Showing 26 results

Archival description
Kettle River (B.C.)
Print preview View:

19 results with digital objects Show results with digital objects

Greenwood and Grand Forks mining records

  • GR-4308
  • Series
  • 1893-1961

This series consists of mining records from the Greenwood and Grand Forks area. The records were created between 1893 and 1961 by a variety of government employees, including government agents, gold commissioners and mining recorders. The earliest records in the series were created by the Midway mining recorder. In 1900 the Midway recorder relocated to Greenwood. The records relate to the following locations in the West Kootenay region: Greenwood, Midway, Grand Forks, Westbridge, Vernon, Rock Creek, Camp Mckinney and Beaverdell.

Records document the registration and administration of mineral claims and placer mining claims under the Mineral Act and Placer Mining Act. Records include various forms such as location records and certificates of work; record books documenting bills of sale, conveyance, mineral claims, indentures, certificates of improvement and other agreements; indexes; and correspondence. The series also includes two letterpress volumes of correspondence outward from the provincial police constable or sheriff stationed in Grand Forks and Greenwood.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Greenwood)

[Kootenay-Boundary area] : [footage and out-takes]

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.

Randolph F. Sandner interview

CALL NUMBER: T0357:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Randolph F. Sandner begins this interview by telling the story of his father who was from Chicago and came to Rossland in 1896 to stake a gold mine, but ended up taking the Dewdney Trail to Christina Lake. Mr. Sandner discusses history and Indian stories of Christina Lake and Kettle River. He speaks of Ranald MacDonald who was the first white man to teach in Japan and made a fortune in the BC gold rush. He goes on to speak more about his father's life and then the hotels in Cascade which prospered from the overflow from Rossland. He mentions a fire in 1902 which destroyed Cascade, how the town never recovered and the remnants headed to Christina Lake.

TRACK 2: He describes where people lived in Christina Lake prior to WWI, and a person named Jack Wardrow who owned a cigar store. He also discusses the English settlers in the area in great detail and mentions a few by name: Angus Stewart, newspaper reporter for the Grand Forks Gazette, and a remittance man named George Charles Archibald Brown, who built the Alpine Inn but was a terrible business man. He mentions a Vancouver company named Airline Chocolates. Mr. Sandner speaks of the difficulty of finding a school teacher and his poor educational background because of it. He was taught to live with nature and how to track deer. The track ends with a story of a girl on a freight train with a baby.

CALL NUMBER: T0357:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The story about the freight train is continued and "young fellows must never help a woman!" is disclosed. Mr. Sandner says that he was raised in the woods and speaks about his mother's job of working in the mill and the family's hotel business, the North End Lodge. His father was wrongfully arrested for stealing a cable and he tells the story in detail. Mr. Sandner describes his childhood by speaking of the hotel, his mother's role, what life was like, and the family car. He tells the story of the Alice L. Mine in Paulson which was mined for gold and silver. Then he tells the story of Aaron Chandler, the man who founded Greenwood along with George Stocker and Alphonse Bertoius. These men called themselves the Canadian Consolidated Company, as they owned the smelter in Grand Forks.

TRACK 2: Mr. Sandner speaks of the two railroads in Grand Forks and how they relate to the smelters. He begins to discuss the history of Cascade, which had two newspapers. Cascade Power and; Light Company was bought out by West Kootenay Power and Light Company. He describes mining and Scott McRae who was the first man in Grand Forks, "a true pioneer". Mentions Mrs. Roylance and says that she will discuss McRae further. Then he speaks of Jack Coryell, another miner.

Carl Thomet interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-09-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Carl Thomet was born in Midway in 1905, and lived his whole life there. The interview begins with a description of the railway built in 1900. The first passenger railway service was called the Columbia and Western, and was not extended to Penticton until 1915. The train was the main supply route for Camp McKinney. There is a discussion about the railways battling for business. The Great Northern was called the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway and in 1905 the CPR tried to hold back the Great Northern. The Vernon-Midway Railway came in 1905 and C.W. took it over. Thomet describes Midway at the turn of the century including the landscape, several characters, some stories of violence and the hotels. The track ends with talk about the loggers and river boats on the Kettle River.

TRACK 2: Mr. Thomet tells stories about several people who worked along the river and how loggers used the river to transport lumber. A person named Steeves is mentioned.

Royal Commission Investigating the fruit industry (and inter-related conditions) of the districts territorially known as the Okanagan, Kootenay and Kettle River (1930)

  • GR-0904
  • Series
  • 1929-1930

This series consists of records of the Royal Commission Investigating the Fruit Industry (and interrelated conditions) of the Districts Territorially Known as the Okanagan, Kootenay, and Kettle River of the Province of British Columbia, 1929-1930. Commission records consist of correspondence and the report.

Royal Commission Investigating the Fruit Industry (and interrelated conditions) of the Districts Territorially Known as the Okanagan, Kootenay, and Kettle River of the Province of British Columbia