Showing 18 results

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-01-29 SUMMARY: TRACKS 1 & 2: Doug Abrahamson recalls Revelstoke at the turn of the century. His family came from Sweden, settled in Revelstoke and built and ran the Central Hotel. He describes the social life and customs in Upper Town and Lower Town, characters from the Revelstoke area and Big Bend region, the steamboat "Revelstoke", and trails in the area. Incidents around town. The local red light district; the various "houses" and their inhabitants. He also discusses the Rogers Pass slide of 1910, Illecillewaet, and the transfer of the CPR divisional point from Donald to Revelstoke.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-05-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The Honourable Basil Aylmer describes the Aylmer family history. Then he discusses coming to Queens Bay; building a house; World War I; starting a farm; and his family and neighbours. TRACK 2: The Honourable Basil Aylmer continues with more on social life at Queens Bay before discussing Proctor; more about the farm; marriage; characters; and the CPR.

SUMMARY: The story of cattle ranching in the Nicola Valley: its beginnings in the days of the Cariboo gold rush, and the work of ranchers and cowboys at the Douglas Lake Cattle Company. The voices heard are: Bill Brennan; Alex Bulman; Gerald Guichon; Fred Irwin; Doug Palmer; and Martin Starret.

SUMMARY: Stories about the early days of Kamloops, the importance of the CPR and the stockyards, and the hunt for Bill Miner, the legendary train robber. The voices heard are: Colonel D.C. Vicars; F.W. Pinchbeck; Wentworth Wood; Bill Brennan; Alex Bulman; Fred Irwin; and Doug Palmer.

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.

CALL NUMBER: T0678:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss Annie York describes her grandfather, Joseph York (1868?-1951), who attended Anglican schools at Jackass Mountain; his lifelong work for the CPR; several anecdotes about things that happened to him during his lifetime; his character; Spuzzum Indians; Indians in Lytton; how Spuzzum got its name; Harry James; events in Spuzzum; Indians of Spuzzum; basket weaving; Spuzzum Indian chiefs; the Chinook language; languages used in church; she recites the Lord's Prayer and some hymns in her native tongue, Thompson Indian. TRACK 2: Miss York sings a bit more and discusses the hymns; Reverend Higgs; anecdotes about family; her great grandmother; her grandmother; her mother; her partner, Mr. Palmer; Chief James; Thompson Village. She tells the story of the Lytton Indians and Simon Fraser as told to her by her grandmother, who was ten years old at the time of the meeting, and sings the song that was sung to Simon Fraser when he left the Indians. More on Simon Fraser; more on hymns and prayers; teaching.

CALL NUMBER: T0678:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Miss York continues by discussing how Indians prepare food. Then Arthur Urquhart, who was born in Yale and moved to Spuzzum, describes his earliest recollections about his family; his father; people in the area; Chinese people; what people wore; what Spuzzum was like. TRACK 2: Miss York comes back on and tells stories that Chief James told her, and describes his life; bridges and settlements in the area; customs of the Indians; more on cooking; more stories about social customs; her father; Indian religion and beliefs; the origins of the river and the moon.

CALL NUMBER: T1391:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Revelstoke, 1917-1975 RECORDED: Revelstoke (B.C.), 1975-02-17 SUMMARY: Parents background; childhood; description of Revelstoke; houses lived in; chores; play; school days; size; subjects; anecdotes; extracurricular activities; public health; facilities; anecdotes; epidemics; churches; jobs; travels in the U.S. and Canada from 1928 onward; speakeasy; travel service; bus driver, bodyguard, organised Young Liberals in 1933; truck driver; Depression in Revelstoke; more on jobs and travel; farming in Wigwam; assistant park warden; utility man for provincial government.

CALL NUMBER: T1391:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Revelstoke, 1917-1975 RECORDED: Revelstoke (B.C.), 1975-02-17 & 03-07 SUMMARY: Working on the CPR from 1945 onward; anecdotes and incidents; changing from coal to bunker fuel; change from steam to diesel; structure and method of local government; provincial and municipal law enforcement; personal involvement in civic organisations; comments on the Columbia River Treaty; how Revelstoke has developed as a city.

CALL NUMBER: T0552:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ashcroft, B.C., 1897-1951 PERIOD COVERED: 1897-1951 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Gibson tells story of his grandfather, Charles Henry Gibson, who came to Ashcroft in 1897. Discusses his grandfather's career as an entrepreneur and rancher; he was one of the leading citizens of early Ashcroft. Father was educated in private school in Victoria. Mother's family described. Family ranches sold out in 1951. Relations between Chinese and Indians. TRACK 2: Gibson learned Chinese as a child. The Chinese in the agricultural economy of Ashcroft. Chinese life and customs described. Cataline described. Cataline as a businessman. Experiences of Gibson's maternal grandfather, Francis Webb, as a stipendiary magistrate in Ashcroft. (The voice of Dr. John Roberts is also heard.)

CALL NUMBER: T0552:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ashcroft, B.C., 1897-1951 PERIOD COVERED: 1897-1951 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: More on Cataline and Judge Henry Castillou. Gibson family suit against the CPR over water rights. Social life in Ashcroft. Leading citizens of Ashcroft. Fraternal orders. TRACK 2: blank. (End of interview) (The voice of Dr. John Roberts is also heard.)

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Weeks discusses commercial navigation on Okanagan Lake, 1893 to 1914. He describes how he came out from England with his family; his first impressions of the Okanagan; the wooden sidewalks in Vernon; Vernon as a meeting place; the stage from Vernon to Kelowna; Hudson's Bay stores; the character of Vernon; odd jobs; beginning work on CPR lake boats as a deckhand; first captains; t;he S.S. "Aberdeen"; boats on the lake before that time, such as the "Mary Victoria Greenhow", run by T.D. Shorts; other boats; more about the "Aberdeen" and later CPR boats; details of boat service on; the lake; visits of various Governors General; the "Sicamous"; and general comments on CPR boats. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-03-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Jonathan Kelly Fraser recalls his father [Dan Fraser], who worked with the CPR; homesteading; his work as customs officer in Huntingdon; clearing land; other settlers; mills; Abbotsford; the man who lived in the stump; remittance men; incidents at Abbotsford; clay mines; Italians; the Yale Road; weather; Sumas Lake; mosquitoes. TRACK 2: Mr. Fraser talks about the floods at Sumas; trails; traveling salesman; other anecdotes; childhood memories; "Lord Davie"; remittance men; "Silver Tip"; the Commercial Hotel; dances; school days; Clayburn miners.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-05-27 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Vera Bennett describes early days in Field, Cranbrook and Creston: Vera's father was from Sweden and worked for the CPR and eventually became road master at Field; her mother was English and was born in India; Vera was the first white baby born in Field, and was born in a box car; VIP's at Field; the family moved to Cranbrook in 1898; in 1899 nearly everything in Fort Steele went to; Cranbrook which was just a tent town during its construction; Vera married in 1913; the stage to Windermere was always uncomfortable; describes the route and stopping house; the smallpox epidemic in ;the spring of 1899; hundreds of workers died. TRACK 2: Bennett continues by describing a movie company and promotion of Invermere as a fruit growing area in 1909 and 1910; apples tied to poplars; reservists from England were totally unprepared for the actual conditions; she and her husband moved to Creston in 1914; there were reservists there also; Radium Hot Springs; ceremonies for the opening ;of the David Thompson memorial in 1922; she went to All Hallows School in Yale for two years; Indian and white girls were kept very separate.

SUMMARY: "Patterns of the Valley", number 7 in the series, examines the development of the Fraser Valley from pre-contact to early homesteading; the introduction of the CPR; clearing a farm out of the bush; high-water time; and growing up in the valley. Voices heard include: Nellie Patriquin, Beulah Probert, Constance Cruikshank, Joy Starr, Bert Williams, Joe Louie, Oliver Wells, Ray Wells, Alf Hawkins, Martin Starret and Albert Drinkwater.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Alex Wylie discusses hiking near Hinton in 1905 with some traders as he moved to BC; moved to Alberta from Scotland; describes the fort at Edmonton; he describes how he became a packer in 1907; Swift Ranch; pack trails near Quesnel; a man named Swift; the Northern Territories as he remembers them; the CPR; and Fort George. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is a recorded interview with Mr. Cornelius "Corny" Kelleher. Tape 1: Kelleher recalls his father, Mortimer Kelleher, Mortimer's early days in British Columbia, and his settlement in Mission City in 1868. He speaks about the mills in Mission City; the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Mission [OMI] settlement of the mission in 1862; First Nations people at the mission; construction and location of the mission buildings; the Sisters of St. Ann convent; his father's work for the mission; the Kelleher family farm; Passmore family; other settlers in the Mission area; childhood at Mission school, surveying for the CPR in 1882; clearing and construction for the CPR; first passenger trains in 1886; steamboats.

Tape 2: Mr. Kelleher discusses steamboat service; construction and maintenance of the dikes at Matsqui Prairie; Matsqui Land Company; the Maclure family; early settlers in Matsqui; the Purver family, discusses farming incidents; naming Abbotsford; CPR link to the U.S.; Huntington; Mission City; roads, railways; [period of silence on tape]; remittance men; Bellevue Hotel, Matsqui Hotel; railway bridge; shipping fish; sturgeon fishing; First Nations methods of fishing.

Tape 3: Mr. Kelleher continues with his recollections of fishing on the Fraser River; salmon fishing; Indigenous place names; other place names; Joe DeRoche; childhood adventures; First Nations stories about ;Hatzic Island; First Nations hunting methods and doctors; Sam McDonald and Frank Wade, Maclure, "Supple Jack" from the Matsqui reserve; Mount Baker; Jim Trethewey and family; ;saw and grist mills; description of the O.M.I. Mission; early settlers; subdivision of lots in Mission City; Riverside; C.B. Sword.;

Tape 4: Mr. Kelleher talks about Mr. Barnes, Mr. Sword, the Matsqui dike and other incidents.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-11-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. A.H. Soles discusses early settlement in the Columbia Valley and the Kootenay Central Railroad; he describes how he came from Ontario to Golden in 1898; the various steamboats and their captains; surveying and construction of the Kootenay Central Railroad from 1905 to 1915; KCRR opened up settlement of the valley south of Golden; the Koles family settled several years before the KCRR; and was one of the first in the area. TRACK 2: Mr. Soles continues by describing the KCRR building several stopping places along the line; other settlements named when the post office was established at each; a large fire on the west bank in 1926; no settlement south of Golden before the CPR; there were more game animals after the big fire.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Jack Mulholland remembers coming west to the Kootenays in the late nineteenth century. He describes the CPR/Great Northern competition; the Silver King Mine at Nelson; the driving team; the smelter; more about coming west; rawhiding; a description of ore; the first ore from Sandon; forming the Prospectors Protective Association in Nelson; forming the Chamber of Mines; conflict; a prospector's life; bears and the Slocan-Lardeau ore belt. TRACK 2: He continues with more stories about prospecting and people in the area.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Boyd Campbell Affleck came to the Kootenay/Arrow Lakes region in 1907 from Ontario. He took up a surveying job near Nakusp. He discusses settlers and speculators. He describes Fruitva;le in 1907; the development; the early settlers. Then he discusses irrigation and then more on Fruitvale; the impact of WWI on the region; fruit grown; a picnic in the 1930s; settlers; clearing land; and the Fruitvale town site. Mr. Affleck settled near Fruitvale in 1918; lost his hand and was forced back into survey work. He surveyed the town of Salmo. He offers an anecdote about the red light ladies of Erie and then offers more about Fruitvale; the impact of the Trail smelter; and recalls the forest fire of 1939. TRACK 2: Mr. Affleck continues with more on the forest fire. Then he dis;cusses the Trail smelter; effects on fruit farms; Columbia Gardens and survey work at Nelson. He offers more on Fruitvale and Nelson in 1907; transportation; the rivalry between the CPR and GN boats.; He tells a story of how Kaslo tried to steal the Nelson Board of Trade in the 1890s. He discusses the Fruitvale power system in the 1920s; Nelson City Light. He describes the rivalry between West Kootenay Power and Light, and Nelson City Light.

SUMMARY: "Tales of Two Cities", number 6 in the series, is a program contrasting the early years, development, and characteristics of Victoria and Vancouver, prior to the First World War. Voices heard include: Kathleen Agnew, Isabel Sweeney, Nellie Hood, Madge Muskett, Maisie Hurley, Stanley Meadows, Roger Monteith, William Wallace, Russell Walker and B.C. Hilliam.