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Kelowna (B.C.) Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia--20th century
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Paddy Acland's progress : the adventures of a young Englishman in the Okanagan Valley

The item is an audio recording produced for the Provincial Archives' Sound Heritage Series under contract. The speaker is H.V. "Paddy" Acland, one of the many young Englishmen who came to settle in the Okanagan Valley in the first decade of the 20th century. He and his compatriots saw in the Okanagan a reflection of their own youth, vitality and optimism. This sound program was based on an 1964 interview with Mr. Acland, recorded by Imbert Orchard of the CBC.

W. Alister Cameron interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-11-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. W. Alister Cameron talks about life in Kelowna and in the area, 1903 to 1920. He describes his family background; his first impressions of Kelowna in 1903; the family orchard; early days; a description of the countryside; the development of Kelowna and the apple industry; work at a bank; surveying work; looking for reservoir sites; Okanagan Falls; paper chases; the McDougall family and their land; Dave McDougall; and the land at the headwaters of Mission Creek. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Don Whitham interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-11-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. J.D. Whitham discusses some people of Kelowna, and the days of steamboats on Okanagan Lake, 1912 to 1937. He describes his family background; why they came to the Okanagan; memories of his uncle's farm in Manitoba; the family orchard in the Glenmore area; general recollections of the Kelowna area and people including several stories about Dr. Boyce; the Kelowna regatta; the fruit business, including details about the showdown over apple prices in the late 1920s; orchards; tobacco growing; and stories about Rembler Paul. TRACK 2: Mr. Whitham continues with more on Rembler Paul';s tomb; boats on Okanagan Lake, including Captain Shorts and the CPR sternwheelers; the SS "Sicamous" and Captain J.B. Weeks; more on Captain Shorts; the operation and construction of the lake boats; Indians of Westbank, and the Okanagan fur brigade trail.

H.C.S. Collett interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. H.C.S. Collett discusses irrigation and life in general in the south Kelowna - Okanagan Mission area from 1912 to 1924. He discusses several characters and the history of the area; expe;\riences when he lived in Cumberland; his first impressions of the area; bringing irrigation from McCulloch Lake, which is above Kelowna; distribution of water; development of irrigation and details of; irrigation systems; and 'the boom' from 1911 to 1914. He describes his experiences doing odd jobs and goes into great detail about Okanagan Mission, the area and the people; grape growing; difficulties with private packing houses; trials and tribulations of an orchardist, especially the problems of apple growing. TRACK 2: Mr. Collett offers an anecdote about finding an area to develop a reservoir for even distribution among the orchards. More on irrigation and Belgian people in the Okanagan; selling fruit to private packing houses; the reorganization of the industry.

H.V. "Paddy" Acland interview

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Paddy Acland remembers a few anecdotes about hunting and hiking in the BC interior. He explains how he came out to British Columbia from England after serving with the British Army duri;ng the Boer War. He describes expectations of life in BC and offers comments on the background of his father, John Acland. He arrived in BC in 1908; he describes the appearance of Summerland. He discusses his first jobs in the Okanagan; building his first log cabin; an anecdote about digging a basement for "Old Johnson"; buying and pre empting land in the Okanagan. TRACK 2: Paddy Acland describes the development of his own property near Eneas Lake between Peachland and Summerland. He discusses his first impressions of the Okanagan Valley, coming into it via train and boat. He describes ;the sternwheeler "Aberdeen"; labouring for a tobacco farmer in Kelowna; working for a dairy farmer, the meanest man Mr. Acland had ever met; comments on another employer, named "Fluffy" Williston. Mr. Acland offers further comments on British immigrants who came to the Okanagan during this era.

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Paddy Acland mentions his first jobs in the Okanagan, including lumber sorting and surveying. Mr. Acland returned to England for two months, and then returned to the Okanagan. He offers an; anecdote about a man being thrown into Lake Okanagan with all of his belongings, for making a pass at a local girl, and the "rough" justice of the era. More anecdotes about promiscuity between wives; of landed settlers and hired working men. Mr. Acland discusses his marriage to a girl from Summerland, and a digression on the different types of English immigrants, including the class that settled; in Vernon during the early decades of the century, which he found snobbish and pretentious. He describes the mixture of settlers in Kelowna during this era. TRACK 2: Mr. Acland offers comments about the Edgelow family of Kelowna, particularly Mrs. Edgelow, who delighted in shocking Kelowna residents prior to World War I. He comments on the background of the Acland family and offers anecdotes ;about his mother-in-law, Mrs. Hutton of Kelowna, an ardent Catholic convert who often entertained in her large home. He tells a story about an English orchardist who planted his trees upside down, an;d describes dances and social activities in the Okanagan Valley during this era. He describes the growth and development of Summerland during its early years and reflects upon the different currents ;of immigrants and settlers which have made up the fabric of Canadian society.

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Paddy Acland discusses some early Okanagan Valley residents. He admits that he joined the Baptist church choir to meet young and single women. He discusses relations with the Indians in the reserve near Summerland; the story of Sam McGee; comments on how the capital of early settlers was used and misused; a recollection of J.M. Robinson; comments on the Manitoba farmers induced to come; to the Okanagan Valley by Robinson; comments on how young men made a living in the Okanagan during this era; a story about the fortunes of three young working men; and comments on the Dominion Experimental Farm at Summerland. TRACK 2: Mr. Acland recalls several characters at Cobble Hill, Duncan, and offers a comparison between Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley during the early years of t;he century. He discusses personalities and experiences at Thetis Island; then he tells a story about two young men who shot a policeman in the Okanagan Valley, and were hunted by posses throughout the valley. More comments on English settlers; the story of the Belleview Hotel; anecdotes about the antics at the Belleview Hotel, and a physical description of the hotel.;

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0004 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Paddy Acland retraces early working experiences and life in the Okanagan Valley. He describes Okanagan Falls around the time of the First World War; the town of Kaleden; a story about Tom E;llis; stories about rattlesnakes; a story about competing in the long jump against an Indian at Penticton; comments about Penticton and Naramata; a description of Peachland; comments about settlements; on the west side of Okanagan Lake; J.C. Dun-Waters and the building of Fintry; dairy farming; comments about the simple funerals of several wealthy Okanagan residents; and an anecdote about the funeral of Matt Wilson. TRACK 2: Mr. Acland recalls his service with a military regiment in the Okanagan Valley; organizational and disciplinary problems with the Okanagan military regiment; military stories and training with different military regiments in BC and eastern Canada.;

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0005 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Paddy Acland discusses military training and service overseas with a Canadian battalion during the First World War. He offers further recollections of aspects of military training in British Columbia. TRACK 2: Mr. Acland tells a story of bear hunting behind his homestead with a local Indian. He describes his service as a government weed inspector along Lake Okanagan, and tells a story; about entry into the military. He comments about training in the Okanagan and he traces his military career.

CALL NUMBER: T1085:0006 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Paddy Acland discusses further aspects of his military experience overseas during World War I. TRACK 2: Mr. Acland offers recollections about flying aircraft and training pilots during World War I; returning to the Okanagan Valley after the war; a story about losing his land after the war, and serving as a manager at the Eldorado ranch. Finally, he discusses hard times.

Phyllis Gore interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Phyllis Gore discusses her life and business in the Kelowna area, 1907 to 1936. She came out from England in 1898 to live with her brother at Qu'Appelle Station, and she describes her ;life there including the land and the farmers in the area. She describes her marriage to Stanley Gore and their move to Winnipeg; her time in Winnipeg; coming to the Okanagan in 1907; and their first; house on the west side of the lake. She discusses Mrs. Keefe and her children; Mr. Death and his loggers; the McDougall boys; Boucherie Mountain; the ferry across the lake to Kelowna; working on a d;airy farm at Kelowna; her house burning down and the result. TRACK 2: Mrs. Gore continues discussing hard times; starting a laundry; running a business and building a new laundry in 1936; more about; the business; the school; bad roads; the main street in Kelowna; going to the store on Saturday night; Dr. Boyce helping out; horses; buildings in town; people who went down to meet the boats; the train; the division of society and entertainment.

R.E. Gamman interview

CALL NUMBER: T0322:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Robert E. Gamman recalls life in the Okanagan; 1908 to 1914. He describes how he came to the Okanagan in 1908 via the U.S.; odd jobs in Vernon; trapping; J.M. Robinson and Naramata; land dealings; irrigation; life as a greenhorn in a cabin; the man who lent him the cabin; "real men"; a story of a man who froze to death on a trail; Nahun Landing; trapping in the Monashee area; the story of how he came to Naramata; work there and surveying. TRACK 2: Mr. Gamman describes early days in Naramata; survey work in the South Okanagan; an encounter with wild cattle; Mrs. Kruger and her boys; hospitality then as compared to today; Okanagan Falls; packing into Camp McKinney; the story of Arnott, who had owned the site of Kaleden, and his partner Bill Hines; their ranch; other characters; a visit from a game warden regarding deer; and the town of Fairview.

CALL NUMBER: T0322:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Gamman describes surveying and the construction of the Kettle Valley Railway; accidents; survey work; work in Northern BC; surveying the watershed of Deadman River; an anecdote about the; beginning of World War I; Kelowna and remittance men, including one who pretended to own a ranch; a description of Kelowna; Vernon; bad debts back then; other people such as Tommy Wilmot and Paddy Acland; early days in Penticton; Naramata; more on J.M. Robinson who was "a real pioneer"; early growth in Naramata and irrigation. TRACK 2: Mr. Gamman tells stories of people in Naramata; development ;in Naramata over World War I; land between there and Penticton; his own early life there; the Green family of Green Mountain; a story about getting locked up overnight in Kelowna; various odd jobs such as prospecting and pruning trees.