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SUMMARY: "The Bush and the Salon" was a CBC radio series that recreated early Canadian life from letters, diaries and other sources. This episode, "The Just Society of Yesteryear?", recounts two stories of yesteryear -- true tales of miners, gentlemen and other hard cases of the pioneer days in BC, as told by the distinguished poet and playwright George Ryga, with Ed McNamara as the chronicler (pioneer newspaperman R.T. Lowery). Part 1, "The Highest Judge in the Highest Court", takes place in the Phoenix, BC and deals with Judge Willie Williams. Part 2, "The Camp McKinney Robbery", tells of a robbery of gold bars near a mining camp. Other actors include Jack Anthony, Michael Collins, Joseph Golland, Douglas Masters, Bill Reiter, Allen Pierce, Barry O'Sullivan, Peg Dixon, Diana Ricardo, Michael Ball;, Jack Leif, Sam Payne, Sean McNamara, Bruce McCloud, Roger Dressler, and Tom Graham. This is the second of three programs featuring the work of George Ryga.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-19 SUMMARY: Mrs. Ellen Trounsen came to Phoenix in 1909, and took up barbering in 1910 with her husband. She describes the hairstyles of the time. She describes several people who had all sorts of different occupations. She describes twenty-six hotels in Phoenix in 1900, half of them closed by 1911, the flu epidemic of 1918, prohibition, the fact that women never went into the saloons, many deaths in the mines, drinking, pranks and dancing. As well, she describes Greenwood and the three buildings she owned.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Mildred Roylance begins this interview by singing "Home on the Range" and she tells the story of Colin Scott McRae, a young man from Ontario who wrote the song and came to Boundary in 1887 or 1888. He was a taxidermist and became partners with Mrs. Roylance's father and opened a ranch called "McLaren and McRae" in Deadwood. She outlines her father's life as a surveyor including his life in the South Pacific, San Francisco, and Vancouver Island, and finally to a ranch where she was born. Mrs. Roylance describes the location of Carson where her father lived for one year before coming to Deadwood. Her father and McRae were the first people to settle Greenwood, incorporated as a city in 1897. Mrs. Roylance talks about her father's relationship with the Indians and the "crazy" Volcanic Brown and recounts many stories about their celebrations and friendships together.

TRACK 2: Mrs. Roylance discusses a dance that Brown did at an Indian party. Mrs. Roylance's mother was the postmistress in Deadwood and she describes life in Deadwood before the mines closed and the town was deserted. The BC Security Commission moved the Japanese from the coast in 1942; 1,200 came into Greenwood and were accepted and assimilated into the town. Many names of pioneers are mentioned, including: Jack Lucie, Johnny Meyers, who was a butcher, Jim Pogie, an Italian from the Cantalito family who came to mine in 1850 in Rock Creek, and Bob Johnson, a teacher. Then she discusses the earliest days of Grand Forks, Deadwood and Greenwood. Dr. McLean, who lived in the area from 1912 to 1920, became the Premier of B.C. She then tells the story of Boundary Falls and the discovery of gold below Norwegian Creek.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-18 SUMMARY: Mr. Bryan speaks of how he came from Liverpool to the Boundary region in 1909, just after the copper mine closed in 1907. The price of copper dropped and a new smelter opened in Greenwood. Bryan describes what the region was like when he arrived, the saloons, his first job at the smelter, and his job as a clerk for the grocery store, which started in 1913 and served 33 families. Bryan tells stories of several people who lived in the area.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-18 SUMMARY: Mr. W.E. McArthur talks about the town of Greenwood, BC, and his life as the town was being built. Mr. McArthur came to Greenwood when he was thirteen years old from Bute, Montana, in 1897, with his father, who was a miner. Mr. McArthur describes stagecoaches, how the smelters arrived from Midway, and mining. McArthur also tells stories of several people who lived in Greenwood at that time

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Lillian Ban Quan discusses her father, who was Cantonese, and how he ran a store at Rock Creek. Her mother was a Chilliwack Indian. Her mother married Chu Ban Quan at Rock Creek in 1907.; She describes Wildhorse, St. Eugene Mission and the dramatic method of mining used at Wildhorse. Then she discusses her marriage at sixteen to a forty-five year old man. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is an audio interview with Pasquale Capozzi, recorded in 1964.
T0194:0001 track 1: This interview is the story of how an immigrant went from a railway labourer to being a multi-millionaire. Mr. Pasquale 'Cap' Capozzi was born in Italy on July 13 1889. He discusses his family background; how he attended school in Italy and traveled to New York, and from there to Nelson when he was 18 or 19. He worked as a railway labourer for the CPR. He discusses various jobs he held in the BC interior before he eventually settled in Kelowna, where he established the town's second grocery store.

Track 2: Mr. Capozzi describes the conditions in Kelowna around 1920. He married his wife in 1921. He describes the town of Phoenix and the copper mining boom there. He explains the reasons for the success of his store in Kelowna. After a fire burned down his first store he built another one. He discusses how he got involved in the wine business and how he was greatly assisted in this venture by W.A.C. Bennett. He offers his impressions of Mr. Bennett and various aspects of his own business career.

T0194:0002 track 1: Mr. Capozzi discusses a service station which he bought in the Kelowna area, the hotel/motel business, his philosophy on business, what Canada means to him, how he learned to speak English in Nelson, how being an immigrant was never hard for him, how he loves Kelowna, some famous people whom he has met, his sons and how they decided the grocery business was not for them, his future plans and more on his life's philosophy.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-11-04 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Gladys Young, wife of Benjamin Franklin Young, discusses some of her experiences between 1900 and 1914. She begins with an anecdote about her arrival in Armstrong to teach in 1908; people in Armstrong; Greenwood in 1900; her family background and impressions of Greenwood; returning to Greenwood from school in Yale; a discussion of life at All Hallow's Girls School at Yale; more on Greenwood; schooling in Vancouver; how she came to Armstrong; impression of Lansdowne and Armstrong; the beginning of Armstrong including people and life there. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T0658:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Gus Milliken tells many stories from many different sources about the area around Yale. The first story takes place during the gold rush about a man who sells another man a claim to a mine which turned out to be a gravel mine, not a gold mine. Several other prospecting stories, some of which are fictitious. Early stories about the sternwheelers, including an argument between an engineer and the captain of a steamship; legends about the packer Cataline (Jean Caux); pack mules near Lytton; March 1858; a man named Hill, who discovered the first gold along the Fraser; the first hotels in the area; Joe MacKenzie, an original '58er; Ned Stout; Dewdney Landing; Bill MacKenzie, orchards, the building of the CPR station at Yale; some historical facts about the town of Yale; the first sawmill, first town council and first white male born in BC, Chinese miners and old timers. TRACK 2: Mr. Milliken describes how Yale got its name; its origins as a fort in 1846; the Hudson's Bay Company; the first buildings in Yale, L.T. Hill as the first person to discover gold in 1858; the relationship between the Hudson's Bay Company and San Francisco; the original Fort Hope, the people who worked in the first gold mines, activity in the area as it was being established, the first post office in 1916, Hope as a gold mining town; prospectors who had to move on to other places because all of the land had been staked; a dynamite plant; other early homes.

CALL NUMBER: T0658:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-13 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Milliken continues describing Andrew Onderdonk, who was "supposed to have built the railway but who was in fact the engineer". He describes the American company that paid for the building of the railway from Emory to beyond Yale. He discusses the construction of the railway; the first roads in the area; Indian trails in the area, including Douglas Portage and how Mr. Yale named it; he describes Mr. Yale; gold in Rock Creek; the Kettle Valley and the Canadian National Railroad [sic]; mills in the area; the Hope-Nicola trail and other trails.

Out-takes. Mining operations at Phoenix, Jedway and Granisle.

Minute books, 1938-1939, 1941-1949, 1952-1966, 1968-1981.

Footage. Shows various communities and activities in southeastern B.C. Several shots of a hydro-electric dam (possibly Bonnington Falls on the Kootenay River). Nakusp lakefront, with the retired sternwheeler "Bonnington" at dock; local residents, streets and buildings (Arrow Lake Hotel, Arrow Lakes Hospital); a sawmill. Brief shot of sternwheeler "Minto" approaching dock. Edgewood General Store. Lake fishing; resort. Parade and sports day in Salmo (joint Dominion Day and Independence Day celebration?), with long sequence showing a performance by a uniformed girls' drill team. Main street of Greenwood, where a baseball team warms up and poses with locals. A nearby mining community (probably Phoenix), with mining operation and many dilapidated buildings; residents and a bearded old timer pose for the camera. Scenery with river and waterfall (possibly Cascade Falls on the Kettle River?). New Denver Fire Hall.

RECORDED: Christina Lake (B.C.), [1982] SUMMARY: Svea was born in Lappland and came to Canada in 1907. He worked in the mines around Greenwood. He discusses some Swedish families in the area.;

Series consists of some family memorabilia, and records relating to the career of J.M. Robinson as a school teacher, MLA and newspaper proprietor (Brandon Times and the Portage La Prairie Printing and Publishing Co.) in Manitoba. Several notebooks and a diary relate to his interest in prospecting in B.C. (area between Rossland and Okanagan) and to his interest in spiritualism, including its use in prospecting.

The bulk of the series consists of minute books, correspondence, financial and legal records relating to Robinson's various development companies: Okanagan Securities, Canadian Irrigated Orchards, Okanagan Realty, Naramata Supply Co., Hotel Naramata, Hotel Summerland and Crescent Beach Co.

The series also contains letters inward to the Headmistress of Naramata School for Girls, 1942-1946 and photographs of school activities, Visual Records accession 198504-16. Microfilm (neg.) 1879, 1897, 1929-1931 35 mm 6 reels [A01438-A01443] John Moore Robinson (1855-1934) moved to the Okanagan in 1898 and acquired and developed property at Peachland, Summerland and Naramata. He also had a career as a school teacher, MLA and newspaper proprietor (Brandon Times and the Portage La Prairie Printing and Publishing Company) in Manitoba. He had an interest in prospecting in British Columbia (area between Rossland and Okanagan) and spiritualism, including its use in prospecting. His business interests included the Summerland Trust Company, incorporated in 1907. The company name changed to Okanagan Trust Company Limited, on September 12, 1911, and finally to Okanagan Securities Limited on August 28, 1915. He was also involved with the Naramata Development Company (incorporated in 1907) which became Canadian Irrigated Orchards Limited in October 5, 1926. The bulk of the records consist of minute books, correspondence, financial and legal records relating to Robinson's companies: Okanagan Securities, Canadian Irrigated Orchards, Okanagan Realty, Naramata Supply Company, Hotel Naramata, Hotel Summerland and Crescent Beach Company. There are several notebooks and a diary related to prospecting and spiritualism. Also included is some family memorabilia and letters inward to the Headmistress of Naramata School for Girls, 1942-1946. Maps transferred to Map accession 19419.

Share certificates for mining and other companies, sold in Rossland and Greenwood primarily. Also includes a map of the Franklin camp north of Grand Forks.

Travelogue. From Osoyoos to Trail and Nelson by the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway. Footage includes: Cominco smelter; the sternwheeler "Minto" on the Arrow Lakes and at Castlegar; Kootenay River power station; lumbering scenes; car ferry on Kootenay Lake; and Nelson scenes (including the Curling Bonspiel parade).

The fonds consists of letters patent; correspondence, bylaws and minutes of the Phoenix City Council; vouchers, cashbooks, daybooks and other financial records; assessment rolls and related correspondence; police board minutes, police court proceedings and register; and, minutes of the licence commission and the court of revision.

The item consists of an audio interview with H.H. Stevens, recorded in 1966.
T0327:0001 summary
Track 1: Mr. Stevens, who came to Vernon in 1894, talks about his early experiences and memories of the Okanagan, including driving the stage from Penticton to Grand Forks in 1897; Camp McKinney; Fairview; Rossland; Phoenix; Greenwood; Grand Forks; Crows Nest Railway; Rock Creek; prospecting and mining and W.R. Meagaw. He describes Vernon; local residents; farms; ranches and the Aberdeen Ranch.
Track 2: Mr. Stevens continues with recollections about the Coldstream Ranch; Okanagan Lake; coming to Vancouver 1901; False Creek; CPR land holdings; real estate boom 1901 to 1912; sawmills and logging; Oppenheimer brothers; local personalities and wholesalers; Victoria wholesalers; North Vancouver ferry; Stewart; and the Dominion Trust Company.

T0327:0002 summary
Track 1: Mr. Stevens speaks about the Dominion Trust Company; the beginning of party politics in BC, 1903; and his election as a federal Conservative MP in 1911. He comments on federal political life; Vancouver in the boom period and depression, from 1911 to 1920; personalities; Alvo von Alvensleben; Hindus; Japanese; wholesalers and the Vancouver Hotel. [Track 2: blank.]

Footage. A selection of miscellaneous footage from various films produced by Parry for the Mining Association and some of its member companies. Includes footage of Boyles Brothers (manufacture of diamond drills); BC Research labs; Cominco labs and smelter; geological surveys; "Kimberley smelter" (?); Nickel Plate mine at Hedley (abandoned buildings); oil refineries and tank farms; Phoenix mine; Pine Point; Similkameen Mining Company operations; Sullivan Mine; Trail; various unidentified mills and mine operations; Western Canada Rolling Mines (steel mill); Western Mines (construction of mill and other facilities).

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Itono Hamamoto : a Japanese-Canadian school teacher PERIOD COVERED: 1927-1972 RECORDED: Steveston (B.C.), 1972 SUMMARY: Itono Hamamoto came to Canada when she was 33 years old with her daughter to join her parents, sister and husband. She was a school teacher in Japan and in Steveston for 15 years. The Hamamoto family went to Grand Forks to do farming during and after WWII for about 10 years. Mr. Hamamoto, a strawberry farmer and fisherman, died in 1969. Mrs. Hamamoto has a daughter and a son.

CALL NUMBER: T0348:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: Mr. Gerald Harpur landed in Midway on September 22, 1912, and settled as a fruit farmer in the Kettle Valley, farming mostly apples. He talks about his life, where he came from and the early Kettle Valley. He describes people and development including the construction of the railroad. As well, he describes the effects of World War I on the community and land of the Kettle Valley, irrigation, and cattle farming. Harpur speaks about Kettle Valley Flats and Ranch, horse and cattle thieves, and border crossings.

CALL NUMBER: T0348:0002 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gerald Harpur discusses the Canadian Pacific Railroad and gambling. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: Mrs. Edna Bonnet, originally from Suffolk, England, came to Canada with her father because she wanted to raise horses. They sailed from Liverpool just after the "Titanic" had sunk in 1912. She speaks of the Bell Mine in Beaverdell, the dances and the country around Midway and Beaverdell. The railroad and the failure of fruit farms are discussed as well.

CALL NUMBER: T0352:0001 - 0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Samuel Bombini came from Calabria, Italy in 1900, and came to BC for rich mining prospects. Bombini describes the life and people of the Boundary region and how gold mining served to build the community. Then Mrs. Bombini speaks about her life, how she came to Phoenix in 1909 when she was fourteen, and her trip there by train from Halifax. She moved to Greenwood and married Samuel; in 1912. She speaks about the community of Greenwood.

CALL NUMBER: T0352:0002 SUMMARY: Mr. and Mrs. Bombini couple talk about the Italian community, their daughters, and a fire.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Robert F. Simpson came to Grand Forks on March 1, 1894; his father had the first sawmill in the area. Mr. Simpson begins this interview by talking about his father and the lumber and floods of the late 1800s. Mr. Simpson bought a plot of land in "Brown Creek". Mr. Simpson describes what Grand Forks was like when he arrived in 1894, mentioning: McClintock, who was a farmer; John Manly, who owned a large plot of land below Grand Forks; Carse Manly, hardware store owner; Spraggot, in the sawmill business; Ammond, the gold commissioner; and Cobert, who had the first orchard. Mr. Simpson discusses the Chinook Indians of the area and horses. Mr. Simpson mentions the Granby smelter which opened in Grand Forks in 1899.

TRACK 2: Mr. Simpson discusses the boom in Grand Forks which followed from the opening of the smelter. The smelter closed in 1920 and he describes the repercussions of that before discussing how timber and farming helped the local economy pick up again. Mr. Simpson describes the Doukhobors and communal living before telling a story of Volcanic Brown. The interview ends with a story about Dr. Avril who was the first dentist in the Grand Forks area.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Jack E. Thompson was born in 1894 and came to the Grand Forks Valley in 1895. His father, Andrew Thomas, was a blacksmith. Mr. Thompson describes what the valley was like at the turn of the century, which towns were there, which towns had not yet been established, and how the CPR and the hotels brought expansion. He describes the Indians of the area and a man named Father Pat. Mr. Thompson describes his relatives between Chilliwack and Rosedale. Mr. Thompson goes on to describe his earliest memories of Cascade and more about Father Pat. Mr. Thompson describes Grand Forks, the farming, the Doukhobors, and Peter Verigin.

TRACK 2: Mr. Thompson describes the Cascade power house, the trestle bridge, the "Hot Air Line" Railway, North Fork mining, and people in Cascade including: Billy Dalgleish, Jack Shaffer, Stocker and Chandler. Then Christina Lake is described, and a story about a moose is told. The interview ends with stories about the Grand Forks beer parlor and ;more about Billy Dalgleish.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: Mr. Arthur Mellor emigrated from outside Liverpool to Ontario in 1903 and came out to Kettle River, near Westbridge, in 1904. He spent his first three years as a surveyor until he contracted typhoid, then he worked as a trapper and a surveyor. Mr. Mellor tells about several incidents including a shooting in Midway after two men robbed several hotels, the Dirty Dozen gang, Bridesville, the original prospectors of the area, and the Bell Mine. Then Mrs. Mellor speaks: she was born in Midway in 1897 and describes her childhood, including how her father was killed. Mrs. Mellor describes in detail several people at Camp McKinney. Then both compare life back then with the present.