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SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Steamboating on BC interior lakes PERIOD COVERED: 1918-1930 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1979-07-26 SUMMARY: John Allan (Jack) Williams discusses his experiences as a fireman and engineer on CPR steamboats, sternwheelers and tugs on the Kootenay,Arrow and Okanagan Lakes, 1918-1930. His work as a fireman and second engineer on the tug "Hosmer". Duties of the fireman and engineer. Sternwheeler engine and paddlewheel. Living conditions on the boats. Summer fruit freightage in the Okanagan. Sternwheeler crew; positions. Role of steamboats in the settlement of the major lake valleys of the BC interior. Decline of the service; layup of four ships on January 31, 1930.

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.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Steamboating on BC interior lakes PERIOD COVERED: 1917-1960s RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1979-08-02 SUMMARY: Edward Vipond was employed by the CPR as an assistant agent at rail centres connected with steamboats on the Kootenay, Arrow and Okanagan Lakes. This tape contains his comments on various aspects of steamboating on the interior lakes.

The collection consists of records created by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in the process of carrying out activities which include the registration of its ships, the promotion of its travel and tourist facilities, and the operation of its mechanical department.

Although the records were created by the CPR, most had been in the custody of (and were donated by) individuals who were unrelated to the CPR. The records were assembled into a collection by BC Archives.

Types of records include correspondence, photographs, technical drawings (blueprints of equipment), and legal and government records in support of the registration of ships and other vessels.

The collection includes of 18 “Registration of Shipping” dossiers containing documents dating from ca. 1897 to 1938 regarding the registration of vessels related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (some refer to the CPR’s British Columbia Lake and River Service). The records relate to vessels built for, operated by, and sold or scrapped by the CPR. Arranged by ship name, they include vessels sailing coastal and inland B.C. waters, most of which were registered at the Port of Vancouver. The records include but are not limited to: correspondence, builder’s certificates, certificate of survey (under the Merchant Shipping Act 1854], applications for registry, declarations of ownership, declarations of the transfer of registry from one port to another, declarations of assets, bills of sale, and notice of name proposed for a British ship. The BC Archives accession file describes these records as the CPR’s copies; however, this provenance is doubtful. The correspondence is addressed to a government office (the Registration of Shipping office, Customs and Excise Department) and is stamped as received incoming letters. It appears the provenance is the government office and not the CPR. The records were acquired by the writer and editor Edward L. Affleck, were in his custody for an unknown length of time, and donated to BC Archives by him in 1989.

The collection also consists of an album of 53 black and white photographs, ca. 1920-1930, which includes images of CPR lodges, camp facilities and cabins, tea houses, chalets and nature scenes. The photos indicate they were taken by the Brigden (or Brigdens) studio. Accompanying indexing numbers appear to be those applied by Brigden. The album contains the notation: “Property of Canadian Pacific Railway– Please return to General Passenger Department, Vancouver, B.C.

Other records include: 51 blueprints primarily from the CPR mechanical department; photographs of interiors and exteriors of CPR trains, and of various public relations and tourist-related locations in BC and Yukon; photocopies of CPR loans, agreements and contract documents; a CPR railway ticket, Pincher Creek to Victoria; and a record of payments to people made for section two of the Trunk Road for the month of May 1885.

The series consists of scrapbooks and subject files created by Earl Marsh together with original records, primarily from the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company, the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service (BCCSS), and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Created predominantly from 1900 to 1975, the records document the history of these companies and maritime history in general for British Columbia, Washington State, and Alaska.

The series consists of records about the following companies: Canadian Pacific Navigation Company; the BCCSS; the Canadian Pacific Railway Company; British Columbia Lake and River Service; Canadian Pacific Steamships Limited; Canadian National Steamship Company; Union Steamship Company of British Columbia; Washington State Ferries; Puget Sound Navigation Company; Black Ball Ferries Ltd.; Black Ball Transport Inc.; British Columbia Ferry Corporation; and Alaska Steamship Company.

Marsh maintained some of the records in scrapbooks dedicated to particular subjects. He also kept subject files which had titles and contents similar to scrapbooks. Scrapbooks and subject files about the BCCSS were typically arranged in rough alphabetical order. Additionally, Marsh kept records from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and its subsidiaries in binders. These records, as well as scrapbooks that were not about the BCCSS, were grouped according to subject. All materials were arranged according to documentary form. For example, all of Marsh’s scrapbooks were kept separate from his subject files.

The scrapbooks and subject files assembled by Marsh include, but are not limited to, the following documentary forms: photographs; BCCSS financial records, correspondence, and reports; promotional materials for ships and cruises; newspaper and magazine clippings; ticket stubs from ships; sale agreements for ships; engineers’ reports; and insurance adjusters’ reports. Other Canadian Pacific Railway Company documents include, but are not limited to, contracts, financial records, annual directors’ reports, staff records, engineers’ reports, insurance adjusters’ reports, passenger lists, rate and schedule announcements, menus, employee newsletters, and ship schedules.

This series makes up the majority of the records in the collection.

Marsh gathered the bulk of the records between 1964 and 1973.

BC Archives has retained all records in the series with the exception of duplicates of menus, a file of newspaper trivia clippings, and six sexually explicit, photocopied comics.