sale. The certificates are arranged randomly and no index is available.

Record books. Vol. 1: July 1938 - June 1960; vol. 2: July 1960 - Aug 1973.

This series consists of records related to land use, management and alienation in the Coast Range 5, Coast Range 4, Cassiar, and Cariboo Land Districts. The records date from 1877-1979. The records were created by various government officials stationed in the following locations: Cassiar, Hazleton, Omineca, Skeena, and Smithers.

Records include certificates of purchase, agreements of sale, certificates of pre-emption, certificates of improvement, township registers, land registers, lot registers, plan registers, indexes, a register of payments related to Skeena River bank protection in Hazleton, and a register of timber licence applications for the Omineca District dated 1907. There are town lot register and townsite registers for the following towns: Burns Lake, Endako, Engen, Fort Fraser, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Hazleton, Houston, Smithers, Telkwa, Topley, and Vanderhoof.

There are two survey systems used in the land registers: the district lot system and the township section system. Township registers are arranged by township, section and quarter section (northwest, southeast, etc.). Country land or lot registers are arranged by lot, group and district. Registers may also be arranged by plan number. The registers record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, mineral claims, timber use, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. Some have related maps and correspondence tucked inside the volumes.

Some of the register volumes are duplicates created as a reference copy for the Hazleton land office. These are indicated in the file list as "duplicate for Hazleton office" when there was such a notation on the inside cover of the volume or "[Hazleton office duplicate?]" when the volume succeeds one with such a notation. The originals and duplicates have the same basic information, but notations added to the volumes at later dates will differ. Entries in the original volumes were added as the land was alienated, so each volume contains various lots or townships of land. The Hazleton duplicates were created with all lots or townships in sequential order, whether or not they were alienated. Thus, a Hazleton volume 1 will contain lots 1 to 605, and volume 2 will continue with lot 606, etc. All registers contain indexes.

The series also includes subject files and correspondence files with settlers discussing the pre-emption, lease and purchase of specific parcels of land, and the CN railway, with the Smithers Government Agent from 1920-1959.

Correspondence, diaries, notebooks, etc. of R.M. Patterson, noted British Columbia wilderness traveller and author. The collection includes diaries of his travels on the South Nahanni, Dease, and Finlay Rivers, correspondence with northerners and people interested in the north, "fan" mail, and correspondence with publishers. It also includes letters written by Patterson about his life homesteading in the Alberta Peace River district, photocopies of correspondence and documents re his army service in the First World War, and air photos of the Nahanni River. Maps transferred to the Map Collection; microfilm copies of photo albums in Visual Records accession 198909-1. Some of the correspondence was borrowed from Mr. Patterson in 1978 and microfilmed in MS- 0957. Raymond Murray Patterson was born in County 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 as a cadet. 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 after 1962, in Victoria. R.M. Patterson died in Victoria in 1984. In the late 1940s, Mr. Patterson made two more northern trips, again largely by canoe. 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. Along with his experiences on the South Nahanni, these trips formed the basis for three of his books. In the 1940s, R.M. Patterson began to publish articles in magazines such as The Beaver and Blackwoods based on his experiences as 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. This was followed by The Buffalo Head, 1961, which was partly about his early life in England 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, R.M. 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, R.M. Patterson wrote the introduction to the Hudson's Bay Record Society's edition of the Journals of Samuel Black, published in 1955. The records consist largely of correspondence, diaries, and notebooks. They also include book reviews by R.M. Patterson, correspondence and accounts with publishers and book dealers, some accounts re orders made for the Buffalo Head Ranch, and copies of selected documents and correspondence relating to Patterson's army service. The correspondence is divided into four series: correspondence inward, general correspondence inward, fan mail, and correspondence outward. Series 1, correspondence inward, consists of letters from frequent correspondents, filed by the writer's name. Many of these people are mentioned in Patterson's books. The letters from Gordon Matthews are almost all written from Aklavik and describe life there, and the visit of the Governor General, Lord Tweedsmuir, in 1937. Series 2, general correspondence inward, consists of chronologically arranged letters from people who only wrote one or two letters. The letters in this series cover a variety of subjects. They tend to emphasize wilderness canoe travel, the history of the South Nahanni and Finlay Rivers, and hunting and fishing. Many are from readers and friends writing to Patterson for advice about canoes, camping equipment and travel routes, or to reminisce about early days in the North. Series 3, fan mail, consists of letters of appreciation from readers, thank-you notes, and letters of congratulations on the publication of his various books. Series 4, correspondence outward, consists primarily of letters written from the 1920s to the 1940s to his mother, Lady Scott, and to his boyhood friend, Edwin "George" Fenwick. Selected military papers were photocopied and returned to the donor. Photograph albums were microfilmed and returned. Microfilm copies are in Visual Records accession 198908-1. Forty-seven photographs ca. 1937-1983 which include views of the Ross River, Nahanni River, Peace River, Hamilton Inlet, Buffalo Head, and Europe were also transferred to accession 198908-1. Maps were transferred to the Maps, accession 89-038. Included is a map of Flat River (Too Naga) N.W.T., made by Patterson in August to September 1928, and an accompanying booklet, The Flat River Country: North West Territories of Canada (London: R.M. Patterson, 1933). A second copy of this booklet has been transferred to the BC Archives Library. Ninety of the letters in this collection were borrowed for microfilming in 1978 and are described as MS-0957 [A00953(1)]. The originals are interfiled in Series 1 correspondence inward of MS-2762. His papers were presented to the Archives by his wife, Marigold, in 1989. Source: MS Finding Aids Presented by Mrs. R.M. Patterson, Victoria, 1989. Finding aid.

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.

Register and index to Bills of Sale and Chattel Mortgages. Volume 1, the register, Nos. 1-3773, 1908-1954, is arranged chronologically and shows the names, place of residence, occupation, date of registration renewal and satisfaction as well as the nature of instrument (Bill of Sale, Chattel Mortgage, or Assignment). Inside the front cover is a sample of the authority for Chattel Mortgages and Bills of Sale. Volume 2 is the index to volume 1, arranged alphabetically. Case files from 1909-1921, to which these volumes apply are found in GR-2518.

Series contains records of the Sub Mining Recorder, Mary Ann Rowan, Lower Post, B.C., relating to the misadministration of mineral claims and the loss of mineral claim records. Includes mineral claim record book, correspondence, affidavits, suspense accounts, etc. Plans transferred to the Map Division.

Series consists of correspondence, financial records, membership rolls, minutes, briefs and newsletters of the branch of this organization of forest officer civil servants in the Prince George Forest District.

The series consists of records created by the Sub-Mining Recorder at Fort Grahame between 1909 and 1939. It contains records of claims, applications for certificates of work, powers of attorney, correspondence outward to the Mining Recorder in Smithers and instructions as to the duties of Sub-Mining Recorders. Records may also relate to the Omineca Mining Recorder.

Records of arrivals and departures at Telegraph Creek from January 1909 to May 1920. The volume lists names, date of arrival, occupation, nationality, age, date of departure and "remarks". The information was recorded by Constable Harry W. Dodd [see GR-0055, Box 52 for a sample of his handwriting].

This series consists of records created by Government Agents in the Cassiar district from 1872-1912. These Government Agents may have been based in Laketon, Port Simpson (Fort Simpson), Telegraph Creek, Atlin, Hazleton, Prince Rupert, Teslin Lake, McDame Creek and Glenora.

The majority of the records relate to finances. Records include cash books from the Stikine River collectorate Cassiar collectorate and McDame Creek; and volumes recording reciepts and payments. Some volumes include additional information related to water records, mining bills of sale and trail accounts. There is also a letterpress volume of correspondence outward signed by James Porter and dated from Laketon and Telegraph Creek.

A note by James Porter on one of the volumes states "book of accounts from 1 Oct 1890 to 31 Dec 1897 was left in the Laketon office when I moved from there in March 1898 to establish the office at Telegraph Creek. Sometimes afterwards when I visited the old office intending to secure the book I could not find it. The place had been broken into and much of the stuff left there had removed or destroyed.”

The series consists of photographs documenting the activities of Anton K. Money and R.H. (Bob) Dickinson, including prospecting and mining for gold and silver-lead ore in the Cassiar district in 1924-1925. Images in the series include: mining tunnels, flumes, sluice boxes, and other placer operations, and road development by the Dickinson Mining Company near Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake. The series also includes photographs of First Nations trappers and Hudson's Bay Company poling boats (fur scows). Locations also include the Klondike-era ghost town of Glenora, and other locations in the Cassiar district.

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).

Records include material pertaining to three prominent Victoria families: the W.E. Olivers, the W.C. Wards, and the E.P. Gillespies The bulk of the textual records were produced by W.E. Oliver and are related to his career at the University of Edinburgh and his real estate investments on Vancouver Island, including the Cowichan Lake Hotel. W.E. Oliver's papers contain material regarding his friend Warburton Pike, author and adventurer. Oliver handled Pike's estate when he died. Also included is the correspondence of Oliver's future son-in-law, Erroll P. Gillespie, a soldier serving in World War I. His letters provide a good picture of a Canadian soldier's life in training camp and on active service in Europe. There are also letters from his brothers, Sholto and Ronald, from the trenches, hospitals and prisoner of war camps of World War I. The collection also includes Nina Woolliams' research notes on the Douglas Lake Ranch, which was owned by W.E. Oliver's father-in-law, W.C. Ward.

William Edgar Oliver immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1895. He had been at Edinburgh University, 1883-1890, and studied for the Scottish bar. His university papers provide information about his education and numerous extracurricular activities. He wrote stories and articles on politics for a local newspaper while he was in university and was active in many societies. When he arrived in Victoria in 1895 he entered into a law partnership with Gordon Hunter and Lyman Poore Duff. In 1896 he married Mary Eleanor Ward, daughter of the manager of the Bank of British Columbia, William C. Ward. They had one daughter, Beatrice Lydia Catharine Oliver (known as Catherine). She handled Oliver's business affairs after his death. Catherine married Erroll Pilkington Gillespie in 1921.

W.E. Oliver was active in local government. He was the first Reeve of the Municipality of Oak Bay for the years 1906-1908 and made an unsuccessful bid to be mayor of Victoria in 1911. He continued to serve in municipal affairs as Reeve in 1912, 1914 and 1915. Oliver had a wide range of investments, including real estate in the city of Victoria and surrounding municipalities and shares in a variety of companies. He also owned land in the Lake Cowichan area. He was part of the syndicate that developed Golf Links Park subdivision on Newport Avenue in Oak Bay and was involved in developing other subdivisions as well. His real estate and other investments are well documented through indentures, conveyances, financing, mortgages, balance sheets, share certificates, and other relevant papers.

This series contains operational records from the Prince George Forest District and consists of property ledgers for "non-expendable property" - see: Operational Manual with instructions to Forest Officers ... (Victoria, 1942), pp. 161-168, 311-327 for definitions and instructions - and a uniform ledger containing records concerning items on charge to personnel who have left the district. Files 1-5, Volume 1 are a property ledger for the period 1953-1955; File 6, Volume 1 through File 1, Volume 4 are a property ledger, 1961-1966; and Files 2-4, Volume 4 contain a uniform ledger, 1950-1970.

The series consists of records created by the Northwestern District mining engineer between 1920 and 1943.
Records include correspondence inward and outward, reports, alphabetical files and prospectuses of mining companies and correspondence about the mining of tungsten.

The series consists of records created by the Resident Mining Engineer of the Northeastern district between 1917 and 1937. Records include correspondence inward and outward, largely with Deputy Minister and Provincial Mineralogist and files re lecture series run jointly with Dept. of Education in 1930's.

Series contains the minutes of a public hearing on the application of the Northwest Power Industries, Ltd. for a water licence to authorize the diversion, use and storage of water from Atlin Lake and tributaries, held in Atlin, B.C., on August 16, 1955.

This series contains a Mining Records Register Book. This volume is a register of various land grants, mineral claims, mining records, and water rights. Included are a record book of all claims and water privileges recorded in the Leech and Sooke River districts commenced December 1864 (1864-1878), and a register of all mining records and mineral claims recorded at Victoria, B.C., by the Chief Gold Commissioner, 1873-1911. Areas covered include the Queen Charlotte Islands, Cassiar district, and portions of Vancouver Island and the adjacent coast of British Columbia. Also included in this volume are the following items relating to the Royal Engineers in British Columbia: (1) List of men of Royal Engineers who purchased their discharge in British Columbia or Vancouver Island on the return of the North American Boundary Commission to England, 26 Sept. 1863. (2) Schedule of Crown Grants issued to Royal Engineers who served in the Colony of British Columbia under Colonel Moody.

This series consists of mining licences for the purposes of prospecting for coal and petroleum pursuant to the Coal and Petroleum Act, 1911 and amendments. These licences were for the Queen Charlotte District (file 1) and Cassiar District (file 2). Prior 1911, the Act was known as the Coal Mines Act.

The series consists of mining leases filed at Victoria and arranged by mining district. The records were created by the Chief Gold Commissioner between 1876 and 1930.

The series contains records relating to mining leases (3 vols.). Volumes 1 and 2 are entitled Records of Mining, Leases and are registers of leases issued. They are arranged by Mining District. Included are entries for lease number, date and description of the lease, name of lessee, lot and locality of the lease, annual rental and other fees, expenditure requirements, date of assignment and assignee, letter reference numbers and cancellation information. Volume 3 is a record book of applications for mining leases recorded at Victoria, B.C., for the Stikine and Liard Mining Divisions of Cassiar District and Victoria District.

Autobiographical note, letters inward from T.C. Elliott, 1938, 1941, two to Provincial Librarian, 1911 and 1912; memorandum and text of speech on La Perouse; journal of trip from Winnipeg to McDame Post, 1890; back of volume contains information re H.B.C. deed poll, including calculation of value of shares up to year 1872; MS. on winter travel with pen and ink sketch; "Not Forgotten (non oblitus)" [reminiscences of H.B.C.]; correspondence with Buckingham Palace, 1940; letter to A.S. Morton re "Not Forgotten".

The series consists of a microfilmed copy of a diary and memo book (1863 with some entries for later years) containing references to a journey made by John A. "Cariboo" Cameron to Victoria with his wife's body in 1863 and to mining in Cassiar in 1875. The series also include transcript copies of reminiscences including "The Rose Expedition of 1862", "Old Timers of British Columbia" and "The true story of the death of "Cariboo" Cameron's wife." The last two were published in B.C. Saturday Sunset, April 3, 1909. Also includes a typescript copy of "History of the Stevenson family."